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Well, at least that's the opinion of passersby at the St Catharines Powertrain Plant in Ontario. The Standard reports the Ontario Ministry of the Environment and General Motors both received "quite a few" calls from residents near the plant complaining about a "musty burnt smell" emanating from the facility that could be detected several blocks from the factory. Eventually they found the source: "90,000 litres of mouldy lubricating oil" that circulates through some of the equipment. Although the lubricating system wasn't leaking, it is vented, releasing the pungent odor. GM plans to replace the infected lubricant post haste.
10 Comments on “GM Stinks...”
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I had no idea oil could mold…
Genetically Mutated Oil-Eating Super Mold… What Hath We Wrought?
I’ve heard of it molding sitting still, but while circulating? Perhaps it was moldy before it went into use.
John
Lubricating oil is usually some strange mix of organic oils and chemicals. In order for the oils to have a low health hazard rating, they sometimes are made of organic compounds. At my old job, our coolant oil (to cool the metal being machined) sometimes molded.
I remember when the big tank of coolant for the blanchard grinder went sour in the shop I was working at. It was pretty rank. The guys were certain they were going to find Jimmy Hoffa in there when they drained it.
JK43123 :
October 26th, 2007 at 9:22 am
“I’ve heard of it molding sitting still, but while circulating? Perhaps it was moldy before it went into use.”
If they’re talking about the coolant (lubricating oil serves as coolant too) used in their mills and lathes, it does circulate, but it isn’t a sealed system. Big machine shops, like say a powertrain factory, have central coolant tanks and pipes going to each machine. The central tanks often have open tops, and the tank in each machine is also open. You know how bacteria can spread through your body–same thing happens in these setups. When one machine gets infected, it travels back to the central processing tank and then out to all the other machines. Getting rid of the problem can be very difficult–it would be like trying to rid yourself of AIDS by getting a blood transfusion.
A malfunction in GM’s oil life monitor system? Maybe the manual should state to change the oil when the oil life monitor is at 0% or whenever you smell mold.
Too bad the facility isn’t equipped with OnStar.
Its been said that the GM built Equinox “stinks” too, a odd combination of plastic and pole cat flows from the rear of the Cabin according to the “Lemon Aid Guide”
I worked in a machine shop where we had the same problem every Monday morning……mold in the coolant tanks which had been sitting all weekend. The problem was solved when one of the maintenance crew went to the health nurse and got a bottle of Dettol. It’s a disinfectant used on cuts and scratches. We dumped a bottle of this stuff in each coolant tank and the problem disappeared overnight. From then on we treated the coolant tanks each Friday with the Dettol and on Monday the tanks were clear of mold and other then the slight odor of disinfectant when the coolant started to circulate the problem was solved.