Fluids and LubricantsMotor oil, transmission oil, radiator fluid, power steering fluid, blinker fluid... wait, there is no blinker fluid. Technical discussion and analysis of the different lubricants we use in our cars.
Sent an oil sample in last week, I'm right at 60K and the oil change interval was 4800 miles. I drained about 2.5 quarts (filled 4.5 quarts). I think I topped up about 0.5 quarts somewhere along the way.
Here are the comments that I got from Blackstone:
Quote:
Universal averages show typical wear metals in oil from this type engine after a 4500-mile oil change interval. Your oil was changed at 4800 miles, and we found iron and lead reading high. Both metals are coming from the bearing area. The oil was Mobil 1 5W/30 and had no gas or coolant in it. Air and oil filtration look okay. Are you racing this engine? Doing other hard driving that might be causing the high wear? If not we suggest dropping back to 3500 miles on the oil for the next change, to see if wear improves. Upper-end wear looks good.
Here's the element table:
I'm surprised they didn't find any issues with the rings, but rather, the bearings. Then again, I'm no expert on this, so comments are welcome. Thanks.
Ya we both seem to be getting high metal wear. I think mine can be explained by the fact that the oil sample I sent in was drained from the oil filter. So I'm not too worried, and will be sending in another sample later which will be drained from the pan.
If the chromium was high, they would suggest there is potentially a problem with the rings. My chromium was somewhat elevated in my initial sample but I had run Gumout Regane just before the sample. I am going to send in another sample after 5K and not use any additives prior to the sample.
I've switched to Castrol GTX now and will be monitoring the oil level better. I didn't think I'd lose that much oil over 5000 miles, based on prior experience, and oil starvation seems to be the main cause of the high bearing wear. At least, based on feedback from others with more UOA experience than me.
FWIW here are links to the other feedback I've received so far:
And here I am with my second run with M1 after 30k of GTX.
maybe I will switch to PP? 2 quarts low sounds scary to me. I hate checking levels with our stick, but maybe I will now
I'll be checking every 1000 miles now. So far so good.
The bad UOA results were partially my fault for not checking the level regularly, and the low level led to increased wear. I didn't think I'd lose that much that quickly, anyway, lesson learned.
so are you checking it warm or cold? i was told both. i think cold is easier to read. sucks that i never park overnight on a flat surface. i just changed after 7500 w/o checking you have me all paranoid now.
I'm checking it both ways. I've about 1200 miles on the GTX, which includes an interstate drive to Delaware and back, and the level hasn't moved on the dipstick yet. Looking good so far.
2 quarts low that is scary!?! I usually change at the 4k interval or 3k if I want to treat her to dinner.
From what I see you had them read the elements that were in the oil, viscosity readings, and look for water/coolant in the oil. Most of it looks to be alright...but you need to stop driving your car so hard!
I'm currently at 50k miles, and maybe I should do a UOA just to see how the engine is running.
If anyone wants a UOA done send a PM to keep the thread on topic.
"No charge" for the first few guys.
A few test that can be done on a sample are...
Spectro - 20 elements for wear metals/additives/ect.
VIS 100C - Viscosity
Karl Fisher - Water
Glycol
TBN
There is a limit to how many I am allowed to run since we have so much work at the lab.
Just got this job in Feburary working as a lab tech at a fluid analysis laboratory. We get to test diesel, gas engine, transmission, gear, coolants, and hydraulic fluids. Such a fun job hehe.
Thinking this is a fuel dilution problem. Other BITOGs have reported that BL is bad at reporting the actual fuel dilution value due to the type of test. Either way, I'm switching back to Mobil1 and resampling after 3K.
Have you considered running something dino and cheap like Castrol GTX (~$3/qt) for like 500 miles to "rinse" the engine and then running Mobil 1 or GC again?
Have you considered running something dino and cheap like Castrol GTX (~$3/qt) for like 500 miles to "rinse" the engine and then running Mobil 1 or GC again?
Yes, I have. I'm going back to Mobil1 (currently have GC 0W-30 in there for the last 500 miles).
What would be the difference in running GTX for 500 miles or just running Mobil 1 for 3000 and re-testing?
BITOG suggested running a HDEO for a short time and then switch.
My last Blackstone report dated 7-17-08 said:
"Lead dropped nicely in this sample {versus my first sample with them}. It is possible that the earlier reading was high due to a small particle streak that has washed out of the system. In any case, we like the improvement and think your silver Maxima is doing great. The universal averages column shows typical wear from this type of engine after 4,500 miles on the oil. You've run this oil 9,563 miles, and we think you could go even longer on the next sample. No contaminats found. The TBN read 3.6 active additive remaining. Looks good!"
I had 9,720 miles on the first sample and the total vehicle mileage at the end of the last sample was 71,785 miles. The lead reading on the first sample was 9, the average quoted was 7, and the reading on the last sample was only 4.
I experience some oil consumption going almost 10K miles with my Max. I find that I have to add 1/2 a quart at about 5 K miles and then it is down about a half a quart when I do the oil change. I don't add any oil until the cold dipstick says it is down about half way between the marks.
Whether you can run your Mobil 1 for 10 K miles depends on your circumstamces. I have about half interstate highway driving miles on both of those samples.
Yeah, but mine were on only 5K mile changes, not 10K. It did drop off, but I haven't had the engine open...so no clue as to why the Pb wear is so high. There is a similar reporting on a G35 on BITOG. The G35 is due to short trips (I don't do short trips). It seems some of these VQs are allowing fuel leakage causing fuel dilution. My oil always smells of fuel.
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you have me all paranoid now. 
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