Although my wear is contiues to look good from Blackstone They said I had 29 for Potassium but no Sodium so they weren't sure if it is coolant and to keep an eye on coolant level,etc.it could be the beginning of a problem. Last report I did back in January 2 changes ago I had 4 parts. Big change..They said universal averages are 12.
What do you think? Sorry to hear that if they're right on.

 

not sure if you have an issue or not. Mine that I did awhile back was 7. Sodium for me was 2.

So what does it say on the lower portion of the form?

 

It's growing banana's...I didn't think there was potassium in the coolant, but, I guess there is.

 

Senix hows the trip going? I wonder were it can come from besides coolant? My Potassium was low last January. Sodium is 2.

Below on form says "no water. Coolant ?"
My sodium was lower then last January on this report. Got to have sodium for coolant unless it's just starting.

I worry about the front cover that the tech didn't change when he did the pump job this past spring. Pisses me off when something isn't done right on a 50K plus truck. If I have it done down the line it will cost 2K to get the cover changed I believe. Hopefully this will go withing 39K miles I have left.

 

hm.. my first was potassium at 7, sodium at 15..

I'll be sending in a second in a couple weeks

Sam

 

Capt, trip going well. We are now in Salina, KS headed home.

Truck has been flawless. So far around 2500 miles total including some in and around the Springs and Pueblo area.

Was up to 99F outside at one point. AC running good, kids had blankets on!

 

That is a good report!

 

Sam How did you attach the report? I read oils have different levels of Potassium etc. so maybe that is all it is for these tests. But I thought Blackstone takes this into consideration? Are they suppose to know the levels in the oil and compare them to previous oils? Maybe not.

Senix ...I'm doing a trip to Yellowstone with my Lance next year. 2400 one way. I can't wait. I hope this truck pulls strong then..Although I can crash in the camper while waiting for help. Maybe I'll have a good view too. LOL

 

I viewed it from my email, then did alt-prtscrn of the viewed page,
saved that to a jpg using mspaint, then attached it to the post (as I am a paid supporter, I can inline attach. otherwise you must upload it somewhere, and reference that image.)

I did not tell Blackstone anything about my oil

Sam

 

My labs, Archer Petroleum, do a trending report along with the analysis. They also make recommendations based on the report and the trends.They use all previous analyses on each component or piece of equipment for the trending report.

 

Blackstone just emailed me and this is what they said.

Potassium is pretty peculiar in this sample, so you are definitely right to
question it. It is not at all likely that the potassium we found in your
most recent report is from an additive in your oil. Since there is no
excess sodium present and wear metals look very good, it is also difficult
to believe that coolant contamination could be the source of the extra
potassium. Something that we see from time to time is flux leeching from
the engine's EGR system. Flux is a substance that is used when fusing two
pieces of metal together, and the flux in some engine's EGR systems is
known to contain high levels of potassium. If the potassium is from flux,
we should see it drop considerably next time. At any rate, it is very
likely that we will see better evidence of the source of the potassium in
the next sample.

So how do I know my egr valve is failing? I have the 1st release were they use coolant for the job.

 

I could see the potassium in the flux...It doesn't mean your EGR valve is failing though. Maybe they had a glob of it when they were soldering the valve together, and it broke off, and got chewed up/redistributed throughout your oil. They test the minutia on those oil samples.

 

Thanks. I'm going to have to sit on it for a while and see. I do about 20K a year so next sample will be 1 1/2 months.
I'l repost when that happens or it blows..

 

Not sure about the EGR valve, but I think they are talking about the EGR cooler. There are the flanges, inlet and outlet ports, and the seams all welded together using stainless steel. The cooler core may also be welded inside of it. The manufacturer probably uses flux to keep the welds clean and leak-free.

I would see about the next sample if you have no coolant loss of any kind.

 

That's what I meant...cooler...so used to egr VALVES...lol