Just got my first oil analysis back. Not sure if anybody has insight beyond what Blackstone commented on. I am running a hot tune as a daily driver so could that be why the elevated lead? In my research it seems pretty mildly elevated. This was with Amsoil Signature 5W-40 run for 6661 miles. Interesting to see the elevated potassium and boron still in there although I did't add any Archoil on this change. The previous oil run was also the Amsoil. and previous to that it was Schaeffers with the Archoil additive.

 

Schaeffer oil will always give you high lead numbers .........

Remember you retain quite a bit of old oil when doing an oil change. I think the lead is from using the Schaeffer oil

 

I remember you mentioning that in your analysis. What levels did you have? Will be interesting to see this next one after 2 runs of Amsoil since the Schaeffers.

 

Mine went as high as 22. Went back to 3-5 pretty quickly. Took 15 oil changes to get back to 1.

 

 

Not that I know of (oil analysis question).

From what I have heard, in the aviation industry, it is recommended to cut open the oil filter on some frequency and do metals analysis on the filter media (filterable wear particles). This is because you typically see wear, and not corrosion, as the "more common" failure mechanism in this area. Still corrosion CAN happen I guess and I suppose you would see some metal numbers increase if it did (iron primarily I think for the base metal, and the roller bearings; lead/copper for other bearing wear). I always assumed excessive heat and/or moisture in the oil could result in acid build up and cause corrosion. Moisture can increase just from excessive disuse. I believe that the TBN number of the oil analysis will indicate the oils remaining ability to neutralize acids, so that could help some - at least from the corrosion aspect.

I have never done it, but if you call Blackstone, they may do filter media analysis. Oil analysis is good for some things, but it doesn't give a complete picture for engine health and protection. Also, bear in mind that you can't properly evaluate your oil analysis results on a single analysis. Trends are as important as the actual numbers.

I think the best approach is to use good synthetic oil, don't go crazy on extended oil change intervals, and keep the temperature down. I believe that hotter/thinner oil will not provide the wear protection that oil in the proper temperature range will. I have seen articles indicating synthetic oil property "breakdown" around 300 *F, but some say it can begin as low as 270*F. Remember, oil in your engine pan can be as high as 50 degrees hotter than what you read from the EOT sensor. Oil coming directly off of bearings can be even higher.

I will say that fuel dilution of the oil can also cause wear protection problems, so I do regular oil analysis mainly to watch that.

 

I doubt there will be notice if the lifters grenade, maybe if they are just starting, and I mean just starting.

I'll throw up my analysis 18k after the Ford remanned motor went in, about when I started to hear ticking from a hydraulically collapsing lifter. This one is good because it has both the truck as new and remanned motor on the sheet. Blackstone did not read my info sent in with the sample that said it was a new motor, despite the overall milage reading.

This one had me flipped out because of the bearing material. I could somewhat justify it as I wasn't sure if during reman they used the same bearings as during the initial OE build. Bearing manufacturers don't all use the same alloys if I can use that term.

Subsequent oil analysis dropped the wear metals I calmed down about them. I still have to pull the crack out of my motor to inspect the bearings before it goes back together, but I am worried about what I may find. When I pulled the oil cooler there was debris on the screen after 75k. At first I expected it came from the front cover as they were not magnetic and the oil pump cavity often seems to show some scoring on disassembly on many motors. Nope, score free. So now I'm concerned there may be thrust bearing wear if during the reman of the crank the journal was not machined well, like the decks.

I'm still trying to figure out how to take the check valve apart in the lifter so I can see if that type of debris was causing the leaking. It looks like that type of debris caused some minor score lines on some of the cam lobes. Not enough to throw out the cam.

I had to give you the whole story considering the numbers.