MOSTLY good oil report analysis (Blackstone Labs)

Sent in my first oil sample to Blackstone Labs a few days ago, and got emailed results already. Ran 3500 cold winter miles, close to even city/hwy split, with RP 5W30. Engine has 116k miles, no known major repairs done. I'll copy/paste the comments:

We found enough potassium and sodium to point to a coolant leak developing. It's still a small amount at this
level and has not yet affected wear, which looks good. If you keep the oil runs around 3,500 miles, we think this is a
problem that you can live with for a while. Be sure to keep an eye on your coolant level, as this type of problem can get
worse quickly. No other harmful contaminants were found. The viscosity of the oil was just slightly low but doesn't
appear to be a problem. The TBN read 2.9 so you still had some active additive left. 1.0 is low.

I AM concerned about the elevated potassium/sodium levels, but it sounds like it's not enough to warrant any immediate action. Also may go to 4,000 miles on current change, since my additives are still decent.

do they have a sample of the fresh oil for comparison?

Albertj

have you replaced the lower intake manifold (LIM) gasket ?
the one on my GF's regal was BADLY deteriorated and weeping at only 74000 miles.

Thanks for the idea, I just ordered one of the test kits.

Bert

albertj wrote:

do they have a sample of the fresh oil for comparison?

Albertj

Do you mean, did "I" send in a fresh oil sample, or do you mean, do they already have test results for fresh RP 5W30?

Answer 1: No, I did not send in a sample of new oil. Didn't think of it, and it wasn't suggested.

Answer 2: I don't know.

I suspect I can find some detailed information on RP oils from RP directly, but haven't looked into it yet. The Blackstone report gives readings on about 20 components of the sample, and also lists universal averages for each for the engines they've previously tested for this type of engine, for comparison. Now that you mention sending a fresh sample, I just may do that when my sample bottle comes shortly. Depending on what I can find from RP.

Jason wrote:

have you replaced the lower intake manifold (LIM) gasket ?
the one on my GF's regal was BADLY deteriorated and weeping at only 74000 miles.

Nope. Ya wanna do that next Saturday?

Might be a little cold in the garage...

how much does it cost to have oil tested?

$22.50 for basic test, and I paid an extra $10 for the TBN test, which checks for remaining additive levels. Pretty important if contemplating running extended mileage.

http://www.blackstone-labs.com/

thank you!
btw their FAQ page is hilarious

Mr.Riviera wrote:

thank you!
btw their FAQ page is hilarious

You are correct, whoever wrote those has a sense of humor.

Bert

I sent for the Blackstone kit. It arrived about 1 week later. Here's what the package looks like:



And here's what's inside:



You get an oil bottle, absorbent material, zip-lock bag, instructions, info form, and a mailing tube. Pretty slick how they keep the oil from leaking. I changed my oil last weekend (first time ever!) and need to mail it in soon. Looking forward to a good report... we'll see.

Hey, how come I never get any absorbent material?

i didnt either
i've just been sitting on the kit for about a month now. i figured eventually i'll have the extra cash after a change to be able to send it in.

They say you can let the oil sit for a long time before sending in, no problem.

Mine sat in a bucket for a month before I found my lost bottle and took a sample. Stuck a big syringe into the middle to draw it. I'm getting overdue to change again, will try this weekend.

I also got the kit and will collect/send in a sample for testing when I reach the oil change interval.

I was going to do it the last time but forgot until I had already drained the oil

I may not make any difference in the analysis results but I think it said to catch the oil as it comes out of the engine.

Bert

You "should" allow maybe a quart or 2 to drain then fill the bottle. I made sure I drained into a clean plastic pail, kept it covered, then later took my sample from the middle of the bucket. I don't think it makes much diff as long as you don't allow any contaminants to get into the container. But this time I have my bottle at the ready.

Here's my analysis:

Oil Type: Valvoline 10W/30
Use Interval: 3420 miles
Miles on car: 161,620
Oil Added: 1 Qt

Elements (parts per million)

Alum: 2 (avg: 3)
Chrom: 0 (avg: 1)
Iron: 5 (avg: 13)
Copp: 7 (avg: 17)
Lead: 4 (avg: 8)
Tin: 0 (avg: 1)
Moly: 20 (avg: 61)
Nick: 0 (avg: 0)
Mang: 0 (avg: 0)
Silv: 0 (avg: 0)
Titan: 0 (avg: 0)
Potass: 31 (avg: 7)
Boron: 7 (avg: 45)
Silic: 3 (avg: 12)
Sodiu: 56 (avg: 17)
Calc: 1948 (avg: 2086)
Magn: 9 (avg: 89)
Phosp: 653 (avg: 693)
Zinc: 790 (avg: 846)
Barium: 0 (avg: 0)

Properties:

SUS Viscosity @ 212ºF: 57.8 (should be 58-64)
cSt Viscosity @ 100ºF: 9.58 (should be 9.6-11.6)
Flashpoint in ºF: 385 (should be >365)
Fuel%: <.05 (should be <2.0)
Antifreeze%: 0.11 (should be 0)
Water %: 0.0 (should be <0.1)
Insolubles %: 0.3 (should be <.6)

green = better than expected, red = worse than expected

Comments from Blackstone:

We hate to be the bearers of bad news, but it looks like your Riviera has a coolant leak. The high potassium and sodium show that 0.11% of the sample was coolant contamination. Wear still looks good so this may be a recent development and if corrected soon we think your engine will be fine. The most common source of the problem in this engine is the intake manifold gasket. We suggest keeping your oil runs around 3k miles until you can get your car in the shop. Universal averages are based on 4,700 miles. Be sure to keep an eye on your coolant level.

so you have a very small coolant/gasket leak? and the oil was just barely worn out after only 3400 miles?
i keep meaning to send mine in too... but i always forget i have the kit until after.

Yes, contrary to marketing BS, oil can wear out after only 3k miles, even when a fresh quart was added less than 2 weeks before taking the oil sample.

I added the comment from Blackstone. They think it's the LIM gasket.

Dave, exactly how much contamination did you have?

How much(if any) coolant have you had to add?

I got to do this test soon...


Bert

So what do you do now, Aaron?

I've noticed virtually no coolant loss in 3 years, but my mechanic probably tops it off at each oil change. We're talking about a very small leak, in my opinion.

What to do? Keep the oil fresh, for starters. I'm going to continue with 3k changes on the nose. I've always known this was right to do, even when some folks told me it was old school oil company folklore. If the problem doesn't get worse any time soon, I don't see it hurting the engine over the next 20k miles.

Need to check the #2 & #6 plugs to see how bad they are after 5k miles. If they are bad as before, I may need to tackle this before fall.

Ultimately, I will need to do the LIM replacement. This should be a day's work for me. What I'd like to do is port the blower while it's off. Need to do some research, to find out what parts to cut out. If anyone has pics of a ZZP port job, please post up.

Aaron, my antifreeze % was apparently too low to reflect a number to assign on my reports. Your potassium and sodium are WAY higher than my levels. Mine were 16 & 18 in March, and actually dropped to 12 & 14 in June, running the exact same 3500 miles each time. I'm going to stick to 3500 on my changes instead of pushing out to 4000, which they said I could try if I wanted.

I have the LIM gasket on the shelf, maybe next summer...