oil sample?

just did my oil sample today at speedco. oilhas 10000 miles the engine is an '05 ism, numbers are. AL<2,CHRO<2,COPPER 3,IRON 11,LEAD 4,TIN <2,SILICON 5,POTASSIUM 10,SODIUM 14,MOLY 5,WATER 0.2,OXIDATION 0.2 N/A.VISCOSITY 14.4,GLYCOL N/D,FUEL <2.O,TBN 7.6,NITRATION 4.2, SOOT <0.1, if someone can interpret it, thanks a million. engine has 570000 miles.

 

That is an easy interpretation..... that is a good oil sample. Not sure what you are looking to need interpreted. All your wear numbers are low. The dirt (silicon) is a decent number. There is no water or coolant or fuel detected in the oil. The additive package part of the oil (TBN) is holding up very nicely, as is the viscosity. A lot of folks would love to have as good of an oil sample result on an engine with 570,000 on it. Whatever you are doing, and whatever you are using for oil in that engine.... keep it up. Anything you don't understand on that report, just ask. Speedco also gives you a supplemental sheet that describes what all the different items are in the testing.

 

Cowpie, the report did not give me an oxidation number becuse of a high amount of esters presented. Mobil delvac 5w 40 thanks again cowpie.

 

A lot of the on site test machines have problems with reading oxidation when a synthetic oil is fed them. I occasionally will use Speedco for an oil sample test to compare to those I send into a lab. The lab does fine with a synthetic, but Speedco's machine chokes up and gives me the same thing you stated. Not up on all the tech regarding these machines, but seems pretty consistent no matter who you take it to. The labs you have to send samples to do a better job with all of that.

 

Actually, the silicon is high relative to the mileage on the oil on that one..... my guess? Another dirty air filter, if I had to guess.....he only has 10k on that sample, I'm at, or under 5 at 30-40k, I'd pull another sample in 5k miles and recheck, if it was me.

I used to go to Speedco for UOA's, then I wised up and got a vacuum pump and prepaid test bottles from Blackstone with the return postage paid. Blackstone is light years ahead of Speedco as far as stringent testing procedures, lab quality, and machinery. Blackstone calibrates their machine twice daily, and runs a known test sample every ninth test to ensure accuracy.... You also get their opinion on whats going on with your sample, instead of some sheet of paper that doesn't give you enough information to understand what the analysis numbers actually mean. It's why so many people who go to Speedco and get a UOA then come on here to ask what it really means....

Additionally, when you're pulling your own sample you can be extra careful not to let any OUTSIDE contamination into the sample, (it's important cause we're measuring parts per million), watch the kid at Speedco pull your sample and tell me you have confidence that nothing outside of the sump got into that sample bottle....

The results are only as accurate as the controls implemented to ensure the purity of the sample material.

Also, Speedco is in the oil change business and they have a vested interest in you changing your oil....

I used to get reports from them that said, "soot or water is too high to measure, we suggest changing your oil"

Same engine, same oil, same interval.... and Blackstone UOA's list the soot percentage, (which is done with a completely different machine and by another lab) as always being somewhere between one half of one percent and two point something percent, and is always the same relative to the mileage at which I've pulled the sample. I'm doing 60k intervals on the oil change now, (series 60 Detroit), and can't believe I ever used Speedco for something as important as a UOA, but that's just me. Everybody has their comfort level, mine is using Blackstone.

 

Tony, the best advice I could give you would be to take samples at specific periods and watch the numbers. You need to trend the wear rates to set an OCI, (oil change interval).

For example, after changing the oil pull a sample at 1k miles, then another one at 5k, and another at 10k, another at 15k, and so on until you hit the OEM suggested drain and change interval. At that point you will have established a trend with your wear rates. You watch the trends and let this, along with other important data, determine your OCI. Depending on what's being revealed thru the testing, you may be able to extend the OCI, or may have to shorten it. A good analysis facility can help you with this by testing your oil and advising you. In my opinion, Speedco is useless as a testing facility and OCI adviser.

I don't even let Speedco grease my truck, as they never wipe the dirt off the zerk's...

You have to tell them to do this, and they cop an attitude with you when you do.

It's easier, cheaper, and I can use a superior grease by doing it myself.... and it was done correctly, I make sure I'm not injecting dirt into the grease fitting when I'm doing it, how do I do this? I wipe the zerk clean before attaching the coupling. Reminds me of a line in an Elmore Leonard novel.... "did you screw it up on purpose? Cause it's just as easy to do it correctly..."

 

I would not agree that silicon is high. If you look at many of the oil compositions, they already have 1 to 2 points of silicon in them out of the jug. You always have to compare the numbers to the virgin oil composition. And based on OEM engine tolerances, a 5 ppm silicon doesn't even come close to alert status.

As for whether Speedco's machine is accurate or not, it is not bad. Not the greatest, but not bad. I have compared several samples over the years between speedco and the lab I send in to, and there have not been any major differences. Minor ones, sure. I don't worry about how a sample is "pulled". I have a test port that I can fill a sample bottle as needed and when oil is drained, I also have a Fumoto drain valve on the pan, so it is easy to slow the flow and fill a bottle, then open it back up and complete the drain. I can't recall ever having a sample at Speedco show I needed to change the oil. Even if it did, Speedco would not get that business. They don't have an ala carte pricing option and I don't use the oil they have or the filters they stock. And I am in the grease my own camp as well. I like doing the job right and getting around under there and checking everything myself.

 

Maybe so, but 5ppm silicon on a 10k sample is not normal, not for my engine anyways. Silicon is dirt, I'm not familiar with it being considered as part of the additive package, I'd resample in 5k miles and again at 10k and keep an eye on it, but the beauty of it is that we all get to do what we want to. My advice was to watch it, not to change the oil, but to keep an eye on it.... And I would be curious to know how many miles Tony's air filter has on it.....

The test port, or release valve, is a good way to pull the sample provided it's clean. I'd be worried about it getting turned, either by accident or maliciously, or broken off by a road hazard.

Agree on greasing the truck, I think I asked you this once before, but what grease do you use? Just curious, I like the Mobil products, I really like the Delvac Extreme grease... when I grease the truck I pump grease until some of the old stuff purges, the Delvac comes out the same orange color and looks great at 15k intervals, Mobil claims 30k intervals are possible, but I like the comfort level of 15k combined with the confidence of knowing that if I overlook the interval and slip to 20k it's "ok"...

And... I really like the price on the Delvac Extreme... I can't bring myself to spend ten bucks on a tube of grease, and some of the boutique greases are up there in that range. If I thought I was getting twice as good of grease for the inflated price I would consider it, but I don't really think I would be.

My Detroit mech showed me some stuff that he personally likes, and demonstrated it's resistance to heat by hitting it with a cutting torch... the stuff didn't burn and retained it's consistency, not greasy like a lithium base, but more like a weird plastic jelly...it was more like that green slime that they used to sell to us kids to play with...trying to remember what it was called.... Seabasto, or Webasto and a number like 6000, or something like that... I think it's main selling point is it won't pound out, Timken load of some kind of really impressive number or something....

I think I'll stick with the Delvac, as I'm just not that adventurous....

 

Just did a Google search for that grease I was talking about, and it doesn't come up.... I have a tube of it in the side box, bought a tube but wasn't brave enough to actually use it...lol....

If I wasn't so lazy I'd dig it out and find out what it's called and who makes it....

 

you guys are the best!!! the air filter had 10k miles also, i think the problem is one of my clients has a limestone yard the last few weeks has been dry is southeast louisiana and the yard has been very dusty, maybe that was it.