Beginning oil analysis

[bcjammerx]

Sent the virgin sample, here's what the virgin sample of castrol syntec was. Blackstone thought it was 5w-30 as I neglected to give them that info...it was 10w-30...hmmm. I know viscosity tends to go up with used oil...not too conserned since they are "guessing the viscosity".

Am I reading this right...my viscosity is actually 9.4W57.2 ?

Out of the bottle unused

[ON_N20]

Wow, neat I didnt know an oil analysis was that involved

So I take it your concern is that you think the viscosity results are incorrect?

It lists SUS viscosity at 57.2, and says to the right of that, that the normal range is between 56-67.
It also lists the cSt viscosity at 9.41, and says the normal range is between 9.1-12.4.

Im no expert but I believe those are NOT the numbers they use to rate the oil as far as 5w-30, 10w-30, etc. They are simply a different viscosity scale, taken at certain temperatures. Measuring oil in "weights", is probably a whole other type of measurement (the ratings you are concerned about are just measurements of the "shear" and "time" qualitys of the oil). BTW, 100 degrees Celcius, and 210 degrees Farenheight are basically the same thing (2 deg. far. difference), those two ratings were tested at basically the same temperature, just using differents units/scales.

SUS viscosity: A value derived from timing the efflux of a fixed amount of hydraulic fluid as it moves through a standard-sized orifice at a fixed temperature. SUS viscosity is also called relative viscosity.

cSt viscosity: centistokes (a measurement of viscosity)

This site may help answer your question better (its a short read dont worry ): http://www.engineersedge.com/lubrica..._viscosity.htm

Whew, well that was confusing, well hope it helps!

[bcjammerx]

sweet...I was pretty sure it wasn't that simple...it never is
I'll keep updating as I do these.

not sure if I'm going to do the wifes car or not.

[8ball]

i havent movd my car in a year, i drove the car 5k on th same oil its mobile 10-30. ill send mine in too. What was the turn around???

[bcjammerx]

it was pretty quick actually. I got an email with that pdf first then I got the report in the mail. I'm a thousand miles away from the first "used oil" sample.

Damn the wifes car sees a TON of miles mine...not so much. It's taking forEVER to get to 5000 miles. Her car was there 1000 miles ago

[WilliamW]

What, do you have Bill Nye the Science Guy near by? Why did you have the oil analysis done? I'm very curious.

[zack_odom]

Yeah Im curious why this was done as well.

[bcjammerx]

You do oil analysis' for two main reasons:
1. to determine MY engines oil change intervals.
2. to determine WHAT parts are wearing in your engine.

Most folks use blackstone labs. They are listed on google.

When people tell you to change dino oil every 5000 or to change synthetic every 15,000, it is at best a guess. Some dino oil need to be changed every 2000 in some cases. Some synthetics can go for 20,000 miles. depends on your engine and your environment. So I want to KNOW how long my oil is good for and this is the only way.

In truth, some engines can go longer in between synthetic oil changes some need it much sooner. For instance, my parents have a sludge campaign engine...using dino oil they must NOT exceed 3000 miles. If they switched to synthetics they could go no more than 10,000.

Most engines can go 5000 with dino, 15,000 OR MORE with synthetic...but how much more? You will not know until you do an analysis.

Of course the numbers I give with synthetics are assuming you change the oil filter every 5k (just the filter) and top the oil off as well.

Since I do a lot of hard driving on DIRT roads I wanted to see:
1. how well my air filter was filtering out dirt (shows up as silicon)
2. how long does my oil protect my engine...could I go more than 15,000 miles? Or do I need to change my oil sooner?

Damn...I have 2000 miles more to go...I do not drive at all

[foamypirate]

I'll be sending in my sample soon, as well. Approaching 10k on 5W-30 Royal Purple.

[bcjammerx]

I'll be sending in my sample soon, as well. Approaching 10k on 5W-30 Royal Purple.

Cool...would be awesome if we could get some of these up from different users. Even though our oil samples would not be the same (even with the same oil) it would still give good data to draw conclusions about the oils.

I plan on doing this for different oils to see how hold up, I will have to make sure I weed out as many variables as I can. That is sort of another reason for doing this, I want to know how good my oil choices really are.

But before I start changing oils I need to work out other variable that can play a part in oil condition...the way I drive is pretty much constant...course we just moved so I am off the dirt roads I use Wix oil filters every time...spark plugs stay new...air filter...biggest variable for me.

I have a feeling I will be using a different brand air filter than I am now, but, I will wait for the the first used oil sample.

[Luis]

Did any of you guys continue with the research? This is all very interesting to me and I'm left wishing you guys had kept sending samples of your oil to get tested

[bcjammerx]

man money got tight so I never sent mine...I actually still have it in the tube. I should go ahead and send that in. I'm a little leary...my lame ass hasn't removed the spectre filter...ugh I should be kicked in the nuts for that.

I do need to start all over though...with a better air filter and all...and see how the stored one compares

[foamypirate]

Here are the important details from mine. Mileage was 8.5k. Lots of wear because of a cheap Spectre airfilter. This leads to high silicon which is abrasive, and causes more wear overall.

[19dabeast85]

I've been sending in oil analysis for a few years now.....the only performance filter you can get that filters well is the Apexi Power or AEM dry flow. Spectre and K&N are JUNK, allowing WAY too much dirt through.

As far as oils: Mobile1 5w30 fully synthetic showed the highest wear.

Torco and Royal Purple show the lowest. Royal Purple is slightly better than Torco. Castrol dino is also a great oil if you change it every 3k. With RP and a PureOne filter I can go 6k between changes very safely.

[9tAkord]

Castrol