Oil Analysis Reports: Post & Discuss Here

[lvm3sm46]

I am feeling like it's going to blow up lol. Thank you for giving me the go to drive it lol.

[IamFODI]

I am feeling like it's going to blow up lol. Thank you for giving me the go to drive it lol.

To be clear, I'm not saying it won't blow up tomorrow, either! I can't say either way.

If it were my car, I wouldn't necessarily park it until the rod bearings could be replaced, but I definitely would minimize driving until then. And I'd do everything I could to get the job done sooner (other than going to a shop that wasn't the absolute most competent one I could find). It's not the probability of failure I'd be scared of; it's the fact that these engines are not cheap to rebuild, and word is the remans don't last as long as the factory-built ones on average (no surprise there).

[IamFODI]

160529 miles on the engine at the time of this sample.

For about three months right at the beginning of the OCI, the car ran only a few times, only for moments at a time, and only to move in and out of a garage, occasionally without its O2 sensors. Also, I discovered a failing ignition coil just after this oil change, so presumably it wasn't doing its best work near the end of this OCI. Not sure if either of those is noteworthy WRT wear but they're all I could think of that happened during this OCI other than normal driving.

Trying not to think anything of the still-low-but-higher-than-normal aluminum number... 😬

I did this oil change when the oil was coming up on 1L low, so the "lube added" field underestimates oil consumption. It was closer to 1L/1600 mi on this OCI.

Not sure why the lab is still flagging Ti here....



Wear Metals

Iron - 6
Chromium - 0
Nickel - 0
Aluminum - 7
Copper - 3
Lead - 0
Tin - 1
Cadmium - 0
Silver - 0
Vanadium - 0

Particle Quantifier (PQ) Index - 12


Contaminant Metals

Silicon - 3
Sodium - 2
Potassium - 2


Multi-Source Metals

Titanium - 48
Molybdenum - 187
Antimony - 0
Manganese - 0
Lithium - 0
Boron - 32


Additive Metals

Magnesium - 17
Calcium - 3181
Barium - 0
Phosphorus - 910
Zinc - 1005


Other Contaminants

Fuel Dilution - 1.8% (GC)
Soot - <0.1%
Water - <0.1% (FTIR)

Fluid Properties

Viscosity @ 100º C - 19.4 cSt
TBN - 4.74
Oxidation - 14
Nitration - 11

[kaiv]

First sample on a recent-ish purchase here. Clevite tri-metal rod bearings ~30k miles ago, 4 oil changes since. Silicon a bit high.

[IamFODI]

165296 miles on the engine at the time of this sample.

Did this change a bit earlier than normal because I had a gap in my schedule and didn't know if I'd have one later. Changed spark plugs ~370 miles before draining the oil.

A little more than halfway through this OCI, I switched to Shell fuel almost exclusively and tried to get back to a driving style that had reduced oil consumption for me in the past: basically minimizing time spent at part throttle in the middle of the RPM range, so always trying to keep RPMs low except for rare moments of flooring it and chasing the redline.

Could be a coincidence, but oil consumption did seem to improve slightly and iron and aluminum numbers are the lowest they've been in a while. Fuel dilution is down, too. When I saw the numbers, I thought they had to be anomalies. But I took the sample when the sump was almost a quart low – so, all else equal, the wear metals should be more concentrated, not less. Additive numbers are all about the same as they've been, as is the copper number (not sure what to make of the latter, if anything).

I'm gonna keep sticking with Shell fuel and that all-or-nothing driving strategy, and maybe keep the OCIs at or below 5k, and see if the good news keeps coming.

Also think I'm gonna stop wasting my time trying to get the lab not to flag Ti in this oil. They acknowledge my note that it must be an additive but still flagged it. #ShrugLife


Wear Metals

Iron - 5
Chromium - 0
Nickel - 0
Aluminum - 2
Copper - 3
Lead - 0
Tin - 0
Cadmium - 0
Silver - 0
Vanadium - 0

Particle Quantifier (PQ) Index - 11


Contaminant Metals

Silicon - 3
Sodium - 3
Potassium - 2


Multi-Source Metals

Titanium - 48
Molybdenum - 195
Antimony - 0
Manganese - 0
Lithium - 0
Boron - 30


Additive Metals

Magnesium - 17
Calcium - 3053
Barium - 0
Phosphorus - 891
Zinc - 1023


Other Contaminants

Fuel Dilution - 1.4% (GC)
Soot - <0.1%
Water - <0.1% (FTIR)


Fluid Properties

Viscosity @ 100º C - 19.8 cSt
TBN - 4.76
Oxidation - 14
Nitration - 10

[IamFODI]

First sample on a recent-ish purchase here. Clevite tri-metal rod bearings ~30k miles ago, 4 oil changes since. Silicon a bit high.

Aftermarket air filter?

[kaiv]

Aftermarket air filter?

Indeed. Smart man!
I'll do one more with the current BMC filter and pop in a stock paper filter next oil change.

[Tbonem3]

Higher moly and titanium - using Castrol?

[IamFODI]

Higher moly and titanium - using Castrol?

Yep — BMW 10W-60.

[Tbonem3]

Oh I meant Kevin's report, but yours looks similar too

[IamFODI]

Oh I meant Kevin's report, but yours looks similar too

Ah, sorry.

Also curious what kaiv is running.

[kaiv]

Liqui Moly.

[Tbonem3]

Do you add ceratec or any molybdenum disulfide additive? Because liquimoly, its name notwithstanding, contains no moly. Nor titanium. Maybe the engine's had castrol for years and now liquimoly once it became yours.

[kaiv]

PO (allegedly) used LM, even gave me some with the car 🤷♂️
I do not add any additives.

[Tbonem3]

Strange. Moly and ti can only be additives, and the ppm #s in your report seem fairly high esp considering the oil that's been used doesn't contain those additives. Head scratcher for me, but doesn't really matter ultimately.