Blackstone Labs Oil Report OM603
 

Hello all, this is my second oil report from Blackstone running different change intervals. First report was for Rotella Dino, changed at 5k interval. The second report reflects Rotella T Synthetic with a 9k mil oil change interval.

How do they look to you guys?? Also what about the iron readings too high? My soot levels seem to be really low consistent 0.3% each at 5k and at 9kmiles, is it safe to go longer?

Reports:

07/17/06 225,030---- 03/01/06 216,078
Element/Test 2/Test 1/ Universal Avg.
ALUMINUM 4/3/4
CHROMIUM 3/1/2
IRON 47/16/32 :(
COPPER 2/1/3
LEAD 3/2/3
TIN 0/0/0
MOLYBDENUM 7/6/69
NICKEL 1/1/1
MANGANESE 0/0/0
SILVER 0/0/0
TITANIUM 0/0/0
POTASSIUM 3/9/7
BORON 0/1/58
SILICON 5/5/4
SODIUM 2/2/3
CALCIUM 3457/3344/2835
MAGNESIUM 10/9/126
PHOSPHORUS 1058/984/1027
ZINC 1358/1124/1241
BARIUM 0/0/0

Std. Viscosity/Flashpoint/Fuel%/Antifreeze/Water/Soot
STD 65-76 / >410 /<2.0 / 0 / <0.1 / <0.8
T1 89.6 / 440 /<0.5 / 0 / 0 /0.4
T2 82.6 / 415 /<0.5 / 0 / 0 / 0.3

Their summary:
BILL: You are looking for more oil use miles and we think you can run them if you want, if you don't
mind seeing iron wear reading quite high in relation to universal average levels. The iron level in
universal averages is based on a 5,652 mile oil use run. You beat averages last sample with the
5,000-mile oil use run, but you can see the effects of the 9,000-mile run on iron in this sample. Watch
lead closely if you choose to run more miles next sample. If the oil gets too abrasive lead, from
bearings will increase. At that point you will have run too many miles.
300TD.

EQUIPMENT MAKE: Mercedes Benz
EQUIPMENT MODEL: 3.0L 6 cyl. 300TD
FUEL TYPE: Diesel
OIL USE INTERVAL: 9,000 Miles
OIL TYPE & GRADE: Shell Rotella T 5W/40
MAKE-UP OIL ADDED: 0 qts
OIL REPORT
COMMENTS UNIT CLIENT
9,000 5,000
MI/HR ON UNIT

It looks to me like your soot levels are OK, the only question is the Iron. When I did a 10K mile analysis on my 617, the Iron was 87 ppm (verses the average of 41 ppm) and the "insolubles" were 0.5% verses the recommended <0.6% so I decided to go back to 5K oil changes. It looks like your 603 has less soot (less blow-by) and was in pretty good shape at 9K miles. I would be tempted to stick with 9K because increasing the interval may increase the Iron too much. :confused:

What are you planning on doing?

regarding the iron...
 

Craig I'm also debating keeping the intervals at 9k on Rotella T syn, the soot is actually 0.1 less at 9kmiles than it was at 5k mi on Rotella dino. The iron is what shot up the most and I cant figure out why just this element shot up so much, none of the other bearing related materials shot up so I guess right now I'm waivering on what to do, Rotella T syn is back in the car so maybe 7k would be a good target to measure next.

Any other thoughts always welcomed:)

I dunno, the iron really isn't that high. I've seen much higher. It's fair to say it's slightly elevated but I would NOT be losing sleep over it.

What oils have you been running previous to this oil?

The car has used Rotella....
 

Up until about 10k miles ago I have used only Rotella Dino, and switched to Rotella T Synthetic since then, so far the synthetic helped quiet the lifters and the soot control seems to be really good. Given the cheap cost of it, I'm stying with the Rotella T syn for now. :)

Did you have an oil change between the change to synthetic and the analysis? I have seen a website(unfortunatly I can't remember it) where they did several analysis on their car both before and after the change. The first change after the switch to synthetics showed higher levels than dyno oil in some catagories. They attributed this to the better detergents in the synthetic oil flushing the engine out.

I have also had several people recomend doing a short oil change after the switch to synthetic oil because it flushes all sorts of crud out of the engine.

I'd run an even 10k on the next one and see what comes up. If all the levels continue to hold it looks pretty good. If Iron for example starts to get a bit high, back the next one off a few thousand miles.

I'd go straight to a 15Kmile OCI. If your engine turns into a huge paperweight, back it off a couple thousand.:)

Sorry, I couldn't resist. All this paranoia about putting in synthetic oil that is light years ahead of the stuff available 25 years ago is totally unwarranted.

I'm still waiting for someone to convince me that 15kmile OCI, or for that matter 25kmile OCI with filter changes, has ever, and I mean EVER caused an engine related problem.

It's all smoke and mirrors folks.

240Joe

Thanks for the info...
 

thanks to all for your info

ConnClark:
I did not do a short oil change to synthetic as you recommend, makes total sense and is probably impacting this report some...good catch :)
This is the results after first switch to synthetic, I did change it hot and let it drain out pretty dry, but the detergent effects are certainly cleaning off some old residual gunk. Since I'm staying with syn,

Hatterasguy, I will likely take it to 10k miles on this change, particularly since the 9k run seems OK and with what ConnClark mentioned, I may have some contamination issues in this last sample. I'll send in the next sample and report back.

How are the silicon readings at 5 how do they compare to your experience? I ask because I had gotten the same number a while back in another analysis running paper filters. The two tests shown here are on a K&N air filter, and my silicon readings still remain at 5 so the fitration ability of these seems to have not had a negative affect so far.

My next test will reveal some more for sure.

240Joe
I'd go straight to a 15Kmile OCI. If your engine turns into a huge paperweight, back it off a couple thousand.
I already have a couple of Jags, my paperweight collection is complete:P

Copper and tin are main bearing materials. Those are the readings that really count. Iron is just wear.

But since this sample is the first one with a semi synthetic the numbers will be a bit high. Rotella is a good oil but its not Amsoil, or Delvac 1, it isn't a true group 4 synthetic.

This might be that site. They do something like that anyway. There is more to the site than the page I linked to, look around.

http://neptune.spacebears.com/cars/stories/mobil1.html

They seem to think that changing your filter and topping off extends the change interval.

Are you checking over at Bobistheoilguy?

Thanks for the info on that site it is very informative. I have been reaserching a lot on this topic and I'm interested in the extended intervals mainly to avoid the waste of unwarranted changes. Most of the concern is on the filtration side, whether you opt to change just filters more frequently or use a frantz type of bypass filter (which I'm leaning towards). The oil additives seem to hold up quite well for extended use, but this itself cannot be generalized because so much depends on driving style city/hwy etc. I drive mainly highway, so I can see that soot levels should be better under control and the additive package in Rotella is holding up very well under these conditions. My next test at 10k miles will be a better indicator of my assumptions, I feel that some of the higher values like iron will actually go down and hopefully all else will stay the same...we'll see.

Since there are quite a few oil analysis threads out there maybe this can become a sticky or DYI on it's own, where everyone can post their test results and critical info i.e. engine type, miles, miles on oil, oil type, blowby (added oil) etc. That way all members could do some comparisons of results. There could even be two additional sections, one for WVO/SVO users and another for Biodiesel users (not blends but B100 and could be homebrew). I think this would begin to yield at least statistically acceptable ranges for all tested elements.

Just a thought, and admins agree?

This is my foremost concern, too. It's entirely possible the powerful detergents found in syn diesel oils are stripping away layers of sludge/deposits left behind. Worst case: continue to monitor via UOA.