301,880 miles Oil Analysis Report

[300D-91]

At 301,880 miles I decided it was time for an oil sample beyond rubbing it between my fingers and smelling it . Since buying the car I've followed the MB recommended 3,000 mile oil and filter change schedule using Rotella 15W-40 oil. This was my first time running a synthetic oil in this engine plus it was in for 4,125 miles so I was curious. The report turned out far better than I expected and only enforces my confidence in this car.

Here is the Blackstone Labs Oil Report. If your not familiar with these reports you can learn how to read them here. Select "Gas/Diesel Report" then simply roll your mouse over the top of the purple fields to see a pop-up explanation for each item.

Disclaimer: We do oil samples every oil change (10,000 miles) on our 2006 Jetta TDI after it suffered an engine failure in 2010. I have no association with Blackstone other than being a happy customer.

[shertex]

How does soot appear on a Blackstone report? Is that covered under insolubles?

Is your EGR still functioning?

BTW MB recommended interval for your car is 5k.

[300D-91]

Originally Posted by shertex

How does soot appear on a Blackstone report? Is that covered under insolubles?

Is your EGR still functioning?

BTW MB recommended interval for your car is 5k.

Based on the comment "While there was some soot present, insolubles were in the normal range, so this doesn't look like an excessive amount" and my insoluble number of 0.5, it appears to cover soot.

The EGR was removed during a series of repairs at 281,527 miles.

Thanks for the BTW on the recommended change interval. Checked the owners manual and you are spot on. Looking over my service records it seems that up until 5/16/2013 I was doing 5,000 mile oil changes.

[shertex]

Originally Posted by 300D-91

Based on the comment "While there was some soot present, insolubles were in the normal range, so this doesn't look like an excessive amount" and my insoluble number of 0.5, it appears to cover soot.

The EGR was removed during a series of repairs at 281,527 miles.

Thanks for the BTW on the recommended change interval. Checked the owners manual and you are spot on. Looking over my service records it seems that up until 5/16/2013 I was doing 5,000 mile oil changes.

I had settled on 5-6K intervals with synthetic, which would keep soot levels below 1%, but that was prior to EGR delete. With EGR recently deleted, I'm going to do an OA at 6k and see what soot levels look like.

[300D-91]

Originally Posted by shertex

I had settled on 5-6K intervals with synthetic, which would keep soot levels below 1%, but that was prior to EGR delete. With EGR recently deleted, I'm going to do an OA at 6k and see what soot levels look like.

If you don't mind keep me / us posted on the results. Not having a report from before the EGR was removed I can't do my own comparison.

[shertex]

Originally Posted by 300D-91

If you don't mind keep me / us posted on the results. Not having a report from before the EGR was removed I can't do my own comparison.

FWIW the soot production on my 92 with well over 200k and my 91 with barely over 100k has been comparable: I hit 1% at about 7k miles....or about 0.14% every thousand miles. Driving on both cars is a fairly typical city/highway mix.

Yes, I will definitely post the results on my 91 when available.