oil analysis results

[empowered3]

Hey folks,

I just had my oil analyzed after putting 9000 miles (with filter swappage) on some Mobil 1 5W-30. It turns out I can push it to even 11,000 miles since the oil still had the appropriate levels of nutrients! And the engine is wearing normally according to the contents of the oil. The engine had 75,000 miles at my oil change interval, so the car still has a very healthy heart.

I thought I share the good news. :buttrock

[96INFMSM3]

Sounds good, how exactly do you get your oil analyzed. How do you remove a small amount of oil to send it out for analysis without draining the entire engine/oil pan? Sounds like your engine is doing great for 75k.

[empowered3]

Gordon at Edge Motorworks ( :redspot ) hooked me up with a little container from Blackstone Laboratories, which you place the oil into. I think you can request the containers directly from them. At my last oil change, I simply placed some into the container and then mailed it off to them. Their phone number is (260) 744-2380.

[surfacewound]

Yeah, it makes me smirk every time I see the Mobil 1 commercial for the 7500 mile rated oil when regular Mobil 1 synth will already last longer than that.

[FierySphere]

Yeah, it makes me smirk every time I see the Mobil 1 commercial for the 7500 mile rated oil when regular Mobil 1 synth will already last longer than that.

Aaa..grasshopper. You need to read the Mobil ads a little closer.
The Mobil 5000 miles oil doesn't say synthetic. The 7500 mile oil is a blend, and the 15000 is the replacement for the old Mobil 1.
I'm waiting to get my next oil analysis back to see what they changed. (Mobil 1 changed when it went from Tri-synthetic to SuperSynthetic too)

[themadhatter]

just remember that your filter may not appreciate those forcasted 11k intervals.

since we use a cartridge style filter, we can get away with swapping filters without having to drain the oil so I guess you can still do the filter change while saving a few bucks with the oil.

personally, I won't be changing my schedule which is still 3-4.5k miles between a complete change.

[mobil1]

personally, I won't be changing my schedule which is still 3-4.5k miles between a complete change.


Waste of money on synthetic.

I'll share an excerpt that I thought was pretty funny...

"In his column 'In this century, changing your oil still matters' [Car and driver, december 2004], Csaba Csere is correct that cars today can go for 5000, 6000, or 7000 miles + between changes, especially on synthetic oil. But nobody does! We hear the same message - 'Change your oil every 3000 miles!' Over and over from quicklube shops to car dealers to tv ads. Why? They want to sell you oil, and they've made drivers afraid to wait. I've worked as a repair tech at a large GM dealer for many years, and most car owners ignore the oil-life monitor systems. I often drain 7$ a quart synthetic oil out of cars whose oil monitors indicate 75-80 percent life remaining. And you know where that oil goes? Into my car."

[Stinky]

I'm doing 6K intervals right now(filter every 3K of course), maybe I should up it.

[themadhatter]

maybe a waste of money but figure this is once per 6 months so it's not that tragic.

[jmazz]

Have you guys heard anything about the affects of time on synthetic? My biggest problem is that I only do about 3000 miles a year. Seems like a waste to dump synthetic that has barely been used. I like to think that synthetic would hold up much longer than that but I'm not sure. Since most people don't have this problem you never really hear results about it.

[ASCH MAN]

I usually change mine between 5-6K miles and don't believe the hype about every 3000 miles. Not to mention I burn about a quart in that time period (some people more), and so the oil kind of gets refreshed during the 5-6K miles anyway.

So why does the filter have to be changed more often? Where do the contaminates come from?

[hellrot325]

I usually change mine between 5-6K miles and don't believe the hype about every 3000 miles. Not to mention I burn about a quart in that time period (some people more), and so the oil kind of gets refreshed during the 5-6K miles anyway. Yo ustill have six quarts of old


So why does the filter have to be changed more often? Where do the contaminates come from? Because it will become clogged with contamints

[steve99m3]

Have you guys heard anything about the affects of time on synthetic? My biggest problem is that I only do about 3000 miles a year. Seems like a waste to dump synthetic that has barely been used. I like to think that synthetic would hold up much longer than that but I'm not sure. Since most people don't have this problem you never really hear results about it.
This biggest problem with having oil sit for a long period of time is the potential for additive dropout. With a good, high-quality synthetic this shouldn't be a problem for at least 10 years. But there are other factors that should be considered. How do those 3K miles/year go on the car? Are they basically all within a 3 month period, or is it spaced out over 9 months? Do you regularly start the car and let it idle?

If you regularly start the car and let it idle for a while and then shut it down, then you probably shouldn't wait to change the oil. If the oil doesn't come up to operating temp, water will build up in the oil, which is detrimental to its performance.

[jmazz]

That's pretty much what I wanted to hear. My car gets driven almost weekly, maybe monthly in the winter. Every time I start it I drive it for at least 30-45 minutes. I'm going to keep assuming that it should be fine.

[themadhatter]

mine is the opposite. it gets driven hard for 1 month every 2 months for a total of 4 months a year on average.

[surfacewound]

Aaa..grasshopper. You need to read the Mobil ads a little closer.
The Mobil 5000 miles oil doesn't say synthetic. The 7500 mile oil is a blend, and the 15000 is the replacement for the old Mobil 1.
I'm waiting to get my next oil analysis back to see what they changed. (Mobil 1 changed when it went from Tri-synthetic to SuperSynthetic too)

Aaah.. yeah I never really paid much attention to it. :)

[steve99m3]

That's pretty much what I wanted to hear. My car gets driven almost weekly, maybe monthly in the winter. Every time I start it I drive it for at least 30-45 minutes. I'm going to keep assuming that it should be fine.
If you're driving it that long each time the car starts, the engine (and fluids) are coming up to operating temperature which is what you want. You should be good to go on extended drain intervals. :cool

[Darlantan]

I had an analysis done last year after a 6000 mile change on mobil1 0-40 and it still had a TBN index of 6.0, being quite high with very little diminishing of additives.

[shim]

hmmm, after about 4500-5000 miles, i think my synthetic oil was very black & nasty..... but maybe cus i drive it hard??

[Effervescent]

Nasty? Are you sure? What do you mean? Chunky? Rust? Or was it just jet black.

If you, who "shives a git". Used oil color doesn't mean much of anything.

-Eff

[shim]

it was jet black, but was pretty smooth

[Darlantan]

hmmm, after about 4500-5000 miles, i think my synthetic oil was very black & nasty..... but maybe cus i drive it hard??

Blackstone labs said that the dark color is a normal result of varnish and is typical of synthetic oil. It does not reflect any its ability to lubricate.

[95MMM]

mine is black after 6k miles

that guy that drains the synthetic oil and puts it in his own car.... :confused
kinda weird...feels like using someone's old tissue or something....sick

[shim]

Blackstone labs said that the dark color is a normal result of varnish and is typical of synthetic oil. It does not reflect any its ability to lubricate.
hmmm, interesting

[clumpymold]

I believe you can also request a free oil lab kit from:

http://www.blackstone-labs.com/

After you send your first sample in, they'll send you a few more sample kits. :D

I did mine after 6-7k and it was fine (aside from the Restore I added). Costs about $20.

[shim]

I did mine after 6-7k and it was fine (aside from the Restore I added). Costs about $20.
i did restore and seafoam. i dunno if it helped, but it get rid of some of hte carbon buildup & my idle was helped a little :redspot