Free from blackstone:

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

 

2nd Oil sample:

Changed at ~15K, 5K on oil. Analysis notes higher Iron in sample with note about increased city driving as possible cause. My 'normal' weekly mileage is 90% city commuting, relative decent flow in the morning, slow to gridlock in the evening. Now I'm going to be wondering about that until my next oil change. rrrr.

 

Janizary: Ya, a bit odd you have that high of iron... It's not bad or anything, more of a curiosity really... Maybe you are changing your oil too frequently

 

I'm wondering if it would be possible to get Blackstone to generate a scattergram of 2GR-FSE results. It would be interesting to see if the results are clustered or really wide ranging.

It would seem iron wear is atypically high for these engines in city service just from looking at the results we have posted here.

 

I can't post my latest 15,000 oil change because the dealership had to change my oil when I brought it in for the "startup grind" TSIB. I'll have to start over...

Javier

 

Had to without asking? They didn't charge you, did they?

 

No, of course not... I would never pay anyone else to change my oil - LOL!

Javier

 

Lol.

I'm actually thinking about doing a short duration change on this batch, just to see if the Iron is still high at a shorter interval, or if it returns to 'normal'. My first UOA was under the same driving conditions (90%) city, the only difference being Feb to May weather for the first vs. the HOT HOT summer weather then leading into fall for the 2nd (and 5W30 M1EP for #1, vs 5W20 M1EP on the 2nd).

 

Here is my first UOA on my 08 is 250. This is on oil that has seen some Vegas heat.

 

I just got off of the phone with the guys from Blackstone. I wanted them to go over my results with me. We went over the results and got into a discussion about dino vs. syn oil. He told me that there isnt one person at Blackstone that runs syn in ANY of their cars. He further went on to say that under normal intervals, ~6000(which their computer averages are based on) that they haven’t found syn has any real advantages over dino except that it tends to run slightly cooler. Since I live in Vegas he said it may have some small advantages but in anything other than extreme heat situations they have not found any advantages. Now when you start doing crazy stuff like going 15k on a change there may be some advantages.

But for all the folks that like theses really long change intervals think about this. This gentleman said that iron and silicon act like sandpaper in your engine. If you go to these extreme intervals then you risk putting unnecessary wear on your engine. Let’s say a dirty air filter lets debris by or a bearing starts to wear a bit. You are going to run that for 10k. Yes you will have some additive left but you also caused unnecessary wear to your motor. Think about it...

 

Consider this - every time you change your oil you introduce the opportunity to add abrasives from removing the cap and having dirt fall it, failing to fully clean the funnel you use, etc., etc...

You're trading one risk for another. Our engines do not produce prodigious amounts of iron as evidenced by the reports in this thread. So, at the end of the day, pick your risk and live with it. I'll take the extended drain interval over the opportunity to add dirt to my engine every time.

 

That’s a good point, but I think that if that you go along those lines of reason (extremely poor oil changing habits) then you could now be putting those same contaminants in your motor for 15k. I don’t know about you, but I take care to use clean equipment and change my oil in my garage where there is no wind....Again, if the guys at Blackstone (the people in this country who most likely know the most about oil and its uses) use dino oil and change at normal intervals than I think I will too...
I highly recommend calling them because they are really nice people and they don’t have any hidden agendas….

One other thing i frogot, they said that we have one of the best wearing engines that they have seen... kind of cool!

 

I have talked to them a few times. I've also seen the results in street and competition engines I've built and owned over the last 28 years. I'm fine with running synthetic for 10k miles because I know it works and I can back it up with Blackstone's own analysis. Blackstone can tell you all about your oil. They can't tell you what will happen if you have a sudden failure and you're completely depending on the remaining oil film in your engine. They also can't tell you about exactly where the engine is wearing. The only thing they can tell you with certainty is the quantities of metals in your oil. They can't tell you if the iron in your oil came from rings or cylinders, oil pump gerotor or cam journals. Only inspecting the engine on tear down will tell you this. Since I've done this a fair number of times an seen the difference between conventional oils and synthetics, I deem synthetics worth the extra money, and I justify this based on my ability to run longer between changes knowing that if I do suffer a catastrophic failure and lose all oil pressure, I probably won't be rebuilding the engine, just fixing the failed part, refilling with oil, and driving away. I can't have that guarantee with conventional oils.

 

To each their own... i think if you are drag racing or something you have a valid point. I think you would be better off just spending that money on a warranty than on expensive oil. If you have a "catastrophic” engine failure you would be better off with a warranty than expensive oil.

 

If you do longer OCIs there -is- no "extra" money, you're spending about the same as conventional that you have to buy 2-3 times more often than the synthetic. (and if you're someone who pays for labor on oil changes then conventional is -more- expensive in the long run)