For those that like to look at other vehicles, here is a link to a Nissan Maxima site. A handful of car owners (not all Maximas) have submitted oil test analysis info for comparison, some synthetic, some conventional.
If you like looking at this stuff or want to submit your own for consideration, take a look here:
Just got my analysis back on my 2001 Chevrolet Silverado 4wd 5.3L with 15,519 on the odometer.
Blackstone Labs did the analysis.
This Oil run was Mobil 1 5w-30 with a AC PF-59 filter and 4,828 miles on the oil.
Wear metals were fine, reading perfectly normal for and oil from this type of engineafter 4,848 miles of use. This was Mobil 1 oil, but take a look at the different additives in this second sample compared to the first. Magnesium is the dominant additive in this oil. It was almost non-existent in the first. Air and Oil filtration okay while this oil was in use. This was 5w/30 engine oil with no gas or anti-freeze in it. Nice wearing GM V-8 Engine.
Component Reading Average 11/3/2001 U/A This time Reading
Aluminum 4 4 3 7
chromium 2 2 1 2
Iron 15 13 11 35
Copper 49 61 72 16
Lead 11 11 10 13
Tin 3 3 3 1
Molybdenum 3 3 2 18
Nickel 1 1 1 1
Manganese 0 0 0 2
Silver 0 0 0 0
Titanium 0 0 0 0
Vanadium 0 0 0 0
Boron 54 31 7 58
Silicon 11 13 15 12
Sodium 8 6 4 16
Calcium 1025 1396 1766 369
Magnesium 1496 763 29 930
Phosphorus 695 750 805 980
Zinc 863 892 920 1183
Barium 0 1 1 0 Sus Viscosity @ 210F 60.9 Should be 55-61Flashpoint 420 >365 Fuel % <0.5 <2.0 Antifreeze % 0.0 0 Water % 0.0 <0.05 Insolubles % 0.1 <0.6
Well, there's an example of Mobil 1 working OK ... but then there was only 4,800 miles on the sample.
Anyway, since there was some interest in oil testing expressed in another thread, I thought I'd revive this one.
Also, I wanted to ask those who have been doing oil testing for some years if they have noticed a correlation between levels of lead and other metals and the age of the car. I've seen results which appear to be all over the place but one trend I have seen is that once a vehicle gets above 100,000 miles, you get increased contaminants regardless of type of oil used.
Am I the only one noticing this? Anyone think I'm off course?
the moly went up as did the zinc, so has Mobil changes the formula slightly? good analysis and the engine appears to be fine.
My experience with over 7 cars, about 4 were new is that the wear metals, especially the copper tend to be higher in the first 20,000 miles. Silicon, (yours seems fine) for me has been over 100 PPM in new engines as the gaskets wear in and most oil has some as an additive, (10-15 ppm) Around 20,000 miles my silicon seems to drop down to acceptable values of 10-25 ppm.
I have had two engines over 100,000 total miles with analysis on one starting from 1000 miles the other at 49,000. Oldest now 142,000. Wear metals are extremely consistent over the last 100,000 miles on one and the other (purchased at 49,000) was consistent until the ins. co totaled it. at 128,000. I don't know why wear would increase over 100,000 miles. Engine broken in, wear should be relatively constant after the first 20,000-30,000 miles. So, in my experience the wear does not increase after 100,000 miles, if anything it decreases..
On my 2000 Buick 3.8L SC two analysis have been done, one with OEM oil at 4365 miles and the second at 16,500 (synthetic used between 4 and 16000 oil went 12,000 miles) All categories were fine except two, copper and silicon. However, the levels dropped significantly in the second analysis even though it had three times the mileage on the oil. But, were still very high regardless. I am not concerned though because engine is breaking in. Even though silicon is high, iron was low as were other wear metals indicating to me wear was minimal. Copper a tough one but some oils use that as an additive too. Next analysis(this summer) should show all categories in the normal ranges, again 12,000 mile change interval. .
So much so that the oil analysis company asked for a virgin sample since they didn't have one. I use lubriplate and the virgin sample turned zero copper. So I'm still left wondering.
installing an additional in line filter that feeds the engine ventilation? There have been comments that the high silicon levels are a result of poor filtering. My guess is that more airborne contaminants enter through engine ventilation than combustion. An extra filter would be an easy installation on my Explorer. Sounds like a product.
Well, high is relative. Some oils have 10-15 ppm of silicon as an additive, plus silicon gasket material and then there is dirt. So, even if silicon is high but the wear metals are within a normal range one should not worry. A virgin sample of oil is an excellent idea as it provides the baseline of all metals/additives in the oil and you then know what to compare the used oil sample to and know what the engine actually contributed to the process. Most people would not wish to spend the extra money on a sample though and one must stay with that brand and weight of oil as each one/brand will produce differrent virgin sample results as well
armtdm, I thought that older bearings (and metals in general) might become brittle over time because they are exposed to heat and stress and might deteriorate more easily. But, it seems that doesn't happen in your experience.
Comments
If you like looking at this stuff or want to submit your own for consideration, take a look here:
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?s=ff04380b419d89b4858cd54012566752&threadid=85170
The spreadsheet is in MS Excel format and is a very small download.
--- Bror Jace
Blackstone Labs did the analysis.
This Oil run was Mobil 1 5w-30 with a AC PF-59 filter and 4,828 miles on the oil.
Wear metals were fine, reading perfectly normal for and oil from this type of engineafter 4,848 miles of use. This was Mobil 1 oil, but take a look at the different additives in this second sample compared to the first. Magnesium is the dominant additive in this oil. It was almost non-existent in the first. Air and Oil filtration okay while this oil was in use. This was 5w/30 engine oil with no gas or anti-freeze in it. Nice wearing GM V-8 Engine.
Component Reading Average 11/3/2001 U/A
This time Reading
Aluminum 4 4 3 7
chromium 2 2 1 2
Iron 15 13 11 35
Copper 49 61 72 16
Lead 11 11 10 13
Tin 3 3 3 1
Molybdenum 3 3 2 18
Nickel 1 1 1 1
Manganese 0 0 0 2
Silver 0 0 0 0
Titanium 0 0 0 0
Vanadium 0 0 0 0
Boron 54 31 7 58
Silicon 11 13 15 12
Sodium 8 6 4 16
Calcium 1025 1396 1766 369
Magnesium 1496 763 29 930
Phosphorus 695 750 805 980
Zinc 863 892 920 1183
Barium 0 1 1 0
Sus Viscosity @ 210F 60.9 Should be 55-61Flashpoint 420 >365
Fuel % <0.5 <2.0
Antifreeze % 0.0 0
Water % 0.0 <0.05
Insolubles % 0.1 <0.6
FYI
Anyway, since there was some interest in oil testing expressed in another thread, I thought I'd revive this one.
Also, I wanted to ask those who have been doing oil testing for some years if they have noticed a correlation between levels of lead and other metals and the age of the car. I've seen results which appear to be all over the place but one trend I have seen is that once a vehicle gets above 100,000 miles, you get increased contaminants regardless of type of oil used.
Am I the only one noticing this? Anyone think I'm off course?
--- Bror Jace
good analysis and the engine appears to be fine.
My experience with over 7 cars, about 4 were new is that the wear metals, especially the copper tend to be higher in the first 20,000 miles. Silicon, (yours seems fine) for me has been over 100 PPM in new engines as the gaskets wear in and most oil has some as an additive, (10-15 ppm) Around 20,000 miles my silicon seems to drop down to acceptable values of 10-25 ppm.
I have had two engines over 100,000 total miles with analysis on one starting from 1000 miles the other at 49,000. Oldest now 142,000. Wear metals are extremely consistent over the last 100,000 miles on one and the other (purchased at 49,000) was consistent until the ins. co totaled it. at 128,000. I don't know why wear would increase over 100,000 miles. Engine broken in, wear should be relatively constant after the first 20,000-30,000 miles. So, in my experience the wear does not increase after 100,000 miles, if anything it decreases..
On my 2000 Buick 3.8L SC two analysis have been done, one with OEM oil at 4365 miles and the second at 16,500 (synthetic used between 4 and 16000 oil went 12,000 miles) All categories were fine except two, copper and silicon. However, the levels dropped significantly in the second analysis even though it had three times the mileage on the oil. But, were still very high regardless. I am not concerned though because engine is breaking in. Even though silicon is high, iron was low as were other wear metals indicating to me wear was minimal. Copper a tough one but some oils use that as an additive too. Next analysis(this summer) should show all categories in the normal ranges, again 12,000 mile change interval. .
--- Bror Jace