Used Oil Analysis

[E_T]

Anyone else do used oil analysis on their boat ? Here is 52hrs on a indmar mcx with shell Rotella T4 15w and Wix filter. Running AMSOIL 15W40 with Amsoil filter this year.Fuel dilution is most likely due to a sight leak on a injector nozzle pretty typical for this generation of motor

 

[blakeyates]

I have done a few in the past but I hope to establish a trend on my 2020 boat next year in order to post here. I'm in the Oil Industry in Industrial Lubricant Sales so this is right down my alley. In fact, your report comes from the same lab that I use via Lubrication Engineers, Inc. The lab does private labelling but it is Polaris Labs.

[E_T]

@blakeyates do you have a DI motor in your 2020? I’m interested to see on how the valves will last with not getting cleaned by fuel

[Bruce_Butterfield]

Good stuff. I see the boat is a 2007 - how many hrs on the engine? If fuel dilution is the only issue (no real surprise), it confirms that change interval is waaay more important than brand, viscosity, or conventional vs synthetic.

[E_T]

@Bruce_Butterfield 722hrs. I think 50hrs is to short of a interval I was about half a quart low. If it was topped off, I bet you could easily get 200+hrs out of a oil change with doing UOA every 25hrs

[lhoover]

Could someone be so kind as to translate the Greek language chart above to us poor saps out here in Dogpatch?

[E_T]

Wear metals and additives @ppm of a sample I’ll send off some out of the jug for some base line numbers of virgin oil.

[BraceMaker]

@lhoover

 

Basically wear metals are the components of things like bearings, tappets, valves etc. A good fleet maintenance type guy can look at the presence of these and quantity and provide insight as they know say the components of a main bearing.

 

Things like silicon can come from sand getting through air filters

 

Additive metals are protective in the oil and can be depleted in used oil.

 

Shows acidity and fuel, water or soot. Soot can come from blow by for instance

 

 

What is more telling than one oil test is a series of oil tests over time. That said the value is way greater on say a tractor with 10 gallons of oil to a change being able to figure out when to change to save oil but not destroy an engine really adds up.

[E_T]

Here are some base numbers for rotella

 

Fe 2

 

AL 2

 

B 33

 

Na 5

 

MG 10

 

Ca 1965

 

P 1355

 

Zn 1504

 

All other elements 0

 

Visc. at 100c= 15.7

 

TBN= 9.6

 

[MopedMedicks]

What percentage of your hours are at idle? That is where fuel dilution comes from in the ski boat application with GM low tension piston rings, and it’s not so good for oil lubricity or viscosity. According to indmar, it’s a reason to change it earlier than 50 hours if you are a hardcore 3 event / private lake slalomer (stops after every pass, all the time).

 

Link to Indmar service bulletin:

 

https://teamtalk.mastercraft.com//attachment.php?attachmentid=148771&d=1470931299

[Orlando76]

Interesting. How much did it cost? I’d like to have an analysis done on my work truck. That’d be interesting. 340k miles and 6 oil changes. But I’m guessing an oil analysis would require me to change the oil? Meh, that’s a lot of work.

[E_T]

@Orlando76 no need to change it. You suck it out the dipstick. $30 I’m starting to do my work truck,shooting for 25k interval. @MopedMedicks not to much 30%?

[blakeyates]

The first thing I look at on the report is the Severity Status in the top/right upper corner. This one is a ‘2’ which is abnormal, meaning a few values are flagged on the report. Then, look at the report, particularly the color-coded items that are ‘out of bounds’ to a degree. Last, get the trend of the next sample compared to this one. If you fill out the paperwork correctly, they both show on the next report.

[blakeyates]

@E_T , I have the DI, 6.2 and it calls for running 93 Octane so I assume that’s supposed to support clean valves. I also have the 6.2 in my Chevy Silverado with 152K miles and I normally run 93; haven’t had any problems. Another options is to occassionally ad a fuel additive if you don’t run Premium Gas.

[buechsr]

Correct me if I'm wrong on DI, but unless something has changed, fuel octane has nothing to do with its purity or cleanliness, or for that matter, supporting clean valves. Higher octane relates to its ability to withstand compression without pre-ignition. Internet says the 6.2DI is 11.5 : 1. That's quite high, and why it requires hi-test, not for cleanliness. However, I suppose a knocking engine wouldn't have as good of a burn, in which case it could have an indirect effect.

 

My wife has 6.2 DI in her denali. Run nothing BUT regular 87. No issues at 75k. Am I missing something here on DI?

 

As for the OP, I'd hazard that it's getting fuel blow by.

[E_T]

@blakeyates fuel won’t clean the valves in a DI motor there is a special process to do that. You might want to get some info from PCM on it.