1988 Cadillac brougham - 307 c.u. - UOA

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Hello guys,

I just want to share my oil analysis as I just received it from Black Stone lab.

Note that I purchased the car last May (2016) and an oil change has been done without knowing what is oil nor its grade. As I rarely use the car, I put 2000 miles since I bought it last year. I decide to change the oil as I noticed the oil turned very dark black even though I put only 2k miles. I also noticed that the engine is burning oil since there is no sign of leaks at all.

I would like to hear your observations and comments.

Current fill VWB5w30 + Wix gold filter

Code:


Thanks for the notes. We're not sure exactly why your oil level is low, but there is some

higher wear here. Aluminum shows piston wear and iron is from steel parts. Neither one is really high

enough to call a definite problem though, so we'll just wait and see how they look next time. You mentioned

wanting to change the oil every 3,000-5,000 miles. We'd start with 3,000 miles on the next oil and then go

from there. The TBN is 3.1 showing active additive left. The viscosity is in the 5W/20 and air and oil filtration

look good.



OIL Unknown [5w20 as Blackstone said]

MILES IN USE 2k [1 YR]

MILES 68k

SAMPLE TAKEN 05/14/2017

ALUMINUM 12

CHROMIUM 3

IRON 54

COPPER 2

LEAD 12

TITANIUM 2

MOLYBDENUM 46

NICKEL 0

MANGANESE 9

SILVER 0

TITANIUM 1

POTASSIUM 1

BORON 28

SILICON 12

SODIUM 127

CALCIUM 2539

MAGNESIUM 41

PHOSPHORUS 951

ZINC 1015

BARIUM 0

Fuel %
Antifreeze % 0.0

INSOLUBLES 0.4

WATER 0

FLASHPOINT ºF 390

SUS VIS 210ºF 54.5

cSt @ 100ºC 8.62

TBN 3.1
 
Unknown oil, and the vehicle sits. I'd say drive it a bit more often, and the next UOA with a known oil and interval will be more enlightening.
 
Originally Posted By: Kuato
Unknown oil, and the vehicle sits. I'd say drive it a bit more often, and the next UOA with a known oil and interval will be more enlightening.


I'll try to call the shop tomorrow and ask them what brand they use.
 
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That's lighter oil than I would be using in an 88 Caddie. I would go with 10-30 and retest after 3000 miles.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: Kuato
Unknown oil, and the vehicle sits. I'd say drive it a bit more often, and the next UOA with a known oil and interval will be more enlightening.

That sounds like a good idea.
 
The Olds 307 that year uses roller camshaft lifters. The issue with old vehicles like that is the low mileage means there was plenty of
dry starts over the years. I'm sure someone also let the engine sit there warming up plenty of times over the years which caused fuel dilution
and poor lubrication. The fuel dilution wont show on a UOA if you drive the vehicle a good while before taking a sample.
I'd use Castrol Magnatec in that engine. It's a better oil for seldom used vehicles.
 
I used Pennzoil 5 and 10w30 on that exact engine successfully for 10 years.
All the UOAs are on file. Seems the high mileage 10w30 worked best, and understand that engine throws off a lot of Iron.
Enjoy the ride.
 
Whatever that old oil was, it's a pretty stout add package like a Pennzoil Ultra, High Mileage M1, etc. If it weren't for the low viscosity of 8.62 I'd swear it looks a lot like Mobil 1 0w-40. Whatever it was, it was a good add pack for that vehicle. Though I'd agree with going up to a stronger 30 grade in the 10.5-11.5 cSt range.
 
I would speculate this unknown oil is a 5W30 shearing thin (and possibly fuel dilutes) to 8.6 in 2K miles.
It can't be an 5W20.
 
I called the shop and he told me the unknown oil was semi synthetic oil 5w20 pennzoil
 
Originally Posted By: Kuato
Unknown oil, and the vehicle sits. I'd say drive it a bit more often, and the next UOA with a known oil and interval will be more enlightening.



semi synthetic oil 5w20 pennzoil
 
Originally Posted By: skyactiv
The Olds 307 that year uses roller camshaft lifters. The issue with old vehicles like that is the low mileage means there was plenty of
dry starts over the years. I'm sure someone also let the engine sit there warming up plenty of times over the years which caused fuel dilution
and poor lubrication. The fuel dilution wont show on a UOA if you drive the vehicle a good while before taking a sample.
I'd use Castrol Magnatec in that engine. It's a better oil for seldom used vehicles.


I have a lot of VWB 5w30 jugs at the moment. It would be interesting to see how it is compared to Castrol Magnatec?
 
Originally Posted By: 69GTX
Whatever that old oil was, it's a pretty stout add package like a Pennzoil Ultra, High Mileage M1, etc. If it weren't for the low viscosity of 8.62 I'd swear it looks a lot like Mobil 1 0w-40. Whatever it was, it was a good add pack for that vehicle. Though I'd agree with going up to a stronger 30 grade in the 10.5-11.5 cSt range.


yes you're very close it is semi synthetic oil 5w20 pennzoil
 
Originally Posted By: Lubener
That's lighter oil than I would be using in an 88 Caddie. I would go with 10-30 and retest after 3000 miles.


Current fill VWB5w30 + Wix gold filter
 
Originally Posted By: Chris Meutsch
We switched to 20w50 in that engine in a 1988 Caprice and it really slowed consumption down to hardly any.


I am not sure where I can get 20w50 here in Canada
 
If it sits in the garage - or you don't drive it much in the winter, I'd use 10W-40 MaxLife. If it sits outside, 10W-30. The UOA #'s are fine and will probably get a little better as it's used more - those old 307s are hard to kill.
 
A 5w-30 is fine. I don't know about the 5w-20, though. That wasn't their best choice. For an engine of that vintage, your VWB will be more than sufficient. If you want something "thicker," remember that a 10w-30 ILSAC isn't really the answer. Of course, it's suitable, but as always, watch climate conditions.
 
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