I just got back my second UOA for this car. I'm posting both the first UOA from December along with the UOA from my oil change this past weekend.
Code:
Mi on Oil 10,536 8,657
Mi on Car 94,622 103,279
Sample Date 11/15/11 04/07/12
Make up Oil added 0 0
ALUMINUM 8 13
CHROMIUM 1 1
IRON 31 41
COPPER 11 5
LEAD 3 1
TIN 0 0
MOLYBDENUM 107 105
NICKEL 2 2
MANGANESE 1 1
SILVER 0 0
TITANIUM 0 0
POTASSIUM 2 2
BORON 56 54
SILICON 14 15
SODIUM 8 7
CALCIUM 2463 2227
MAGNESIUM 15 145
PHOSPHORUS 668 661
ZINC 720 803
BARIUM 0 0
SUS Viscosity @ 210°F 50.9 51.8
cSt Viscosity @ 100°C 7.53 7.81
Flashpoint in °F 340 385
Fuel % 1.3
Antifreeze % 0.0 0.0
Water % 0.0 0.0
Insolubles % 0.3 0.4
TBN 3.7 3.2
TAN
ISO Code
Here are the notes they wrote me each time:
First sample from 11/15/11
Code:
Thanks for the notes. Aluminum and copper are a little on the high side and they shouldn't track
with time on the oil so we can't blame the long run for them. Aluminum is from the pistons and copper is
from brass/bronze parts. Universal averages show typical wear for this type engine after 6,000 miles on the
oil. Iron is high as well, but that metal does track with miles, so it's okay. Fuel at 1.3% isn't a cautionary
amount. The TBN was 3.7 showing lots of active additive; less than 1.0 is too low. Try 9,000 miles on the
next oil and check back.
Second from 4/7/12
Code:
We found a nice improvement in copper, though both aluminum and iron increased. As we
mentioned, aluminum can come from pistons, and iron typically shows wear at steel parts. We expect iron to
increase as an oil sees more use, but considering this oil saw fewer miles, iron should have decreased. If
you run this engine hard, that might explain the elevated iron, though with metals increasing, it's getting
harder to overlook the possibility of poorly wearing parts. No contamination was found and the TBN was
fine. Try this interval again to monitor.
This most recent oil interval was through the winter months in very northwestern Minnesota. While it wasn't as cold or as snowy as it could have been, there were plenty of very cold mornings. I drive to work which is only 5 miles away so the car barely reaches operating temps before shutting it down. This happens 5 days a week and then on weekends I would usually drive to south on I-29 an hour to Grand Forks at 80-85 mph. Also, once a month or so I would drive home (I'm on a traveling construction crew) which is a round trip of almost 1,100 miles in a weekend; this would also be at 80-85 for the first 6 hours, and then 75-80 for the remaining 4.
Would the combination of numerous cold starts and long high RPM drives be the main culprit of the high metal particle count or is the engine starting to wear significantly on it's own?
Code:
Mi on Oil 10,536 8,657
Mi on Car 94,622 103,279
Sample Date 11/15/11 04/07/12
Make up Oil added 0 0
ALUMINUM 8 13
CHROMIUM 1 1
IRON 31 41
COPPER 11 5
LEAD 3 1
TIN 0 0
MOLYBDENUM 107 105
NICKEL 2 2
MANGANESE 1 1
SILVER 0 0
TITANIUM 0 0
POTASSIUM 2 2
BORON 56 54
SILICON 14 15
SODIUM 8 7
CALCIUM 2463 2227
MAGNESIUM 15 145
PHOSPHORUS 668 661
ZINC 720 803
BARIUM 0 0
SUS Viscosity @ 210°F 50.9 51.8
cSt Viscosity @ 100°C 7.53 7.81
Flashpoint in °F 340 385
Fuel % 1.3
Antifreeze % 0.0 0.0
Water % 0.0 0.0
Insolubles % 0.3 0.4
TBN 3.7 3.2
TAN
ISO Code
Here are the notes they wrote me each time:
First sample from 11/15/11
Code:
Thanks for the notes. Aluminum and copper are a little on the high side and they shouldn't track
with time on the oil so we can't blame the long run for them. Aluminum is from the pistons and copper is
from brass/bronze parts. Universal averages show typical wear for this type engine after 6,000 miles on the
oil. Iron is high as well, but that metal does track with miles, so it's okay. Fuel at 1.3% isn't a cautionary
amount. The TBN was 3.7 showing lots of active additive; less than 1.0 is too low. Try 9,000 miles on the
next oil and check back.
Second from 4/7/12
Code:
We found a nice improvement in copper, though both aluminum and iron increased. As we
mentioned, aluminum can come from pistons, and iron typically shows wear at steel parts. We expect iron to
increase as an oil sees more use, but considering this oil saw fewer miles, iron should have decreased. If
you run this engine hard, that might explain the elevated iron, though with metals increasing, it's getting
harder to overlook the possibility of poorly wearing parts. No contamination was found and the TBN was
fine. Try this interval again to monitor.
This most recent oil interval was through the winter months in very northwestern Minnesota. While it wasn't as cold or as snowy as it could have been, there were plenty of very cold mornings. I drive to work which is only 5 miles away so the car barely reaches operating temps before shutting it down. This happens 5 days a week and then on weekends I would usually drive to south on I-29 an hour to Grand Forks at 80-85 mph. Also, once a month or so I would drive home (I'm on a traveling construction crew) which is a round trip of almost 1,100 miles in a weekend; this would also be at 80-85 for the first 6 hours, and then 75-80 for the remaining 4.
Would the combination of numerous cold starts and long high RPM drives be the main culprit of the high metal particle count or is the engine starting to wear significantly on it's own?
