2004 Camry AMSOIL ASL10w-30 12,653 miles

[Rat407]

Looks like I need to let my friend know he has a coolant leak. Don't know what fuel he uses and this is with an EaO09 filter. The air filter was changed out last oil change.

Code:
We found more sodium in this sample than we did last time, and silicon increased too. Both are markers for

coolant, so we could be seeing a seep. Still, it's hard to be certain since we didn't find any potassium. Aluminum and

iron increased after this oil run, showing some wear at the pistons and steel parts, but the good news is that they didn't

read at the levels we were seeing in the past. Watch coolant levels for any noticeable drop. The TBN was low at 0.4

and the oil was acidic with the TAN at 7.3. Try just 8,000 miles and check back on coolant and wear metals.



OIL ASL10w-30 ASL10w-30 ASL10w-30 ASL10-30

MILES IN USE 12,653 12,380 20,499 30,265

MILES 182,958 170,305 154,924 88,658

SAMPLE TAKEN 8/21/13 11/20/12 04/18/12 01/16/10



ALUMINUM 9 7 14 12

CHROMIUM 1 0 1 2

IRON 66 57 148 164

COPPER 2 0 2 3

LEAD 2 0 0 3

TIN 1 0 0 3

MOLYBDENUM 100 39 41 45

NICKEL 0 0 1 1

MANGANESE 1 0 2 5

SILVER 0 0 0 0

TITANIUM 8 6 0 0

POTASSIUM 0 0 1 3

BORON 33 57 59 37

SILICON 46 37 69 82

SODIUM 110 95 12 13

CALCIUM 3341 3247 3593 3046

MAGNESIUM 51 30 58 43

PHOSPHORUS 786 686 653 598

ZINC 875 818 609 835

BARIUM 0 0 0 0



INSOLUBLES 0.4 0.4 0.5 0.5

WATER 0 0 0 0

FLASHPOINT ºF 380 390 370 315

SUS VIS 210ºF 62.9 60.8 64.7 77.2

cSt @ 212ºF 11.03 10.44 11.54 14.81

Fuel% 0 0 TR 2.8

Antifreeze% ? ? 0 0

TBN 0.4 0.8 0.9 0.0

TAN 7.3

 

[Oregoonian]

And.....TBN is very low (below 1.0)...so most of the additives are shot. Suggest cutting back mileage to below 10K.

 

[chevrofreak]

No potassium and no water. I don't see a coolant leak.

Any chance he is running a lead substitute?

 

[Clevy]

It pains me to see SSO spent at this mileage. I was a firm believer that Amsoil was in a league all its own as far as long drains were concerned however the last 4 uoa I've seen have all shown the oil shot before 15000 miles.
I did see a uoa with Amsoil's diesel oil that was going absolute insane mileage like over 40000 miles,which is just fantastic but it seems that their gasoline oils just aren't going the distance.
I'm sure the coolant leak is a factor in the oil being spent so soon. I think the owner should run conventional oil,a brand that uses no sodium in the add pack just to keep confusion to a minimum and monitor the antifreeze intrusion issue.
Try some bars leak and motor oil saver.

 

[gonefishing]

I've never seen sodium in any Amsoil SS VOA's or the PQIA test: http://www.pqiamerica.com/2012 April results/Amsoil.htm
I'm guessing there is a coolant leak. Oil has thickened some too compared to the factory 10.5 cSt.

 

[simple_gifts]

ASL is 5W-30; ATM is 10W-30; Who said SSO?

 

[Rat407]

Yeah, I should know better, it is ATM, Duuuhhhhh! Sorry!

 

[Clevy]

Originally Posted By: simple_gifts
ASL is 5W-30; ATM is 10W-30; Who said SSO?



ASL is the signature series oil(SSO)

 

[Brybo86]

look.at the first sample ....
30,200 miles on oil
164 iron
flashpoint 315
fuel 2.8
TBN... 0.0

WOW

owners of the car needs to be slapped....three stooges style

 

[901Memphis]

Looks pretty abusive to the engine. Wow 30k mi with all additives shot in previous runs? Most people freak about 30 ppm iron.

 

[gregk24]

Iron

 

[miniac007]

Normaly, you start with low OCI and increase it if the oil condition remains good... You don't start with a insane OCI and decrease it when you see results like that...

Even on the last sample, TBN
Sodium ans silicon can be also explained if the car ran on salted roads in winter with a poor air filtration.

 

[btanchors]

Something VERY strange going on here...

Magnesium and Sodium are elevated. These levels are not seen in the VOAs of this oil. It looks like you've been consistently using the same oil for your oil changes. Have you added any oil between changes? If so, was it the same brand and type of oil, or a different brand with a different type of additive package? That might be distorting the UOA results.

Assuming he's got Toyota coolant in it, Toyota coolant has moly in it, as well as potassium. If he had a coolant leak of significance, these levels should be elevated. In fact, Moly is somewhat low for this oil - normal should be around 150.

To the OP: Are you using ANY kind of gasoline additive, or oil additive? Was any internal engine work done recently?

This engine has a pretty high number of miles on it, could be the engine starting to die, but it's too early to really make this statement.

If this were MY car and I want to figure out what's going on, I would make a couple of short interval changes (like 3000 miles) with the same oil I intend to use long-term). Change the filter too, if you don't already. While you're at it, change the air filter, and check for air leaks. Are you loosing coolant? If so, pressure test the coolant system.

The short interval changes will flush out anything that's temporarily distorting the UOA results. If there really is an internal mechanical problem of some kind, we can then be sure that's what's causing the strange UOA results. But with very long previous intervals and an engine with high mileage, it could be a simple case of contamination due to an external cause. We need to flush this out to be sure we're focusing on the actual cause.

I'm assuming you've already performed some general checks of engine health, checked for air leaks, changed the spark plugs, etc.

Then, after at least two complete changes, install oil for the third time, and analyze after about 5-10K miles, and see what's what.

Then again, with this level of miles, perhaps this is just a "beater" commuter car that you really don't care that much about - in which case I would probably just change at 8-10K intervals and not worry about it, but if that's the case, why do UOAs at all?

 

[bigt61]

Is there any make up oil added, ever? If a guy goes 30k without changing it he probably isn't adding any either. I'm betting this thing is a sludge monster supreme - that's not Amsoil's fault. That fact that some cars still run at all with this kind of persistent abuse is amazing.

 

[Rat407]

I forgot to mention that in the past he has added a half of a qt to the oil change the last two changes which was the ATM AMSOIL. Now on the 30k mile oil drive he did tell me he added two qts that time around. He kept meaning to come in for an oil change and added a qt, not sure what brand and then before he knew it he needed another qt and added it before he came in for an oil change. The guy is an insurance agent and use to drive everywhere but had changed to office work more now and doesn't put the miles on. I need to check and see if he has ever changed out the spark plugs.