26k mi OCI, Mobil 1 5w-30 EP, 2018 4Runner

[Patman]

Why does this community continue to rally around Blackstone if we can't trust them to keep samples straight?

I’m wondering the same thing myself. The fact that they don’t even do a proper GC test for fuel dilution, which many people rely on, has always bothered me. They must be the biggest lab out there so they can certainly afford the right equipment.

 

[dsr70]

This

What an ... waste of time and money if so. I was getting mad at how long it was taking. I drew on the 27th iirc, mailed the next day iirc, and didn't get results until Jan 20? Even excusing for the New Year's delay.

I’m wondering the same thing myself. The fact that they don’t even do a proper GC test for fuel dilution, which many people rely on, has always bothered me. They must be the biggest lab out there so they can certainly afford the right equipment.

What's the issue with their fuel dilution testing?

 

[dsr70]

dsr70 -

I think most of us here do not, in any manner, doubt your credibility. Our skepticism exists in the incredibly low Fe, the add-pack not being a match to VOAs, and such. Our collective suspicion was that an OCI occurred outside of your control, unbeknownst to you. But, given your recent statement, we'll set that aside and take you at your word. No offense meant by anyone here.

The other possibility is that BS confused your sample with another. Typically BS will hold onto samples for a while in case you want them to "retest" the sample. I recommend you call them and ask them to do that. They are honest people; if they made a mistake they'll 'fess up to it. And, if they run the sample and it comes back similar, well that pretty much seals the deal. If they rerun it and it's different, that also helps understand the numbers. Either way, rerunning the sample is perhaps the better way to address this issue.

I will contact them. Lot of wisdom on this board and the iron argument is compelling. And if there is material left for a retest, might it be useful to add the TAN test? Further, might they release the residual and mail it back, to send to another lab? This is such an unusual OCI and it would be useful to the community, I'm happy to go down that road.

 

[Patman]

What's the issue with their fuel dilution testing?

They don’t have the proper equipment that actually measures how much fuel is in the oil. Instead they just guess how much is in there based on their flashpoint testing, which is extremely inaccurate and they know it

 

[himemsys]

What's the issue with their fuel dilution testing?

They use flashpoint instead of gas chromatography. This is an estimate based on the flashpoint of the oil. Numerous people have tested the same sample at BS and a lab that uses GC and invariably, BS's guess is 2x-4x lower than the actual result. As an example, the highest fuel BS reported on our 2018 CRV is 2% (based on a 345 degree flashpoint), but Oil Analyzers measured 4-5% or higher on the same vehicle. Another example, on our 2013 Volvo S80 they reported <0.5% but on the same sample Oil Analyzers reported 1.7%.

 

[dnewton3]

I will contact them. Lot of wisdom on this board and the iron argument is compelling. And if there is material left for a retest, might it be useful to add the TAN test? Further, might they release the residual and mail it back, to send to another lab? This is such an unusual OCI and it would be useful to the community, I'm happy to go down that road.

That would be great. We're just as curious as you are about these results. When you get the results, please post them here and just continue with this thread, so there's continuity in the conversation.

 

[Drewby83]

A travesty that toyota is going away from the 4.0 V6 and 5.7 V8. Bulletproof engines.

 

[dsr70]

I was busy with work and duties and didn't email Blackstone until Wednesday the 29th. I received this in reply:

------
Unfortunately, we only keep samples for a week after they're tested, so we no longer have this sample of oil.

It's not unheard of for iron to read low in this kind of engine after such a long OCI. We have a handful of reports for 1GR-FEs with similarly low iron readings after long intervals.

Let us know if you have any more questions!
------

 

[ltslimjim]

I was busy with work and duties and didn't email Blackstone until Wednesday the 29th. I received this in reply:

------
Unfortunately, we only keep samples for a week after they're tested, so we no longer have this sample of oil.

It's not unheard of for iron to read low in this kind of engine after such a long OCI. We have a handful of reports for 1GR-FEs with similarly low iron readings after long intervals.

Let us know if you have any more questions!
------

Perhaps the several long trips are the exception for this report wrt low iron. If the BS report is accurate.

 

[himemsys]

Perhaps the several long trips are the exception for this report wrt low iron. If the BS report is accurate.

I have a UOA of our 2018 CRV in which over 60% of the 4200mi OCI was easy highway miles (vacation roadtrip). It had super low iron compared to the other UOAs I've done for that vehicle. Like 3x-4x lower than normal.