Castrol 0w30, 2100mi, 04 Forester XT, HIGH COPPER

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Oil is German Castrol. Car has 90k with a few mods. Recently swapped a leaking turbo out, assumed the turbo bearings were causing the high copper. However it is still high. Besides the "tune" what else could be going on? I do have a Fumoto valve, could that cause the elevated copper? Should I try a diff. oil?

oil.jpg
 
Fumoto valve should't contribute to levels of suspended copper in the oil. That has to come from some component(s) that are wearing. I use GC in my BMW and the last UOA on GC with 6,000 miles read 0 on copper.... And I have a Fumoto valve.
 
Copper without a spike in other metals can often be an oil cooler oxidizing. For comparison, I had more copper/ppm in my 2008 Legacy GT oil report.

Btw, I know our turbos our different, but I've been told that silver is a good indicator metal for turbo bearings in my car. I assume your bearings are made of different metals then?
 
If you put a NEW turbo in, could the copper be the new turbo 'breaking in'?

High copper could also be wear from fuel dilution - this oil is also at the bottom of the 30-weight range! Yikes!
 
Originally Posted By: addyguy
If you put a NEW turbo in, could the copper be the new turbo 'breaking in'?

High copper could also be wear from fuel dilution - this oil is also at the bottom of the 30-weight range! Yikes!

Yeah, what's the history of the turbo? I rarely (if ever) see GC dropping below 10 cst's, especially with such low mileage on the oil.

-Dennis
 
Originally Posted By: bluesubie
Originally Posted By: addyguy
If you put a NEW turbo in, could the copper be the new turbo 'breaking in'?

High copper could also be wear from fuel dilution - this oil is also at the bottom of the 30-weight range! Yikes!

Yeah, what's the history of the turbo? I rarely (if ever) see GC dropping below 10 cst's, especially with such low mileage on the oil.

-Dennis


I just replied on NASIOC. The turbo supposely had around 10K miles on it before I put it on. Had around 150 or so miles on my car when the oil was drained. The previous samples of 33, 7, and 14 ppm were with the previous turbo. So I don't think the turbo itself is suspect seeing the 33ppm I had last time. I wonder how much of it is left over from the previous sample.

The fuel % has a lot to do with my 2 mile commute to work everyday. I try to let the car idle for a few minutes before taking off to try and let the oil get up to temperature. I don't do that much highway driving.

Do you think the elevated silicon is related to the copper?
 
Originally Posted By: addyguy
If you put a NEW turbo in, could the copper be the new turbo 'breaking in'?

High copper could also be wear from fuel dilution - this oil is also at the bottom of the 30-weight range! Yikes!



The previous samples were either traces of fuel or under .5% and still showed elevated copper.
 
Si consistently seems a bit high, nothing to worry about though, but what type of air filter are you using?
 
Originally Posted By: JSP
Si consistently seems a bit high, nothing to worry about though, but what type of air filter are you using?


First report was a Green drop in filter..since then I switched back to a new OEM air filter, and silicon is still the same which is a little puzzling to me.
 
Skate -

Alot of people assume a bit high silicon is a result of a bad air filter, especially if it's some form of aftermarket air filter.

Sometimes they are right, but yours is not really high, just higher than expected/average.

Do you live by the ocean in NJ? Dirty environment?

Even the best air filter will not do great in certain environments over long periods of time. I wouldn't sweat it too much, I don't think it's the cause of your small metal spikes.

I think you should switch to rotella t 5w40 synthetic and see how you like it. Or save the $100+ you've spent on oil analyzes for the next failure that comes one day :)

Joe
 
Originally Posted By: JoeFromPA
Skate -

Alot of people assume a bit high silicon is a result of a bad air filter, especially if it's some form of aftermarket air filter.

Sometimes they are right, but yours is not really high, just higher than expected/average.

Do you live by the ocean in NJ? Dirty environment?

Even the best air filter will not do great in certain environments over long periods of time. I wouldn't sweat it too much, I don't think it's the cause of your small metal spikes.

I think you should switch to rotella t 5w40 synthetic and see how you like it. Or save the $100+ you've spent on oil analyzes for the next failure that comes one day :)

Joe


I've been thinking of trying the Shell Rotella T 5w-40 actually.

I actually live about ~1 mile from the beach, could that be having an effect on air filtration? I don't care so much about the silicon, its the copper that concerns me more.
 
From what I understand, living close to the beach can result in increased silicon due to a greater amount of sand in the air.

I could be wrong.
 
You have two issues. High silicon and high fuel dilution. Both are anathema to soft metal wear.

First, replace your air filter and look for intake leaks. Second, check for injector leaks, and run some fuel injector cleaner through the system. Third, change to a higher viscosity oil to provide a better ring seal. With your OCI, an HDEO like Rotella 10W40 CJ-4 would be good.
 
Originally Posted By: SkateAndDestroy

I actually live about ~1 mile from the beach, could that be having an effect on air filtration? I don't care so much about the silicon, its the copper that concerns me more.


Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding!

Place some oil on your finger, coat it with some of the fine gritty silt that is on your windowsills, and rub your finger back and forth across a piece of copper pipe for a minute. Report back on what happens.

In your environment, you will need to change your air filter at a minimum of every 10K miles, if not sooner. Extremely fine silt will clog the filter and get through. As you know from your own house, that beach silt ends up everywhere. It is in your engine, and it is the main cause of your copper wear.
 
Skate - To follow up on RI_RS4's point, I'd stay with an OEM air filter and just replace it every 10k miles (cost effective).

Or, and alot of people will disagree with me on this, go with a drop in washable filter (like the AVO panel filter) and clean it every 7.5-10k. My own oil analysis using an AVO filter after 3500 miles (on the oil, 10k on the filter) showed good filtering on silicon, though I had a copper spike likely do to very cold weather and oil cooler oxidation).

I agree with switching to a heavier duty oil as well, though I'd say rotella 5w40 with your location.
 
I had put a new OEM filter in at 82,000 miles, and the last 3 oil reports of 21, 22, and 16 ppm silicon are from the new filter. I just cleaned off my Green filter and put that back in the car 2 weeks ago.

Probably gonna switch to Rotella 5w40 in the meantime and send my previous 4 oil reports to Dyson for analysis.

Thanks everyone.
 
Originally Posted By: RI_RS4
You have two issues. High silicon and high fuel dilution. Both are anathema to soft metal wear.

First, replace your air filter and look for intake leaks. Second, check for injector leaks, and run some fuel injector cleaner through the system. Third, change to a higher viscosity oil to provide a better ring seal. With your OCI, an HDEO like Rotella 10W40 CJ-4 would be good.


In regards to the injector leaks, I just had new fuel injectors installed in April. These are essentially modified OEM injectors made to flow more fuel. Would just the process of swapping the injectors themselves be a reason for the fuel dilution? I've always had a short commute to work, yet this is the first oil report out of 4 that has shown any dilution.
 
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