Mobil 1 10W-40 HM 2004 Land Rover Discovery 3339mi

[clalor]

This is the first UOA on the first oil change since I bought the Discovery in March '09. I had the water pump replaced before taking delivery of it after reviewing its entire maintenance history (previous owner decided to trade it in for a new Land Rover rather than fix it). However, since taking it home, I've had a small problem with it losing coolant (Dexcool) and have had to replace about 1/2 gallon over the approx. 3700 miles I've put on it (street duty with one weekend spent in the Utah desert). Given the problems with head and valley gaskets on the 4.6L Rover V8 and that I couldn't find any obvious coolant leaks at the time I changed the oil, I thought sending a sample to Blackstone would be a good idea. I didn't see any obvious signs of coolant in the oil when I drained it.

The oil in it previously was "dealer mystery oil". I haven't called their service department yet to see what type of oil they normally use. However, I have seen a Valvoline sticker on one of their shop trucks.

I used a M1 oil filter and the air filter is an OEM Land Rover filter.

Numbers in parenthesis are the universal averages for this motor.

Comment: Universal averages show typical wear levels for this type of engine after about 3200 miles on the oil. The oil in your Land Rover was run only 100 miles longer than average. Wear metals (see aluminum, iron, copper) are a touch high but not enough to cause concern. The elevated sodium is a possible sign of antifreeze in the oil. But sodium could also be residual additive from a past-use oil, and in this case it's harmless. Change the oil at 3000 miles and resample to monitor. The TBN was 3.6, showing plenty of active additives left in this engine oil.

Miles on oil: 3,339
Miles on unit: 57,724
Months in service: 10
Make up oil added: 0 qt

ALUMINUM: 6 (5)
CHROMIUM: 2 (1)
IRON: 18 (12)
COPPER: 7 (4)
LEAD: 4 (7)
TIN: 5 (4)
MOLYBDENUM: 74 (61)
NICKEL: 1 (3)
MANGANESE: 1 (0)
SILVER: 0 (0)
TITANIUM: 0 (0)
POTASSIUM: 5 (2)
BORON: 110 (33)
SILICON: 18 (12)
SODIUM: 61 (15)
CALCIUM: 2702 (2379)
MAGNESIUM: 16 (106)
PHOSPHORUS: 797 (913)
ZINC: 962 (1135)
BARIUM: 0 (0)

cSt Viscosity @ 100°C: 13.80
SUS Viscosity @ 210°F: 73.2
Flashpoint in °F: 405
Fuel %: Antifreeze %: ?
Water %: 0.0
Insolubles %: 0.3
TBN: 3.6

Since sending in this sample, I've found a small coolant leak at the hose feeding the water pump. I'm hoping that is the sole source of the coolant loss (and not causing the higher sodium levels), but I'm planning to have another sample run at 3000 miles, which I'll probably just pull from the dip stick tube. The rate I'm going, that could be another 10 months from now...

 

[demarpaint]

Fix the hose leak, then get a cooling system pressure tester and see if you have any leaks. If you can't find an external leak but are losing pressure you could have a bad head gasket. The reason I am suggesting this is because waiting 10 months for another report IMO is not a good idea, especially if you suspect a head gasket problem. The pressure tester will tell you if you have a leak in just a few minutes. JMO

 

[clalor]

I'm not as worried about the head gasket after seeing the analysis and checking a few other things, but I'm planning to replace that hose, and many of its friends, very soon. They've actually been sitting on my work bench for a couple of weeks now. I'll keep an eye on the coolant level after that and check into having a pressure test run.

After reading how many people have had issues with head gaskets on the '04 Discovery, I watch coolant levels and temperature like a hawk.

 

[addyguy]

Not great for only 3k miles.

M1 oils don't use Sodium in the add-pack, so it might be from coolant, but Potassium should also be high, so...???

 

[calvinnnnnnnnn]

tbn went down fast!

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Does the engin ereally need a 40 wt? Will not a thick 30 do the trick maybe 10w-30 HM or the 0w-40? Or Shell Helix Ultra 5w-40!

 

[clalor]

Originally Posted By: addyguy
Not great for only 3k miles.

M1 oils don't use Sodium in the add-pack, so it might be from coolant, but Potassium should also be high, so...???


I haven't had time to search much on this topic, but I recall coming across one post that indicated that Dexcool in the oil would result in high sodium and potassium levels in the analysis. I need to do some more searching on this topic...

Originally Posted By: calvinnnnnnnnn
tbn went down fast!


Anyone know what's standard on a virgin sample for this oil? I wasn't able to find anything in that section of the forum for this stuff. If not, I might crack open the unopened quart I have left and have a sample run.

Originally Posted By: ARCOgraphite
Does the engin ereally need a 40 wt? Will not a thick 30 do the trick maybe 10w-30 HM or the 0w-40? Or Shell Helix Ultra 5w-40!


The factory workshop manual shows 10w-40 having a range of 14 to 120 degrees F ambient in this motor. It lists the upper end of 30 wt being only 86 degrees F ambient and the 10w-30 HM specs out about the same as their other 30 wt oils, so I'm reluctant to try it. The workshop manual even calls out 50 and 60 wt oils as being acceptable.

Although, their chart ends at 120 degrees F so there's really no info on what they consider to be the upper end ambient temperature for those weights.

I wasn't quite comfortable with the 0 wt oils when I put this oil in and I was having a hard time finding any of the Rotellas in my area, so I sort of punted with this stuff since it was easy to find and had good HTHS numbers (the Rover V8 is a flat tappet motor). From what I know right now, which admittedly isn't much, I'll probably end up moving to either a 0w-40 or a 5w-40 when the current oil gets drained. I'll check into the Shell Helix.

 

[addyguy]

You won't find Helix here. Use Rotella 'T6' 5W-40 - an inexpensive, stout HDEO that should work well....

 

[ARCOgraphite]

The Pennzoil Ultra 5w-40 should be same as Helix

 

[REDDOG]

The sodium could be residual from a previous oil used, especially if the dealer uses Valvoline. As stated above Dexcool also has potassium in it.

REDDOG

 

[JBRIII]

I have an 02 Disco. My analysis showed potassium elevated quite a bit. The 04 uses a different engine and is not as prone to the HG failure. I had my oil analyzed as soon as I noticed the resevoir was low. It is in the shop now for HG replacement. No wear was indicated on the report which is good. I caught it early.

Have it checked to be certain.

 

[clalor]

I've been reading lots of positive things about T6. It's definitely on the short list for the next fill.

Nice catch on the failed HG. The research I've done seems to indicate that the '04 Discos are more prone to HG issues that some of the earlier models and they seem to fail in the 50k-80k mile range. Maybe that's just me being paranoid, which I won't dispute.

I'll definitely get it checked out.

What's been interesting about my coolant loss is that it's been worse with city driving than with highway driving. I'd see a drop in the coolant level after about a week of commuting (75 miles in 5 days), but a 500 mile round trip on the highway with two days of off-roading in between showed absolutely no change in level.

 

[JBRIII]

constant heating and cooling of the aluminum block allowing it to leak perhaps?

I had them pull the engine and do a complete reseal. It was only an extra $500 and the rear main was seeping a little. The front timing cover/water pump as well as it's paper. I will say I used auto RX on the seal leak protocol when I bought the vehicle and it bought me 40K miles before I needed to get it done. The inside of the engine was amazing. It was clean as a whistle.