Mobil 1 5W/30 EP HM, 4863 miles, 1996 Acura 3.5 RL. 3 Labs

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Acura_210731_BlackStone.jpg


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Acura_210731_OAI.jpg
 
Wow. Given that the same vehicle mileage is shown on all 3 reports, the labs are all over the place. Somehow iron mysteriously disappeared from the Blackstone sample and Magnesium from the Oil Analzyers sample. Just curious, were these all separate samples taken at different point in the oil drain stream, or did you collect one larger sample then split into three containers ?
 
Are these variances within some normal range, within a statistical margin for error, or some such thing?
 
And this is why we trend UOA's from a single lab and look for significant deviations from the equipment average, not try to use the results to play chemist or read far more into them than they can accurately provide lol.

My takeaway:
- NAPA and OAI are very close on visc (9.8 vs 10.2), while Blackstone is MUCH lower at 8.98 - I would be suspect of the Blackstone number here, ask for a re-test
- Blackstone and NAPA are very close on Calcium and Magnesium while OAI isn't even on the same planet - I would be suspect of the OAI number here, ask for a re-test
- Blackstone FP of 375F is very low, pointing to significant fuel, OAI says only 1.3% fuel - I would be suspect of the OAI number here, ask for a re-test
- Blackstone and NAPA are bang-on with Boron, while OAI is again, not on the same planet - I would be suspect of the OAI number here, ask for a re-test


Based on the above, I'd be inclined to conclude that the OAI sample isn't yours, that they got mixed up and those are somebody else's results. The composition (additive) information is markedly different from what the other two labs show.
 
Not to mention the super high calcium, phosphorus and zinc levels in the OA result. The OA results have to be off on these three, as M1 EP HM VOAs show results (of these 3) much closer to NAPA and BS results. Weird how off the three labs are from each other!
 
I do find it weird they are this far off.

I've run several samples at ALS/Blackstone and they are typically surprisingly close, these are surprisingly not close.

I'll run a few more at all three just for curiosity sake, Don't have anything coming up on a change right now though.

Maybe ask for a retest as Overkill mentioned.
 
Personally, I question the sample consistency itself more than the labs. Something more is going on here. Sorry, Duck.
 
Perhaps you could explain how you think three sample bottles filled from the same larger sample bottle at the same time could be inconsistent.
I have no idea, since I wasn't there when you split the sample. But, to commit to the idea first that the sample was above reproach and the labs are wrong is not the most likely conclusion in my opinion. Most of the time the simplest explanation proves over time to be the correct one. The simplest explanation in my view is that the sample concentrations were off. The OA sample does look like a different oil, though. A massive coincidence that when you did this 3 way test, they goofed.
 
Thanks for posting, Duck. I always wondered about the accuracy of UOA done by the commercial labs. Now we know - it's awful. It doesn't really matter whether it's due to human error, poor equipment or plain old fraud. UOAs cannot be trusted at all. Sad.
 
Thanks for posting, Duck. I always wondered about the accuracy of UOA done by the commercial labs. Now we know - it's awful. It doesn't really matter whether it's due to human error, poor equipment or plain old fraud. UOAs cannot be trusted at all. Sad.
Hopefully this is sarcasm. If not, well…
 
Wow. Given that the same vehicle mileage is shown on all 3 reports, the labs are all over the place. Somehow iron mysteriously disappeared from the Blackstone sample and Magnesium from the Oil Analzyers sample. Just curious, were these all separate samples taken at different point in the oil drain stream, or did you collect one larger sample then split into three containers ?
Not even just that, none of them are even close to agreement on a simple thing like viscosity!
 
And this is why we trend UOA's from a single lab and look for significant deviations from the equipment average, not try to use the results to play chemist or read far more into them than they can accurately provide lol.

My takeaway:
- NAPA and OAI are very close on visc (9.8 vs 10.2), while Blackstone is MUCH lower at 8.98 - I would be suspect of the Blackstone number here, ask for a re-test
- Blackstone and NAPA are very close on Calcium and Magnesium while OAI isn't even on the same planet - I would be suspect of the OAI number here, ask for a re-test
- Blackstone FP of 375F is very low, pointing to significant fuel, OAI says only 1.3% fuel - I would be suspect of the OAI number here, ask for a re-test
- Blackstone and NAPA are bang-on with Boron, while OAI is again, not on the same planet - I would be suspect of the OAI number here, ask for a re-test


Based on the above, I'd be inclined to conclude that the OAI sample isn't yours, that they got mixed up and those are somebody else's results. The composition (additive) information is markedly different from what the other two labs show.
I’ve always wondered about labs that do higher quantities of samples, how they keep track of whose sample it is. You know, like back in the day at hospitals when they’d have 40 babies in the ward and 18 years later somebody found out “their” parents weren’t even theirs…

Somebody needs to start QR coding sample containers and the reader needs to be part of the test stand, and link it automatically to the customer…
 
Ive asked OAI and Blackstone to retest.

I also asked OAI if there was any chance/way the sample could have gotten mixed up.

We will see what they say.

Also an interesting detail, ALS was fastest, Blackstone slowest.

OAI are QR coded.
 
If it’s the same bottle of oil, how can viscosity go up during a retest? 🤨🤔

It went from looking poor to looking decent all the sudden. So which report shows the ACTUAL condition of the oil, we’ll never know at this point. 🤷🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️
 
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