oil analysis for 2004 honda accord lx 4 cylinder with oilguars bypass filter

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2004 Honda Accord lx/manual/w/ the 2.4 engine, purchased new in October 2004. Changed initial oil fill at about 6000 miles. Installed oil guard bypass filter and amsoil sdf filter using amsoil 0w30 series 2000. (did not take virgin sample) There have been three used samples taken total. I could not figure out how to copy actual report to this message.

Results posted: 1st number was first sample taken on 6/9/05 with 12260 on oil and 18160 on car.
2nd sample (number) was taken on 8/8/05 using the same oil and filters with 3/4 quart makeup oil after intial sample, and 17280 on oil with 23180 on car. Changed oil, regular oil filter, and oil guard bypass element and used amsoil 0w30 series 2000 again. Third sample was taken on 1/20/06 with 11075 miles on oil and 34255 on car. presently have GC 0w30 (I feel like a member typing in "GC") oil to compare.
I am not a mechanically inclined person and have a difficult time understanding oil analysis even with talking to Lube Trak, who analyzed oil. I wondered if some folks here could offer opinions on oil analysis and possible problems with report, or my sampling procedure...i.e. mechanic who installed system took sample. Also wondered why items like calcium, moly, magnesium are so low compared to other reports. People often refer to them as additives and wondered if bypass filter is causing additives to deplete.
Particles mesured in Parts per million (ppm)
water/glycol/fuel dilution measured in %volume

Aluminum 8/11/6
Chromium 0/0/0
Iron 8/9/0
Copper 9/7/4
Lead 3/6/1
Tin 0/0/0
Moly 53/68/7
Nickel 0/0/0
Manganese 0/0/0
Silver NA/NA/NA
Titanium 0/0/0
Potassium 8/3/18
Boron 0/0/0
Silicon 23/29/6
Sodium 2/4/0
Calcium 0/0/0
Vanadium fuel contaminant 0/0/0
Magnesium 0/0/0
Phosphorus 0/0/0
Zinc 0/0/0
Barium 0/0

Viscosity40 N/A/N/A/N/A
Viscosity100 12.5/12.8/12.8
Fuel 0/0/0
Glycol 0/0/0
Water .1/.2/.2
Nitration 4.4/8/3.9
Total Base Number 5.7/4.5/6.1
In all three reports evaluator stated: "oxidation is not available due to the strong interference of synthetic oil. All engine wear rates normal. Viscosity is higher than typical for given oil type." All three samples registered oil as SAE 40
 
I'm not familiar with Lube Track, so I can't comment on their accuracy. Why they didn't even enter the additive numbers is quite strange. Rest assured these numbers aren't = zero!

Potassium (K) seems high....but again - is it accurate.

I will question the high Moly number - but most likely just left over earlier oil.

I will say exceptionally low wear numbers for a new engine....but I'm not sure I believe the lab.

I say get some other comments here then contact the lab and ask them why no Ca, P, Zn, etc numbers.
 
I'm surprised no one else chimed in in such a strange lab report - I mean the lack of numbers - - and you'll need to confirm that potassium number.

Do you mean without draining the oil?
 
0 Iron in ~11,000 miles? That doesn't sound right no matter how good an engine or oil you're using.

To take an oil sample without changing the oil you could obtain a small pump with a piece of (new each time) tubing that will fit down the dipstick hole and suck some out of there with that. Or you could pull the drain plug for just long enough to get your sample, but that is kind of messy. I have done that before, though.
 
I called the oil analysis place (MTM industrial-affiliated with oilguard). I am waiting for a lube technician to call back, but did learn why certain elements registered at 0. They only check for three contaminants (Silicon, Potassium, and Sodium) and six wear metals (Aluminum, Chromium, Copper, Iron, Lead, and Tin. They also check for nitration, oxidation, and TBN. The other elements, which registered at zero, should have read NA (not applicable-not sodium) since they did not test for them. I am thinking of maybe having oil analyzed at another laboratory that checks more things. Is this laboratory too minimalisic? Are there any suggestions for oil analysis at a better laboratory?
 
Since the oil is Amsoil I would use OAI, CTC. Available through the dealer where you got the oil.

Blackstone is fine as well. They are a site sponsor.

How much did MTM charge?
 
MTM charges $11.00 per sample. Where can I obtain a pump that will fit inside the dipstick in order to get a sample. I also installed an oil pressure gauge in the car, and noticed the PSI was aboout 80 or so while aI am driving. What is the normal operating pressure for a car. What troubled me is that the pressure did not seem that much different from the initial startup pressure.
 
80 psi is good oil pressure. I'm not sure about honda's but, I believe it has been said that 10psi for every 1000 rpms is decent. Some engines call for higher. It is normal for your oil pressure to be high when you've just started the engine and the oil is cold. hot oil idle psi can be 1/2 startup (cold oil) psi. I have observed that when my engine and oil is cold, the idle psi and the driving psi is pretty similar. When it is hot, the idle psi is just under half of the driving psi.

I believe amsoil will sell you an oil sample pump...together with the sample bottle that will screw onto the pump.

I think pablo is onto something though, and you should consider a lab that will give you the complete picture on your UOA.
 
The normal operating oil pressure on the 2004 honda accord 2.4 cylinder ranges between 75-90 psi at normal operating temperature. I have been getting aboiut 80-85 readings while driving. I was suprised that car registers about a 75-80 psi when starting up in the morning. There is not much of a difference between start-up and normal operating temperature. I wonder if that is due to using the 0w30 oil where the oil may flow easier at cold startups and seem to have slightly less pressure than at normal operating condition. Does amsoil 0w30 and GC 0w30 both use pao and ester basestocks? How does mobil 1 0w 30 compare to them?
 
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