oil reports on my old 4.3 over 10+ years...

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Nov 1, 2015
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Location
Long Island NY
Here's oil reports going back to 2011 on my old 4.3 V6. You can see back in 2011 I had high wear in terms of metals and there was both fuel dilution and sodium showing up in the oil (salt water cooling). While I didn't realize it then (no obvious water in the oil) the head gaskets were already starting to leak. I had a bad overheat in 2013, though the engine was trashed, but it ran just as it always did, still no obvious water in the oil. I did another analysis in 2015, and still had high wear and sodium in the oil but no fuel dilution. HGs finally leaked wate into 2 cyls at end of next season (2016). Again thought the engine was trashed, but took it apart, kind of just to learn, and had my mechanic look at the cyl heads and the block (actually 2 differnt guys, both agreed on what to do). I wound up replacing the cyl heads due to cracks (overheat) and eroded cooling passages (these can eventually rust though due to salt water cooling). Installed a set of reman cyl heads in 2017. Did 2 analyses since then, in 2021 and 2022, and the iron came down, from 115 ppm to 85 ppm to 56 ppm. Still higher than it should be but better. No sign of water in the oil or excess sodium. This points up the value of doing an analysis once a season. You can have oil contamination which will cause high wear, but you won't know it till it gets bad. Even with water in the oil the bearings survived, my oil pressures are the same as they always have been. And the Merc/Quicksilver oil seems to have held up well. I am swtiching to the Quicksilver syn blend 25/50 to see how that does. Expensive but might be worth it. Want to keep this one running as long as I can....
88 Horizon oil report redacted 11-2022.jpg
 
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I think your iron and silicon and copper are high for a 20 hour OCI. That would be similar to a car going 1200 miles. I know the engine use is not the same between automotive and marine.
 
I think your iron and silicon and copper are high for a 20 hour OCI. That would be similar to a car going 1200 miles. I know the engine use is not the same between automotive and marine.
I agree iron is still high but the silicon and copper are close to universal averages that Blackstone lists for this engine family.
 
I agree iron is still high but the silicon and copper are close to universal averages that Blackstone lists for this engine family.
I am not a fan of Blackstone. Don't like their universal averages nor their comments. NAPA is $16 and includes the TBN. I believe NAPA is a private label done by WIX.

If you have an oil cooler then the copper might be OK.

Silicon is typically dirt. But can be gasket sealer if work was done recently. Boat engines typically run on the water do not have issues with dirt.
 
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