Schaeffer 10w30 blend, 4300 miles, 95 LT1 Firebird

Patman · Dec 31, 2002

Here is the latest oil analysis on my car, courtesy of Dyson Analysis. I've included my last oil analysis for comparison too.

The facts:
1995 Firebird Formula
350ci LT1 engine, 275hp, automatic, unmodified so far
4300 miles on oil/76,500 miles on engine
SL Schaeffer Supreme 7000 10w30 blend
Purolator Premium Plus L30040 oil filter
OEM air filter
Top up oil was 300ml Schaeffer, 300ml GM 5w30 (dealer put in by mistake!)

Daily driving-all highway rush hour
10 quarter mile runs plus many full throttle blasts on the street
Oil was run from Sept 1-Dec 7
Previous oil was Maxlife 10w30

code:

Maxlife Schaeffer

3300 miles 4300 miles

Copper 3 3

Iron 5 15

Chrome 1 1

Lead 14 7

Aluminum 4 6

Silicon 6 8

Tin 2 2

Moly 7 78

Sodium 4 8

Magnesium 29 36

Zinc 737 774

Potassium 6 0

Phosphorus 652 696

Calcium 1750 1530

Soot 0 0

Oxidation 9% 22%

Nitration 17% 31%

Sulfur 0% 19%

TBN 8 6

Viscosity 11.5 10.2

Water, fuel and antifreeze were all negative on both samples above.

The TBN of Schaeffer oil starts at around 7.1 according to their technical data.

After this oil was drained I put in more Schaeffer 10w30 and a Fram Sure Drain valve, along with a K&N HP3002 oil filter (larger than stock)

[ May 12, 2003, 04:44 PM: Message edited by: Patman ]

Terry · Dec 31, 2002

Patman, Our tests show clean 7000 Blend 10w30 at about 8 TBN. Was able to get 11 samples here to finish out 2002 caught up !

Patman · Dec 31, 2002

Sorry Terry, I didn't realize you had tested the Schaeffer to an 8 TBN in your testing, my bad. I guess the lab that Schaeffer uses for their technical data specs shows a slightly different TBN. TBN is one data point that seems to vary a lot from lab to lab unfortunately.

mdv · Dec 31, 2002

Interesting flip flop on the iron and lead values.

mormit · Dec 31, 2002

quote:

Originally posted by mdv:
Interesting flip flop on the iron and lead values.

Yes, very. I'd like to see the next sample. Of course then what can you stand to loose more of, iron or lead? I mean, there's a lot more iron in an engine isn't there.

Is the '95 LT1 one of the high copper engines? Has this one finally worn in with the low copper levels at >70Kmi?

[ December 31, 2002, 07:46 PM: Message edited by: mormit ]

Patman · Dec 31, 2002

Yes, the first thing I mentioned to Terry was how strange it was that the lead and iron did the old Freaky Friday switcheroo!

The LT1 isn't one of the high copper engines at all actually, only the newer LS1 and some V6 engines from GM seem to have higher copper. I think it's cuz they are manufactured out of old pennies!

Chris · Dec 31, 2002

Hopefully it is out of the Canadian pennies that end up in our pockets that merchants do not accept.

Idrinkmotoroil · Dec 31, 2002

quote:

Originally posted by Chris:
Hopefully it is out of the Canadian pennies that end up in our pockets that merchants do not accept.

he, he, he, I remember many spring breaks using Canadian quarters in the pop machines at the hotels. Cheap pop !.

Those are good numbers Patman, I would have expected a bigger difference between the Schaeffers and Max Life. I think the Max Life works pretty good in your engine considering the cost, both oils seem to be doing good though.

Isn't that moly level in the Schaeffers low ?, I always thought they used more moly than that - over 100 ppm ?, I may be wrong.

good info !

dragboat · Dec 31, 2002

quote:

Originally posted by Patman:
Yes, the first thing I mentioned to Terry was how strange it was that the lead and iron did the old Freaky Friday switcheroo!

The LT1 isn't one of the high copper engines at all actually, only the newer LS1 and some V6 engines from GM seem to have higher copper. I think it's cuz they are manufactured out of old pennies!

Did you forget to tell the members Auto-RX was in the Maxlife oil?

It's near giveaway if you know what to look for

[ December 31, 2002, 10:16 PM: Message edited by: dragboat ]

mdv · Dec 31, 2002

quote:

Did you forget to tell the members Auto-RX was in the Maxlife oil?

It's near giveaway if you know what to look for

What do you look for?

Patman · Dec 31, 2002

Auto-rx wasn't in the Maxlife oil, at least not a huge amount. I had done the full treatment the interval before that though, so some small residual rx might have been in there though, but it wouldn't have been enough to affect anything.

I know that the next report will show better now that the moly plated up, plus I also put in a 3oz dose of Auto-rx, on Terry's advice that it too will lower wear metals.

Schaeffer 10w30 starts out with 170ppm of moly, so you can see my engine was very hungry for it! I starved it of moly for so long it gobbled it up and held onto it!

I'm a bit puzzled now though. I just looked at the initial data on a virgin sample of this oil and here is what it contained:

Moly-171
Ph-1431
Zinc-1440
Calcium-3320
Silicon-9
Vis-10.51

So I'm wondering, where did all the calcium go? And if a virgin sample starts with 9ppm si, how can my 4300 mile sample possibly have only 8?

[ January 01, 2003, 06:05 AM: Message edited by: Patman ]

Spector · Dec 31, 2002

quote:

Originally posted by Patman:

So I'm wondering, where did all the calcium go? And if a virgin sample starts with 9ppm si, how can my 4300 mile sample possibly have only 8?

I have a similar problem with two additives on a recent Amsoil 0W. Lab results are higher then a reported Virgin sample. Either the lab screwed up and/or the batch of oil was slightly different then the one tested. With Amsoil I have noticed that the levels can change and of course, they never tell anyone and or the lab may have changed testing techniques/process. I also think this happened to me at least once.

Although I believe with silicon, used as an additive, it can be depleted with use so a lower number would make sense. .

Patman · Dec 31, 2002

quote:

Originally posted by Spector:

Although I believe with silicon, used as an additive, it can be depleted with use so a lower number would make sense. .

That's probably what it is then. I guess the different type of silicon that is the additive in the original oil will not stick around and collect the same way that silicon as dirt would.

Patman · Jan 4, 2003

quote:

Originally posted by mdv:
Interesting flip flop on the iron and lead values.

I think I may know why the iron levels were higher. Terry suggested it could be corrosion. During this interval my car was at the GM dealer a few times to fix a heater problem. During this time the car was idled a lot. I was told at one point they idled it for 45min to check the heater, and then it was shut off and left parked outside overnight and I picked it up the next day. It was also idled a lot during my emission testing that was done too. I think these things, along with the colder weather of late, is partly responsible for higher than normal corrosion happening inside my engine. It also doesn't help me that on the weekends I have to start my car and move it to shuffle our two cars around, so my engine gets started and run for a minute and then is shut down and left overnight. This may not be as much of a problem in the summer, but in the winter with our typical 20-40F temp. range it might always show more iron for me.

Having that lead level come down so much is very impressive. It's come down a long way since my first analysis, which showed 19ppm in a short 2.4k run. (iron was 15ppm on that short run too)

My 700 mile sample is now sitting at the lab and will be processed on Monday.

[ January 05, 2003, 07:25 AM: Message edited by: Patman ]

Schaeffer 10w30 blend, 4300 miles, 95 LT1 Firebird

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