PQI test

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Mods, feel free to move this if it is better in the general questions forum, but I posted here because I'm specifically asking about my expedition.

so I've posted these results before and high wear metals are showing up on a consistent basis. high enough that I'm uniquely curious as to what may be going on.

I get my UOA kits from NAPA for about $7, so I called the lab to find out what other test they can do that might help point me in a direction.

they offered a PQI test for about $8 additional. they said this will pick up particles too large to be seen with the regular analysis. I'm not sure how helpful this will be, but the price is reasonable.

They also offered a MPE test which would give a particle profile, but it was $82 - so that's a deal breaker.

any thoughts on this PQI test? I don't know anything about it.

I'm hoping to better compare one type of oil to another, if at all possible.

they were unwilling to do a particle count, as I specifically asked.

UOA's I'm referring to:
Code:


OIL Castrol 5w30 Castrol 5w30 Trop 5w30 NAPA 5w20

Edge Edge Artic Synthetic

Gold Bottle Gold Bottle SynBlend



MILES IN USE 9,060 9,980 4,989 6,447

MILES 158145 149,085 125,086 114,429

SAMPLE TAKEN 06/16/16 01/14/16 10/23/14 06/01/14





Metals (ppm)

IRON 71 88 10 45

CHROMIUM
LEAD
COPPER 3 4 1 2

TIN 2
ALUMINUM 12 19 4 22

NICKEL 1
SILVER
TITANIUM 21 20
VANADIUM


Contaminants (ppm)

SILICON 11 12 8 10

SODIUM 24 18 17 278

POTASSIUM


Additives (ppm)

MAGNESIUM 154 278 14 118

CALCIUM 1770 1990 2044 1792

BARIUM 1
PHOSPHORUS 637 648 690 627

ZINC 667 755 761 730

MOLYBDENUM 66 69 15 6

BORON 62 58 70 9



Contaminants

WATER (%)
Coolant No No No No



Physical Tests

Visc (cSt 100C) 9.0 8.9 8.9 9.0



TBN (mgKOH/g) 1.4 2.4 2.6 2.5


thanks in advance!
 
The PQ Index is the Particle Quantification Index and it is only useful if you also analyze the New Oil as a baseline for PQI and subsequent trending.

It is a dimensionless index and is a measure of the magnetic particles in the oil. The more magnetic particles, the higher the index. The PQI only detects "magnetic" particles, or alloys containing iron, cobalt or nickel.


If you are a race engine builder/re-builder, and know the ferrous alloys that make up the metallurgy in your engine, this is probably a good index to trend. Otherwise it is not really that useful for daily-driver UOA's.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: MolaKule
The PQ Index is the Particle Quantification Index and it is only useful if you also analyze the New Oil as a baseline for PQI and subsequent trending.

It is a dimensionless index and is a measure of the magnetic particles in the oil. The more magnetic particles, the higher the index. The PQI only detects "magnetic" particles, or alloys containing iron, cobalt or nickel.


If you are a race engine builder/re-builder, and know the ferrous alloys that make up the metallurgy in your engine, this is probably a good index to trend. Otherwise it is not really that useful for daily-driver UOA's.


any other suggestions then?

I can back out of the PQI if it won't be helpful as I have not sent in the sample.

Mostly I want to use these UOA's as a learning tool.

Originally Posted By: SatinSilver
How about doing a 5k run with Trop Artic and have a UOA done afterwards.


I could ... but I'm tired of changing oil so often, which is why I went to full synthetic oils and longer intervals. My wife and I drive a combined 40,000 miles per year. at 5,000 mile intervals that's 8 oil changes a year, which gets quite old.

the 5k run of trop artic above came in 1.5 months of driving.
 
Ok makes sense. One idea is to put a long life filter on it like a Fram Ultra(for 20k miles) etc. Install a Fumoto oil drain valve to make 5k oil changes easier. Given the towing, idling etc it could be severe conditions for the truck which might be causing the higher wear metals. Changing just the oil every 5-6k/2 months with a syn-blend is a lot easier than opening up the engine. Castrol Magnatec would be another option. At least it wouldn't take long to see if 6k/2 months is the sweet spot.
 
Are the high iron uoas a winter run ? South Dakotas winters can get a bit on the brisk side.
 
Most of them have a fair amount of winter as it is hard to avoid on my current schedule. Just the way it works out.

You are right, our winters can be a bit harsh, but my thinking has been to sample the oil during the harshest use to see how it looks. Summer should be better, so if I'm good in the wintertime, then I should be good all year.

The analyses on our Subaru look absolutely stellar for the same environment. Her car sees plenty of idle, but no towing, of course.
Code:


OIL Mobil 1 NAPA 5w30

AFE Synthetic

0w30



MILES IN USE 9,500 5,500

MILES 144,831 115,500

SAMPLE TAKEN 05/16/16 6/01/14





Metals (ppm)

IRON 10 6

CHROMIUM
LEAD
COPPER 2 1

TIN 2
ALUMINUM 3 2

NICKEL
SILVER
TITANIUM
VANADIUM


Contaminants (ppm)

SILICON 12 4

SODIUM 14 217

POTASSIUM


Additives (ppm)

MAGNESIUM 565
CALCIUM 1111 1832

BARIUM
PHOSPHORUS 592 554

ZINC 699 661

MOLYBDENUM 64 4

BORON 37 20



Contaminants

WATER
Coolant No No



Physical Tests

Visc (cSt 100C) 8.6 9.5



TBN (mgKOH/g) 2.2 2.3
 
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