Valvoline 10W-30 SL- All Climate

Status
Not open for further replies.
More and more, I truly believe each lab is going to give a totally different set of results even with the same oil. I have yet to see an oil sample that has been sent to two different labs, come back looking even close.
 
quote:

Originally posted by Greg Bohn:

quote:

Originally posted by dragboat:

...Are you using this oil presently,or just curious about it?


I got looking at this oil because I normally go to a 'Valvoline Instant Oil change' for one of my cars. They claimed that they use the same oil as their retail bottle stuff, only in bulk form.

Since I didn't get a bulk sample from them the last time I had my oil changed, I figured I would buy a regular retail quart bottle and send in a sample.

I figured I could them compare the results of the bottled oil to my used oil analysis too see if the base additives looked similar or not.

What I have now are results from a recent sample of used motor oil sent to both labs (at the same time). I also have results of unused samples of the 'similar' retail bottled oil from the same two labs.

The results for Zinc, Phos, Calcium and Magnesium, as well as some metals from the used results are:

...

So, the Herguth results make the additive parts of the Unused and used oil look very similar. The Blackstone results look less similar (between used and unused) especially in the Calcium numbers.


In an attempt to determine which lab, if any, has the most accurate numbers I now have six sets of results to compare and contrast. I just got back two more results from Oil Analyzers.

I have results from three labs on samples from the same 1 Qt. bottle of unused Valvoline 10W-30.

I also have the results from three labs which I sent 'the same' used oil from one of my cars. I actually drew enough oil for three samples when I sampled the engine. I sent two samples out at that time (to Herguth and Blackstone) at kept the third sample in a bottle. After about two weeks I sent out the third sample to Oil Analayzers.

As I mentioned in a prior post, the 'used oil' is from my cars last change at Valvoline Instant oil change. It's supposed to be close to what they sell in the retail bottles (at least according to the guy at VIOC).

The results are:

code:

Used Oil Miles: 1,955

Used Engine Miles: 81,219







Herguth Herguth Blackstone Blackstone OAI OAI

Unused Used Unused Used Unused Used

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Zinc: 1,071 1,063 836 952 1,382 1,204

Phos: 1,042 994 735 792 1,144 1,014

Calcium: 2,149 2,148 1,655 1,971 2,642 2,874

Magnesium: 8 17 5 14 0 0

Boron: 5
Silicon: 15 18 3 10 0 12



Al: 2 5 0 3 0 9

Chromium:
Iron: 1 19 0 17 0 24

Copper: 1 6 0 5 0 7

Lead:
Tin: 1 1 0 1 0 1

Molybdenum: 1 17 0 13 0 20



TBN: 6.43 3.99 - 4.5 8.7 7.0



Visc: 10.10 9.13 61.3 SUS 56.3 SUS 10.2 cSt 9.6 cSt

10.58? cSt 9.15? cSt

Oxidation: Cm - - - 10%

Niration: Cm - - - 14.3%



I was hoping to compare at least the three labs 'used results' against each other, as well as the three 'unused' results against each other to determine which labs if any matched.

Since it looks like none of them match that closely (at least for Ca, Zn, and P), I guess I'll have to think about what conclusions can be drawn from the results.

I know I really should have sent out all results at the same time, but when I started this I didn't think I was really going to end up needing to get results from three labs...
 
For what it's worth, here's the results from a sample of bulk 10W-30 All-Climate I got at the Valvoline Instant Oil change place.

code:



Oil miles 0

Total Miles 0

Herguth Blackstone

--------------------------------------------

TBN: 7.35 9.5

Vis @100 C: 10.08 cSt

Vis @210 F: - 59.9 SUS

= 10.19 cSt ?



Oxidation: < 2 - Abs/cm (Max. 30)

Water: < 0.10 % 0.0

Nitration: < 2 - Abs/cm (Max. 30)

Insolubles: - 0.0

Percent Fuel: < 2.0 % -

Glycol: < 0.10 % -

Iron: < 1 1

Aluminum: < 1 1

Chromium: < 1 0

Copper: < 1 0

Lead: < 1 0

Tin: < 1 0

Nickel: < 1 0

Silver: < 1 0

Silicon: 2 4

Sodium: 2 2

Manganese: - 0

Boron: < 4 0

Zinc: 1041 888

Phos: 911 786

Calcium: 1909 1563

Magnesium: 12 9

Barium: < 1 0

Molybdenum: 1 0

Vanadium: < 1 -

Titanium: - 0

Potassium: - 0



 
I bet your disapointed. Man, all those tests and none seem close.

Are you telling the Labs what brand the oil is ?
 
quote:

Originally posted by dragboat:
I bet your disapointed. Man, all those tests and none seem close.

Are you telling the Labs what brand the oil is ?


Yep, I've been specifying oil Brand/type/weight.

In another thread (under Used Oil here) I have results from used samples of oil which should be similar to this unused oil. These are also results from the same two labs.

It looks to me as thought tests for the 'high concentration' parts only resemble each other when getting results from the same lab (for similar or the same oil).

The 'low' PPM wear metals generally seem to match more closely between different labs than the 'high concentration' additive measurements.

Herguth told me their metals results should be accurate within 'a few PPM'. I've seen another thread where someone claimed OAI says their results were supposed to be within '+/- 2 PPM'.

I wonder if the real accuracy might be more like 'plus or minus x percent +/- a few PPM'.

If that's the case, and 'x' is something like, say 30%, very low value results would be largely driven by the +/- 2 or so PPM part. But higher concentration values would become mainly influenced by the 'x %' part.

Even that doesn't seem to account for the results I got earlier in this thread (from three labs) which has OAI saying a virgin oil had 38 PPM Boron, with the other labs reporting 4 and 5 PPM.
 
Guys and Gals I feel your pain on the repeatablility of a lower cost oil analysis sample.
One of the reasons I began offering a "consumer Kit" was due to the variability of each lab. We offer my eye and judgement as a last QA/QC of whatever results I'm digging into. My own contracted lab makes mistakes and I usually catch them before you the customer see them.

Knowing the customer/equipement in a personal way via email and exchanging info really helps but most labs will not be able to make money and tie up their techs on the phone or computer that way.

The key is to standardize your variables and keep samples you are comparing on as equal footing as you can. Use the same lab,same oil,same engine,same ambient temps,etc.

Using the relative differences from the same lab is not acceptable for alot of the perfectionists out here but it is still reliable in a low cost test to procure data to make decisions on oil and engines.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top