'03 Jetta TDI - Delvac1 5w40 - 9718 miles

[buster]

Other then Iron, this is an excellent report. This oil is extremely shear stable. Didn't move at all. Pb is as good as gets and TBN is showing life still left in the oil. I'd be very happy with this report.

 

[Neil Womack]

Look for the iron and chromium to drop with the 30k analysis.

 

[truav8r]

Ok, here are the stats and such for my first oil analysis. The car - 2003 Jetta TDI Automatic. Sample taken during 20k oil change. 1\2qt make-up oil added 7350 miles into this drain. Stock air and fuel filter (both changed after sample was taken as part of 20k service). I installed a Fumoto drain valve during the 5k oil change. 6oz of PowerService added every fill up (silver or white bottle, depending on temp).

Analysis by OAI
Oil: Mobil Delvac1 5w40
Oil Filter: OEM VW (#074 115 562)
Miles on sample: 9718
Miles on engine: 19634

Iron - 50
Chromium - 11
Lead - 2
Copper - 11
Tin - 0
Aluminum - 12
Nickel - 6
Silver - 0
Silicon - 2
Boron - 20
Sodium - 1
Magnesium - 468
Calcium - 2284
Barium - 0
Phosphorus - 1050
Zinc - 1391
Molybdenum - 1
Titanium - 0
Vanadium - 0
Potassium - 0
Fuel %Vol - less than 1
Vis @ 40 C - NA
Vis @ 100 C - 14.20cSt
Water %Vol - 0
Soot\Solids %WT - 0.8
Glycol - NEG

TBN - 4.91
OXID - 22.0
NITR - 18.0
F-SOOT - 0.84
Change - YES

OAI recommendations: "No corrective action required. Oil is suitable for continued use. Resample at next regular interval." blah blah

My previous oil change at 10k was on 9-7-03, and this sample was taken on 4-18-04 - 7 months. I put the Delvac through the wringer, with a lot of Pennsylvania cold morning starts for only 1 mile commute to work. I know... that's murder on the oil and engine... but I've read posts by others at TDIClub about similar torture tests for Delvac and it came out ok. Once a week I was sure to put some miles on the engine, and about once a month I would go as far as Albany NY (600 miles round trip) to stretch it's legs.

So??? Should I be concerned about the levels for iron, chromium, aluminum and nickel?? The boron was down to 20, I'm assuming that's a good indication the oil needed changing? But I guess the silicon is where it should be! Which numbers (besides TBN) might have been skewed by the 1\2qt of make-up oil I added about 7350 into this drain?

Anyway... I'm a novice.. I want to hear from the pros.
Thanks.
- sean

 

[truav8r]

Thanks guys, I was thinking some of the same thoughts.

On another note... I was given some advice over at vwvortex to go with AvLube analysis, instead of OAI (and this advice was given by an Amsoil dealer no less!)

Now, I can totally see why some people like certain labs. And each lab might tend to skew certain numbers higher or lower than other labs (such as TBN). However, if those biases are known ahead of time and taken into account when interpreting the results... does it really make a difference?? My only hesitation now.... if I switch to Avlube (or Blackstone), I can basically chuck my OAI analysis numbers out the window. I won't be able to compare apples and oranges, right?

wadayathink??

[ May 03, 2004, 10:08 PM: Message edited by: truav8r ]