UOA - here it is! Finally did one...

I knew I was gonna have to take the truck in for a tune-up real soon; so I wanted to do a UOA on the last OCI to see if any antifreeze was getting past the headgasket so I knew where I stood in regards to the health of the engine.

Some of you may remember my Toyota truck blew it's top a month ago, and I was leary that the Rodeo (considering it's 153k miles) was getting up there close.

Anyway this is the 1st UOA I've ever done, the oil is Havoline Blend 5w-30 after 2,770 miles. Air and Oil filters are Isuzu OEM

UOA was done through Blackstone Laboratories, and I posted a copy on the BITOG site as well.

Oh, I can't figure out how to copy it from my E-mail/Adobe Reader to this thread, so I'm gonna have to type it out.

My sample #'s on the left/Universal averages on the right

AL 1 3
Chr 0 1
Iron 3 8
Copper 1 4
Lead 0 1
Tin 1 0
Moly 47 45
Nickel 0 0
Mang 0 0
Silver 0 0
Tit 0 0
Pot 0 1
Boron 67 38
Silicon 6 12
Sodium 1 4
Calcium 1280 1893
Magnesium 7 171
Phosphorus 490 745
Zinc 576 923
Barium 0 0

Sus Visc 57.5 56-62
Flashpoint 385 >365
Fuel <0.5 <1.0
Antifreeze 0.0 0
Water 0.0 <0.1
Insolubles 0.4 <0.6

My comment to Blackstone:
Just wanting to check and see what comes of this UOA, have never done one before. Would like to know if truck likes this oil and if there's any antifreeze. Engine has never been opened.

Blackstone's Comments to me:
We agree, your engine does appear to like this oil. We don't have any history for your engine so we can't give you comparative wear. Universal averages show typical wear metals for an oil from this type of engine after about 4,750 miles run on the oil. Your oil was in use for only 2,770 miles and we found all wear at below average levels and in the correct balance to show normal mechanical parts. Air and oil filtration appear normal. This was 5w/30 engine oil with no fuel, moisture or antifreeze in it. Try 4,500 miles for the next sample. Nice engine!


This oil was in use from November to February, with 40-50 miles of daily use, mostly city, with idling twice a day at 5-6 minutes.

Any thoughts? Boy, it's a lot better then I expected.

Did you post this on BITOG? I'd be interested what they have to say about it, also they would be able to explain it. The comments they left you are nice and I bet you were happy there was no anti freeeze in the since you were a bit worried. It looks good.

I am going to send a sample into Blackstone of my next oil change. I am going to change out my oil at the end of this month. I'm not going to sample this oil (10w 30 Valvoline Max Life) because it has some VSOT in it and some CD2. When I change it, I'm switching to Pennzoil Truck, SUV synthetic blend and I'm not putting any additives in it. I am going to go between 3500 and 4000 and then do the analysis. I am excited about it. I was at advanced aut today and was contemplating getting the Pennzoil Platinum synthetic, but I decided not to.

Anyway, if you did post results at BITOIG, point me in the direction of the link.

Marc

Yes, I just now posted it on BITOG's site.

Only thing I'm really questioning is the Insolubles seem a tad high, could probably use a better oil filter then OEM, but this truck CRAVES this oil filter - with any other filter it taps loudly. Don't know why.

Am definitely thinking of going back to the 5w-30 Havoline blend; I threw in the 10w-30 Havoline blend with an OEM filter for this round.

I'm not very good at posting links to threads, seem to mess it up everytime. If someone can do that for me, I'd be appreciative.

You guys are sick! Sick I tell ya! :grinyes: (I love it). It's for the sake of science. Thanks Ramblin. BITOG does give you a whole new outlook. Marc, run the same brand & visc of oil for awhile before you run a UOA (should you decide).

Joel

link to post at BITOG (http://theoildrop.server101.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=003250)

I was just over there and got the link.

I was going to get the Havoline blend, but the Pennzoil blend was cheaper.

I hope they post up quick over there, I'm interested in getting a better understanding of this.




I think the hyperlink button is broken.

You guys are sick! Sick I tell ya! :grinyes: (I love it). It's for the sake of science. Thanks Ramblin. BITOG does give you a whole new outlook. Marc, run the same brand & visc of oil for awhile before you run a UOA (should you decide).

Joel


Why run the same viscocity and brand for a while?

Yea, it is a sickness, but it is fun. When I tell people I belong to an auto lubricants forum they laugh at me.

Why run the same viscocity and brand for a while?

Yea, it is a sickness, but it is fun. When I tell people I belong to an auto lubricants forum they laugh at me.

You never get all the old oil out on an oil change, so essentially you will have a mixture of oils. To me, if you are trying to trend a specific oil based on that, the data is useless. As an example, if you ran nothing but havoline 5w-30 for the past 3yrs, now you are on to something as far as real UOA data.

Joel

You never get all the old oil out on an oil change, so essentially you will have a mixture of oils. To me, if you are trying to trend a specific oil based on that, the data is useless. As an example, if you ran nothing but havoline 5w-30 for the past 3yrs, now you are on to something as far as real UOA data.

Joel


Ahhhh nuts, you're right. Makes sense. How long should I wait?

Just want to remind y'all, I didn't rightly run a UOA to see if it liked Havoline specifically.

I ran the UOA to see if the headgasket was leaking at all, the Insoluble count as well as wear metals in regards to seeing - if possible - if the rings or valvetrain are shedding excessively.

Other reason is, if the engine was showing antifreeze or fuel dilution it would advise me of a problem that would need immediate attention.

I'm not recommending anyone to try or not to try the Havoline blend, that's just simply the oil that I thought the engine was most quietest on and happened to be the oil in the engine at the time.

FWIW, though, this engine has been maintained on a life of Havoline oil from 11k miles to it's 153k now - minus 8k miles of Rotella synthetic.

Does not mean anyone else's engine will like it, i.e. there's a poster over on BITOG site who has the same 3.2L sohc engine, he's running GC 0w-30 says it's quieted his engine remarkably.

I attempted GC just for curiousity, my engine got REALLY loud - don't ask why, I haven't a clue. But I will not try it again :banghead: .

Thanks!

Lead=0. Perfect report. Not much to say. Thanks for posting UOA.

Ahhhh nuts, you're right. Makes sense. How long should I wait?

I'd go atleast 3-4 OCI's on the same stuff if your goal is to test that specific engine oil for your application. Like Ramblin says, if you just want to test for an internal coolant leak, run a UOA anytime you want.

G/luck
Joel