Hey i just got my oil analysis sheet back from the amsoil place. The one abnormal was the viscosity just like from that website were the guy was testing all the synthetics. It says it was vis@100c 13.09. other then that things showed up like this in ppm.
10 iron
4 copper
3 aluminum
8 silicon
28 boron
1 sodium
873 magnesium
2261 Ca
1054 Phosphorus
1315 Zn
1 molbdenum

fuel less then 1%

This was with 6500 miles and i changed the oil filter right after i tested it.... so the milage is on the same filters and oil. What do you guys think? does that check out ok?

 

I've been considering an oil analysis myself on my f150. Didnt the facility give you any info as to whether everything is ok? or if something needs to be changed? I'm interested in your reply

 

yeah... all it said was viscosity is out of indicated grade. oil is suitable for continued use. resample at next regular interval.

and that the viscosity was abnormal

 

so I see they didnt give you much info on the #'s hmmm. O well thanks for the reply

 

You stated, "It says it was vis@100c 13.09". Although I am NOT a chemist or petroleum pundit, I understand your viscosity to be 13.09 at 100 degrees centigrade.

Does anyone know what that would mean? I would call the 13.09 viscosity abnormal since I use 5w30 and would question the results/indications/inference of the analysis.

Quite honestly, what DO the numbers mean? If one can't derive impending failure from the analysis report, what good does it do?
I'd be interested to know what Ford would state as the source of the metals, particularly magnesium.

Boron I've seen before as a result of cleaning products (Sea Foam, intake/MAF cleaners used lately?)

Just curious.
Curt

 

Thanks for taking the time to type this in. Did you see my post at 21,000 miles? What oil were you using? What truck is this? Are you planning on testing again at 13k?

 

its a 2002 f150 5.4 the oil is the amsoil 5w30 with the dual remote filter. So what can you tell me about these numbers? and what about the viscosity? that kinda concernes me.

and i prob will test again at about 13000

 

You setup is similar to mine. 01 F-150 5.4L BMK-13 dual by-pass
This is AMSoil 0w-30 S2K at 21,500 miles. I know very little about reading the numbers. I tested at 14k also.

• Iron: 63
• Chromium: 6
• Lead: 3
• Copper: 29
• Tin: 8
• Al: 11
• Nickel: 6
• Silicon: 30
• Boron: 19
• Sodium: 18
• Magnesium: 750
• Calcium: 2548
• Ph: 1028
• Zn: 1302
• Vis@100: 12.23
• Water: 0
• Soot/solids: none
• Glycol: Neg
• Nitration: 23.0
• Oxidation: 26
• TBN: 7.00

 

Okay I'm here to help.

Viscosity @ 100C for an SAE 30 is 9.3-12.5 cSt.

Viscosity @ 100C for an SAE 40 is 12.5-16.3


So yours is on the low end of a 40wt. This is really not a reason for concern, unless there are other factors causing it. Like High OXD or high Solids. You wear numbers are low so the oil is doing a great job or protecting your engine against wear.


Typically 1 grade of viscosity up or down is okay. When you start gettting towards 2 grades then it would be time to change something, either both filters or the entire oil.


On my truck, the viscosity stayed between 12.6 and 14.63. wear numbers were all in check and oil was suitable for continued use.

My advice is to keep changing those filters are schedule, sample once a year.

If you need further assistance, you can email me offline msparks@lube-direct.com or give Dan Horn up at Amsoil inc a call. He is the person in charge of oil analysis. 715-392-7101.

Keep on doing those samples over time you will form a trend line and you will see all will stabilize.

 

Here is my analysis @ 25,000 on the oil and 50,000 on the truck.

Series 2000 0w30

Iron 23
chrom 2
Lead 21
copper 19
tin 0
alum 4
nick 5
silv 0
silicon 25
boron 13
sodium 14
mag 361
calcium 2956
barium 0
phos 1123
zinc 1394
moly 3
fuel <1
vis 14.63
TBN 5.37
OXD 14.0
Nitr 26.0

No corrective action, oil suitable for continued use.

 

My viscosity was lower and it says the viscosity was abnormal. Also i would like to add that all the values that i didnt put in were 0 so i figured there was no point.

after the analysis i did change the filter cause driving i did noticed a change in gas milage.... and with what i was reading about the viscosity changing i figured that was the problem and thought that might help.


one more thing i was curoius about.... when you change the filter do you dump that oil from the filter out or back in the crankcase? Cause it seems like i used way too much to get the level back up to full.

 

What are the acceptable limits for the metal listed? Chromium sounds link rings; copper sounds like bearings; magnesium - is there a metal alloy used in the engine that includes magnesium? Boron? Detergent in the oil?

I don't mean to sound like a hard head but oil analysis should tell us not only the condition of the oil (viscosity and lubricity qualities and characteristics" but also the wear of the engine parts that "give up" metal particles. Surely (and I know that's not your name) Ford or someone has specs for acceptable "sacraficial) wear limits of metals used in the engines.

The Navy used the SOAP (spectromatic (sp?) oil analysis program) and, if a certain metal was detected during the analysis, the engine or accessory would be changed due to wear rather than the condition of the oil.

Sorry for the windy reply, but there has to be more to this than vis100 and a report of metals detected in the sample. Thanks for you patience.

 

I believe what you are refering to is a spectrograph test (I think this is what it is called) which is what determines the metals content in a given sample.

msparks, your TBN of 5.37 is getting very low. I would test again before your next drain. maybe half way. when a TBN gets low it will crash fast and wear metals will climb quickly.

I see by these tests that amsoil really cranks up the anti wear (Zinc) and the detergent (Calcium) but the moly is very very low so these tests show that you are basically running a straight weight. it takes a lot of moly to keep your sae multi vis at grade over a long drain interval.

msparks, have you benchmarked your wear metals from your first oil test?

 

Lets go down Mikes report and maybe give you some ides how to read one of these. The first item is iron, that would be related to any iron particulate matter in the oil. It comes from the iron, steel parts and from the block/cylinder walls from an iron engine. Mikes is at 23 parts per million which is one ppm per thousand miles. That's about normal for Amsoil products. Chromium can be a tracer element put in the oil to identify a specific oil or it can come from certain rings. This is not a metal that appears in a Triton engine. Lead can be from bearings, mainly, main bearings but not in a Triton engine as it has zero lead in the engine. Not sure where the lead is coming from except maybe a fuel additive or possibly from a gas station with old tanks. Copper is from the cam bearings. For a Triton engine this is a high but not out of line reading. Aluminum is from the pistons or the block assembly in a Triton. Boron can come from many areas and most likely is not a trace element or an additive. At 13 ppms, it is not a factor. Sodium is a salt and elevated levels are usually a sign of gasket leakage and anti-freeze is getting in the system. Sodium of this level can come from salted roads or if you live near the ocean and is drawn in thru the air intake and crystalized during combustion. Magnesium is an additive and works better if supported with a good dose of boron or moly. Calcium is used as an anti-wear agent and also an anti-oxidant. Phos. and zinc are in the form of ZDDP and is part of the additive package primarily as an anti-wear/ anti-oxidant agent. Moly at 3 is not a factor and most likely is washout from the previous oil. Mike has already posted the viscosity limits. The next two are interesting for this particular analysis, oxidation and nitration. They will generally go up together. Mikes did not. I would guess that this engine sees very few starts per week. It most likely is a secondary vehicle that is not used daily. Usually, when both get to 20, its time to change. In Mikes case, it's getting close but still good to run. TBN (total base number) is the oils ability to neutralize acids. At 5.37, he has a ways to go before this oil is dead. Todays testing standards, a threshold of 2.00 indicates it is time to change.
In contrast, greencrews analysis shows iron at 63 or 3ppm per thousand miles. That's a little to the high wear side. Copper at 29 is elevated for a Triton engine but not out of line. Where his falls apart is the oxidation and nitration. It is definitely time to change oil.
When you have your oil analized, remember that this is not a particularly accurate science. It depends on who is setting up the machine and the reference fluid used to set up the machine for spectroscopy. Basically, we heat the oil hot enough in a controlled chamber to completely gas the oil. Or better stated, we turn it to vapor. The gas is then subject to light and the computer will read the light that comes from the gas. This is how we determine what the make up of the oil is. Should you want a reading of the exact metals and exactly what part of the engine they come from, you want to run a ferrography test. But that will cost over a hundred bucks usually. Hope this very basic explanation is helpful.

 

The 0 values are the good ones, you'll want to post them! It's a good idea to change the filter because then you get a jolt of fresh oil that improves all the numbers for beginning of the next interval.

The old oil in the filter gets dumped. The more fresh oil the better. You'll also get better results if you keep it topped off all the way though the interval. More oil is better.