Blackstone Laboratories Oil Analysis

[802SHO]

For my own peace of mind I decided to get my oil tested at Blackstone Laboratories. In doing so with an engine (seemingly fine) it allows you to find any potential problems before they become catostrophic. It also may conclude (as in this case) that your engine is healthy and not showing any signs imminent failure. A very insightful preventative maintenance tool.

Without knowing for sure its easy to imagine a stock motor like mine being pushed beyond its capabilities with larger turbos (GH) on Methonal and Nitrous. Although a vigorous maintenance schedule is performed how do we know if it's really ok? Is my tune maxing it out? No. I'm pushing 19 psi boost and there's room to turn it up. The tune right now with Meth has my spark at 18-20. Knock sensors are not allowed to add more timing past 3k rpm. Believe me...they will. They are more than happy to add, add, add. Brad shuts them down to try to keep timing and torque in check...a small piece of the puzzle and effort to keep this car on the road and not in the shop. The knock sensors flatline to 0 when going WOT. The tune itself has not changed since the introduction of Nitrous. I have increased meth volume to even out my fuel pressure but that's it. No tune revision needed.

I'm rambling. Well here it is. An oil sample of my Royal Purple 5w20 w/K&N filter at 1,100 miles. The car has 74k so shes still slightly young. Now yes, 1,100 miles isn't a lot but it's nearly 6 months old, changed before I added GH turbos and nitrous. Many, many datalogs, track runs, datalogs with nitrous and track runs with nitrous all in that sample.

Check it out. I'll be adding regular oil sample testing to my maintenance list. Next up will be PTU, RDU and Transmission oil sampling.

 

[SHOdded]

That flashpoint fell off the deep end! Could be simply idling, or a lot of WOT, etc. That fuel % while not terrible is something to keep an eye on trendwise. That copper may be from parts breakin, but let's see.

Is this your first run of RP or was the previous also RP? Given you are pushing the engine hard, you really should be looking at a good 5W30 or a stouter 5W20.

 

[802SHO]

That flashpoint fell off the deep end! Could be simply idling, or a lot of WOT, etc. That fuel % while not terrible is something to keep an eye on trendwise. That copper may be from parts breakin, but let's see.

Is this your first run of RP or was the previous also RP? Given you are pushing the engine hard, you really should be looking at a good 5W30 or a stouter 5W20.

Copper is 12 national avg is 19. Not 6,000 miles on this sample but 1,100 of hard driving and it's less than the national avg of grandma driving I'll take it. The extra titanium I though was more of a sign. Dunno. The fuel I'm not too concerned with since it was/is a cold sample. I will need to send in another sample, next time a hot sample to determine for sure if it's due to it being cold. I do let the car idle a lot...something perhaps I should cut back on.

Could you be more specific on the flashpoint being less than 385 and what that means....to ppl like me who have no clue. I like how your take on the report is more critical than the person doing the test. Not being sarcastic I appreciate that bc I will try a more stout oil. I have been doing Royal Purple 5w20 for a while now, although I did put Mobil 1 5w20 in it to sit over the winter....read somehwere used oil can become acidic or something like that when sitting in a vehicle stored for an extended amount of time. So I then changed the oil back to Royal Purple before starting to drive it this year and that is the oil in this sample.

I used 5w30 once ...since all other years call for it but went back to 5w20 bc it's the recommended oil for my year. I have not given Royal Purple HPS a try yet. In your opinion do you think a jump to 5w30 Royal Purple HPS would be well deserved?

 

[SHOdded]

HPS 5W30 would be TWO jumps - in additives and in stoutness. I think it will be fine since you are giving the SHO the bizness.

Titanium is an antiwear additive, nothing to worry about. It works well and is used in Castrol Edge as well as Kendall GT1Max formulations, among others.

Cold/warm really not that big of a deal, except warm is more accurate when you start rounding out the percentages.

Idling definitely will raise the fuel % and DI engines are prone to dumping fuel in the oil anyway. Hence why I proposed going to 5W30 for you. Fuel breaks down oil, and flashpoint is one measure of that. Simply means the oil is not able to resist heat nor lubricate as well as when it was new. While oil typically does not reach those temperatures, it can under momentary high loads/low cooling, especially in forced induction vehicles. Fuel will flash off, that is the way fuel is designed, more so in the case of high E fuel. This could lead to oil starvation/loss of lubrication. Nobody wants that.

Yes, always good to put in fresh oil when storing, and changing the oil when bringing out of storage.

 

[802SHO]

HPS 5W30 would be TWO jumps - in additives and in stoutness. I think it will be fine since you are giving the SHO the bizness.

Titanium is an antiwear additive, nothing to worry about. It works well and is used in Castrol Edge as well as Kendall GT1Max formulations, among others.

Cold/warm really not that big of a deal, except warm is more accurate when you start rounding out the percentages.

Idling definitely will raise the fuel % and DI engines are prone to dumping fuel in the oil anyway. Hence why I proposed going to 5W30 for you. Fuel breaks down oil, and flashpoint is one measure of that. Simply means the oil is not able to resist heat nor lubricate as well as when it was new. While oil typically does not reach those temperatures, it can under momentary high loads/low cooling, especially in forced induction vehicles. Fuel will flash off, that is the way fuel is designed, more so in the case of high E fuel. This could lead to oil starvation/loss of lubrication. Nobody wants that.

Yes, always good to put in fresh oil when storing, and changing the oil when bringing out of storage.

Awesome info! Thank you for your insight. This makes me want to get the 5w20 I just put in out of there lol! Going to order Royal Purple HPS 5w30 right now. So glad I had this analysis done and shared it here. Appreciate it!

 

[SM105K]

I run the Castrol Edge 5w30 in my car and like and idiot I forgot to grab a sample for my test...grrr....

 

[SHOdded]

This spreadsheet is already a little long in the tooth given the introduction of SN+ oils, but still useful as a historical reference
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gEMTa3YOBIYBTYiaEhQLfooPohN_l645z1DaWRuFzC0/

You can see how the new oil looked for RP SAE version. Dunno if they have updated HPS since the testing was done.

 

[802SHO]

I run the Castrol Edge 5w30 in my car and like and idiot I forgot to grab a sample for my test...grrr....

I have more than my fair share of moments like that! Haha no worries my friend you'll get it on the next one

 

[802SHO]

This spreadsheet is already a little long in the tooth given the introduction of SN+ oils, but still useful as a historical reference
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gEMTa3YOBIYBTYiaEhQLfooPohN_l645z1DaWRuFzC0/

You can see how the new oil looked for RP SAE version. Dunno if they have updated HPS since the testing was done.

Looks like redline is the best. I'm going to be changing to RP HPS 5w30 early next week. Shame for probably only 500 miles at best then another oil change for storage.

I've sort of dismissed changing fluids so much as a waste, I think of it as more like added insurance. My friend's step Dad owns VT Sports car, home to the Subaru Rally Team. I asked him what he thought of me changing my fluids so much. I said it makes me feel more secure pushing my car. If I have a problem ...it is what it is but I'd feel better about it if is was with fresh fluid and know there's nothing more I could have done. He said, "My Dad tears every engine down after use in an event and rebuilds them". So changing the fluids is the least I could do? "Yeah", he said!

 

[SHOdded]

When 500 miles is not 500 miles, LOL. Like you said insurance. May be even more OCD than bpd, but you are also pushing the car a lot more. So I say fully compatible with use LOL.

 

[Lostneye]

When 500 miles is not 500 miles, LOL. Like you said insurance. May be even more OCD than bpd, but you are also pushing the car a lot more. So I say fully compatible with use LOL.

After seeing how poorly some of the machine work was on BPDs "built" motor I believe the OCD maintenance schedule is the only reason it lasted as long as it did.

 

[802SHO]

After seeing how poorly some of the machine work was on BPDs "built" motor I believe the OCD maintenance schedule is the only reason it lasted as long as it did.

Most definitely! The established routine maintenance intervals are based on average Joe and Jane driving. Makes no sense to build, push and demand everything your vehicle is capable of and not increase maintenance