Oil analysis

185EZ wrote:
You're misinterpreting everything I say.
I'm not griping over the cost of the analysis, I'm trying to justify it.
You're trying to beat the system by doing an analysis when it's just better to spend the money on an oil change.
What happens when they say you need an oil change? Now you have the cost of both.
In the long run you're the one wasting time and money while i'm enjoying fresh oil for my expensive ride.
Over a 3 year period I've spent about $150. Yours would be less with fewer qts of oil
If you take the time to send in an oil sample once a year you've spent $90 plus shipping?
Or are you going to wait till the extra 4000 miles and send in another oil sample?

185EZ wrote:

udidwht wrote:

185EZ wrote:

udidwht wrote:

185EZ wrote:

Maybe the oil is still "good" but to keep any oil in a motor for over a year is just asking for problems.
There is still stuff in the oil that's hard on seals and gaskets.

Again incorrect. A simple search can provide a lot of info on this.

There is not a single engine that has ever had an oil related issue as a result of going 6000-7000 miles.

Never. Fact.

Changing the oil more often than necessary has consequences. Oil requires some miles to be put on it before it actually lowers wear effectively vs 100% virgin oil out of a bottle. Much the same with an oil filter. A filter filters better after haven been in the engine for 1000 miles+.

A finding of high copper alone is not an issue and quite common unless other abrasive wear metal/s such as iron, aluminum, chromium, etc. are present at higher than normal levels.

Some reasons for high copper level:

1. Oil cooler/s (GM oil leaching from cooler)
2. Radiator/s tubing
3. Leaks from radiators (no leak in mine)
4. Oil additive/s

The above instance (high copper) would also be showing other higher than average wear metals & contaminates in an analysis if there were an issue. Copper in and of itself? No. Normal.

Again nope.
I never said anything about oil issues with oil going 6000 to 7000 miles. My manual suggests 7500 miles. I'm not going to send in an analysis to find out if I can still run the oil after that. I'd rather spend the $50 and just do an oil change.
I also said keeping old oil in the motor for over a year isn't a good idea.
Is 20w50 recommended for your climate?

edit;
I can't find anything that suggests oil and filters are more effective after 1000 miles.
If that's true then you sent in for an analysis at only 2,720 miles
Only thing I heard was KN air filters would do that.

The media of an oil filter will increase it's ability to trap fine particles better after haven been ran in an engine for some time. Larger holes fill and decrease in size over a period of time increasing the filters filtering efficiency.

It's similar with air filters as well. As they dirty they filter better. The RV I own I purchased used so I do an analysis from time to time. The price of an analysis is a drop i the bucket in terms of what most of us spend on these rigs.

My thought is if one gripes over the cost of even (1) then RV's aren't for you.

Used 20W-50 due to the local FLAPS not having the viscosity at the time of purchase. BBC have no issue with it.

If I could extend oil intervals to every 3 years that saves me time & money. Newer oil doesn't work better if the current oil is still doing it;s job just fine. The TBN is the number to look at.

A good read:

https://540ratblog.wordpress.com/2013/06/20/motor-oil-wear-test-ranking/

udidwht wrote:

185EZ wrote:

udidwht wrote:

185EZ wrote:

Maybe the oil is still "good" but to keep any oil in a motor for over a year is just asking for problems.
There is still stuff in the oil that's hard on seals and gaskets.

Again incorrect. A simple search can provide a lot of info on this.

There is not a single engine that has ever had an oil related issue as a result of going 6000-7000 miles.

Never. Fact.

Changing the oil more often than necessary has consequences. Oil requires some miles to be put on it before it actually lowers wear effectively vs 100% virgin oil out of a bottle. Much the same with an oil filter. A filter filters better after haven been in the engine for 1000 miles+.

A finding of high copper alone is not an issue and quite common unless other abrasive wear metal/s such as iron, aluminum, chromium, etc. are present at higher than normal levels.

Some reasons for high copper level:

1. Oil cooler/s (GM oil leaching from cooler)
2. Radiator/s tubing
3. Leaks from radiators (no leak in mine)
4. Oil additive/s

The above instance (high copper) would also be showing other higher than average wear metals & contaminates in an analysis if there were an issue. Copper in and of itself? No. Normal.

Again nope.
I never said anything about oil issues with oil going 6000 to 7000 miles. My manual suggests 7500 miles. I'm not going to send in an analysis to find out if I can still run the oil after that. I'd rather spend the $50 and just do an oil change.
I also said keeping old oil in the motor for over a year isn't a good idea.
Is 20w50 recommended for your climate?

edit;
I can't find anything that suggests oil and filters are more effective after 1000 miles.
If that's true then you sent in for an analysis at only 2,720 miles
Only thing I heard was KN air filters would do that.

BobGed wrote:

udidwht wrote:

BobGed wrote:

udidwht wrote:

BobGed wrote:
To the OP, I wouldn't call that a completely clean report. Copper level as noted is high, and could be due to any one of a variety of conditions.

Personally I would change the oil and filter and have another analysis done at 4,000 miles. YMMV

The high copper level is normal for the 454 BBC. It comes from the rather large oil cooler. Very common finding in oil analysis from BBC engines.

Can you cite a reference? According to Blackstone it's approximately nine times higher than the universal average for similar engines.

From other BBC engine owners who reported the same finding.

That's pretty much the "reference" I was expecting, but I'm not going to argue the point.

If it were my engine, and I received the results and the comparisons to universal averages as cited in Blackstone's report, I would do as I suggested in my original post. Unsubscribed and dropping the mic! :)

185EZ wrote:

udidwht wrote:

185EZ wrote:
I don't see the need to have an oil analysis done unless you are having problems or maybe want to purchase a used vehicle.
To have them tell me my oil is good for another year isn't worth the time and money.
Just do an oil change.
Maybe the oil is still "good" but to keep any oil in a motor for over a year is just asking for problems.
There is still stuff in the oil that's hard on seals and gaskets.

Incorrect. If that were the case the oil analysis would have showed that. If one is worried about something in the oil that's typical of oil after haven been ran a few thousand miles what's a few thousand miles more?

Nope
Go ahead and keep your old oil in it.
You'll find out the hard way long term
All my long term vehicles have never had an oil related issue due to preventative maintenance and never wasted my money on an oil analysis.

udidwht wrote:

BobGed wrote:

udidwht wrote:

BobGed wrote:
To the OP, I wouldn't call that a completely clean report. Copper level as noted is high, and could be due to any one of a variety of conditions.

Personally I would change the oil and filter and have another analysis done at 4,000 miles. YMMV

The high copper level is normal for the 454 BBC. It comes from the rather large oil cooler. Very common finding in oil analysis from BBC engines.

Can you cite a reference? According to Blackstone it's approximately nine times higher than the universal average for similar engines.

From other BBC engine owners who reported the same finding.

udidwht wrote:

185EZ wrote:
I don't see the need to have an oil analysis done unless you are having problems or maybe want to purchase a used vehicle.
To have them tell me my oil is good for another year isn't worth the time and money.
Just do an oil change.
Maybe the oil is still "good" but to keep any oil in a motor for over a year is just asking for problems.
There is still stuff in the oil that's hard on seals and gaskets.

Incorrect. If that were the case the oil analysis would have showed that. If one is worried about something in the oil that's typical of oil after haven been ran a few thousand miles what's a few thousand miles more?

Dale.Traveling wrote:

udidwht wrote:

BobGed wrote:
To the OP, I wouldn't call that a completely clean report. Copper level as noted is high, and could be due to any one of a variety of conditions.

Personally I would change the oil and filter and have another analysis done at 4,000 miles. YMMV

The high copper level is normal for the 454 BBC. It comes from the rather large oil cooler. Very common finding in oil analysis from BBC engines.

Again, for reasons like this, you need you have to have consistent analysis reports to develop the trend data. A spot check info can never give you a complete picture of how the engine is wearing.

BobGed wrote:

udidwht wrote:

BobGed wrote:
To the OP, I wouldn't call that a completely clean report. Copper level as noted is high, and could be due to any one of a variety of conditions.

Personally I would change the oil and filter and have another analysis done at 4,000 miles. YMMV

The high copper level is normal for the 454 BBC. It comes from the rather large oil cooler. Very common finding in oil analysis from BBC engines.

Can you cite a reference? According to Blackstone it's approximately nine times higher than the universal average for similar engines.