[blueskybasin]

Here's the first oil analysis on our 2003 Outback.

I am a firm believer in Redline synthetic oil and synthetic gear lubes. But testing never hurts.

Engine break in was on factory fill 5W-30 oil, new to 3000 mile,

-conventional 5W-30 Valvoline oil from the dealer, 3000 to 5000 miles,

-Redline 5W-30 , 5000 to 10,000 miles

-Redline 5W-40 , 10000 to 18,000 miles


Car driven in Vail,Colorado ......so lots of sustained near wide open throttle up 7% grades at 8000 ft up to 11,600 ft , down to Denver at 5280 ft and back again.


2003 Subaru Outback 4 cyl 5 sp

18000 miles

Oil Change Interval 8000 miles

Make up oil = 0 ( very pleased with zero oil consumption in 8000 miles )

Redline 5W-40

Here are some of the comments from the company that did the use oil analysis:

"No problems showed up in the initial sample from your Suby.

Almost all wear read at or below averages for this type of engine, which is a very good indication of normal wearing parts and especially good since this oil was run longer than average.

Universal averages show normal wear
from the 2.5L after about 5,500 miles on the oil.

Insolubles were low, showing good oil filtration.

At 18,000 total miles, everything looks great. Suggest going 10,000 on the next oil."

 

[bheinz57]

Very well. Blackstone Labs? Brian

 

[blueskybasin]

Very well. Blackstone Labs? Brian

Yes!

Very pleased with first experience as a Blackstone Labs customer~!

http://www.blackstone-labs.com/free_test_kit.html

 

[jp928]

No actual numbers for any elements ? Very Odd. You should see stuff like this:-
Viscosity OK - 92 (excellent)
Water OK - 0.0%
Soot Index OK - 0.00
TAN OK - 3.7. (excellent) - Start 1.00 & Max allowed 8.9
Lab. Report Summary
ExxonMobil's rating now - "Normal"
Status-Excellent for continued use
Last Report - "Normal"
Elemental (& wear metal) Analysis;
Detail of the Elemental columns are:
Col 1 = this UOA (my comments in brackets)
Col 2 = averages of all eight UOA's
Col 3 = Oil Industry's "acceptable" max. wear rates (rounded) & not model specific

Iron 10 ( excellent ) [8] (( >100 ))
Aluminium 6 ( excellent ) [4] (( >30 ))
Chromium 1 ( excellent ) [<1 ] (( >30 ))
Copper 4 ( excellent ) [4] (( >50 ))
Lead 11 ( excellent ) [6] (( >100 ))
Silicon 5 ( excellent ) [8] (( >30 ))
Sodium 6 ( excellent ) [4] (( >10 ))

jp 05 OBW 5spd 2.5

 

[blueskybasin]

The report had the actual numbers ... and all were excellent.

Didn't think the readers here wanted to be bored silly.

-------------------------

TBN 4.3

Al 2
Cr 1
Fe 6
Cu 5
Pb 3
Sn 0
Mo 447
Ni - Ti all 0
K 3
Si 26

Na 27
Ca 2712
Mg 6
P 1135
Zn 1080
Ba 0
SUS vis 70.5 SAE 40w but just barely as the fuel sheared the vis a bit. The oil
held up well.

Flash 370 target is 400+ and all fuel dilute induced drop.

Fuel 1.0% too high, we need to see < 0.5%. Check air filter being loaded with
dirt and let me know if MPG is down.

Coolant 0
Water 0
Insolubles 0.3%



Customer Feedback:

Oil filter Purolator Pure One

No oil adds

Ran Redline Complete Fuel System Cleaner 1 fuel treatment 8 oz. , and at 1 oz per tank a few times.

Changed Air Filter mid way durign this oil change, went to an OEM [ Carquest ] air filter.

Lots of idling during winter driving, especially morning warm up for defroster

 

[jp928]

As long as you got all the numbers, and the reference values, thats a worth while test. Good to see them pick up on high fuel % and query it - maybe due to injector cleaner? I have seen tests showing high Si lead to a check of air cleaner and find it not seated correctly, allowing grit and sand in .
jp 05 OBW 5MT 2.5

 

[CPToversteer]

what sort of $ does this run?

 

[bheinz57]

I think you can get a kit from them and have the oil analyzed for under $20. But you can learn about the engine characteristics and maybe go longer between changes with the info they provide. Brian