Oil analysis advice
 

Hi yall,
My oil analysis at 15k miles about 4000 miles on the oil, and here are the results: blackstone says the copper is high. I track/autocross it about 10 times a year, and daily it as well. Any advice about what to do in the future? Shorter oil change interval/Longer oil change interval/More frequent/5W30 for track season?

once is an anomaly, 2-3 times is a pattern.

do you go extremely easy on it until it's fully warmed up, or do you just send it all the time?

"Just send it bro". Jk, Jk, I take it easy until it hits 195F on the gauge.

This is not a bad report. 5 Parts per Million of copper is still nothing to get excited about. What brand oil?

If you auto-x 10x on that oil, I'd step up to something like Motul 300V 0w-20.

The fuel is more concerning to me as it impacts the oil quality. Typically, high fuel is a result of excessive cold idle, and can be resolve by changing that habit. Start the car and go, just avoid high load until your oil is up to temp. It can also be the result of very short drive cycles. By short, I mean 1-2 miles where not even the coolant gets up to temperature.

I guess I have that to look forward to in my report if Blackstone ever gets the oil I sent them lol

Thanks! Its about 2x auto-x and 8x track. I do idle sometimes, but most of the time i just start and go. My trips are short: about 5 miles.

Did you mean to say avoid high rpm? Not really sure why higher load at low rpm would be a problem as long as you don't lug the engine. Yeah, the afr is typically lower but more burn means more heat and that means everything gets up to temperature faster.

No. Load is what tries to squish the oil film from between bearing and pin. Low load (torque) does not apply nearly as significant a force.


Lugging the engine is very similar to high load low RPM. Either should be avoided, especially cold where oil flow is at its lowest.

Low RPM load puts significantly more strain on rod bearings. Each rod carries twice as much load making 100 ft/lbs at 2,000 RPMs vs 4,000 RPMs. At 4,000 RPMs that torque is spread over twice as many combustion cycles, meaning the rods get half as much load.

How does one avoid high load?

Be in the right gear for conditions. I.e. dont try to go uphill in 6th gear at 40mph.

Drive it as if the gas pedal can't be pushed more than a quarter way down... -ish.

The car ends up slowing down going uphill even though the engine is revving in a lower gear, and it takes extra time getting up to speed.

I never had copper in my oil but if you autocross I would highly recommend 5w30 at least until it gets cold out.

Never ? Oh that mights me nervous for my report now lol. Coming in at 3 so 1 point over the average they list.
Using Mobil 1 super3000 5w-30 XE-1(euro stuff) lol

I actually went back and checked no my old engine since i just got my trucks oil back and i did have some. Id still recommend the heavier oil if you autocross tho

For sure I been running 5w-30 since I bought the car. See no reason not to...:popcorn:

I wouldn't overthink it. Keep collecting more data and watch for trends. API rated oil, proper oil temperature management, regular changes.

My car has used normal pedestrian 0W20 all its life (Castrol Edge). Over 135k miles, 30 track days, tracked all weathers (ambient temp >100F ), always 3-4 track days (~5 hrs of road course HPDE) per full 7500 mi interval.

My advice: don’t do oil analysis; willful ignorance in this regard will supersede any worries.

I argued with somebody in another forum about oil analysis. For the average consumer that doesn’t have a sponsored built turboed engine that is required to win races. I don’t see the point. Oh it shows I’m high in this or that. You going to rip the engine out? You going to black stone oil analysis your lawnmower too? I feel like this is a special automotive Fetish almost. I can’t wait to be at a car show and someone laminated their black stone oil report. Ha ha.

the idea with 'standard vehicle' oil testing is as to determine a pattern.

i wouldn't even recommend sending in every oil change. i would suggest sending in 3 at first to establish a common wear pattern, then 1 every 6-12 oil changes to verify the pattern is consistent.

but in either of these cases, we're not checking engine health so much as we're watching for symptoms of engine issues, so that the motor can be pulled and corrected before it becomes a major issue.

vehicles are some of the highest-priced pieces of equipment most of us own. like you said, we're not going to tear into the motor, so the UOA gives insight into the condition of the motor without opening it up.

it also gives indications on individual usage wear patterns, and how much oil life is left at the time of changing. for these cars not so much, but in large diesel motors that can take almost 50 quarts, UOA can easily pay for itself by adjusting maintenance intervals to get the most use out of the oil additives.