Blackstone Oil Analysis

[Unholy707]

Welp, I think it’s time I check the health of the engine. How much does this usually cost? Do you send the filter too? Any prerequisites? Oil has 2 track trips, maybe 500-1k miles on it. Somewhat old, around 5-6 months. Looking for some pointers. What kind of information can be gleaned from the oil analysis? Appreciate it

 

[njsteve]

I used Blackstone for everything (even my 35 year old John Deere riding mower! LOL) The best $30 to $40 you'll ever spend. They send you the sample kits for free, with free return postage. You just pay the testing fee once you mail it.

They gave me an exact prediction based on the oil sample, that my 1995 6.5 Diesel in my Suburban was mortally wounded as the result of a head gasket failure/repair 10,000 miles and 3 years previously. They said way too much copper, tin and lead in the oil and you are facing immediately failure. As a result I pulled that engine and installed a new one. When I did the autopsy of the old one, they were dead on: the bearings were flaking away to the base layer and would have spun if I had taken it on the 800-mile family vacation we were planning a few weeks later.

Here is what you get. This was the oil in my 2022 Redeye at 500 miles. (I always replace new car oil ASAP. Now you see why - all the wear-in material was circulating around and can ruin the bearings.)

 

[ACMAVRO]

I think it’s time I do the same.

 

[njsteve]

Here's there website and how to get the kits: https://www.blackstone-labs.com/

Make sure you follow the directions...you take the sample like you are at the doctors and giving a urine sample. Always take the sample "mid-stream". Never right at the beginning. And with the engine warmed up so that any contaminants are well-mixed for an accurate sample.

And here is what a bad test result looks like (My 6.5 Diesel's death prediction) and the bearings

 

[njsteve]

And while we're on it, here's what a great report looks like. My 1989 John Deere 185, I've owned it since new!

 

[Under-Pressure]

Another thumbs up for Blackstone. Here is a link to some good info on what you are reading in the reports.

https://bobistheoilguy.com/engine-oil-analysis/

 

[Speedy!]

Easy and cheap. I do one every few years. Make good notes on the form like oil brand, viscosity. miles, etc. Also check the TBN box.

 

[Unholy707]

Thanks Speedy, I’ll give it a watch. What’s TBN?

Easy and cheap. I do one every few years. Make good notes on the form like oil brand, viscosity. miles, etc. Also check the TBN box.

 

[Unholy707]

I have 60k miles, want to make sure she’s healthy

 

[Jack_Toepfer]

The sooner you start the better, I’ve seen binders going back several years that cover the entire life of an engine. You give them relevant info so that they can make informed decisions and provide accurate feedback, and change over change you can see the lifecycle of your engine change, as bearings wear or contaminates are introduced (coolant, fuel, etc…)
Certain parts of your engine are made out of certain materials… so if they see elevated amounts of aluminum it can be x,y, or z. If it’s copper, zinc, whatever - it is something else.
You do not send the filter, but opening it up yourself for visual inspection is always good. Too much sparkle or large pieces, you can skip the Blackstone and just rebuild, lol.

The report helped me identify a failing wrist pin button (cover) on my friend’s plane. There isn’t a lot of aluminum in those engines, and as I was tearing it down, one of the buttons was much worse than the others, minor scarring in the cylinder, so we did a top end rebuild. There were trace amounts material in the filter of a nonferrous metal, but the Blackstone was conclusive and helped with the diagnosis. They also had a several year history on the engine which pointed to the fact that this was a new issue.

 

[BULL]

I've been doing one every oil change on all three of my new vehicles.

 

[Speedy!]

TBN = Total Base Number and is used to determine how much life the oil has left. It helps neutralize acids that build up over time.

 

[njsteve]

I recently replaced the rear diff, transfer case, and front diff fluids on the wife's 2014 Charger AWD with 120K. They were all the original fluids! (Yeah, I know. I'm an idiot for forgetting to change them for 10 years) I do change the engine oil every 5K and it tests out perfect. Surprisingly, they all checked out as still within spec and no contaminants or wear metals! I haven't done the trans fluid because I can't figure out a way to sample the "lifetime" trans fluid.

BTW, Blackstone loves it when you send them photos of "proof of death" from their diagnosis. They really liked the diesel internal photos I sent of the flaking bearings. I think they have a wall of shame in their lunchroom to display them.

Here's another success story: The rear diff in my 1993 Viper that I've owned since new and used to race back when I was a tech editor at Mopar Muscle Magazine. It has 8,800 hard miles on it in 31 years.

There were no telltales that the diff was bad other than a strange "tinkle-ing" noise when I was under the car and rotating the rear yoke. Turned out it was the rollers in the pinion bearing that had ground themselves down so much, they were falling to the other edge of the cage as the pinion turned. Other than that, there was zero diff noise when the car was being driven. Not that you can hear a damn thing with a Gen1 Viper with no windows and straight side pipes. I would have had no idea anything was wrong until the actual moment of catastrophic failure. The analysis saved the car (and me) probably. Look at the difference in the width of the rollers in the bad bearing on the left and the good bearing on the right.

 

[njsteve]

Speedy.

Easy and cheap. I do one every few years. Make good notes on the form like oil brand, viscosity. miles, etc. Also check the TBN box.

You are correct on the leaded fuel result. The oil test on my 18,000 mile 100% untouched, survivor 1973 SD455 showed 363 PPM for lead. This was shortly after I "barn-found" it. When I found it, it still had original 1970's leaded fuel in the tank and last vintage oil change was in 1983 with the Kendall green-colored racing oil. Flushed it and added leaded 100 avgas. Tested the newly changed oil at around 600 miles and it still had a bunch of lead showing from it's first 10 years of usage. This was the car: https://www.motortrend.com/articles/1973-pontiac-didnt-want-firebird-formula-super-duty-455/

 

[Demoniccat]

Always liked those cars. Beautiful ride, damn right it’s a time capsule.

 

[Demoniccat]

I will be sending in the oil for analysis on the 170 soon. It has 675 miles. I am a believer of early oil change during break in miles. Looking forward to getting the 1500 miles on it to catch good DA at the track before it gets into warmer months. Still early in season In the North East.

 

[Unholy707]

I’m already in offseason build season, too hot already

I will be sending in the oil for analysis on the 170 soon. It has 675 miles. I am a believer of early oil change during break in miles. Looking forward to getting the 1500 miles on it to catch good DA at the track before it gets into warmer months. Still early in season In the North East.

 

[Unholy707]

Haven’t been able to run in less than 2500 da with 90%+ humidity the last few years

 

[Demoniccat]

I am at 275‘ elevation it’s been 50 degrees off and on for many days. Today was 66 outside, put the chiller on after leaving all Mopar show in my neck of the woods, couldn’t get full traction at speed.

 

[Unholy707]

What ends up hurting me is the humidity