Hey there. Just did my first oil analysis, wondered what any of the experts on here thought.
'99 E300 Turbodiesel
Oil is Amsoil Series 3000 HDD 5w-30
5200 miles on the oil
35,000 miles on the engine
sampled through the dipstick
analyzed at Oil Analyzers, Inc..

Soot <1.0
OXD <1.0
NOX 7.1
TBN 9.2
h20 <.05
Fuel <1.0
viscosity @100C 10.9

Fe 42
Cr 2
pb 1
cu 2
Sn 1
Al 14
ni 1
ag 0

Mn 1
Si 6
B 32
Na 2
MG 38
CA 4371
Ba 0
P 1251
Zn 1323
Mo 18
Ti 0
V 0
Cd 0

ANy comments would be appreciated! The guy at oil analyzers said he believes that the wear metals - iron and aluminum and chromium are due to the engine still breaking in at 35k.

Note- this is also the first installation of the series 3000 oil. The previous owner had used the OEM oil, then castrol syntec, then quaker state for some reason, then syntec again. In any case, there may be some cleaning going on with the new installation of the Amsoil.

 

What´s all thaaaaat?

 

Oil analysis is how you can really determine how your engine is running internally, as well as the correct way to determine your oil change intervals, effectiveness of bypass filtration systems, testing different oils, etc. At $14 a test, its an easy way to get a good grip of whats going on inside your engine. Kinda like getting a cholesterol test!

As much as you do to your car and care about it, I hope you're using a premium extended drain synthetic like Amsoil or the like. You can check out www.amsoil.com - for gas engines I think the ultimate is the series2000 ow-30. I use the series 3k synthetic heavy duty diesel oil. the stuff is undoubtedly more expensive but the absolute best you can buy in my opinion.(not an amsoil retailer, or affiliate)

check out www.oaitesting.com for oil analysis details.. I bought my kits online at amsoil's online store.

If anyone can comment on my FE levels I'd appreciate it. do you think the cause is the engine still breaking in, etc? How about the tbn depletion from 12+ to 9.2 in 5000 miles? Thanks,
Dave

 

Great job. I doubt, however, that most of us understand these numbers. Post your numbers at this Practicing Oil Analysis site:

http://65.194.234.234/message_boards/?ref=poa

I'm sure you'll get some interesting responses. I plan to get the oil analysis done also on my '01E430

 

Also many of the guys at fred's tdi forum - www.tdiclub.com are really experts, as well as on the mercedesshop.com forum there are some really knowledgeable ppl. Thanks for the link dark. I guessed that there probably wouldn't be too many ppl on this forum that would know what these results mean because there aren't too many diesel guys on this forum. The forums with more diesel ppl have a much higher interest level in things like oil filtration, bypass systems, oil analysis etc, as our diesels rape oil.

 

Just keep in mind that it is the trend that really matters. You'll have to do the analysis againseveral times, establish a trend and the it'll make more sense. The levels of metal may change substantially the next oil change - is it break in or Amsoil taking over??? Tough to know. I can't wait to get my analysis done on the 13K Mobil 1, 0W40 that came out of my E430. I'll post here ans elsewhere. hey, thanks for the web sites. I checked them out and will bookmark them.

 

No prob. On the tdi site, the fuels and lubricants section, engine maintenance section, and tdi 101 seem to be the most frequented. The fuels and lubricants section has tons of info on oil analysis , bypass filtration, etc, and is updated and posted on extremely frequently., that whole site is really busy
The mercedesshop site has really good technical mercedes info, the tech section frequently has MB master diagnostic tech's etc posting.

Dark, Honestly , even with your gas engine, I would get an extended drain oil to go that far on oil. Or sample at 5k, 10k and so on... Mercedes does have an excellent oil filter, worth noting, thats part of the reason they can extend it so far, there's a small bypass section built into the OEM filters. However Mercedes likes to sell new cars. They dont sell them as often if their cars go a million miles. Therefore they may allow more engine wear in their 'acceptable drain interval' than you would in yours(assuming you want your car to last a long time). If its a lease - screw it!

I still think a bypass system like amsoil's or oilguard's will filter even further and much better, but we're better off than most with oem filters.

 

nobody comes close to MBworld when it comes to doing cool stuff to your car!

 

I would have to disagree with your oil analyzers that your engine is still breaking in at 35k. I would only expect high levels of metal within the first 3k miles of the engine.

I agree with the post in mercedesshop.com in regards to taking a sample from drain plug rather than through the dipstick. Taking a sample from the stream coming out of the drain plug is preferable than the dipstick. However, I'd take two samples, one in mid stream and the other towards the dripping end (there could be more metal fragments in the last drops than in mid stream).

My preference for oil is castrol syntec 5w-50 (ironically enough, the MB dealership I go to uses the same stuff...only the AMG cars get Mobil1). If Mobil1 made a synthetic oil filter for the w210 which they don't, then that would be the filter I would use. I've had great results in my other cars with the combo of Castrol Syntec 5w-50 and Mobil1 synthetic oil filter. I change my synthetic oil religiously at every 3000mi for all my cars including the new E320 w/ FSS. To me that is cheap insurance for the long run. I would like to keep my cars around for a long time, but I also occasionally drive my cars hard and expect top performance from them, so the least I could do is baby them with oil.

A mechanic summed it up best, "It don't matter what oil or filter you use, just change it often." An informal way to check your oil is to look at the color of the oil when you drain it. If it's not pitch black, you've done extremely well.

If you are referring to the bypass relief valve, then when this is kicking in, it is not a good thing. When the oil filter material is clogged so much as to starve the oil from passing through, then the bypass relief valve kicks in, letting all the oil through with all the crap in it figuring that oil is better than no oil.

Good to find someone else who is into oil

 

I was referring to remote bypass oil filtration units like those on www.amsoil.com in the oil filters, bypass filters area
www.oilguard.com

they add a bypass filter to your oil system as well as your current full flow filter, for sub micronic filtration. They are sweet.

 

Nice, learned something new today.