ilko

I've used Blackstone several times. Great guys and prompt service. Mail in the container on Monday and have an email with a PDF of the results by Friday.

TR6

You can also call them and actually talk to the guy that did the analysis if you have questions about anything you see on your report. I've done that before. Very knowledgeable people. Its also good to share as much info as you can with them when you send the sample in (such as "4 track days on oil", etc). That helps them better interpret some of the wear indicators they may find in your oil.

However, I have to confess that I deliberately held back some info from them one time to see how they would interpret the results with no input from me. I had an oil sample taken from my 911 from a month or two BEFORE my rod bearing failed. The oil sample container had been sitting on my workbench and I forgot to mail it in. After the bearing failure, I sent that sample in just to see what they'd find in the oil. I got back a report with their urgent concern about the wear indicators they found in the oil. They told me that they saw evidence of advanced bearing wear and that if I wasn't already hearing knocking, I soon would and to look into it immediately.

And as I mentioned earlier, I went through a period of a few months with the BMW where I was tracking it (while my 911 was getting an engine rebuild) and the first BMW oil sample indicated that the high oil temperatures due to tracking were breaking down the oil much faster than I thought. So I ended up changing the oil a couple of more times after that at much shorter intervals and the oil analysis now shows that everything is back to normal with regard to oil and wear. Last report I had on the BMW indicated that engine metals are all showing normal wear and the oil is holding up fine at the shorter oil change intervals. As an added bonus, if I ever sell the car, I have all of these oil analysis reports on file for any prospective buyer to review.

Oil is cheap compared to engine rebuilds.

Marc Shaw

For the interest of any Canadians, at the suggestion of Noah (N51) I called Amsoil and asked how the Preferred Customer Program (wholesale pricing) worked for Canadians.

They have 2 depots in Canada, one in Edmonton and one in Mississauga, and ship via DHL from whichever depot is closer to you so there is no concerns or costs with crossing the border. It works for either web or telephone orders.

Marc

ianellison

I found this on Mobil 1 15w-50 which indicates a ZDDP level as phosphorous of 1200 ppm.

I believe this is very similar to the Brad Penn & Redline equivalent oils.

http://www.mobiloil.com/USA-English/...duct_Guide.pdf

Charles Navarro

It's not only Zn and P levels... the formulations are quite different. The Ca based detergents that are good for extending drain intervals aren't so good for wear. When using them, you typically need more Zn and P to get the job done. That's what a CI-4 oil basically was, like the Swepco. They put in 1450ppm Zn and P AND boron just to be on the safe side when using Ca detergents. The Brad Penn uses lower levels of Ca in addition to Mg and Na, yielding a detergent oil that is less likely to clean the anti-wear film off parts or inhibit their formation on the parts as with the Ca/Metal interaction that blocks ZDDP films.

Secondly, the current M1 15w50 (non-ep version) which was "re-introduced" is not the same formulation we all came to love and used for years without question. It even says so on their web site. The older M1 formulations that worked well were formulated with bi- or tri-detergents, like the Brad Penn currently does. If Mobil cared so much, they would have just brought back the old stuff.

In leiu of M1 15w50 if you're a Mobil die-hard, at least you still have their motorcycle oils in the 10w40 and 20w50 that are basically identical in formulation to the old Mobil 1R Nascar oils from years ago, as long as you've removed your catalytic converter.

Saint-Vieux

Best price found for ELF Excellium NF 5w40..

http://www.performanceoilstore.com/products.asp?cat=20

Charlie944

Just curious for you guys running Brad Penn oil especially in the Chicagoland area where do you get it?
The nearest location for me to get Brad Penn oil for me is an hour away! I do like the formulation though as it used to be the old Kendall GT-1 "green" formula.

Thanks!

LouZ

I emailed BP (Jennifer) for local distributers in Philly - there were none.

So I went to ebay and had 2 cases shipped in from Long Island. Ordered last Monday @ 11:00am, and UPS delivered Tues afternoon in a STURDY box! Cost delivered was $63.65 / case. Site was Long Island Performance.

velocitylover

Charlie 944
http://www.lnengineering.com/ run by Charles Navarro a very active and knowledgable member on the oil subject .Got my last order of BP 20w50 from them and it came very fast . You could not go wrongThank you Charles !