When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
When I get a new (to me) car, I almost always bring the maintenance up to date with a fresh service.. My new Cayman only has 22K miles and the Carfax shows it had an oil change in the last 1000 miles but I went ahead anyway..
Did an oil change (switched to RedLine 0W40 and 5W50) which I've had great results with on my 997TT. Also changed both engine air filters, both cabin filters, fresh wiper blades, and a new set of rubber floor mats.
Anyway, I did a Blackstone report so I have a fresh baseline to see how the engine is wearing.. I've done these reports on my turbo each year and wanted to do the same for my Cayman..
Looks good. I've used Blackstone on a couple oil changes on my 07 Cayman. Just wondering about their comment "Air and oil filters are fine". Did they deduce that from the oil results or did you send them your filters also for analysis?
Looks clean. Danschy, high silicon and maybe another element or two indicates dirt particles getting into the engine. They can deduce that low silicon=low dirt.
Looks clean. Danschy, high silicon and maybe another element or two indicates dirt particles getting into the engine. They can deduce that low silicon=low dirt.
I suppose. My reports, and the others I've looked at, have not commented on filters so I was wondering if saabin had ordered something extra. Maybe it is something Blackstone has started commenting on recently. My last report is from 11/2/18.
I suppose. My reports, and the others I've looked at, have not commented on filters so I was wondering if saabin had ordered something extra. Maybe it is something Blackstone has started commenting on recently. My last report is from 11/2/18.
Sometimes Blackstone will comment on filtration, sometimes not, totally random unless there is a noted issue with filtration. They will always comment if there is a problem, may or may not comment if all is good. I've probably had 30 oil reports from them and get a little different write-up each time even if all is good. I started using SPEEDiagnostix last year though. Better technology used for the analysis and while the cost is higher, it includes USPS Priority Mail for the sample to their lab. The spectro analysis equipment they use picks up larger particles than Blackstone's and has a more accurate analysis for oxidation and fuel/water contamination. Not saying they are the best, just better, IMO.
I suppose. My reports, and the others I've looked at, have not commented on filters so I was wondering if saabin had ordered something extra. Maybe it is something Blackstone has started commenting on recently. My last report is from 11/2/18.
Just the standard oil test, nothing extra. I've had filtration comments before on my reports for the turbo..
Blackstone will also comment on excessive fuel in the oil which could be a sign of a leaky injector. From what I understand you want to monitor this closely as any increase can dilute the oil and cause bore scoring.
Blackstone will also comment on excessive fuel in the oil which could be a sign of a leaky injector. From what I understand you want to monitor this closely as any increase can dilute the oil and cause bore scoring.
Yes, one of the best benefits of doing UOA is to find fuel in the oil above acceptable levels. Picking nits here, but I checked with Blackstone after hearing they don't really measure fuel in oil, and they confirmed that they just estimate it based on the flash point results. Other labs will use methods that more accurately determine fuel percentage. One method is FTIR analysis. Google it.
Yes, one of the best benefits of doing UOA is to find fuel in the oil above acceptable levels. Picking nits here, but I checked with Blackstone after hearing they don't really measure fuel in oil, and they confirmed that they just estimate it based on the flash point results. Other labs will use methods that more accurately determine fuel percentage. One method is FTIR analysis. Google it.
Can you comment on which labs offer more accurate results? To me this is a pretty important part of the UOA!
Can you comment on which labs offer more accurate results? To me this is a pretty important part of the UOA!
My recommendation would be to call or email different labs and ask what technology they use to determine wear metals, oxidation level, and fuel/water/coolant contamination. Then do your internet research to figure out which one you want to spend your $$ on. I'm not here to be a fanboy of any UOA lab, just offering what I have learned so far. I only know for sure that SPEEDiagnostix offers a UOA service that I'd rather spend my money on as compared to Blackstone. They are the only two labs I have ever used. I have done my own internet research though, and for now am happy to be using the lab I currently use.
Its been a couple of years, here's my latest report.. Car has been driving on the street/track great! (Although the past year has been a couple of long road trips and no track duty..)
I've used blackstone a few times for other vehicles. ,Not sure how often I'll continue to send in for analysis. But every time I see a report posted, it's always generally good. Has anyone actually sent out oil and received a concerning report? Not just, "watch filtration numbers". But an actual number so far off the charts you had to take action? I'd imagine there's other signs that start to pop up first. I dunno...Just seems these things are always on the acceptable to positive end of things.
IMHO, the reports are better to determine oil change intervals more than particular engine issues. Obviously a bad air filter will show up with high silicone. An engine problem might show up but based on my experience in the Subaru world with EJ engines and spun bearings. Most knew something was wrong with engine before any UOA predicted it. Not saying it’s not worth it, pretty cheap to do overall. It is good to see how your car fairs to the averages. Just not sure of it’s predictive power.
I tend to agree, but it's a small price to pay once a year.. lol.
I HAVE seen some reports before from P-cars that are in trouble.. One that had abnormally high metal wear on a car that was tracked frequently.. Not surprisingly, that motor blew up not too long later... so it CAN be used as a predictor in some cases.
I did Blackstone UOAs with every change on my stage-2 Subaru Legacy GT (2006)... mostly because it was stage 2 (about 50% more boost than stock). I also did UOAs on my older Mazda MX6 (when I first started learning about UOAs) and was able to see bad air filters there (K&N).
On the Subaru, I also saw an increase in some metals (iron and chromium, as I recall) later in its life... nothing huge, but something was going on. Eventually I started getting occasional CELs which ended up being exhaust valves hanging up at about 160k miles. I didn't know that Subarus had solid lifters, so I expect it likely needed an adjustment, but at that point it didn't make sense to spend a pile of money on it, so I traded it out before it became a bigger issue.
I also did some "experiments" with UOAs on friend's cars... we were able to find that oil doesn't "age" over the winter even on an old motor (70s era GM) stored outside over the winter. Along with data from Blackstone newsletters on old oils I find that oil changes by time are unnecessary, IMO. That same motor also showed a head gasket leak which my friend said wasn't possible, as he had done it recently... turns out, there was a defect on it so he had to do it again.
Bottom line, I find UOAs very useful as a snapshot, and even better for longer term monitoring if you're dealing with a special case (ie, overboosted motors, longer term issues, etc). I'm waiting for my second analysis on my 987.2 now (just got the car about 1.5 years ago)... first change was at 5k miles, this one is just under 8k.
Needless to say, I'm a fan of the service to check out the state of a car, at the very least.
01-31-2019, 11:32 PM
Blackstone for 981 CS
