Blackstone Labs Oil Report
 

I just received the oil report from Blackstone Labs on my '95 993. I've had the car since February of this year and the last oil change was at 104,500km in December 2015 (with prior owner, Canadian example). According to records that came with the car it was running Red Line 20w50. I have attached the results but Copper, Lead and Molybdenum came up extremely high. Blackstone is suggesting that these readings could be a result of an additive but wanted to see if anyone here as had similar readings.

Other than the readings above that are concerning me, I have noticed no low oil pressure (gauge consistently between 3-5) and no unusual noises.

I have switched to Mobil V Twin since the last oil change (last week) so will send another sample for testing in a thousand miles or so but want to make sure there is nothing seriously wrong with rod bearings etc.


Appreciate your opinions on this

Anyone has a view?

my blackstone reports show copper and lead in low single digits for two different 993's.
a search for engine restore produces interesting results.
possible previous owner added engine restore to produce better compression results for a ppi.
my guess is you'll just have to wait for two or three oil changes/years to see if the copper and lead drop.

yeah that's what i'm thinking after coming across some Engine Restore videos on youtube. thanks!

Oil analysis is regularly done and ideal for fleet truck engine analysis where there is a large population of vehicles running similar numbers of hours under similar conditions. In such cases, it can be a contributor of information as to when the average vehicle needs an engine rebuild or should be sold. I am speaking of over the road trucks with greater than a million or millions of miles on them.

I would think testing an engine one-up without a large population of similar engines under similar conditions to compare is really only useful if something gross shows in the report. Better measures of engine condition such as a dyno test, oil consumption or simply drivability are probably more valuable in evaluating the condition of a street car engine.

Other's thoughts.

Maybe talk to Rennlister Steve Weinner.
Maybe post this on the "Bob The Oil Guy" web site.

Those copper and lead values are very alarming.

Doesn't the last column represent Blackstone's average for 993 oil testing?

thanks Lex, will try both options, but agree... extremely high indeed.

Yes, those are average values, a point of reference, if you will

That copper is worrying. I recalled my Blackstone around 13 or so for the 30k miles I monitored it.

Have you cut your oil filters open to see if there is any metal flakes?

I have not but I did check the magnetic oil plug and noticed one flake about 1mm large.

This mine from last year. I inquired about the elevated iron level. Told him car had sat a bit, while doing some work. He said sitting (with engine opened to atmosphere) will show corrosion, which may be the cause of the higher level. Without other metals, it's not likely an issue. Boost confirms the health. :-)
Attachment 1180837

Not sure there are average operating conditions for a 993. Certainly the miles on the clock vary alot. In the fleet businnes trucks are put into service in groups of similar or identical configurations and are exposed to continious duty logging miles and so the delta on working conditions is probably a lot smaller in the sample group making the lubricant data drawn probably a lot more meaningful.