wross996tt

I haven't actually seen one FACT stated by you. I read lots of opinions, with no data to substantiate. So please don't start pointing fingers...LOL

LVDell

Not to disappoint, but that is status quo for Mister Macster.

larry47us

Adam -- Sorry, I missed the joke. Thanks for your comment. Yes, I know that discussions of oil are kind of like discussions of the coming of the Messiah. It is indeed a religious experience for some.

L_Jet - I don't know how the magnets would interfere with a proper reading. Blackstone checks for a variety of substances in the oil, everything from general dirt contamination to various rare metals. The fact that I have magnets in the drain plugs is likely reducing the amount of iron in the oil. I don't believe that is leading to skewed results, I think that the results show that the magnets may be reducing the amount of iron debris in the oil. That being said, the other wear metals are lower in evidence as well, so the lower iron might be the result of lower wear overall, and not have much/anything to do with the use of the magnets.

I think that next time, I'm going to run my oil for 7,500 miles to see if the wear metals still holds low. If it does, than the UOA will provide me with useful information, how the oil and engine are holding up with various miles between changes. If I'm not going to use the UOA to adjust my mileage between changes, what is the purpose? I think that it becomes an issue of "I'm getting more information, so I am a skilled and knowledgeable car owner." When in reality, it may just provide a "feel good" to our driving these cars.

Certainly, if the wear metals stay low at 7,500 miles, then the next move is to extend to 10,000 miles. Maybe it would be worth it to get a TBN as well this next time, to see how much residual positive elements are still in the oil. The only monkey in this process is that I don't know that I will have enough miles on the car to change the oil again before I put it to bed for the winter. I don't know how much "sitting" for 5 months will affect the oil. It should just stay status quo. OTOH, that first start in the spring will likely cause some wear from lack of lubrication.

Question - Since we pull the fuel pump fuse when we change the oil, and then crank the car to raise oil pressure before we re-insert the fuse, would that be a good practice in the spring after a winter's sleep? Why does cranking the engine without firing raise oil pressure without harming the engine more than firing it up? I would guess that the same number of turns of the crankshaft will generate the same wear, whether the result of the engine firing or just being turned over by the starter. Any comments on that??

larry

Land Jet

Maybe you should put the regular non-magnetic plugs back in for a cycle and see the difference. I bought the magnetic plugs but haven't changed the oil yet, and your comments got me thinking about the Blackstone profile which I use myself.

I think people remove the fuse in order to circulate oil to engine parts before starting so as to not have a dry start, rather than raise oil pressure. I'm sure it would be a good idea in the spring after a winter of sitting.

larry47us

Larry:

I understand that this is the reason, but pulling the fuse keeps the engine from starting, it doesn't stop it from turning over. When the engine is turning over, whether with fuel to the cylinders or not, you will experience a dry start. Am I missing something here? It's not like you are turning on an oil pump that is squirting oil into the cylinders before the engine turns over, so that there is fresh oil on the pistons and rings, which would lubricate immediately upon any movement of the piston.

You are pulling the fuse for the fuel pump, right? This keeps the plugs from firing. It doesn't pre-lube in advance of the engine turning over. I guess that I really don't understand what pulling the fuse does. I don't understand why the engine would fire up when you're draining the oil. I never had it happen when I changed the oil on my 73 Targa . . . . . . But Kevin is certainly a wiser head than I am.

larry

Kevin

Larry, the idea of pulling the fuse is to get full oil pressure with LOW engine Rpms.

The engine will idle at 1040 Rpms when it will light off. The engine Rpm's when you crank the starter is alot less and we are building oil pressure quicker. We also rid ourselves of the clacking and chain noise on startup when you pull the fuse.

Unless you are trying to SAVE money on your oil changes I wouldn't stretch the oil past 5K.

larry47us

Kevin:

Thanks for the explanation. That makes sense. Certainly the starter motor is turning the engine slower than idle, which would reduce the amount of "dry start" friction.

I certainly feel that saving money on oil changes is poor economy when the risk is potential harm to an expensive engine. Maybe this begs the question, but if we are all changing our oil at 3,000 - 5,000 miles, why does Porsche recommend oil changes at 15,000 miles? Is that purely advertising hype? I read someplace that companies are extending their oil change recommendations because of advertising competition, not because of the maintenance needs of the engine.

larry

PAULUNM

Two main reasons-

1. Makes the brand appear to cost less to maintain

2. Environmental reasons- less frequent oil changes = less waste oil.

c32AMG-DTM

With all the back-and-forth (esp. a few long-winded posts), did you see my answer to your question? Just didn't want it to get buried, if you really were curious.

PAULUNM

I did, thank you!

Interesting stuff, but the BITOG thread was one big fight as well...

Danyol

A turbocharged engine with variable valve timing will likely put more demand on the oils.

With regard to "data" we have a few users sharing experience of increased rattle with age of oil, I certainly have.

IMO, the environmental movement in Germany has likely had more impact on BMW, AUDI and Porsche than anything else. Higher quality oils and maintenance being included for the first 3 - 4 years has probably "helped" this along. Shorter engine life isn't an issue to these businesses (long as it's over 100k miles?).

My wallet, my engine, cheap insurance.

Macster

Climate differences between Europe and the USA I thought was common knowledge.

And I hope you do realize that it is hot and dusty in many parts of the southwest and west (and even in the mid-west... and even further north at various times of the year) compared to areas of the country with wetter and milder (at least when it comes to summer heat) climates.

There have been studies showing the distance USA drivers cover on average has been going up and average speeds going down.

Congestion in many parts of the USA has increased the number of hours people spend in their cars.

Sincerely,

Macster.

Last930

I am curious - what is the oil pressure #'s when cranking it over with the fuel pump relay out?

Dock

We're not all changing our oil at 3,000-5,000 miles.

larry47us

Dock: OK, I'll bite, how often do you change your oil? (Of course, you knew that this was the obvious response to your post. Why wait to give us the answer?)

larry