billh3508

Hello Porsche Owner's. I have attached my first Blackstone Oil Report and I am very humbly requesting your opinions and forecasts on realistic, and potential mechanical problems and cost effecting measures. There was only 1,000 miles on this sample and I was only able to run the engine for less than four minutes. Blackstone was informed of this. Also, can someone decipher my engine serial number and identify whether I have the smaller IMS or the next improvement ?? I am assuming that with 106,000 miles there would have been a failure by now?? Thank you all for your help! Bill H Engine # M96 0569609964

Hella-Buggin'

The report doesn't look like the sample was too far out of spec. What's the plastic in the sample? Could it be the timing chain guides or the IMS bearing seal?
Why did you send it in so early @1k miles, did you suspect something was wrong?

cosm3os

1000 mi in 4 min is impressive!

swingwing

I see nothing wrong with your report. I'm in my 21st year as an AMSOIL dealer and have performed a couple of hundred samples. The debris mentioned is most likely bits of carbon sludge in my opinion. Was this sample taken as part of a full oil change, or taken through the dipstick tube? This a car you own, or one you're considering buying?

billh3508

To be easy on myself, I added a quart of oil by mistake, but I did realized my mistake before starting the engine.. Not sure what to do, I turned to my only support system, the Rennlist member's forum to gather solutions that may save me from a complete oil change. I zeroed in on the "easy trick", using a cheap and simple hand pump/siphon. I attempted this option unsuccessfully for several hours and finally determined that I was unable to perform "the trick". So, I went option B (the only other option) and I performed a complete oil change. Rather than wait an extended amount of time for the opportunity to have the oil analyzed, I went ahead and captured a sample and sent it to Blackstone. Because of my high mileage, (I purchased the car with 90,000 miles with well documented maintenance) and the paranoia that I have developed from my Rennlist research, I was anxious to get an analysis of the current state of the engine .(After I changed the oil, I dissected the paper filter as was suggested by a member and discovered a minute amount of very small black particulates. After a lot of examination with a magnifying glass, I concluded that they were probably plastic scrapings from within the oil filler tube caused my attempts of snaking the hose down.) If you have any other thoughts, please share and I greatly appreciate the time you took to reply! Thank you,
Bill H. Montgomery

swingwing

I have a good booklet on used oil analysis that I'd be happy to mail to you. PM me your address if you'd like one. Again, your engine's wear metal readings are excellent. Motor on.

billh3508

Clever..I see how it appears that I was claiming to have driven 1,000 miles in four minutes ...!!! Even though that would not be considered an uncommon achievement here in Alabama country, I should clear things up a little.... I had only driven 1,000 miles since my last oil change when I took this sample. And because I was unable to drive the car to warm the oil up as suggested by Blackstone, the engine only ran long enough for me to back up onto my new Rhino ramps which took - all said and done - about four minutes. I do appreciate your humor. It really softens the reality of the expenses that are incurred in order to experience Porsche ownership... Bill H - Montgomery

billh3508

Hey Hella-Buggin', I see that you live in the Bay area. I am a former Contra Costa County'n that lived in Danville. Wish now, I had kept my condo.$$$$

Hella-Buggin'

Hi Bill, I'm in CCC. I think about moving everyday.

Petza914

Bill,

Regarding your engine serial #

There are three different serial number types for the three engine variants in our cars - base model M96.05 3.6L engines, S-model M97.01 3.8L engines, and the X51 power kit M97.01S 3.8L engines. All three have slightly different engine serial number formats.

For S-model non-X51 M97.01 engines the serial number is of the format M97/0168YXXXXX. The last 8 digits matter and are the following format:
685XXXXX = M97 for MY05
686XXXXX = M97 for MY06
687XXXXX = M97 for MY07

So the first two digits are 68, followed by the year digit, followed by a five digit serial number. But the full serial is M97/0168YXXXXX.

For X51 engines I believe the format is M97/01S68YXXXXX (added 'S' between 01 and 68).

3.6L base engines have a similar format M96/0569YXXXXX (not positive on the 05, can someone check?).

With replacement engines there is an 'AT' in front of the final eight digits. So a S-model 3.8L factory replacement engine the format would look like M97/01AT68YXXXXX.

Regarding the IMS bearing change to the larger single row bearing, for 3.6L motors, if the engine s/n is M96/05 69507476 and up it has the larger bearing.


So, you're engine is a 3.6L made in 06 - see red digit (Engine # M96 0569609964) and should have the larger IMS bearing.

The hard black plastic you found in the filter is probably debris from the IMS tensioner paddle. This is the only paddle that uses black plastic - the others are all a brown material. Do you have any very brief rattling sounds when first starting the engine, like a chain dragging on something. If the IMS tensioner is getting lazy, it could have some slack initially that is causing the chain to wear the tensioner paddle. If it wears through that, it will then start cutting into the aluminum that the paddle is protecting.

For 1,000 miles, your UOA looks OK. Flashpoint is a little low, and fuel saturation a little high (I've never seen more than TR for trace in any of my Blackstone UOA reports), but yours could also be caused by the last start where you backed it up onto the ramps and the engine was in the enrichment mode since it only ran for a few minutes, thus throwing off those readings. Check them again at the next oil change. I'm not a fan of Mobil 1 0W/40 though - not enough Zinc or Phosphorous to prevent valvetrain wear. If you're worried about using a Porsche A40 approved oil, Motul 8100 xcess 5W/40 is a better choice and if not worried about that, Driven DT40 even better. Living in AL, you shouldn't have any issues running a 5W/40 year round as that's what I run in both my 997s living in SC.

It might we worthwhile to drop the sump plate and see how much more black or brown plastic debris is in there. If very little, you probably discovered this early enough to prevent additional wear and a rebuild, but you should have the tensioners changed on your engine sooner rather than later to prevent additional slapping into the tensioner guide. If it removes all the plastic and starts contacting the metal paddle underneath, you're done.

A Blackstone report is great for wear metals, but won't detect any plastics, which is why dissecting the filter (as you have) is also a critical part of knowing what's going on inside your engine. Good job being diligent on that.

Pete

billh3508

I am overdue in expressing my gratitude and appreciation for your replies to my Blackstone oil analysis. It is down right incredible to have the most brilliant and knowledgeable Porsche enthusiasts to lean on for advice and direction. It is humbling for a fledgling to receive such response and I am grateful. On the apology side, please allow me to express my embarrassment over several haphazard and rambling posts that I have subsequently deleted. I have difficult circumstances resulting in part to the terrible misfortunes placed upon my 21 year old Schizophrenic son. It has changed life. This being said, I seek personal redemption and acceptance to our forum. Thank you. Bill H

JustinCase

I second this opinion based on my complete teardown and rebuild of an '08 M97 at 47,000 miles. I know this is a different engine, but it is NOT MUCH different. The original chain guides and tensioner paddle were still functional, but I was surprised at how worn they were after only 47,000 miles. Replaced the paddle with an LN Engineering billet aluminum paddle with the steel pressure pin.