Just got my first Blackstone oil report back. 2011 Cooper Clubman N16 engine, mileage 36,239 oil used Mini 5W30. All was good except for the Iron. Report showed 54 where normal is 25. Blackstone they are not concerned but to keep an eye on it. What is the cause of Iron in the oil. Is it wear on the cylinder sleeves? or some thing else. When I working for the California Highway Patrol one of our engineers use Blackstone to check on the different engines in the cars and motorcycles it helped identify issues that we had with the vehicles. I was the electrical/equipping supervisor but use to talk to him frequently about performance issues. It's been 13 years since I retired and can't remember all that stuff. If I remember my wife's name I am doing good.

Tom

 

There are a few factors at play for a UOA:

*oil service interval mileage
*unusual service life, such as strictly city with very cold engine and very short drives.
*break-in or break-down of wear metals [like Fe]
*unusual sample method, like the very beginning or end of the oil drain, where untrapped sediment could show more ppm than average.


If your usual OCI is 10k, send in the next one and most likely the Fe will be less, but if not then it might indicate accelerated wear of the rings or bearings for whatever reason.

 

RYEPHILE


I am trying to get to a 5K oil change cycle so this was 5K from dealer oil change. The next one will be at 41239 but will try to change it at 40k that way I will be on a 5K oil chance cycle. Fe was the only factor that was off, every thing else was right on or less. It doesn't use any oil so far and signs of smoke like Blackstone said monitor it. The oil that came out was pretty dark and right now the oil with 3500K looks pretty clean.Thanks for your reply.

 

Iron is most likely to come from the cylinder liners. Steel usually has other stuff in with it to make it tougher, and you might see elevated levels of those things if you were wearing stuff like the crank or the camshafts. Most of the wear surfaces on the steel parts are protected by bearings, so you'll see bearing material long before the steel itself starts wearing. The cams might be an exception, though having rollers that bear on the cam lobes cut down on wear there very significantly.

I wonder if a chain that is wearing would show elevated iron levels? Probably not without other stuff also showing up.

Follow Blackstone's recommendations: Just keep an eye on it. If it gets worse, then think about worrying. If you see lots of other stuff show up, then definitely start worrying.

 

Next oil change is in 2500 miles will do another Lab and see what it come up with. I am curious to see if the oil is as dark?black as last time. Just finished to round trip to Boise Idaho from Sacramento 1200 mile round trip at 70+mph both ways about 30% mountains the rest high desert. Car ran great didn't use any oil and got 34 mpg overall. People in Big SUV's don't like Mini's passing them going up either side of Donner Summit at 74 mph. Just went out and checked still full and nice gold color. Maybe it is still getting broken in.


Tom

 

I have a 12 Justa with 20K, my Blackstone analysis shows 59ppm iron also! 4k change interval after I got it with 16K on it already. Im going to send another in 4-5K.
Could Blackstone be confusing the Cooper S engine with ours??

 

Short of running heavy equipment, huge gen sets, large commercial vessels or locomotives, IMO oil analysis is a huge waste of money and time for the general motoring public.

 

CPTPLT

I don't think they are confusing a JUSTA for an S. Over the years I have used them on Race Cars, CHP Vehicles and my own cars. I will be doing on oil change in about 1200 miles and will send another one in. It may not be necessary but it nice to able to keep track on whats going on. Over the years I would send a sample in on the first oil change and every so ofter after that just to check wear. It just more documentation for your car when you sell it.

Tom

 

Hi all, I have 2013 Countryman S. I just got my first Blackstone lab report. I believe the oil was at 7000-8000 mls and the car was at 37200. The report shows a very high Iron (127) compared to the universal average of 43. Other values look ok. I'm a bit concerned with the result. Planning to do my next report at 5500mls with my next oil change.

Any idea how bad of a sign this is? has anyone has similar numbers?

 

Don't forget race car teams.

Seriously, what are people hoping to gain from this?

A lot of the cost savings is used up in the analysis cost. Realistically is less than $50 per year savings. So I doubt it's that.

Any recommendation is going to be "monitor the situation" or "keep an eye on it and send us another sample from your next oil change."

It's not like your going to do a "proactive" engine rebuild on the results of an oil analysis. Your just going to get an ulcer worrying about something you have little control over other than shorting the oil change interval to something reasonable, like 5k.

 

Or you could note a marked increase in wear metals, reduce your oil change interval, and start saving for an engine swap or rebuild. And then sell the car to a very nice guy in AZ who takes better care of it than you ever did, and will be doing an engine swap soon...

 

For some people it's simply a hobby. After all, we're on an enthusiast forum.

 

That I can respect.

 

For me, it sure would have helped to know I had high levels of metals in my engine oil before taking a trip 800 miles from home and blowing a crankshaft bearing. I'm not trying to extend my oil change interval, I just want to know what's going on from a wear standpoint. Like a blood test, it just gives me that much more information to work with. No, I won't be tearing an engine down, but the more info I can get, the better. (No, it wasn't a MINI, it was a piece of junk GM vehicle...)

 

Has anyone here or heard of anyone actually doing this oil test in what I think would be the correct way. Do one at say 5000 miles, next time go 8000 miles and compare results, if all is good go to 10-12,000 miles and see what the differences are. Keep in mind MINI wants you to go roughly 15,000 miles on a 1st Gen car between oil changes and 10,000 or 12,000 I believe on 2nd and 3rd Gen cars. I have gone by the computer ( except for the very first oil change ) since I bought my '06 Justa new and now has over 150,000 miles and is still running strong..

 

you guys are showing a LOT of iron wear - take a look at some of mine (sig) -- and I'm racing my car


N2Mini -- I'm going to start doing longer runs soon but for now I'm setting baselines trying to get similar amounts of autox runs in, as I think they factor in more for my wear than actual mileage does

 

Got any updates on your oil testing or anyone else for that matter...

 

Here's my last one using Red Line


https://r56hs.com/2016/08/23/mini-uoa-6/


Just as an FYI, the first few Red Line flushes of tend to read higher due to a well-documented cleaning action/chelation these have. I pushed this sample pretty hard and I'm happy with the results. 3x the mileage of most samples, with more autox runs. The Pennzoil Ultra (now unavailable - it's not the recycled stuff that's for sale now under the same name) really stands out here, but this sample had 50% more autox runs.


I may post another sample next year if I feel like it just to get a "cleaned" Red Line sample, but on a whole I'm tired of these crazy low oil mileage intervals!

 

Been using it in the vehicles I’m caring for using this 5w-40 oil. (R53, E46, MBZ, Cayenne). Keeps it simple so I don’t have to have 4 different brands/flavors.

So far after 4 years of unifying under one oil to serve them all, less oil consumption, less leaking, and most importantly, no issues.

Order online and have it delivered. Super hassle free.

 

was there ever an update? did you try anything different then go for a second lab test?

 

Would a magnetic drain plug offer protection from loose iron floating around the oil pan? How about the quality of the oil filter? My gut feel is that micrscopic-sized crud just shortens the end-life on an engine but poses no threat in the short term. This is why high mileage cars sell cheap.