Knowing the engine had gone more than one year (about 18 mo.) and 16,000 miles on the same oil and filter I thought an oil analysis would be interesting. All the numbers were surprisingly good.

2003 Mini Cooper 37,457 total miles
Amsoil Series 2000 0w30

Iron 34
Chromium 0
Lead 3
Copper 23
Tin 0
Aluminum 3
Nickel 0
Silver 0
Silicon 48
Boron 0
Sodium 6
Magnesium 391
Calcium 3129
Barium 0
Phosphorus 1319
Zinc 1806
Molybdenum 3
Titanium 0
Vanadium 0
Potassium 0

Fuel <1
Viscosity @ 40C N/A
Viscosity @ 100C 10.54
Water 0
Soot/Solids N/A
Coolant NO

Total Base Number 3.15
Oxidizers 53.0
Nitrates 31.0

Recommendation: No Corrective action required. Oil is suitable for continued use.

 

Recommendation: No Corrective action required. Oil is suitable for continued use.

Oh this is going to cause some controversy

Where is the popcorn

 

I'd like to do that with the 7k mile dealer supplied Castrol that I just changed. Where did you send it?

 

I sent it to Oil Analyzers in Cleveland. I dont have the address off hand. Autozone usually has the test kits for sale if you want to pick one up.

 

Outstanding lab, phenomenal service ...I wouldn't use anyone else!

(I have no connection or interest in Blackstone other than being a very satisfied customer)

Blackstone Laboratories
4929 South Lafayette Street
Fort Wayne, IN 46806-2211

 

I'm glad you posted this - I have an oil sample that I pulled from my wife's car at 11,000 miles (first oil change) that's already in the return box to go to Blackstone, but I keep forgetting to put postage on it and put it in the mail. I'll post results when I finally get it sent off.

 

Have you used them before?

Great people, always willing to take the time to answer all your questions.

Service like they give is rare these days.

 

what's the cost?

 

No, never used them before. I found them on an internet search, but from e-mailing the people there, they really seem to have customer service as a high priority. The cost-per-sample is higher than others, but I'm not going to be doing this every month or anything like that.

 

yeah, in this corner the manic over-killers than think synth is like dino oil and needs changing every >ahem< 3,000 miles, and in the other corner those who subscribe to the more realistic 8-10K per change.

duke it out, boys!

 

 

If you are happy with your 16,000 + oil changes so am I.

 

so what happens when the results come back unfavorably;do you simply turn the clock back and change the oil ? just change it every 10000 and save on the analysis.

 

True - engine oil analysis is more useful if you have a fleet of similar vehicles to maintain (taxicabs, company cars, etcetera). The idea is that you pull samples at various intervals without actually changing the oil, and based on the results, you either change the oil or leave it in for another X thousand miles. This will eventually give you a good idea of how long you can safely use *that* particular oil in *your* particular fleet of vehicles before it needs changing. Extending the interval from 10,000 miles to 16,000 miles (or beyond) can save a LOT of money and wasted oil if you're maintaining a fleet of even a half-dozen vehicles.

 

Good point. If enough of us post our results from 5k,10k,15k,20k... oil change intervals, we'll be able to come to some relevant conclusions that aren't based on garage floor gossip.

One problem, however, will be trying to objectively quantify how severe the use was on each vehicle. City driving under WOT is not quite as easy on oil as is constant speed highway driving. Perhaps we could use the MINI computer as a benchmark (eg. how many miles until (or past) computer recommended oil change).

egn09,
How many miles til oil change was your computer indicating when you changed the oil at 16k?

 

ditto! you're happy, we're happy. that's what counts here....

I'll still be changing mine out at around every 6-7000 miles. (Now using Mobil 0W-40, since I can't find the GC 0w-30 anymore).

 

Vindication?

 

for us i'd see analysis as a good tool for a racer . or heavy autoxer . you can tell if it's time for an overhaul soon . preventing any damage that may occur. but really ; is saving 60.00 a year that big a deal ?

 

Not sure why this should be so controversial. If you do some searching you will find many others here have tested the stock oil at various intervals and posted the results. All of them came back with the oil being fine even at MINIs long intervals.

 

oil and filters are a cheap way to keep your engine clean and in tip top performing levels to me.....

 

It is contorversial because everyone has been enculturated with the 3K mile oil change and they find it hard to believe that technology could improve in this arena.

 

The less oil you use the less money you put into the pockets of...

 

Those are nice results. But I am also concerned with how driving style really efects the long oil change intervals. I track my car 4-5 times a year, and AutoX. I change my oil once between the MINI intervals just to be safe.

 

If someone is curious about how to make a data driven decision on the subject and shares what they learn? Seems like a good deal to me. We now know more, and are out no money.
Really, the data supports much longer oil change intervals than most of us find comfortable. That's because our "norms" were defined when older fluids and technologies were in play. But with 250 million cars registered in the US (estimates on this number vary by about a factor of 2 each way...), extending oil change intervals has the potential to save a lot of oil.

Matt

ps, I change once a year OR after every two track events..... I guess I should get some analyzed to see if that's really nessisary too!

 

Silicon is on high side. What kind of air filter are you using?