TDI UOA Database

Date: 8-11-08
Engine Code: alh 5sp stock
Miles/oil: 6341
Miles/unit: 122216
Oil Type: castrol slx pro oe 5w-30 505.00/505.01
Fe Iron:21
Cr Chromium:1
Al Aluminum:1
Cu Copper:2
Pb Lead:5
Sn Tin:0
Ni Nickel:0
By-Pass: "yes or no" and added capacity (no)
Top off Oil:none

Cat oil lab. Soot 5. v100 11.8 cSt. Looks good. Change at about 10k.
Edit-removed Mg manganese. Carried error over from copying format. Mg is magnesium, not manganese. Neither are a wear metal in this engine.

Second UOA




Second UOA
Date:3/28/08
Engine Code: ALH
Miles/oil: 8500
Miles/unit:142,500
Oil Type: Elf Excellium DID 5W-40
Fe Iron: 44
Cr Chromium: 2
Al Aluminum: 4
Cu Copper: 4
Pb Lead: 2
Sn Tin: 0
__________

Date 9/29/08
Engine Code: ALH
Miles on Oil: 8500
Miles on Unit: 151,000
Oil Type: Elf Solaris LLX 5W/30 507.00
Aluminum 7
Chromium 2
Iron 47
Copper 4
Lead 5
Tin 0
Nickel 2
Manganese 1
No Oil by-pass
1/4 quart added
________

Date: 7/13/09
Engine Code:CBE
Miles/oil: 9586
Miles/unit: 15923
Oil Type: Castrol SLX III 504/507 5W30 VAG 5
Fe Iron: 47
Cr Chromium: 2
Al Aluminum: 35
Cu Copper: 18
Pb Lead: 1
Sn Tin: 0
Ni Nickel: 1
Mn Manganese: 3
By-Pass: no
Top off Oil: changed Castrol SLX III 504/507 5W30 VAG 5

Date:12/13/08
Engine Code:CBE
Miles/oil: 5028
Miles/unit: 5028
Oil Type:Factory
Fe Iron: 37
Cr Chromium: 1
Al Aluminum: 38
Cu Copper: 36
Pb Lead: 0
Sn Tin: 0
Ni Nickel: 0
Mn Manganese: 5
By-Pass: no
Top off Oil:Castrol SLX III 504/507 5W30 VAG 5

Date:10/10/08
Engine Code:CBE
Miles/oil:1243
Miles/unit:1243
Oil Type:Factory
Fe Iron:13
Cr Chromium:0
Al Aluminum:10
Cu Copper:18
Pb Lead:1
Sn Tin:0
Ni Nickel:0
Mn Manganese:4
By-Pass: no
Top off Oil:Castrol SLX III 504/507 5W30 VAG 5

1st UOA

Date: 10/03/08
Engine Code: BRM
Miles/oil: 5000
Miles/unit: 24,680
Oil Type: Elf Solaris LXS SAE 5W-30
Fe Iron: 23
Cr Chromium: 0
Al Aluminum: 3
Cu Copper: 2
Pb Lead: 3
Sn Tin: 0
Ni Nickel: 0
Magnesium: 13
Cadmium: 0
Silver: 0
Titanium: 0
Vanadium: 0
Silicone: 3
Sodium: 5
Potassium: 7
Boron: 2
Calcium: 1652
Phosphorus: 577
Zinc: 739
Fuel: <0.5%
Soot: <0.2%
Water: <0.1%
VIS 100C CS: 10.9
By-Pass: No
Top off Oil: None
------------------------------------------------
2nd UOA
Date: 12/02/08
Engine Code: BRM
Miles/oil: 10000
Miles/unit: 30,000
Oil Type: Elf Solaris LXS SAE 5W-30
Fe Iron: 50
Cr Chromium: 1
Al Aluminum: 8
Cu Copper: 4
Pb Lead: 5
Sn Tin: 1
Ni Nickel: 0
Magnesium: 15
Cadmium: 0
Silver: 0
Titanium: 0
Vanadium: 0
Silicone: 5
Sodium: 6
Potassium: 11
Boron: 3
Calcium: 1996
Phosphorus: 805
Zinc: 896
Fuel: <0.5%
Soot: <0.1%
Water: <0.1%
VIS 100C CS: 11.3
------------------------------------------------------------------
3rd UOA
Date: 03/27/09
Engine Code: BRM
Miles/oil: 11000
Miles/unit: 40,000
Oil Type: Elf Solaris LXS SAE 5W-30
Fe Iron: 28
Cr Chromium: 1
Al Aluminum: 6
Cu Copper: 3
Pb Lead: 5
Sn Tin: 0
Ni Nickel: 0
Magnesium: 5
Cadmium: 0
Silver: 0
Titanium: 0
Vanadium: 0
Silicone: 3
Sodium: 70
Potassium: 6
Boron: 4
Calcium: 2007
Phosphorus: 725
Zinc: 880
Fuel: 0.5%
Soot: 0.1%
Water: <0.1%
VIS 100C CS: 10.7

By-Pass: No
Top off Oil: 1-liter

High sodium may have been from contamination due to road salts. The cam and associated components will be checked during this 10K miles.

4th UOA
Date: 06/25/09
Engine Code: BRM
Miles/oil: 10,000
Miles/unit: 50,000
Oil Type: Elf Solaris LXS SAE 5W-30
Fe Iron: 27
Cr Chromium: 1
Al Aluminum: 7
Cu Copper: 2
Pb Lead: 3
Sn Tin: 0
Ni Nickel: 0
Magnesium: 7
Cadmium: 0
Silver: 0
Titanium: 0
Vanadium: 0
Silicone: 3
Sodium: 50
Potassium: 8
Boron: 0
Calcium: 1914
Phosphorus: 731
Zinc: 823
Manganese: 0
Barium: 0
Lithium: 0
Antimony: 0
Molybdenum: 1
Fuel: <0.2%
Soot: <0.1%
Water: <0.1%
VIS 100C CS: 11.4%


By-Pass: No
Top off Oil: None

6th UOA

Date: 02/15/10
Engine Code: BRM
Miles/oil: 10,000
Miles/unit: 70,000
Oil Type: Elf Solaris LXS SAE 5W-30
Fe Iron: 28
Cr Chromium: 0
Al Aluminum: 0
Cu Copper: 4
Pb Lead: 2
Sn Tin: 2
Ni Nickel: 0
Magnesium: 0
Cadmium: 0
Silver: 0
Titanium: 0
Vanadium: 0
Silicone: 2
Sodium: 7
Potassium: 8
Boron: 0
Calcium: 1670
Phosphorus: 649
Zinc: 413
Fuel: <0.4%
Soot: <0.1%
Water: <0.1%
VIS 100C CS: 11.2


By-Pass: No
Top off Oil: .5 liter

HSodium has come down since eliminating biodiesel. I think everything else looks OK. Comments?

Date: 7/19/08
Engine Code: ALH
Miles/oil: 8817
Miles/unit: 112312
Oil Type: Amsoil AFL 5W/40
Fe Iron: 62
Cr Chromium: 3
Al Aluminum: 3
Cu Copper: 5
Pb Lead: 18
Sn Tin: 1
Ni Nickel: 3
Mg Manganese: 1
By-Pass: no
Top off Oil: 1qt

Date: 1/24/08
Engine Code: ALH
Miles/oil: 7800
Miles/unit: 103495
Oil Type: Amsoil AFL 5W/40
Fe Iron: 24
Cr Chromium: 1
Al Aluminum: 3
Cu Copper: 3
Pb Lead: 1
Sn Tin: 0
Ni Nickel: 2
Mg Manganese: 0
By-Pass: no
Top off Oil: 1qt

This sample above is where I switched to the AFL from Rotella

Date: 5/5/07
Engine Code: ALH
Miles/oil: 7200
Miles/unit: 88715
Oil Type: ROTELLA T 5W/40
Fe Iron: 71
Cr Chromium: 7
Al Aluminum: 10
Cu Copper: 6
Pb Lead: 4
Sn Tin: 0
Ni Nickel: 6
Mg Manganese: 1
By-Pass: no
Top off Oil: 1qt

Date: 11/1/06
Engine Code: ALH
Miles/oil: 5517
Miles/unit: 81517
Oil Type: ROTELLA T 5W/40
Fe Iron: 26
Cr Chromium: 2
Al Aluminum: 4
Cu Copper: 2
Pb Lead: 1
Sn Tin: 0
Ni Nickel: 1
Mg Manganese: 0
By-Pass: no
Top off Oil: 1QT

Date: 7/21/06
Engine Code: ALH
Miles/oil: 6000
Miles/unit: 76000
Oil Type: ROTELLA T
Fe Iron: 37
Cr Chromium: 3
Al Aluminum: 3
Cu Copper: 3
Pb Lead: 2
Sn Tin: 0
Ni Nickel: 1
Mg Manganese: 0
By-Pass: no
Top off Oil: 0.5qt

Date: 10/16/08
Engine Code: 1Z
Miles/oil: 10,735
Miles/unit: 195,737
Oil Type: Mobil-1 TDT CJ-4
Fe Iron: 28
Cr Chromium: 6
Al Aluminum: 2
Cu Copper: 1
Pb Lead: 5
Sn Tin: 0
Ni Nickel: 0
Mg Manganese: 0
By-Pass: no
Top off Oil: 3/4 Qt

Date: 3/8/08
Engine Code: BEW
Miles/oil: 5,000
Miles/unit: 85,000
Oil Type: Mobil 1 ESP 5w-30 VW 507.00
Fe Iron: 19
Cr Chromium: 0
Al Aluminum: 1
Cu Copper: 1
Pb Lead: 0
Sn Tin: 0
Ni Nickel: 0
Mg Manganese: 0
By-Pass: no
Top off Oil: 1/2 L

Delvac 1 ESP

Date: 10/21/08
Engine Code:ALH
Miles/oil: 9797
Miles/unit: 98773
Oil Type Delvac 1 ESP
Fe Iron: 38
Cr Chromium: 2
Al Aluminum: 7
Cu Copper: 2
Pb Lead: 2
Sn Tin: 0
Ni Nickel: 1
Mg Manganese: n/a
By-Pass: yes apx 1 qt.
Top off Oil: 1 qt.

My UOA(s?)

Date: 04/15/10
Engine Code: ALH
Miles/oil: 8269
Miles/unit: 121,969
Oil Type: Mobil 1 TDT 5w40 CI+
Fe Iron: 16
Cr Chromium: 1
Al Aluminum: 3
Cu Copper: 3
Pb Lead: 2
Sn Tin: 0
Ni Nickel: 0
Mg Manganese: 0
By-Pass: no
Top off Oil: 3/4 Qt

Date: 10/31/09
Engine Code: ALH
Miles/Hours oil: 10,500mi
Miles/unit: 113,775
Oil Type: Mobil 1 TDT 5w40 CI+
Fe Iron: 23
Cr Chromium: 1
Al Aluminum: 5
Cu Copper: 3
Pb Lead: 2
Sn Tin: 1
Ni Nickel: 1
Mn Manganese: 0
By-Pass: no
Top off Oil: no

Drained from the bottom (drain plug) instead of the top (mity). Got about 1qt more out the bottom compared with Mityvac.

Date: 4/4/09
Engine Code: ALH
Miles/Hours oil: 10,132
Miles/unit: 103,000
Oil Type: Mobil 1 TDT CI4+
Fe Iron: 21
Cr Chromium: 1
Al Aluminum: 4
Cu Copper: 3
Pb Lead: 1
Sn Tin: 0
Ni Nickel: 1
Mn Manganese: 0
By-Pass: no
Top off Oil: no

http://pics.tdiclub.com/data/500/BJORN_G-Sev0.pdf

Date: 11/10/08
Engine Code: ALH
Miles/Hours oil: 10,500
Miles/unit: 93,000
Oil Type: Mobil 1 TDT CI4+
Fe Iron: 19
Cr Chromium: 1
Al Aluminum: 4
Cu Copper: 2
Pb Lead: 1
Sn Tin: 0
Ni Nickel: 1
Mn Manganese: 0
By-Pass: no
Top off Oil: no

See full report:
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showpost.php?p=2340095&postcount=828

Not entirely sure where my high nitrate count is coming from. Maybe from a new mityvac set up and hot oil dissolving something out of the plastics. Or has anyone used the EGR recalibration with VAG COM and gotten higher nitrate values? Mine is set at about 360mg/stroke last time I checked (at the beginning of this OCI)
(edit: The chemical symbol for Manganese is Mn, and my oil is CI4+)

Oil Analysis

Date: 04NOV2008
Engine Code: ALH
Miles/Hours oil: 10000
Miles/unit: 182000
Oil Type: Castrol Syntec 5W-40
Fe Iron: 31
Cr Chromium: 1
Al Aluminum: 3
Cu Copper: 4
Pb Lead: 11
Sn Tin: 1
Ni Nickel: <1
Mg Manganese: (Magnesium, Mg?) 1005
By-Pass: "yes or no" no
Top off Oil: probably almost a quart over 10000 miles

Tin: 1
Silver: <1
Boron: 5
Sodium: 1
Potassium: 1
Molybdenum: 3
Phosphorous: 921
Zinc: 1093
Calcium: 1439
Barium: <1
Viscosity: 15.28
Oxidation (A/cm): 9
Nitration (A/cm): 27
Sulfation (A/cm): 12
Fuel Dilution: <2%
Water: <0.10
Gylcol: <0.10
Soot: 15 A/cm which corresponds to 0.53%

__________________________________________________
Date: 10JUL2009
Engine Code: ALH
Miles/Hours oil: 10140
Miles/unit: 191990
Oil Type: Castrol Syntec 5W-40
Fe Iron: 43
Cr Chromium: 2
Al Aluminum: 4
Cu Copper: 4
Pb Lead: 5
Sn Tin: 1
Ni Nickel: 1
Mg: 1125
By-Pass: "yes or no" no
Top off Oil: about a quart and a half at 7000 miles in

Tin: 1
Silver: <1
Boron: 3
Sodium: 6
Potassium: 1
Molybdenum: 1
Phosphorous: 968
Zinc: 1149
Calcium: 1453
Barium: <1
Viscosity: 15.00
Oxidation (A/cm): 9
Nitration (A/cm): 25
Sulfation (A/cm): 12
Fuel Dilution: <2%
Water: <0.10
Gylcol: <0.10
Soot: 14 A/cm which corresponds to 0.51%

Done at Northland Technical Laboratories, Waterloo, IA

Date: 12 Jan 08
Engine Code: BEW
Miles/Hours oil: 10,000
Miles/unit: 60,000
Oil Type: Castrol TXT 505.01
Fe Iron: 66
Cr Chromium: 2
Al Aluminum: 8
Cu Copper: 4
Pb Lead: 3
Sn Tin: 0
Ni Nickel: 0
Mg Manganese: 21
By-Pass: no
Top off Oil: 0

Date: 15 Sep 07
Engine Code: BEW
Miles/Hours oil: 10,000
Miles/unit: 50,000
Oil Type: Castrol TXT 505.01
Fe Iron: 84
Cr Chromium: 2
Al Aluminum: 9
Cu Copper: 6
Pb Lead: 5
Sn Tin: 0
Ni Nickel: 0
Mg Manganese: 23
By-Pass: no
Top off Oil: 0

Date: 05 Aug 07
Engine Code: BEW
Miles/Hours oil: 10,000
Miles/unit: 30,000
Oil Type: Castrol 505.01 TXT
Fe Iron: 29
Cr Chromium: 0
Al Aluminum: 5
Cu Copper: 2
Pb Lead: 2
Sn Tin: 0
Ni Nickel: 0
Mg Manganese: 21
By-Pass: no
Top off Oil: 0

Date: 5 Nov 05
Engine Code: BEW
Miles/Hours oil: 10,000
Miles/unit: 20,000
Oil Type: Castrol TXY 505.01
Fe Iron: 9 Something is wrong with this number
Cr Chromium: 3
Al Aluminum: 2
Cu Copper: 10
Pb Lead: 2
Sn Tin: 0
Ni Nickel: 0
Mg Manganese: 18
By-Pass: no
Top off Oil: 0

Date: 19 Mar 05
Engine Code: BEW
Miles/Hours oil: 4748
Miles/unit: 9701
Oil Type: Castorl TXT 505.01
Fe Iron: 54
Cr Chromium: 2
Al Aluminum: 11
Cu Copper: 13
Pb Lead: 6
Sn Tin: 0
Ni Nickel: 0
Mg Manganese: 46
By-Pass: no
Top off Oil: 0

Date: 19 Nov 04
Engine Code: BEW
Miles/Hours oil: 4953
Miles/unit: 4953
Oil Type: Factory fill
Fe Iron: 58
Cr Chromium: 5
Al Aluminum: 4
Cu Copper: 30
Pb Lead: 2
Sn Tin: 0
Ni Nickel: 0
Mg Manganese: 274
By-Pass: no
Top off Oil: 0

One cam follower is starting to show wear at 60,000. Castrol TXT 505.01 by me for the whole life of the engine.

Date: 1-8-09
Engine Code: BEW
Miles/oil: 13,464
Miles/unit: 193,000
Oil Type: MOBIL 1 Turbo diesel truck 5w-40 CJ4
Fe Iron:27
Cr Chromium:1
Al Aluminum:4
Cu Copper:2
Pb Lead:2
Sn Tin:0
Ni Nickel:0
By-Pass: NO
Top off Oil: ~1 quart

Rotella T CJ4

Date: 1/04/2009
Engine Code: ALH
Miles/Hours oil: 9,782 Mi
Miles/unit: 125,916
Oil Type: Rotella T CJ4
Fe Iron: 25
Cr Chromium: 1
Al Aluminum: 2
Cu Copper: 4
Pb Lead: 1
Sn Tin: 0
Ni Nickel: 1
Mg Manganese: 0
By-Pass: "yes or no" No
Top off Oil: 1 Qt

I added my 30,000 mile sample. I'm trying to find my 40,000 mile sample.

KALaBenne's UOA's

Date: 6-22-09
Engine Code: BHW
Miles/Hours oil: 10364
Miles/Unit: 138060
Oil Type: Mobil 1 ESP Formula 5W-30 507.00
Fe Iron: 36
Cr Chromium: 1
Al Aluminium: 6
Cu Copper: 3
Pb Lead: 4
Sn Tin: 0
Ni Nickel: 2
Mn Manganese: 0
Bypass: No
Top off: 0.6L

Total wear metals/1000miles = 5.017


Date: 2-16-09
Engine Code: BHW
Miles/Hours oil: 10,496
Miles/unit: 127,696
Oil Type: Total Quartz Ineo MC3 5W-30 505.01
Fe Iron: 24
Cr Chromium: 0
Al Aluminum: 6
Cu Copper: 2
Pb Lead: 1
Sn Tin: 0
Ni Nickel: 1
Mn Manganese: 0
By-Pass: no
Top off Oil: 1/2 liter

Total wear metals/1000miles = 3.239

View full report from Polaris here

Date: 3/15/09
Engine Code: BEW
Miles/Hours oil: 6360
Miles/unit: 47253
Oil Type: ELF Solaris LSX 5W30 505.01
Fe Iron: 44
Cr Chromium: 2
Al Aluminum: 5
Cu Copper: 2
Pb Lead: 1
Sn Tin: 0
Ni Nickel: 1
Mg Manganese: 1
By-Pass: no
Top off Oil: 8 oz

Date:03/24/2009
Engine Code: BRM
Miles/Hours oil: 5978 mi
Miles/unit: 107,364 mi
Oil Type: Motul Specific 505.01 5w-40
Fe Iron: 206
Cr Chromium: 4
Al Aluminum: 15
Cu Copper:7
Pb Lead: 2
Sn Tin: 3
Ni Nickel: 5
Mg Manganese: 3
By-Pass: no (added one after this UOA)
Top off Oil: 0

DJR,

A bypass filter will help remove larger iron particles from circulation, but your soot & silicon numbers are fine as it is. I'd also switch to a thicker 40wt, HD diesel oil right now. The Amsoil 5w-40/DEO or 10w-40/AMO, Mobil Delvac 1 and the Rotella 5w-40 are all good choices.

You need to be using a significantly thicker oil and try to reverse this trend....

TS

TooSlick said:

DJR,

A bypass filter will help remove larger iron particles from circulation, but your soot & silicon numbers are fine as it is. I'd also switch to a thicker 40wt, HD diesel oil right now. The Amsoil 5w-40/DEO or 10w-40/AMO, Mobil Delvac 1 and the Rotella 5w-40 are all good choices.

You need to be using a significantly thicker oil and try to reverse this trend....

TS

Click to expand...

Thanks for taking the time to take a look at my UOA...I am gathering the parts for a cam replacement after inspecting at last oil change...I am hoping that my measures will forstall any further deteration for a few thousand miles until my funds have been saved.

DJR,

I'd be curious about the maintenance history of this motor, ie type of oil used and service interval. In addition, what sort of daily commute do you have?

Looking for some trends here....

TooSlick said:

DJR,

I'd be curious about the maintenance history of this motor, ie type of oil used and service interval. In addition, what sort of daily commute do you have?

Looking for some trends here....

Click to expand...

Always dealer serviced until after 80K service (always 10KOCI)(end of waranty) recepts show Castrol 5w-40 505.01 then Motul Specific 505.01 5w-40. First 75K almost all highway driving say from SC to Richmond, VA and back...business trips with mixture of 2+hours trips folllowed by short start and stop for calls on customers. Since then very few 2+hour trips mostly driving around town. I do have very few trips that I do not get it up to temperature and once a week I stretch out her legs with an Italian tune.

Never did a UOA until a fellow TDIclubber suggested we take a look at the cam....appeared to us to have moderate wear versus the pictures on the threads here. And while we were careful to wash the motor prior to opening the VC to guard against dust...I decided to do a UOA to estab. a baseline...was not expecting what came back on the UOA. I immediately changed the oil, added DG bypass and metalnerd magnetic oil drain plug and also added ZDDPlus bottle. I plan on doing exact 5K OCI with UOA to see where I'm heading.

that Fe number is way high. stop and go traffic wouldn't create so much wear in 6K miles. everything else is high too. Go to M-1 TDT and resample, if the wear persists , time for new cam/lifters. BTW , how much boost the tune is pushing ?

Anyone familiar with the specific metallurgy of the main & rod bearings of these engines? Typically when you see this much nickel, it indicates dirt (silica/alumina), ingestion and abrasive wear of the stainless steel, intake valves.

This much iron circulating in the oil will "bootstrap" the wear rates throughout the engine. Fix the high Fe levels and the entire wear pattern will improve....

Nickel may be in the alloy of the cam followers. Check that cam asap.

I thought the purpose of this thread was for posting numbers and conversation would happen in the other thread?

29k-->38k Pentosynth 505.01 5w-40
38k-->49k VW LL III 507.00 5w-30
49k-->54k VW LL III 507.00 5w-30
54k-->59k Mobil 1 Turbo Diesel Truck CJ-4 5w-40
Bypass filter added at 38k, removed at 54k.
Based on these results, I will continue to run M1 TDT and extend OCI to 10k miles.

Date: 4/23/2009
Engine Code: ALH
Miles/Hours oil: 10,100 miles
Miles/unit: 200,200
Oil Type: Shell Rotella T 5w40 CJ4
Fe Iron: 14
Cr Chromium: 0
Al Aluminum: 2
Cu Copper: 2
Pb Lead: 0
Sn Tin: 0
Ni Nickel: 0
Mg Manganese: 663
By-Pass: Yes
Top off Oil: no

Vis @ 100C: 15.89
Soot: 0.3 % wt
TBN: 6.3

yay! what do I win?

VATechTDI said:

yay! what do I win?

Click to expand...

An engine that will probably go another 200,000 miles!