TDI Used Oil Lab Analyses Results & Discussions

Fe Iron - Cr Chromium - Ni Nickel - Al Aluminum - Cu Copper - Pb Lead - Sn Tin - Cd Cadmium
Ag Silver - Ti Titanium - V Vanadium - Si Silicone - Na Sodium - K Potassium - Mo Molybdenum
Sb Antimony - Mn Manganese - Li Lithium - B Boron - Mg Magnesium - Ca Calcium - Ba Barium
P Phosphorus - Zn Zinc

hi:

I recall my Oil analysis report saying that " oxidation is moderately high"..

and severity is 2. Nitration is normal.

sampling was done at 8500...now I am at 8900 miles on this batch of oil. I remember tornado saying that I am still OK with the wear numbers....

sunrg....I bought the Blackstone sampling pump...aluminum. so will do another one before oil change...

LuvMyLab419 said:

First UOA,so here it goes.Jetta 2006.5 TDI.

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An excellent result from such a low-mileage engine. Surprisingly low wear numbers.

Very good - but seems odd - Cu 9 but 0 Al. Pu. You'll know for sure next UOA. I think its the first time I have ever seen a PD with a 0 Al at any interval.

Wjdell- I would have to agree with you on the AL,I though there should of been some kind of number there especially for such a new motor that is still breaking in.
I will be going to Washington state come monday,1800 miles 1 way.I will see what kind of fuel mileage we average there and back.

LuvMyLab419,

• what was the oil sampling method?
• how many miles are on this 507 oil sample?

The other 2 5k oil changes was Elf DID 5w40.(sorry no UOA for the other 2 5k oil changes).

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i don't understand how your TDI could be at 19k ODO and this oil could have been in for 10k miles, and you've done two 5k oil changes with DID?

did you drain the factory fill very early and fill with DID?

this is an extraordinary UOA if the ELF 507 was in service for the 10k from 9k to 19k ODO.

if the factory fill and two fills of DID were all drained in the first 9k ODO that would explain such a thorough flush of break-in metals.

thanks for posting your UOA info & i look forward to your responses.

Sunrg- My mistake,there was the factory oil, ran it the full 5k and then put the Elf DID 5w40, and ran it to almost to 5k, then I put the Elf 507 in it at 9864miles. That 507 oil has 9106 miles on it. The oil has been changed and put in some new 507 in . I would of ran the oil to the full 10 k but I'm going on a trip with the car.The car is just shy of 20k on it.
The oil sample was from the oil pan and there was 2 quarts were let out before the oil went in the sample bottle.
Sorry for the mistake , I hope this clears things up a little. I still would like to here more feed back.

LuvMyLab419 said:

Sunrg- My mistake,there was the factory oil, ran it the full 5k and then put the Elf DID 5w40, and ran it to almost to 5k, then I put the Elf 507 in it at 9864miles. That 507 oil has 9106 miles on it. The oil has been changed and put in some new 507 in . I would of ran the oil to the full 10 k but I'm going on a trip with the car.The car is just shy of 20k on it.
The oil sample was from the oil pan and there was 2 quarts were let out before the oil went in the sample bottle.
Sorry for the mistake , I hope this clears things up a little. I still would like to here more feed back.

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well - all things considered, this is another very good ELF 507 UOA. i agree with wj that the Pb and Al are too good to believe. i look forward to seeing your next 10k UOA. cheers!

Sunrg- I will keep you and everybody informed on the next UOA.

2004 Golf TDI UOA

Hi. I recently bought this car, my first diesel. Woot! Anyway, after reading all of the dialog regarding UOA's, I had to get one for myself to see how my engine was faring. The prior owner had put in ELF DID at 5W40 69,600. I put about 3,000 on myself before testing (burning biodiesel at about B80), for a total of 4390 on the oil. At testing the total mileage was 74041. I'm not sure how much, if really any biodiesel was run in it before. Here are my "Oil Analyzers (Amsoil)" results:

Miles 74071 / 4390

Iron 16
Chromium 0
Lead 0
Copper 3
Tin 0
Aluminum 4
Nickel 0
Silver 0
Silicon 10
Boron 7
Sodium 0
Magnesium 14
Calcium 3240
Barium 0
Phosphorus 1138
Zinc 1229
Molybendum 0
Titanium 0
Vanadium 0
Potassium 0
Fuel <1%
VIS @ 40c N/A
VIS @ 100c 12.65
Water 0
Soot 0.3
Coolant Neg

Additional tests:

TBN 7.91
F-soot 0.32

Comments: No corrective action required. Oil is suitable for continued use. Resample at next regular interval.

From what I've seen, these look pretty good. I'm excited/relieved. Any thoughts? How's my baby really doing?

I have some newly delivered ELF Evolution 0W30 506.01 waiting in the garage, when do you think I should change out with that? Down the road I wouldn't mind the improved fuel economy with the lower viscosity oil. But, no need to dump the existing oil too soon. Oh, I've seen 38-43 MPG on the few fillups that I've had to do . Is that what I should expect?

Cheers!

Steve

Steve Townsend said:

The prior owner had put in ELF DID at 5W40 69,600. I put about 3,000 on myself before testing (burning biodiesel at about B80), for a total of 4390 on the oil. At testing the total mileage was 74041. I'm not sure how much, if really any biodiesel was run in it before. Here are my "Oil Analyzers (Amsoil)" results:

Miles 74071 / 4390

Iron 16
Chromium 0
Lead 0
Copper 3
Tin 0
Aluminum 4
Nickel 0
Silver 0
Silicon 10
(snip)
VIS @ 100c 12.65
TBN 7.91
F-soot 0.32

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It looks okay, certainly good enough for a normal 10k-mile oil change interval.

I have some newly delivered ELF Evolution 0W30 506.01 waiting in the garage, when do you think I should change out with that? Down the road I wouldn't mind the improved fuel economy with the lower viscosity oil. But, no need to dump the existing oil too soon. Oh, I've seen 38-43 MPG on the few fillups that I've had to do . Is that what I should expect?

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The Elf Evolution is not the wunder-oil everyone thought it would be, but since you already have it then go ahead and use it whenever you need an oil change. It's not that great when used in an engine that puts a lot of soot into the oil. The 0.32% soot in 4390 miles works out to about 0.73% in 10k miles... the Elf Evolution can probably handle that but not a whole lot more.

I assume your TDI has a manual transmission. 38-43 mpg is toward the low side of average, but it all depends on driving patterns. It's not terrible, in fact it's about what I get now and for the last four years and 230k miles: about 38 in summer and 42 in winter.

That is a very good UOA - good luck with 506.01 the motor is in good shape, soot is OK nothing great for 4.3k. I bet your wear numbers go up within 12k on 506.01 - you will get about 1.5 mpg increase.

Steve - how did take the oil sample? i'm assuming you used an oil sampling pump, but since Thanksgiving is nearing i am concerned that labs will be recieving "turkey baster aquired" oil samples .

this is a good initial UOA. since winter is nearly upon us, and IMHO that's where there's the greatest potential to benefit from using an 0w-30 50601 oil, if it were my TDI located in Sammamish, i would install the 50601 on or before Dec1 and keep it in service until Apr1 - with UOA testing at 5k and 10k.

cheers!

Happy with UOA, but...

Heh, no turkey baster... your informative prior posts steered me away from that. I ordered, and used the Amsoil vacuum pump and followed the directions to the "T." I'm a home brewer (mmmm.... beer that is) and strict adherence to procedure is key!

Well, I feel pretty good about this UOA. It's weird, when I decelerate my vehicle, say 30+ mph down a hill I have heard a squeaking/chirping noise that is matching the RPM of the engine - usually 3 or 4 chirps per second. Maybe more, it's hard to tell. Seems louder out that right side window. See, I was worried about using biodiesel with the PD due to the viscosity. I was paying close attention just after the purchase because I was so enamered by the whole diesel and turbo thing that I noticed the sound right off (but not during the test drive ). Man, I love that turbo diesel sound!! Seriously, I think I'm in love . Anyway, before my digression gets too deep...

Due to the chirp, I just had to find out about the iron level quickly, thinking the cam and the pumps might be suffering. The longer I decelerate, the louder it seems to get. It appears that my first fear isn't founded, due to the normal iron levels. Could the deceleration cause an idler pulley or something to make this sound?? I've been wracking my feeble brain. As soon as I even touch the throttle (even ever so slightly) the chirp quickly stops. Otherwise, I never hear the sound. It makes me want to avoid compression braking down hills for very long. And, sometimes I don't hear the squeaking while decelerating at all. I would say I do 50 to 70% of the time, though. Strange stuff, huh?

Oh, Veedub gurus... what do you have to say?

Best regards,

Steve

sounds like a belt - or maybe a bearing

Of course, we could simply do our [highlight]own[/highlight] analysis, and maybe pick up some freelance money on the side:

http://www.surplusshed.com/pages/item/i1434.html

B100 said:

Of course, we could simply do our [highlight]own[/highlight] analysis, and maybe pick up some freelance money on the side:
http://www.surplusshed.com/pages/item/i1434.html

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It's a nice machine at a good price. But besides wear metals, I like to see the amount of soot, any water and fuel contamination, viscosity, and TBN, at a minimum.

I'd also like to look at the additive package.

Castrol Professional OE UOA in 2.0 PD motor

I just got back my report from Blackstone. The last time they suggested that I try an UOA at 5000 miles. This time they said its much better and they would suggest I go 6000 miles due to the nature of my driving. I am thinking that with the new oil I could and should be able to go to 10000 miles again. You can go to my member album to see a higher rez copy of this should you desire.

Leicaman:

Your iron wear rate is 7.21 on this sample which is a reduction from the ~10 on the last sample. Did you change the oil?

I'm not sure if your FE reduction is due to your engine breaking in or your change in oils. Since the add pack in the SLX is almost identical to the TXT, I would be surprised if it was the oil.

I'm still of the opinion that these 2.0's are a higher wearing beast than our 1.9 friends.

The oil was changed. Note the FE rate on the first analysis is 70 and the new one is 36 which I think is an improvement. I do believe that this motor is not near being broken in. When the car is post warranty I will be going to a 507 oil. However from what I hear it may happen sooner than that due to new TDI cars arrving needing 507 and since its backwards compatible. Also bear in mind on the last sample I only drove it 1600 more miles than I did this time. So I agree with you on the breaking in theory. Don't ever forget that this motor produces a ton more torque and HP which may account for the wear factors too. Should be interesting to see how the new 2.0 common rail UOA look when those cars get in the pipeline.

Changed to VW507 oil from Impex after this sample was taken, will have a UOA on it at 5K miles or so pretty soon. Car is for sale, but I want to see how the 507 wears in an ALH.

RedWolfe, which 0w/40 are you using? Seems pretty viscous for a 0w/40.

It was Mobil1 Euro. (505)

REDWOLF

I disagree your wear is down a bit - notice the tin,silver and mangenese. This may be the switch in chemistry. You need to find one good oil and sitck to it. Switching to often is not good. I think if you use this oil again the improvement will show. If you switch oils try to stay there for 3 intervals to see the best of that oil.

Hmm? Both of these are the same oil, I had to change it because I was about to drive 5000 miles over 2 weeks. The 0W40 was the only oil I could find that 505 at the time, not my choice of oil.

I have the 507 VW (5W30 I think, its what Impex is selling) in it now, the latest sample was taken while changing the oil -- and has the aforementioned 5000 miles on it now, just need to go pull the sample. Memphis->Dallas->Miami Keys->Richmond --- was a pain.

(I have 5 more liters in the trunk for the next change)

wow - I guess they are the same oil - the vis threw me - why would you not use Mobil TDT - or Amsoil DEO - Rotella T or Schaeffers S9000. I think your engine can use these oils. I think you would bene from from these oils at 150k

Are you using 507 or Mobil

I had trouble finding anything that was 501 rated. I found the Mob1 at a Napa warehouse, and it was the right rating. (past changes had mainly been at the dealer, and I didn't particularly like the dealers work on a past maintainance job)

Now I am using the VW 507

third oil analysis on WVO Jetta

I am posting this on the BioDiesel thread as well, but thought I should tack it in here.

As some of you have been following, I have been on a journey back to normalcy after having serious issues with WVO contamination of my crankcase oil. Here is the latest Blackstone report; Looking Much Better!

To respond to their comments, yes I talked to them about WVO, yes my coolant levels are rock-steady past 30K, yes I have changed my purging from 15 seconds to 30 seconds and drive more post-purge now, that's why it is getting better, and yes, I was a bone-head and idled the car for 10 minutes before sampling.

For those of you running TDIs on WVO, take this to heart and change your oil at 4-5K!

Hey Greasecar, if your listening, put this in your instructions so nobody else has to go through the pain I have been enduring. I know it is recommended and so on, but force people to do it! PLEASE! (OK, enough ranting, not really upset, just hate to see someone else make my mistakes)

Now if I could solve my oil consumption issue.......

Here is my first analysis on my 05 jetta PD w/ 49500 miles on engine, 9200 on the Amsoil European car formula:

Aluminum: 4
Calsium: 1963
Chromium: 1
Copper: 3
Iron: 74
Lead: 2
Magnesium: 36
Molybdenum: 1
Phosphorus: 817
Potassium: 1
Silicon: 3
Sodium: 4
Tin: 0
Zinc: 999


Water: None
Antifreeze: None
Fuel: None
V100: 13.3

I did change the oil and switch to Pentosyth and added the DG filter system which works very well. Oil was tested at the local Cat dealer and was stated that no action is required for this oil. This was the only oil change that i ran Amsoil European in it and the test came back better than i thought!