TDI Used Oil Lab Analyses Results & Discussions

[PDJetta]

9800 miles M1 TDT UOA. Wear rates very low even w/ original PD cam.

I like that iron number. At 100,000 miles I had an oil analasis done by Blackstone labs and my iron number was similar (16 ppm) and I use Motul VW 505.01 5W-40 oil. 10,000 miles were on the oil.

--Nate

 

[vwthingguy]

Iron too high?

Here is my latest UOA from Blackstone labs. The run was mainly in town driving, and short trips. The iron is up and I am wondering if this level too high and something to be concerned about and maybe need to get a different vehicle in the near future? Any and all thoughts and comments are much appreciated!!!

 

[stoccarda]

For future reference, all 5w40 oils are synthetic and all are diesel-rated. In a pinch, you can use any 5w40 either for an oil change or to top up.

It is not possible to make such blanket statements about any other viscosity. 5w40 is just special that way.

And with the right oil it is perfectly safe to run 10k-mile oil change intervals, as long as there is nothing physically wrong with the engine like a coolant leak, or as long as you're not running a high percentage of biodiesel.

Thanks TR, I'm starting to get a picture of things here

 

[TooSlick]

Vwthingguy,

Describe your oil sampling method?

There are no obvious issues with contamination here and metals besides Fe are trending down nicely. The TBN's are marginal however, do a 20%-25% shorter service interval for a while might help.

Thanks,

TS

 

[vwthingguy]

TooSlick,
I did not do the drain sample, it was done at the dealership. I do not know if they took the sample as soon as it drained or how they did it. They did say it was the first time anyone had wanted one, and I told the service manager to take it in mid drain, but he only writes the service agreements. I appreciate your help TooSlick!!!

 

[cowgirl007]

please post a link to this testing thing on TDI 101?

Wow, who knew? Blackstone! Well, and all of you "veterans" of course! I've been agonizing over the 1 year vs 10k part of the TDI maintenance. TDI 101 clearly states "whichever comes sooner" so I went ahead and had it done at 6200 miles because it had been over 1 year and lots of short trips. This is great info, can you post a link to this on TDI 101?

 

[vwthingguy]

Cowgirl,
Check your private messages, I sent you a link. Well worth the money for the info you get from the lab in my opinion.

 

[TooSlick]

Vwthingguy,

I'd be very curious to know why Blackstone is showing a positive test result for antifreeze, yet there is no significant sodium in the sample??? (The potassium "K", is welding flux residue and will dissipate over time.)

TS

 

[Booshker]

Hey I'm new to the form with a couple of questions. I have a 2004 TDI; it's been chipped and larger air intake replaced and cat back exhaust. I use mobile 1 5w-30 but thinking of going to 5w-40.
Does barometric pressure changes affect performance of the chip or the fuel? Seems like I have more power on overcast, days and not too many of these in California.
Also, what to i do about smoking when accelerating? I know it's fuel by pass but can I do something to help? How about the EGR? Should it just be cleaned or taken out completely?

 

[Niner]

Hey I'm new to the form with a couple of questions. I have a 2004 TDI; it's been chipped and larger air intake replaced and cat back exhaust. I use mobile 1 5w-30 but thinking of going to 5w-40.
Does barometric pressure changes affect performance of the chip or the fuel? Seems like I have more power on overcast, days and not too many of these in California.
Also, what to i do about smoking when accelerating? I know it's fuel by pass but can I do something to help? How about the EGR? Should it just be cleaned or taken out completely?

Take your foot out of it a little if it's smoking black out your tail pipe, until the smoke goes away. You should use Mobil 1 5w-40 Turbo Diesel Truck in your car and do 10,000 mile intervals between oil and filter changes.

 

[TooSlick]

VWthingguy,

The other thing I just noticed is that your TBN's (how much detergency is left), have been dropping (2.1/1.8/1.2), with these three tests. This is a sign that you're running the oil too long between changes and it's becoming increasingly acidic. I'd recommend trying a shorter, 8000 mile change interval and/or trying a different VW 507.00 oil like the Mobil 1/ESP, 5w-30. The VW 507.00 oils are fine for service intervals up to 10,000 miles under most driving conditions, but this may be an exception to that.

TS

 

[TornadoRed]

I think most diesel sold in Illinois is 11% biodiesel, and in Minnesota 10%. It varies in other states.

Since VWoA recommends no more than 5%, perhaps in those states with greater than B05 the owners of 2009-and-newer TDI need to shorten the oil change intervals.

 

[TooSlick]

TR,

That's an interesting theory, but I've generally found that biodiesel blends reduce ring/cylinder wear. I'm not sure of their affect on TBN (?), although a 405F flashpoint is moderately low, so there could be some fuel dilution.

TS

 

[TornadoRed]

TR,
That's an interesting theory, but I've generally found that biodiesel blends reduce ring/cylinder wear. I'm not sure of their affect on TBN (?), although a 405F flashpoint is moderately low, so there could be some fuel dilution.
TS

That was my thought, that there might have been some fuel dilution resulting from the regeneration process.

 

[TooSlick]

TR,

You may be on to something... All three of his flashpoint measurements are low and the previous two showed 1.5% and 2.0% fuel dilution. So if these levels are inherent using B10/B11 fuel, then perhaps a shorter service interval is called for? I expect if you were doing mostly high speed driving this dilution would be a non issue, but we haven't seen enough analyses to make a general statement.

TS

 

[csangree]

Appropriate Engine Oils for 2005.5 Jetta TDI

I've spent about 6 hours reading hundreds of pages of past info on oil recommendations, etc. on here. What a wealth of knowledge!

That said, I'm still left scratching my head as to whether I should stick with a 505.01 rated oil for my 2005.5 Jetta TDI (pumpe duse) or whether the Mobil 1 TDT or Rotella T6 would be appropriate? (I bought a jug of LiquiMoly and a Wix oil filter but haven't installed/changed yet.)

Are the CJ-4 oils recommended mainly for those with the bypass filter installed? I still have just the stock oil filter. I like to do my own maintenance, but don't like to mod much. (Got that out of my system with a Miata years ago.

The car is all stock, except for an oversized battery to help with cold cranking. Runs great and has 180k miles. Recently had the cams and turbo replaced and it's running as good as new.

I feel bad asking, because I'm sure it's been addressed here somewhere, just can't afford to stay up and read until the wee hours for too many more mornings. Thanks in advance for your advice!

 

[TornadoRed]

csangree: I don't think any owner of your generation TDI who has switched to a CJ-4 rated oil has had any reason to regret his decision.

The newer ones, 2009 and newer, are a different story. But the pumpe duse (PD) engines seem to like Mobil TDT and Shell Rotella 5w40 oils, and probably other CJ-4 oils just as well.

Needless to say, what is good for the PD engines is just fine for the older ones too.

 

[csangree]

csangree: I don't think any owner of your generation TDI who has switched to a CJ-4 rated oil has had any reason to regret his decision.

The newer ones, 2009 and newer, are a different story. But the pumpe duse (PD) engines seem to like Mobil TDT and Shell Rotella 5w40 oils, and probably other CJ-4 oils just as well.

Needless to say, what is good for the PD engines is just fine for the older ones too.

Thanks so much, TRed! I'll pocket that difference in cost and add an oil analysis to my regular OCI routine.

Any OKC-area folks want to get together, I'm in!

 

[WutGas?]

I'm in anytime, csangree.

Check this thread as well....
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=350003

Kinda died off, but I bet we could get it back going.

 

[redbrick1]

Did my first oil analysis and Blackstone found oil dilution at 3% on a 9000 mile interval change. I don't use biodiesel. Thoughts to the signficance of this?

http://pics.tdiclub.com/showphoto.php?photo=89096&title=oil-analysis&cat=all

 

[TooSlick]

That's a lot of fuel for warm weather driving conditions. Are you doing lots of very short trips? Does it seem like the engine goes through a re-gen cycle very frequently?

Your piston and cylinder wear is somewhat elevated due to the 3% fuel and it's effect on oil viscosity, but it's not terrible, all things considered. Are you using any type of diesel fuel additive and if so what's the dosage?

TS

 

[redbrick1]

That's a lot of fuel for warm weather driving conditions. Are you doing lots of very short trips? Does it seem like the engine goes through a re-gen cycle very frequently?

Your piston and cylinder wear is somewhat elevated due to the 3% fuel and it's effect on oil viscosity, but it's not terrible, all things considered. Are you using any type of diesel fuel additive and if so what's the dosage?

TS

Some short trips, probably 60% city driving; the other 40% is a 90 mile commute. I'm using straight D2, only add white powersevice in the winter. I'm thinking of sampling again at 5000 miles and see what's going on.

 

[TooSlick]

Was the engine fully warmed up when you took the oil sample. Was it taken through the dipstick tube or from the drain plug? Did you allow some oil to drain out before taking the sample?

Thanks

TS

 

[redbrick1]

Was the engine fully warmed up when you took the oil sample. Was it taken through the dipstick tube or from the drain plug? Did you allow some oil to drain out before taking the sample?

Thanks

TS

The samples from the old oil after an oil change; the oil was warm, not hot during the change. PM replied also.

 

[bannister]

 

[TooSlick]

Here we have the first reported use of a higher ash (1.0%), HD synthetic diesel oil in a DPF equipped VW engine. As I expected, the wear protection is excellent and the oil held up very well for 10k miles, with some reserve TBN (3.5). The ONLY issue is the potential effect the higher levels of ash, phosphorus and sulphur will have on the durability of the emissions system components??? Of course oil consumption appears to be very low, which was also predictable.

I'm curious if there was any impact on fuel efficiency - compared to using a VW 507.00 oil??? I'm guessing the previous oil was the Mobil 1/ESP, 5w-30 due to the trace of moly that showed up here.


TS

 

[Ski in NC]

If oil consumption is low, the ash level matters less. Only oil that creates ash is that which is burned. Oil in sump creates no ash.

Nice results, for sure.

This oil is being spec'd for other DPF equipped engines, correct? Starting to remind me of the PD oil spec situation.

 

[TooSlick]

Well the commercial DPF's are more easily serviced, so it's not exactly an analogous situation. But yes, the CJ-4/SM oils are considered to be relatively low ash. The effect if any is likely to be a very long term situation.

TS

 

[Bob_Fout]

Based on the ZDDP (and accounting for B-S's sometimes large range) and visco, this looks more like Mobil 1 ESP 5w40. (229.51/229.31)

 

[TooSlick]

Bob,

None of the MB 229.51 oils have 700 ppm of magnesium along with > 1000 ppm of calcium. And there's no way you'd have a TBN of 3.5 after 10k miles with either a VW 507.00 or MB 229.51, low ash formulation.

It's definitely Mobil 1/TDT or Mobil Delvac 1/ESP....

TS