Hello,
I have a 1992 Porsche 968 (thus my user ID) with about 107K very well-cared for miles. The precedessor to the 968 (the 944) was known to have issues with #2 and #3 rod bearing wear, though this seems to be less of an issue in the 968 due to improvements in oil pan baffling.
Anyway, I did an oil analysis with Blackstone a year ago at my last oil change, and it showed no sign of elevated copper or tin, though lead was a little high (but Blackstone said this could be due to a particle that could be temporary). I'm about to do another OA, and am wondering how reliable oil analysis is in determining the health of the bearings. In other words, if there's still no sign of elevated bearing metal, should I rest easy and not worry about doing a pre-emptive bearing replacement?
My concern is that on the one hand, bearing failure on these engines can lead to catastrophic results, but on the other hand, replacing the bearings on this engine is a HUGE and very expensive job, so I don't want to do it if I don't have to. I use Redline 10W40 synthetic in the engine, and since the car isn't a daily driver, I change the oil once a year, which works out to every 5000 miles or so. From the records, the previous owners kept up a very regular schedule of oil changes.
Thanks in advance.
I have a 1992 Porsche 968 (thus my user ID) with about 107K very well-cared for miles. The precedessor to the 968 (the 944) was known to have issues with #2 and #3 rod bearing wear, though this seems to be less of an issue in the 968 due to improvements in oil pan baffling.
Anyway, I did an oil analysis with Blackstone a year ago at my last oil change, and it showed no sign of elevated copper or tin, though lead was a little high (but Blackstone said this could be due to a particle that could be temporary). I'm about to do another OA, and am wondering how reliable oil analysis is in determining the health of the bearings. In other words, if there's still no sign of elevated bearing metal, should I rest easy and not worry about doing a pre-emptive bearing replacement?
My concern is that on the one hand, bearing failure on these engines can lead to catastrophic results, but on the other hand, replacing the bearings on this engine is a HUGE and very expensive job, so I don't want to do it if I don't have to. I use Redline 10W40 synthetic in the engine, and since the car isn't a daily driver, I change the oil once a year, which works out to every 5000 miles or so. From the records, the previous owners kept up a very regular schedule of oil changes.
Thanks in advance.