PP 5w30, '01 Outback H6 - a tale of two labs!!!!

[rcy]

I had the oil in this car tested at Wearcheck Canada (www.wearcheck.ca) and was stunned when the TBN came back at 7.93 after 7000KM. I emailed the lab asking about a possible error in the TBN testing, and was duly ignored. Nice customer service, eh.

Here is a link to that report.

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1245733&fpart=1

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I drew another sample about 1000km later and sent it to Blackstone. The TBN came back at 3.2 Huge difference between the two labs, but I'm guessing Blackstone is probably more accurate.

Here's what Blackstone had to say

You've run 8,000 km on this oil and wear is reading nicely, with just copper a bit high. 2.5% of the sample was diesel fuel, which is enough to show a possible fuel system problem. If you have to idle the engine a lot, maybe it is operational in nature. More on this next sample. Go on up to 10,000 km for the next sample. Watch for any signs of a fuel system problem. TBN - 3.2 - Okay.
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They say 2.5% DIESEL fuel, but this must be a typo or something. The car isn't diesel. In fact I see they've listed my engine as a GM 6.6 litre Duramax - it's not, but I'm fairly sure this is my oil sample (and not someone's GM Duramax) as the copper was high in the Wearcheck report as well.

Any ideas on why the high fuel? Could that be causing the high copper? Thanks.

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Blackstone

Aluminum 3
Chromium 1
Iron 6
Copper 32
Lead 1
Tin 0
Moly 39
Nickel 0
Maganese 1
Silver 0
Titanium 0
Potassium 0
Boron 37
Silicon 13
Sodium 5
Calcium 2588
Magnesium 12
Phosphorus 642
Zinc 820
Barium 0
SUS Viscosity @ 210°F 57.8
cSt Viscosity @ 100°C 9.58
Flashpoint in °F 385
Fuel % 2.5
Antifreeze % 0
Insolubles 0.4
TBN 3.2

 

[chevrofreak]

The H6 3.0 seems to put a lot of gas into its oil. The oil on my moms 02 LL Bean always smells quite strong.

 

[mechjames]

email or call blackstone. any problems i've had with my reports and my friend's reports have been corrected, and they usually do a free retest.

blackstone has great customer service.

 

[WishIhadatruck]

Originally Posted By: mechjames
email or call blackstone. any problems i've had with my reports and my friend's reports have been corrected, and they usually do a free retest.

blackstone has great customer service.


I'd call them as well, or email. They've made errors on my reports as well but always corrected them with no hassle.

 

[ZZman]

I believe I have read elsewhere here that Blackstone uses a different method to test TBN. Can someone explain this?

 

[addyguy]

Not bad results considering the amount of fuel. I'd expect iron to be higher w/2.5%.....

 

[02zx9r]

i have had Ryan email me my report and have had several email conversations with him about possible corrective action etc, and he even sent me a case of 12 sample bottles for future samples.

Top Notch service in my book

 

[rcy]

Just to clarify - the only error on the Blackstone report is that they marked my engine down as a Duramax diesel. The report itself is the right one and the right oil was tested. Blackstone has responded (within a day I might add) and will be mailing me a new report with the proper engine specs.

If anything, I'm more disappointed in the Wearcheck report, as I think they've made a huge error in the TBN, and no one responded to my email questioning the TBN #.

 

[MolaKule]

Well then, forget WearCheck and shorten your oil change interval.

PP is an excellent oil, but you might want to try RLI 5W30 for an engine with high fuel dilution.

 

[bulwnkl]

RLI has worked well in my fuel-diluter Subaru as well as some high fuel vehicles in our fleet at work.

 

[Patman]

I'm a little bit ticked at Wearcheck myself, I just got back some results today, and after specifically writing down in bold letters on my sample sheet that they test that oil for TBN, they didn't bother to do it! Plus they've adjusted their testing methods now and I notice they no longer test for fuel dilution in the oil either. I wish there was another lab within driving distance of my house that I could use instead of them.

 

[rcy]

I might try redline. The only thing is I have enough PP for probably 2 more oil changes. I also have some Esso XD-3 0w30, but I wonder if it might be too thick.

Patman, I agree Wearcheck is close (really close for me - 5 min drive), but I had my sample shipped via Canada Post on October 27 for about $9 CDN (including $1.79 for a bubble envelope - the employee told me not to ship the bottle by itself) and I had my results via email from Blackstone on November 3. That's only 1 week - it took Wearcheck 4 days to email me their results.

When did they stop testing for fuel dilution? My sample from September had it.

 

[Patman]

It looks like they stopped testing within the last month or two then.

As far as Wearcheck, their results are fast! I don't wait for them to email me results, I simply check online via their Webcheck setup. I dropped the sample off yesterday morning and checked online this afternoon and had my results. I love the quick turnaround time, I hate waiting for results!

 

[SubLGT]

Originally Posted By: rcy
Just to clarify - the only error on the Blackstone report is that they marked my engine down as a Duramax diesel........


The fuel % is also probably in error, as 2.5% gasoline would have a flash point much lower than 385.

 

[harrydog]

Originally Posted By: rcy
I might try redline. The only thing is I have enough PP for probably 2 more oil changes. I also have some Esso XD-3 0w30, but I wonder if it might be too thick.


I don't think Redline will help in terms of reducing the effect of fuel dilution. I was using Redline in my '06 Outback H6 and later switched to RLI. It made a difference, although my fuel dilution was around 1.6%. I'm using the 5w-40 as recommended by Terry Dyson.
I highly recommend sending him your next oil sample for analysis if you have a fuel dilution problem.

 

[rcy]

Is this fuel dilution common in the H6. Chevrofreak posted that his Mom's oil always smells gassy (so does my dog, but that's for another forum).

 

[bulwnkl]

It's common across all Subarus (and many other makes), but seems most noticeable in the H6 and the turbos.

 

[Cutehumor]

this is why, I'm leaning towards not doing a UOA anymore unless I suspect coolant leak. I've seen labs post totally different results with the same oil like with this TBN.