I will counter, fundamentally ...
Originally Posted By: compratio10_5
1) New engines continue to generate beak-in debris regardless of claims of better manufacturing, closer tolerances, better oil, etc.
I don't know anyone who's ever said, despite the improvements, that break-in does not happen. All UOAs I've ever seen of virgin/near-new equipment show this trend. It's universal. This isn't proof of anything other than the obvious that no one ever stated otherwise. When you say "regardless of claims", I just don't know anyone who's ever claimed that the better manufacturing, oils, etc make for less break-in. Never ever heard that. Most will agree that the improvements in design, manufacturing and lubes make for more efficient, reliable engines. But not less break-in. That's something I think you're stretching for here.
2) Oil filters do not catch the majority of wear metals generated inside of the engine.
That is a unqualified statement. You have no idea what it caught. Mainly because there's no PC data to go along with this UOA.
Also, UOAs only view a portion of the total wear metals.
FF filters do a great job of what they are supposed to do, but they are NOT designed to catch all metals, so it's always expected to see some wear data escalation in newer equipment. FF filters (efficient ones) do a great job of catching wear particles, even during break-in. The do a lousy job of catching small stuff, all at times. So this UOA does not prove anything past what common sense already implies. There is a lot of small particles at break-in; we see them in the UOA. We have no idea how many big partciles are associated with break-in, because practically no one does a PC at break-in. Even if they did, it would be credited to "break-in"; no surprise there!
3)It does appear to be a good idea to change oil and filter early on new engines to remove this break-in debris, just as traditionally recommended.
How so? What is the appearance you refer to? To really make this conclusion valid, you'd have to see credible data of a control group that does NOT change the oil often, versus one that did. The observation you make is not really "wrong" but it's certainly anecdotal. Also, frequent OCIs will appear to have lower wear simply because of two phenomenon; one is accumulation of metals, the other is the generation of metals. IOW - if one did do frequent OCIs during break-in, is there any proof that this improves break-in wear rates, or cycle time? Not that I'm aware of. Break-in seems to be independent of the OCI duration; it will shed what it sheds, to seat itself in.
4) There is no sign of fuel dilution or antifreeze leakage which is good to know on an engine of any age.
This engine is not DI that I know of, and not known to have dilution issues. So it only confirmed what is already suspected; not unlike high wear metals. If there were issues (fuel or coolant), it's highly likely the OP would take the info to the dealer, and the dealer would promptly say "If it's running OK, we're not tearing into it because there's no warranty claim to charge against". Happens to BITOgers every once in a while. They discover what they consider to be an "issue", but anything under warranty is going to be scrutinized heavily as long as there's no outward sign of an problem. Does it run OK? Then drive it. That's what the dealer will say. So even if there were high fuel or coolant, they'd likely wait until a problem actually manifested before they would be able to make a warranty charge to the OEM.
My point? whether or not you see fuel or coolant in a premature UOA really has no conclusion to offer. Why? Because it's highly unlikely the dealer would do anything about it anyway. Want proof? Look at all the DI Ecoboost complaints, and yet no dealer goes into an engine under warranty based on a UOA. I agree that knowing about coolant and fuel is good when YOUR MONEY is on the line. But when it's the OEM paying, they are going to defer that claim until there's some tangible proof of a real problem; not some suspected issue that does not manifest into a seized engine, warped head, etc. Got high fuel? The dealer is going to tell you to continue to drive it. Got a smidge of coolant in the oil? Drive it. Got Si that's high? Drive it. When it starts making a really bad noise, or grinds to a halt, we'll open the engine up under warranty. Read it here many times over the years. UOAs don't make any dealer go into an engine under warranty. And so the knowledge at this early state of equipment life is useless at that point in time. If the coolant bottle was going empty every 1k miles, it would be super obvious and you'd not need a UOA in the first place. If the coolant leak is subtle, no dealer will tear into an engine for that under warranty. Same goes for fuel dilution; if the oil level rises 2" on the dipstick, and reeks of fuel, you don't need a UOA to tell you there's a problem. If the dilution is minor (5% or less), no dealer is going to do a darn thing to that engine under warrany.
So the information in a pre-mature UOA is useless in this regard!
Most folks around this site have ZERO idea of what can and cannot be gleaned from a UOA, or a series of UOAs.
UOAs on new/nearly-new equipment really offer no information that is actionable. It confirms what is already known; stuff has to break-in.