Originally Posted by Colt45ws
Originally Posted by dnewton3
Your friend's 4.6L may have an issue with the timing chain guides wearing. There is elevated Fe and Al; the two signs of wear metals associated with the guides and chain. The Fe is at almost 4ppm/1k miles and the Al is just under 2ppm/1k miles. Those are both about 2x higher than what we'd expect to see for a healthy engine.
These 4.6L engines are generally very low wearing. Here is a link to my UOAs for my two Grand Marquis (2005 and 2007).
As you can see, the Fe and Al on a "wear rate" are much lower, and it does not matter which grade or base stock of oil is used.
https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/5011812/5
My Fe is typically at or less than 1ppm/1k miles and the Al is so low it's typically just noise. And I run 10k mile OFCIs.
It's not time to panic for your friend's car. This is only one UOA. Most certainly, I'd start doing the UOAs every 5k miles and if you see the wear rates uptick even more, it's time for action! He needs to be aware that it's likely cam chain guide wear. It's not that hard to look at it; pull off the valve covers and then use a bore scope to down down at the chain guides.
Fe was higher last time, 39ppm in 5500 miles, so its wearing better, whatever caused it to have a high Fe. Al was 5ppm that report, so that went up slightly on a ppm/mile basis so idk.
Because the Fe is coming down and the Al is going up, it's probably the cam chain tension-er guides. The steel chain is having it's way with the Al backed guides which have nylon surfaces and are known to crack and shed off large chunks. Once the nylon is gone, the steel sees some abuse, but eventually has it's way with the aluminum backer; hence Fe rises and then falls, and the Al keeps going up. I cannot assure you this is the issue; there are other potential places for problems, but this is by far the most likely cause. And like I said, it can be checked by scoping down the front cover.
I would disagree with the thicker oil recommendation; that isn't going to make this problem go away. And, being a 2011 CVLX with 120k on it, it's probably worth a fair amount presuming it's in decent shape, so the repair at a reputable shop is not out of the question. The parts are not expensive; you can get kits for around $150 or less, depending upon what level of part replacement you want to get into. Your friend may do as he sees fit.