I noticed a slight drop in hot idle OP (low 20s vs high 20s) so I changed the oil in the car. It was a little low but nothing crazy, also. I recently bought this car a few months ago, and I really haven't even had time to drive it more than maybe 10 times. Anyways, I thought I saw some sheen to the oil in the bottom of my drain pan and I sent a sample in. This is a ERL 408 block, forged rotating assy built motor with ~8k miles. UOA:
The sodium I think I have a handle on. The previous owner ran Brad Penn oil, and only switched to the M1EP before selling the car as he didn't have any more of it on hand, per his explanation at least. The copper worries me a bit, thinking of potential bearing wear. But without other metals showing any elevated readings, what do y'all make of this? I estimated the OCI, really unsure - but it doesn't really matter much, I don't think. The car is running E85 and I am in Texas, so it's hot. Once I put new oil in the car (Amsoil 10w-30 leftover from my last car) the OP bumped back up to high 20s at hot idle on a 90* day high humidity. I was planning to run this oil for a short amount of time and switch over to 40 weight. Now I am a little paranoid. I don't want to unnecessarily drop the pan, remove caps to inspect bearings if it is not warranted, but I also don't want to trash an expensive motor. I wish I was more knowledgeable in the interpretation of these reports, so I am looking for some other opinions. I don't know what specific bearings were used in the build and have not been able to find this out. They are citing residual break in material as a potential cause, due to the lower miles on the motor (8k) but I am not sure I buy it.
I cut open my filter this weekend and here's a couple photos, plus a video which I think shows it better. There's some flakes in the filter also, but its not covered with them.
https://youtu.be/hYwO8JNOKX8
Drain pan:
Thanks guys!
The sodium I think I have a handle on. The previous owner ran Brad Penn oil, and only switched to the M1EP before selling the car as he didn't have any more of it on hand, per his explanation at least. The copper worries me a bit, thinking of potential bearing wear. But without other metals showing any elevated readings, what do y'all make of this? I estimated the OCI, really unsure - but it doesn't really matter much, I don't think. The car is running E85 and I am in Texas, so it's hot. Once I put new oil in the car (Amsoil 10w-30 leftover from my last car) the OP bumped back up to high 20s at hot idle on a 90* day high humidity. I was planning to run this oil for a short amount of time and switch over to 40 weight. Now I am a little paranoid. I don't want to unnecessarily drop the pan, remove caps to inspect bearings if it is not warranted, but I also don't want to trash an expensive motor. I wish I was more knowledgeable in the interpretation of these reports, so I am looking for some other opinions. I don't know what specific bearings were used in the build and have not been able to find this out. They are citing residual break in material as a potential cause, due to the lower miles on the motor (8k) but I am not sure I buy it.
I cut open my filter this weekend and here's a couple photos, plus a video which I think shows it better. There's some flakes in the filter also, but its not covered with them.
https://youtu.be/hYwO8JNOKX8
Drain pan:
Thanks guys!
Last edited: