Originally Posted by kschachn
Originally Posted by Farnsworth
Clarify. Is it the "silicon" the oil filter misses, or the air filter? It is both isn't it? So which are we talking about here?" How can it be known? Silicon would be from minerals. Actually silicon oxides. Insoluble silicon isn't going to be found in oil at all.
Any silicon that appears in a UOA is from a compound far too small to be captured by an oil filter. So yes it is both, but unless it is coming from inside the engine (such as a sealant) then the primary fault is with the air filter. It wouldn't matter if it is soluble in a hydrocarbon or not as both would show up in the UOA (but I wouldn't know of any soluble silicon compounds).
Of course a UOA cannot distinguish the origin of the silicon since any compounds are decomposed in the ICP plasma. But at the same time there aren't a lot of sources.
So larger silica particles say like 50 u would be sources of silicon in the element analysis? Engines have the fill hole and oil level stick hole which could a great source of silica into the oil. I know in earlier times I could check oil, miss the hole, then find the hole all the while covering the end of stick with the dirt that is everywhere. Now I am very careful.