Blackstone Oil Analysis

[V8 Yankee]

I'm posting my latest Blackstone Oil Analysis for my 21 Bronco Sport with the 1.5. I usually change oil and filter every 5000 miles but I was curious as to the claims of Amsoil that their Signature Series Full Syn can go 20K miles. The filter was from Amsoil as well. The report clearly backs up the Amsoil claims of their SS oil can go beyond 10K with little degradation. I'll never go 20K between changes but knowing I can go to 10K is good to know. My next report will be for Pennzoil Ultra Platinum and a Wix 20K Filter. I'm curious to compare the two as the Pennzoil is about half the cost of Amsoil. That report should be in 4 or 5 months from now.

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[Mark S.]

I'm posting my latest Blackstone Oil Analysis for my 21 Bronco Sport with the 1.5. I usually change oil and filter every 5000 miles but I was curious as to the claims of Amsoil that their Signature Series Full Syn can go 20K miles. The filter was from Amsoil as well. The report clearly backs up the Amsoil claims of their SS oil can go beyond 10K with little degradation. I'll never go 20K between changes but knowing I can go to 10K is good to know. My next report will be for Pennzoil Ultra Platinum and a Wix 20K Filter. I'm curious to compare the two as the Pennzoil is about half the cost of Amsoil. That report should be in 4 or 5 months from now.

Was this a one-time thing, or do you send oil off for analysis at every change?

 

[V8 Yankee]

This was my first analysis. I suspected coolant intrusion but the analysis ruled that out, at least into the crankcase. I lose about 24 oz of coolant every 5000 miles with no visible external leaks so I needed the analysis for internal problems. In fact my vehicle is now at the dealer for another pressure test and hopefully they will identify the reason for the coolant loss. I'm nearing my 60K warranty expiration so it's now or never to capture warranty work.

 

[Bucko]

If you get dealership paperwork, keep it. If it fails after the 60K drivetrain warranty, you have some documented proof of the potential failure during warranty coverage. That can work in your favor.

 

[Mark S.]

This was my first analysis.

I would caution against making operational/maintenance-related decisions based on a single analysis. A single analysis provides a "snapshot" in time. The primary use for oil analysis is trend monitoring. For example, if you wanted to determine whether longer oil change intervals were detrimental you might start with oil changes every 5000 miles while observing wear indications over a few cycles. Once you have a baseline you could lengthen the interval and compare wear indications to your baseline.

 

[V8 Yankee]

You have a point but my analysis wasn't to develope a new maintenance schedule. It was more to see if Amsoil lives up to it claim and to check for coolant intrusion. My schedule was extended this time only. Back in the 70's and up thru the 90s I stuck with 3K intervals. As technology progressed in the oil industry and the fact I could afford better oil I bumped it up to 5k intervals. With the last report I'm comfortable going over 5K intervals as my driving style is very moderate and the environment is very consistant, not to mention nothing but paved road driving. My test was more for determining if I had coolant intrusion. I'm going to stick with 5K intervals for now but there are those occaisions where going a few thousand over might happen. My next Pennzoil test will be at 5K as I've ruled out any coolant intrusion. It's too expensive to do these tests every oil change but it really was interesting to see the results. Good oil and regular maintenance really pays off in the long term. Not worth the money and trouble if I traded out every 36000 for a new car. If I did that I would definently go to 10K intervals.

 

[Dude]

Will be interesting to see the results of the next pressure test and i do hope the dealership can identify the reason for the coolant loss.
On the surface it seems the dealership does not believe your vehicle is losing ~24 oz of coolant every 5k miles.

 

[Mark S.]

It was more to see if Amsoil lives up to it claim and to check for coolant intrusion.

I'm almost certain that if you did the same with ANY oil that meets the spec Ford requires you would get the same result. Blackstone has been providing oil analysis services for fleet operators for a long time, so it has a tremendous amount of data. It has stated in a few different BLOG posts that when it comes to an oil's primary job--lubricity--there is no significant difference in performance when comparing oils of the same spec from different manufacturers.

 

[V8 Yankee]

Update on my coolant loss. After the dealer did a overnight pressure test they determined the culprit was my water pump. Fortunately it is captured under the Powertrain Warranty. So I will be getting a new pump, new coolant, a flush and I'll pay extra for new accessory belt and that will be it. Another 4K and my warranty will expire so I caught this in the nick of time. Now just need to wait for the new pump to get delivered. In the mean time Ford is paying for a rental so that's a bonus.

 

[Dude]

Update on my coolant loss. After the dealer did a overnight pressure test they determined the culprit was my water pump. Fortunately it is captured under the Powertrain Warranty. So I will be getting a new pump, new coolant, a flush and I'll pay extra for new accessory belt and that will be it. Another 4K and my warranty will expire so I caught this in the nick of time. Now just need to wait for the new pump to get delivered. In the mean time Ford is paying for a rental so that's a bonus.

Was the coolant being sprayed out somewhere into the engine compartment or onto the under hood insulation material? One owner reported both the alternator and the water pump had to be replaced (the spray hit the alternator and eventually caused it to fail)

Seems like a black light would have been useful for the dealership to detect where the ~24oz coolant every 5k miles was going

 

[Meanderthal]

Was the coolant being sprayed out somewhere into the engine compartment or onto the under hood insulation material? One owner reported both the alternator and the water pump had to be replaced (the spray hit the alternator and eventually caused it to fail)

Seems like a black light would have been useful for the dealership to detect where the ~24oz coolant every 5k miles was going

Just wanted to say that some of the coolant leaks reported on this forum have been so slow that the coolant would just evaporate before it would show on the ground, and possibly even on the skid plate/under body cover. I think that most active users of this forum know by now that the water pump on the 1.5L is suspect any time a coolant loss is noted.

 

[Dude]

Just wanted to say that some of the coolant leaks reported on this forum have been so slow that the coolant would just evaporate before it would show on the ground, and possibly even on the skid plate/under body cover. I think that most active users of this forum know by now that the water pump on the 1.5L is suspect any time a coolant loss is noted.

Agreed and while we know that time was not specified in the post but would you say a loss of ~24oz coolant every 5k miles was “so slow” to be undetectable assuming the time is say up to 4 months to go 5K miles? The 24oz seemed like a lot to me but who knows. The coolant capacity is stated at 7.7qts (246.4oz) so 24oz is just under 10%.
Also the dealership did pressure test #1 and didn’t detect a leak until pressure test #2 was performed.

 

[cprcubed]

The waterpump leak on mine is very slow. I've added maybe 1/2 gallon of coolant in 20k miles over 2 years. I noticed the white residue on the underhood insulation (not a whole lot) and the white residue on the underside of the engine when doing my last oil change. Still have to take it in. I was another one that also bought a pump (-B version that also leaks) to have on the shelf when they were in short supply. Cheers!

 

[Meanderthal]

Agreed and while we know that time was not specified in the post but would you say a loss of ~24oz coolant every 5k miles was “so slow” to be undetectable assuming the time is say up to 4 months to go 5K miles? The 24oz seemed like a lot to me but who knows. The coolant capacity is stated at 7.7qts (246.4oz) so 24oz is just under 10%.
Also the dealership did pressure test #1 and didn’t detect a leak until pressure test #2 was performed.

Hard to say if this leak is "so slow" or not. Too many variables to know.

 

[BLUEOVALRACER]

I'm posting my latest Blackstone Oil Analysis for my 21 Bronco Sport with the 1.5. I usually change oil and filter every 5000 miles but I was curious as to the claims of Amsoil that their Signature Series Full Syn can go 20K miles. The filter was from Amsoil as well. The report clearly backs up the Amsoil claims of their SS oil can go beyond 10K with little degradation. I'll never go 20K between changes but knowing I can go to 10K is good to know. My next report will be for Pennzoil Ultra Platinum and a Wix 20K Filter. I'm curious to compare the two as the Pennzoil is about half the cost of Amsoil. That report should be in 4 or 5 months from now.

So you changed the Oil at 10,000 miles that you had the analysis done on?

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