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Ok have a few things I should point out. I’ve had heaps of these done on my other cars. IMO, its the best $30 you can spend on your car.
Before you read on, check out the report. part1 and part2 is the report cut in half.
I’m not qualified to draw a conclusion on the wear rates in the Barra240 during the run in period. If I was to draw a conclusion, I couldn’t quantify the conclusion with accurate evidence. As I had NFI with the R&D of the motor. Having said that, typically engine surfaces that move relative to each other are separated by an oil film thickness of 3 to 6 micron. Draw your own conclusions.
Maybe someone from ford could enlighten us? But in the mean time…
1) The Acid index. The acidity of the oil increases as heat from engine operation and exhaust gases are absorbed by the oil and causes the oil to oxidise. My result was a 3 on the scale of 1-5. 1 is a typical result from new oil, 5 means its overdue for an oil change. If my XR6T is simular to all XR6Ts, then I would suggest oil changes be made at min 5000km.
2) Oxidation and Nitration. Basically identifies the levels of oxygen and nitrogen in the oil. The greater these levels the greater the degradation of the oil. My levels were OK.
3)Water and Glycol. Water in the oil can come from a number of areas, condensation of the moister in the air when the oil cools down or the coolant system. Glycol is what’s in anti freeze. Water in oil is bad news, as it turns to steam during engine operation and clears the oil away from engine parts, allowing engine wear. My levels were OK.
It appears the engine oil itself did a fine job.
What I can say is, this is the first of many oil analysis. Each time I change the oil. The test was done at 4000km. The 3000km service was done at 4500km. My next change will be at 6500km where I will get another test done. Then I’m doing a five day trip from Sydney to Broken Hill and back. Then I’ll get another analysis done.
Where who when are this mob who check the oil, what predefined measurements are used, is there data on them online, how does it compare to individual manufactures..
Sorry heaps of questions, just interesting to see thats all!
Looks okay to me. Acid index is okay and despite being a bit higher is showing that the additive package is still working.
You should have seen some of the test reults we had after trialling some 'oil additives' in some of our commercial engines!
How much do the tests cost at that Oil Check place?
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Reading the report I cannot see why they have chosen to use the take action item when none of the measures are outside the acceptable parameters.
It is fairly hard to draw any conclusions based on this info as it is too early (single test) to see a trend and because the state of the oil will very much depend on driving patterns. Looking at the acidity index I would think this vehicle does a lot of short runs.
This looks very much to me like a slanted test of the type often used by the floggers of oil additives and thus I would question the conclusions rather than the raw data.
Having said that I have always favoured 5,000 km oil changes anyway.
For only $30 i would love to do an oil analysis for my car. Would be a good backup tool for warrenty purposes as well i reckon.
Where do i get in contact with these people who test oils.
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Oilcheck can be found at Sefton, a suburb of western Sydney. number is 02 9644 9100. They are great people and very helpful.
ACA use them for years in their expose on the ethanal petrol stations. They've been around for years, and have a good rep in the industry.
The reason for the sad face is because the metal wear in the engine is very high. Back from my uni days, this result was not uncommon for running in an engine. I would have thought machining practices would have improved. Iron, copper and silicon content in the oil is very high! Iron possibly due to liner or cam wear, copper/lead possibly due to bearing wear and silicon from gasket wear. Trend is VERY important. I guess we'll see over the coming months.
I can defiantly say there have been quite a lot of long trips mixed into the short run about trips.
Back to the oil, you defiantly get what you pay for. So use good oil and change it often.
Judging from that and my unexpert opinion you don't have much to worry about. The engine still is in its running in period depending on how you drive and how you have driven. Given that the 3000km service was conducted after this test as well I don't think this is cause for alarm just yet.
Ensure on the long trips to vary RPM as per thread on breaking in the engine.
Turbos are generally pretty hard on oils. Changing your oil periodically at 5000-7000 km is what many people do. Obviously the good oil is important.
It is a interesting service that they do, I know a chemist who works for Castrol/BP and she does simular analysis however not usually for engine wear issues. More of manufacturing quality etc.
XR6T oil report
Linear Mode
