# Expert help needed - Oil analysis results



## SAKZN1.8T (Oct 18, 2009)

Hi Folks,
Magnatec was recommended by castrol and used for the last 2 services on my 1.8T (1999) and this doesn't match the engine's spec so I had Castrol analyse the oil in a lab.
Condition of the oil:
10000km, then added about 50% (2l) Magnatec, 300km then test.
Results:
Unidentifyable volatile component of 6%!!!
Could this be Glycol coolant?
wear metals:
iron 33
Chromium 0
Nickel 0
Molybdenium 82
Aluminium 4
copper 7
Tin 0
Lead 1
PQ Index 16
Contaminants:
Silicon 15
Sodium 5
Manganese 2
Soot value 0
Soot % 0.0
Oxidation 23
Suplhites 34
Nitrates 16
Fuel <1
Water ND
additives and lubricant condition
Magnesium 608
Calcium 788
Zinc 819
Phosphorous 684
Boron 100
Sulphur 7711
TBN +6
Viscosity 98.1 @40C 13.5 @100c compared to TDS [email protected] and [email protected]
Test centre claims that this is nearer 20W50
From what I've read, the calcium is far too low especially if you consider it's a 50/50 mixture with new oil.
Doesn't this seem bizarre to you?
It seems that oxidation and evaporation can be contributants to the viscosity increase but the calcium depletion?
Also worrying is the level of Molybdenium metal wear.
I'm a newbie to all this so please help out!
cb


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## saaber2 (Jul 15, 2008)

*Re: Expert help needed - Oil analysis results (SAKZN1.8T)*

Moly is likely an additive. It is most often used as an antioxidant at these low levels. Your UOA is biased very heavily by the large percentage of essentially new oil. None of those wear metal numbers are of concern, and it doesn't seem bizarre at all.
Silicon at 15 ppm is high. Check for an air leak and that your air filter is clean. If you are running an aftermarket filter consider going back to stock. I can't tell you how many times I have seen K and N type filters showing more dirt getting into the engine vs. stock. Dirt may be impacting your iron numbers. Magnesium and Calcium are normal for many Castrol oils as are the low Zinc and P numbers. This oil does not seem to have a very strong additive package. 
What are the potassium and sodium numbers? If you are worried about glycol, we need these numbers.
What is the flashpoint? You show Manganese at 2 which may be an indicator of fuel dilution but we need flashpoint numbers to tell. However with the new oil added it is probably impossible to tell on this UOA. TBN and viscosity are great which is expected with the amount of new oil added.
I would suggest these things and feel free to ignore:
(1) Don't run a UOA right after adding lots of new oil
(2) Use a different lab such as Blackstone, Dyson, Stavely services, wear check etc. that will give you all the numbers.
(3) Run a better oil. If this performance is fine for you no need to upgrade as there is nothing really wrong here except silicon which is not the oils fault. But if you want the best in terms of lowest wear, highest film strength, lubricity, shear stability, low volatility, detergency etc. I would suggest upgrading to an ester-based oil with a strong additive pack. You are talking about $60 more per year or so to run the best which I think is peanuts compared to the peace of mind of knowing you have the best protection. Again, feel free to ignore.


_Modified by saaber2 at 3:51 PM 11-4-2009_


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## SAKZN1.8T (Oct 18, 2009)

I'm not ignoring anything... but I'm in Africa!
1. No aftermarket filter but easy to change.
2. No K and Na numbers on report - I'll call and check
Fuel reported at <1%
but report says "Unidentifyable volatile contaminant of 6%"
1) UOA was performed when I realized that 1) I had to add 2L of oil and 2) when I found out that castrol was recommending an non VW 501.01 approved oil for the vehicle (Panic)
2) Castrol paid for the lab
3) Moved on to Shell Helix HX7 costing me about R40/l (That's about USD 23/ oil change) 
10W40 / VW502.00 API SM/CF
That's the closest I can get that suits the manufacturer's spec and a friend of mine (ex VW foreman) says it's the best easily available oil round here for the car.
Thanks for the heads-up. I've a lot of questions for the UOA guys tomorrow!
cb


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## saaber2 (Jul 15, 2008)

*Re: (SAKZN1.8T)*


_Quote, originally posted by *SAKZN1.8T* »_...1) UOA was performed when I realized that 1) I had to add 2L of oil and 2) when I found out that castrol was recommending an non VW 501.01 approved oil for the vehicle (Panic)

Absolutely no need to panic if the oil does not meet vw specs. Many (most) of the best oils are not tested to VW specs. but they likely far surpass that spec. The vw 502 spec for example is a very low standard. 
The VW spec is great for setting a minimum threshold for oils so that someone doesn't use a crappy dino oil for example, but it should not be viewed as: "This oil meets the vw spec. therefore it is the best for my car". There are often better oils that are not tested for that spec. It also should not be viewed as "this oil does not meet vw spec. therefore it is bad for my car or will ruin my car".
A case in point is castrol syntec 0W30 european formula made in germany (called german castrol). This oil was not on the VW spec list prior to April 2009 (or maybe it was april 2008, can't remember). Even though it was not on the list, it was a good oil and much better than many on the list. After April 09, it was on the list. Is it now suddenly a much better oil? No. It's the same oil when it was not on the VW spec. list as it was when it was on the list. The only difference is that at one point in time it was not tested and another point in time it was tested.
Thus the VW spec. should be viewed as a low standard that eliminates some of the lowest end oils, but should not be viewed that if an oil is not listed that the oil is not good enough. Many times the oil that is not on the list can be much better than many on the list. If you used a castrol synthetic oil it is likely as good as or possibly better than some of the vw spec oils, it just may not have been tested. If you used dino that is another story but it is still not going to ruin your engine (unless you ran dino for long drains over a long time then sludge etc. may be a concern). We don't have magnatec here but I assume it is not some ultra-low end dino. 
I have no idea what the lab is saying about it being a 50 weight. 13.5cst is most definitely in the 40 weight range. Many of the 40 weight oils start at 13.7-14.5cst with redline being the highest 40 weight I know of at 15.1cst.


_Modified by saaber2 at 4:18 PM 11-4-2009_


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## SAKZN1.8T (Oct 18, 2009)

I see what you're saying. The basic fact that gets me worried is that oil consumption rocketed with this oil.
More anecdotally, what's available (Mostly dino and some synthetic) isn't what you'd call "performance" Magnatec is a semi synthetic oil but because of the problems I've been having with consumption (Before I had ZERO oil probs) I wanted to take a closer look.
Only the best of the castrol products available over here is castrol approved (Castrol Edge) so here it's probably a good indicator of quality and testing.
More worryingly, I have a PD130 engine in my passat and on the diesel side, I'd trust these guys even less!
cb


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