MeentSS02

iTrader: (11)

Patman et. al.

Here is my oil analysis I received back from Blackstone labs yesterday. First, the conditions of the oil tested:

Car: 2002 Camaro SS (LS1)
Mileage @ Oil Change: ~47,500 miles
Oil Used: Gold German Castrol Syntec (0w30)
Oil Filter Used: K&N HP 2006
Mileage on Oil: ~4,800 miles (It was 4,783)
Makeup Oil added: 0 quarts. My engine typically burns a little less than 1 quart every 5k miles.
Engine: stock longblock. Mods include headers, custom true duals w/ no cats, lid, ported TB, AMW PCV Catch Can, and all custom tuned by me with my own wideband O2 sensor and HPTuners. I use a Fram Paper air filter that gets changed at every oil interval. Engine exhibits typical piston slap on cold and warm starts, but goes away after it is completely warmed up. The engine runs strong.
Driving conditions: this is my daily driven (and only) car. Just prior to this oil change, I got into some standing water, and my air filter got wet. I was forced to drive an extra 15 miles with a wet filter. The air filter was changed immediately, the oil was changed in another 100 miles. Oil had some sludge in it when I took it out (it was Mobil 1 0w40).

Typical daily driving includes a good deal of stop and go driving along with cruising between 45-70 MPH. Total commute time varies from 20-30 minutes depending on traffic. Total distance is about 15-20 miles. I also do a good deal of short drives around base as my job requires, but I keep it to a minimum.

The universal averages I list came from an engine with 4200 miles on the oil (once again, mine had 4800).

And now the results:

Mine (4800 mi)............Universal Averages (4200 mi)
Aluminum..................2....................... ...................4
Chromium.................1........................ ...................1
Iron........................16.................... .....................14
Copper....................24...................... ...................38
Lead........................9..................... .....................7
Tin..........................2.................... ......................2
Molybdenum.............13......................... ...............54
Nickel.......................1.................... .....................1
Manganese................0........................ .................1
Silver.......................0.................... ......................0
Titanium...................0...................... ....................0
Potassium.................0....................... ...................1
Boron......................18..................... ...................80
Silicon......................9.................... ......................9
Calcium..................1792..................... ................2273
Magnesium..............409........................ ................367
Phosphorus..............715....................... .................749
Zinc........................951................... ....................893
Barium......................0..................... .......................0

Sus viscosity @ 210F: 66.0 (values should be 58-65)
Flashpoint: 420 (should be > 365)
Fuel %: 0.5 (should be < 2.0)
Antifreeze %: 0.0
Water %: 0.0
Insoluables %: 0.4 (should be < 0.6)

Information also available in PDF format.

Thanks!

MeentSS02

iTrader: (11)

...and don't forget the obligatory glamour shot

MeentSS02

iTrader: (11)

TTT for those interested.

redmist

So what's the conclusion?

ashzero

i used it in my last oil change, and noticed a lot more piston slap than with mobil 1.

i'm going to try amsoil next.

MeentSS02

iTrader: (11)

Conclusion? It looks like there is a bit more wear when compared to some of the results from the Green formula, but it is hard to tell since this was my first oil analysis ever done. If I had results from MY engine with the Green, and compared it to this, it would be more conclusive. Sorry...wear is pretty good though.

tirefryer

I am not too sure about the Gold. The numbers are not as good as Patman's were with the Green. That is why I changed to Amsoil 5W40, since I could not get the green anymore.

bsf

iTrader: (7)

Steve,

Thank you for posting this information.

MeentSS02

iTrader: (11)

I can't be sure about the gold either, but it can definitely be taken a couple of ways:

1. This was good wear for my particular LS1, but I don't have any proof otherwise

2. The gold isn't as good as the green, thus potentially demoting it as the "end all, be all" of motor oils in the LS-1.

No green available here anymore either...I'll probably still run the gold though simply due to the decent price.

GuitsBoy

iTrader: (4)

Many things could easily influence these wear numbers. Number of short trips. City vs. hiway miles. Warming the car up before taking off. How many times the car saw high rpms. The list could go on and on.

Unless something better becomes as readily available, Ill stick with the golden GC.

LASTLS1

iTrader: (7)

I've had very good luck with the amsoil. With our engines you don't need the "0"w oil. Use a 10-30 or a 15-40. Good luck.

MeentSS02

iTrader: (11)

Exactly. My car is currently under the Auto-Rx knife, so no oil analysis for me for a while.

High RPMs? Why yes, yes it has. This oil change is when I started doing my heavy tuning on this car, so lots of 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th gear WOT runs.

My advice: stay clear of the less-traveled roads around here. I know them well

The car also gets little warmup time (I don't floor it until it is warmed up, but I don't wait around for the ECT to get to a certain temp either).

GuitsBoy

iTrader: (4)

Something tells me that some of the gentlemen with the GREEN GC oil analysis results may not be experiencing their cars' at the same level you enjoy. All things considered, I think your iron is great considering you were doing repeated WOT blasts for tuning!

Before anyone jumps the gun on the gold stuff, lets wait till we get an analysis from somebody who can keep their throttle body blade closed

MeentSS, thanks for posting your results!

GuitsBoy

iTrader: (4)

The 0w is irrelevant. GC 0w30 is actually thicker than some 10w30's at 32º F. Amsoil is a good recommendation, although I'd opt for a 5w30 flavor myself.

GuitsBoy

iTrader: (4)

MeentSS02, whats the deal with your sig??

Last I remember you had that bitchin speed inc true duals / CME setup. I remember cause I was building the same thing but you beat me to it! Unless ive got you confused with someone else.

MeentSS02

iTrader: (11)

Eh...it's to keep people guessing. Not everyone needs to know what I'm packin' Still have the duals, still have everything else...as you can see from the picture above, I'm working on my bling right now (with the wheels, and new rotors are soon on the way). Since I tend to swing more towards the appearance side rather than the performance side, I went with the Type-R designation

Hell, read my license plate:



I've had people say "Man, I don't really like what you did, but you did a good job pulling off an SS clone."

The rest of the sig is just making fun of the most common crap I hear about these cars, especially from the local high school folks. "Hey man, you got a Flowmaster on that thing?"

*sigh*

MeentSS02

iTrader: (11)

Oh, and you're welcome for posting the results. I actually came across the gold GC by accident...since this oil change was a necessity for me (after getting into water), and I finally found this stuff again, I just bought it. It wasn't until I started pouring it in that I asked "Hey, wasn't this stuff Green before?" I 'bout damn near shat myself when I read that it may not have been the stuff I intended it to be...

firefighter

Uhmmm just a drunken question what is the big friggen deal with the oil?!?!?!?!?

I mean I've been a car guy for twenty years and have used Valvoline from the beginning and when I get into my motors they were ALLWAYS clean inside and showed little wear. I've been using the Synpower schtuff for almost 10 with NO problems. Is the LS1 that "special" or are you guys just a little too "particular"?

GuitsBoy

iTrader: (4)

We are too particular.... But the oil analysis results dont lie. When you can cut the PPM count for wear metals in half or to a third or less of what it normally would be, thats proof enough for me. Not to mention that some oils last far longer than others. Even if you dont want to extend your oil drain intervals, its nice to know that your oil is protecting your engine as well at 5k miles as it was the day you put it in there.

FstBlkz28

iTrader: (13)

Alot of oils will do an OK job ... but for alot of us, we just like to have the confidence that the engine is being protected the best it can be. I wound up having to tear down my engine during my cam swap a few weeks ago and was AMAZED at what it looked like inside, I expected it to show alot more wear that it actually did. The GC 0w30 also helped out tremendously w/ my oil consumption and piston slap.