Blackstone Results are in!
 

Team,
Here are the results from my Blackstone Oil Analysis and it isn't encouraging. Anyone want to weigh in on the numbers and what they could mean?
high metals and I am worried about IMS, about to replace clutch, black plastic in filter indicates valve chain tensionors are scoring, etc.

GIVE ME YOUR THOUGHTS

Attachment 21759

Did you ever get cam deviation numbers? How much and how big are the chain pad pieces? Any green plastic?
My uneducated, but forum-reading guess is that if the cam adjuster or pads are completely shot, it could account for the metal in the sample. - Chains wearing directly on the adjuster piston, or adjuster itself wearing out metal-to-metal.
Repairable without major engine disassembly.
I wouldn't rule out rod bearing wear or early signs of IMS bearing failure though.

There are some guys on the forum that have rebuilt these engines. I am not one of them. Is there a good way to assess rod bearings without completely taking apart the engine?

If I had a healthy engine and I was replacing the clutch, I would probably replace the IMS bearing while I was there. In your case, I'd want to know the source of the metal before I spent the money and time.

There is this: http://986forum.com/forums/boxster-cayman-parts-sale-wanted/73794-2001-3-2l-dressed-motor-w-transmission.html
- Probably a lot simpler and cheaper than a rebuild.

Engine still strong and I’m doing clutch, ims, flywheel and cam chain pads. I’ll compression test and leak down. I have 99k on motor and the oil has been in there for 5k, but 1.5 years. Small amount of plastic, black or very dark brown.
Bad compression numbers change my tack, but I expect everything is fine.


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Is your engine smoking, using oil, or leaking? If it's running okay, don't mess with success! You wouldn't even think there's a possibility of a problem if you hadn't run the oil analysis.

BTW, 5000 miles for a drain interval isn't outlandish if you're using synthetic oil. From the test results, your oil viscosity was very nearly new oil values.

Good luck, and don't worry too much about it. If it needs a replacement engine, it'll probably still need one if you wait 20K miles or even 50k. As for me, it's warm here today, I'm going out driving . . .

I had high metals on my first blackstone report also. It has come down in subsequent testing.

Retest again with the next oil change and see if it it a trend or a fluke.

It's one test. Means little. We don't know if wear metals are going north or south.

What oil are you running? Your viscosities are aweful. Not much thicker than H2O. It does not appear to have been a 0W40 or 5W40.

Those are some very high, not good, numbers for wear metals.

Lots of bad going on in this test. Doesn't indicate what oil you are using and there are a lot of very strong opinions, so suggest you read some oil threads to find one that suits your driving and climate. Now while 5k miles is a good interval with a quality synthetic, 1.5 years is obviously way too long. Your viscosity numbers should be in the 70 and 13 range with flash point closer to 400. Your oil has obviously broken down some time ago and was not protecting vital engine parts due to loss of vis. This is probably a major contributor to wear especially those plastic chain rails that depend on an oil film for startup.
My recommendation would be to change oil then in about 1500 mi drop the oil filter and send in for analysis. Look closely at flash point to rule out or confirm a leaky injector.

Hey man do you have a baseline test (one done a long time ago) to compare this with? This will indicate what’s wearing at a faster rate than before

First oil change since change when I purchased. No idea what oil the dealer used, didn’t do analysis


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You should do another oil change in about 1,000 miles. Not so much for another UOA, but more as a "flush" since your don't know (brand, viscosity, dino or full synthetic) what oil was in there prior. Then again at 2,500 miles. Depending what the reports say (by then you will have 3), you should be able to get to a 5K interval in short time