I just received the oil report on the Mystique's oil sample I sent to Blackstone Labs and felt the urge to share...
Some history:
Since I bought the car in '99 with 37,000 miles the oil was changed every 3,000 miles by the dealer with a
Motorcraft filter and whatever 5w30 they had in their giant barrel. Last March I decided to switch to a
different oil and filter and start changing it myself (couldn't they have found a better way to access the filter
than through the wheelwell?). Anyway, with 80,000 miles on the clock I put in Castrol Syntec 5w30 with a
Purolator Pure One filter. I drove the car all spring, summer, and most of the fall...a total of 7,230 miles
before changing it again. My goal was to extend my intervals so that I would only change the oil twice a
year. But curiosity got the best of me as to what might have gone inside the dark recesses of the Zetec.
The lab's comments:
"Universal averages show typical wear metals for an oil from this type of engine after about 4,575 miles.
Your oil was in use 7,230 miles, and we found all wear from the engine at around average levels and in the
correct balance to show normal mechanical parts inside. Wear probably would have read better were the
silicon not present. We suggest checking air filtration. Oil filtration looks okay. This was 5w30 engine oil
with no gas, moisture or anti-freeze in it. We don't know how your engine was doing on Dyno oil, but it
looks pretty good here."
In the oil test for the viscosity @ 210 deg. F the value should be 57-63; it was 60.9. Higher than 63 would
indicate that the oil had been overrun and broken down, less than 57 would indicate fuel had diluted the oil.
The fuel percentage should be <2.0%; it was <0.5%.
Antifreeze and water were both 0.0% as they should have been.
Insolubles are solid material that is centrifuged out of the oil. They are typically free carbon from the
oxidation of the oil itself, along with blow-by past the rings. It should be <0.6%; it was 0.3%.
This was a pretty good investment of $20.00 for the test. I would recommend having it done if you want to
know what's going on inside your beast. It might also be a selling point if anyone were to put their car on the block.
Check out
www.blackstone-labs.com for more info.
