[email protected].
Well-Known Member
I don’t know where I can find a more knowledgeable bunch of guys, so I’m asking all of you…
A few weeks back I sent in some oil from my last oil change to Blackstone Labs. The idea was to find out if my drain intervals were too long/short, and I just thought it would be interesting to see what they had to say. Blackstone’s been doing a lot of these tests for a lot of years, so I trust they know what they’re doing.
The test came back that my Royal Purple with about 5K miles on it still had some life left to it, but not a lot. So that answered my drain interval question. But the kicker was that they found excessive levels of both lead and copper in the oil. The report said that it could only be for two reasons; certain oil additives, like Restore, or bearing wear.
I never use oil additives, thinking good oil, changed religiously doesn’t need ‘em. The report said they welcome phone calls, so I called to see if there’s any other possible explanation for the lead and copper. They said no, and recommended a retest in a couple thousand miles, which for me is about 4 months. I’m thinking I can do a retest sooner without draining my whole crankcase- just catch the oil in something clean, take out the 4oz. sample, and refill. A very good long-time friend owns a Goodyear station, and knows as much as anyone I know about cars. He confirmed that bearing wear would contribute lead and copper, and doesn’t know where else it could be coming from.
My Goodyear buddy doesn’t think simply replacing the bearings is the answer, without turning the crank too, and replacing the main bearings at the same time. He also thinks it may be the camshaft bearings that are wearing.
So the questions I have are…
Could it be cam bearings? Is there any way to visibly inspect cam or crank bearings for wear? I’ve never dropped an oil pan- is that a pita, and do other parts have to removed to get a good shot at it? I should know, since I’m under the car changing the oil regularly. I’ve owned the car since new, and have always changed oil every 3 months.
Part of me says just live with it, change the oil, and see what happens. And part of me says if I can determine for sure that there’s bearing wear, I should deal with it. But the Goodyear guy says once you start a job like that, you can’t just band-aid it, you have to do it right w/ mains and crank bearings, turning the crank, etc., and it’ll run into some serious money. Plus, he thinks it’ll be hard to really tell if the bearings are wearing. I thought of an engine swap, but don’t want to go that route unless this engine is really on its way out. There are no other symptoms, no noise or vibrations. The car runs great and pulls strong otherwise. There's a retired mechanic at church that I would trust do tear it down. I already had the timing belt/water pump kit that we were planning on doing together. So the labor would be a lot less than a shop.
I’ve been loving the car for 10+ years, and I’m not ready to hang it up. Sorry for the long post, and THANKS for any input.
A few weeks back I sent in some oil from my last oil change to Blackstone Labs. The idea was to find out if my drain intervals were too long/short, and I just thought it would be interesting to see what they had to say. Blackstone’s been doing a lot of these tests for a lot of years, so I trust they know what they’re doing.
The test came back that my Royal Purple with about 5K miles on it still had some life left to it, but not a lot. So that answered my drain interval question. But the kicker was that they found excessive levels of both lead and copper in the oil. The report said that it could only be for two reasons; certain oil additives, like Restore, or bearing wear.
I never use oil additives, thinking good oil, changed religiously doesn’t need ‘em. The report said they welcome phone calls, so I called to see if there’s any other possible explanation for the lead and copper. They said no, and recommended a retest in a couple thousand miles, which for me is about 4 months. I’m thinking I can do a retest sooner without draining my whole crankcase- just catch the oil in something clean, take out the 4oz. sample, and refill. A very good long-time friend owns a Goodyear station, and knows as much as anyone I know about cars. He confirmed that bearing wear would contribute lead and copper, and doesn’t know where else it could be coming from.
My Goodyear buddy doesn’t think simply replacing the bearings is the answer, without turning the crank too, and replacing the main bearings at the same time. He also thinks it may be the camshaft bearings that are wearing.
So the questions I have are…
Could it be cam bearings? Is there any way to visibly inspect cam or crank bearings for wear? I’ve never dropped an oil pan- is that a pita, and do other parts have to removed to get a good shot at it? I should know, since I’m under the car changing the oil regularly. I’ve owned the car since new, and have always changed oil every 3 months.
Part of me says just live with it, change the oil, and see what happens. And part of me says if I can determine for sure that there’s bearing wear, I should deal with it. But the Goodyear guy says once you start a job like that, you can’t just band-aid it, you have to do it right w/ mains and crank bearings, turning the crank, etc., and it’ll run into some serious money. Plus, he thinks it’ll be hard to really tell if the bearings are wearing. I thought of an engine swap, but don’t want to go that route unless this engine is really on its way out. There are no other symptoms, no noise or vibrations. The car runs great and pulls strong otherwise. There's a retired mechanic at church that I would trust do tear it down. I already had the timing belt/water pump kit that we were planning on doing together. So the labor would be a lot less than a shop.
I’ve been loving the car for 10+ years, and I’m not ready to hang it up. Sorry for the long post, and THANKS for any input.
