Date:         Sun, 25 Jun 2000 15:50:04 -0500
Reply-To:     Joel Walker <jwalker17@earthlink.net>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Joel Walker <jwalker17@earthlink.net>
Organization: not likely
Subject:      Re: Herguth Oil Analysis
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252"

> Total Base      1.54

don't have this one on my tests. says "decreases in TBN may indicate
reduced acid neutralizing capacity, or a depeleted additive package.".
doesn't say what a 'good' number would be.

> Vis@100 Deg C   12.31

my 88 tests ranged from 17.0 to 15.5, flopping up and down over 60,000
miles (5 tests over 4 years)

> % Soot          <0.1

don't have this one. i think it's more for diesels than gasoline
engines.

> Abs. Oxid       7

don't have this one.

> Water % FTIR    <0.1

mine is Water %Vol = <0.05 each time. but water in the oil can depend
on the gasoline, the weather, and the general humidity of the region.

> Abs Sulf        <2

don't got.

> Percent Fuel    <2.0

mine ranges from 2.0 to <0.5. and the one with the 2.0 was the
earliest test, where i was idling the bus for 20 minutes before
changing the oil. i stopped that and drove it down the highway for
20-30 minutes before changing the oil after learning that idling
tended to put more fuel into the oil.

> Percent Glycol  <0.1

don't got this one either.

got Total Solids: T/S % Vol which ranges from 0.1 (early) to 0.3
(later).
which is "a measurement of the quantity of fuel soot, sludge, varnish
and other insoluble contaminants".

also, i have a SAE Grade showing that a 20W50 oil changes to a 50W oil
over 2500-3000 miles. some of the tests were a bit early, and only
changed to a 40W. by comparision, when i used to get my old 80 bus
analyzed, a straight 30W oil would change to 46W in 3000 miles.

> Metals ----------------
> Iron            14

ranges from 9 to 13

> Aluminum         2

ranges from 4 to 6

> Chromium         1

ranges from <1 to 2

> Copper           9

ranges from 98 down to 6. this turned out to be a function of the
brand AND batch of oil. yup. apparently copper is one of the additives
in the oil. go figure.

> Lead             7

ranged from 5 to 10.

> Tin              1

stayed constant at <1. probably another additive.

> Nickel           2

ranged from <1 to 2.

> Silver          <1

stayed at <1. now where the hell does ANY silver come from??

> Silicon          3

ranged from 4 to 6. i was told this was a function of how well your
air filter was doing: silicon being mostly sand from dust and such.

> Sodium          15

ranged from 11 to 346. yup. another additive. :) the first three tests
were 18,16,11 and the last two were 281 and 346. kendall oil had
changed their formula in the meantime. watch what happened to boron.

> Boron           13

ranged from 99 to 2. first two tests wre 99, 10, then 2,2,2. go
figure.

> Zinc            1067

ranged from 959 to 1650. higher numbers in the last two test. another
additive, i think.

> Phosphorus      770

from 744 to 1184.

> Calcium         985

from 53 to 2434. yup. another additive. :)

> Magnesium       356

this one scared me when they changed the formula: first test was 1312.
rest ranged from 21 to 284.

> Barium          <1

from 19 on first test to <10 on the rest.

> Molybdenum       3

<5 on all. another additive.

> Vanadium        <1

<1 on all.

> The only one that is even getting close to a warning level is Nickel
at 2.
> The warning level is 3 with a maximum of 5.

wouldn't worry about it til it gets over 10. my test says" Nickel.
secondary indicator of wear from certain types of bearings, shafts,
valves and valve guides." but we don't KNOW if our vanagons used
nickel as this indicator.

so the trick is to get a looong range of tests and compare them. but
always, always record the type of oil (brand and weight) and maybe
even the batch number. :) they change the formula on you and it'll
make the test readings go nutso.

good luck! joel