I am following up on this issue of the higher silicon content from my January oil report for my Jaguar XKR.  For a variety of reasons it has taken me until this weekend to check the air filters. Lo and behold both air filters showed signs of damage and wrinkling of the corners, allowing in a bit of unfiltered air.

I mentioned previously that the air filters were not easy to get to in this car. Removal and replacement involves a unique design. I now realize that I installed the air filters incorrectly the last time. The filters need to be placed into the frames and situated inside the air boxes BEFORE the bracket is wedged in; previously I had placed the frames inside the brackets and then slid the whole thing into the air boxes.  I recall it being very tight and needing to use a mallet to tap it into place. When properly installed it is still very tight but goes in with hand pressure because the gasket of the filter isn’t proving sliding resistance.  In any case I have now discarded the damaged filters and replaced them correctly with new ones.

THANK YOU for the quality of the analysis that Blackstone provides!  I would not have checked on my air filters for probably many thousands of miles had it not been for the elevated silicon finding.  I am hoping that there hasn’t been any long term damage to my engine from the approximately 5,000 miles driven with these improperly installed air filters, but there might very well have been if I continued to drive for many more thousands.

The report on the Kohler engine was spot on. The oil was probably 3 or 4 years old in that mower, but the hours on that oil was probably 100-150 at best.  The air filter had also been neglected and was saturated with dirt, so it has been replaced.

I just wanted to say a big big, thank you and express my gratitude to you and your team. We had all those emails about the Nickel content in the engine getting high and backwards and forwards with the engine overhaul is about the nickel, plated cylinders etc etc… And you guys were spot on the money and watching the trench, and sure enough, I had to bad exhaust valves and needed to replace two cylinders!!!!

I will be far more regular with my oil samples and put a lot of faith in you guys… So a huge shout out to everybody at Blackstone laboratories.

Merry Christmas, happy holidays to all of you and your families. The safety of myself and my family is in your gratitude.

Great catch, you are exactly correct… the weather had been rainy and cold, and the first halfway decent day (no rain, but cold temp), I took the car to get the oil changed at the dealer (15 minutes away) … to get the water temp to 185, and oil up into the mid triple digits, I had to let it idle longer than normal so warmed up, about 15 to 20 minutes.

On top of that, the road was cold (and Michelin Pilot Sport tires are a summer tire not at all a cold weather tire, not sticky when cold), so the car didn’t get hard driving to help it warm up and burn any fuel out of the oil.

Again, great catch, and thank you for everything.

I appreciate your oil analysis, but your write up is even better.  I shared it with my wife and she loved it.  This is our 3rd trawler, hence the name Trilogy.  Your awareness and creativity is fabulous and spot on! A huge kudos to whoever does the writeup.  It made our evening! Who knew a mundane oil analysis could put a smile on 2 faces!

I was convinced my engine had spun a bearing because of the repetitive sound of something spinning, then it froze up.  But since your report showed very little metal in the oil, I decided to keep looking.  Turns out, the starter gear got stuck and was still engaged with the flywheel gear while the engine was running.  Replaced the starter, and no more problems!

Your report saved me a lot of time and money!  Thank you so much!

That was impressive!

Attached is a video of the alternate air door. It was found during maintenance, but for it to show up on an oil sample was not what I expected.

Great work!

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Hey!

Just wanted to share my findings. When I received this email I decided to pull the motor and tear it down. What I found was that in one of the cylinders the piston skirt was wearing pretty bad against the cylinder wall. That would explain why the high aluminum (piston skirt), high iron (sleeve wall) and chromium (ring material) was in the oil. The funny thing is that my car was running excellent. It couldn’t have been running better. (So I thought)

Just wanted to thank you for what you guys do because I was able to save my motor from catastrophic failure. The motor is now undergoing a full rebuild. With some upgraded parts.

Thanks again!

What a sigh of relief! This made my day! Thank you guys very much, I seriously appreciate the comfort in knowing my engine is wearing properly after all the care my Grandfather and I have put into it.

P.S. Slick talk is sweet! Checked it out and it’s right up my alley!

Just wanted to send you a follow up on this last oil report. As you showed the iron had taken a sudden jump from where it was tracking. We brought the truck in and went through the top end. After opening it up we found the very beginnings of the cam and lifter failing. I was grateful to get this taken care of before things started to really wear and potentially send damaging amounts of metal through the engine causing me to have to do a full overhaul. A $35 adder to each oil change for sampling just saved me a few thousand.