Blackstone Laboratories...

[hgray14]

First of all I should mention two cool things about Blackstone. When I logged onto their site to order a sample kit there was no place for me to request multiples so in the comments box I asked for five of them since I have multiple vehicles. I didn't hear anything back other than my "sample kit" had shipped and was pleasantly surprised to open the box and find all five in there. So one was at the company was paying attention. They sent me five kits even though I have never used them before...pretty cool. The second cool thing was that I overnighted them a sample and they ran the analysis and emailed me the report the same day they got the sample. THAT is the kind of services everyone should give.

So, on to the questions.

Isn't there someone on here who collects these reports? I thought I saw mention of someone in a previous thread, maybe the person who started this list, but can't seem to find it now. If so, how do I post it?

Second, If you are someone who has done these before maybe you can give me some insight.

Here is the situation. I bought a 1995 850 T-5R for parts but the girlfriend likes the yellow colour and wants to drive it. The guy who I bought it from said it probably wasn't any good since it had 210,000 miles on it and had sat without being started for a year or two (maybe one or two starts during that time...which could actually have been worse than not starting it at all but who know). I ran into a mechanic from the dealer who remembers working on the car and said that the water pump had come loose and had gouged out the...block??? and that they were surprised it even cooled the engine anymore but it did/does.

So, I ran it for about a half-hour to warm up the oil and then had it changed. I had a sample taken and sent it to Blackstone. It has always gotten synthetic oil but I have no idea how long ago it had been changed. While at the oil place they showed me a whole bunch of metal on the magnetic drain plug. The amount of metal was probably about the same size as half of a pencil eraser (a new one, you smart arses). I figured that wasn't a good sign but I just recently got a magnetic plug for my daily driver and have never seen what a normal oil change interval will bring. Well, I sent the sample anyways and according to Blackstone they think the engine is doig okay. It is high in copper...well, here are their comments:

"From what we can see in just one wear report we'd think this engine was doing okay when it was still running. The copper was high and it could be from any brass or bronze parts sharing the oil, but we think due to the engine maturity, it may also be from bearing inserts. We'd bet if you tore this engine down you'd find bronze staring up at you through the gray of the Babbitt. But that is the only irregularity in the data. There was no moisture, gas or anti-freeze in this oil. We'd guess this viscosity was 10W/30."

Any thoughts from the crowd? Of course another oil analysis after 2,000-3,000 miles will be helpful but I am wondering if the fact that it sat so long might skew the results or if the half hour they want you to run the oil is enough to find everything. To clarify, if I sent them oil after 100 miles would it read any different that after 1000 miles? Does it pick up the trace metals immediately or is the only way to compare to test well used oil. If my oil had been in there for 10,000 miles would it show more particles than usual?

Well, any help you can give me would be appreciated. I think I am going to order a new steering unit for this car since it is leaking pretty bad and hope that I can get some decent miles out of it for the girlfriend.

Where do the 100K+ mile badges come from? This car has the 100K and 200K and if the girlfriend drives it I will need a 300K before she finishes law school.

thanks

Houston