SkyActiv Oil Analysis Thread

Went back and looked at my reports' potassium levels out of curiosity. 2 times ago it showed 2, and this last time 0! Phew! Currently at 120,000 miles on our CX-5, probably will be needing an oil change again soon.
I believe the coolant leak issue usually would be happening on the 2.5T after several years of service life, not on our 2.5L.
 
Ignorance is Bliss!

Whole life spent out in the country doing oil changes, no gloves and no oil testing.

2nd gen Ford mustang 302-used- slapped whatever cheapest oil and filter could find at Kmart or the local auto shop. Put several more years on an already used engine and high mileage.. no engine problems when sold it.

Toyota Corolla - 11 years running. Slapped whatever oil recommended by Toyota or Pennzoil with Napa and Fram filters. Only replaced valve cover gasket. Engine was clean as a whistle. No other engine problems when sold it at 200k + miles.

Mercury mariner- 15 years running. Ford motocraft oil or Valvoline oil with napa filters. Over 200k + miles. Frame rusted beyond repair while engine still good/running.

Also owned used chevy and vw for short times.
No engine problems.

The main thing the above vehicles all had in common was regular interval oil changes.

Now I gotta worry about my Mazda engine blowing up, using the right oil, getting oil test report, getting engine fixed under warranty and after reading all your UOA reports, definitely gotta be and gonna be wearing gloves during oil changes.

Used to wonder why the jiffy lube guys had gloves. After seeing all the metals and chemicals in those reports, we should be wearing nuclear hazmat suits.

Lessons learned:

1. Wear Gloves
2. Test Oil - which also provides record of your oil change for warranty proof.
3. Use a different oil testing place once in awhile to validate the metals percentages and possible engine problems. Hopefully to help with warranty claim and prevent warranty denials.
4. Wear gloves.
5. Use Mazda or Castrol oil per recommendations.
6. Worry about Mazda engine problems.
7. Wear gloves or have someone else change it.

I just gotta ask, are there really that many people having skyactiv engine problems?
 
Ignorance is Bliss!

Whole life spent out in the country doing oil changes, no gloves and no oil testing.

2nd gen Ford mustang 302-used- slapped whatever cheapest oil and filter could find at Kmart or the local auto shop. Put several more years on an already used engine and high mileage.. no engine problems when sold it.

Toyota Corolla - 11 years running. Slapped whatever oil recommended by Toyota or Pennzoil with Napa and Fram filters. Only replaced valve cover gasket. Engine was clean as a whistle. No other engine problems when sold it at 200k + miles.

Mercury mariner- 15 years running. Ford motocraft oil or Valvoline oil with napa filters. Over 200k + miles. Frame rusted beyond repair while engine still good/running.

Also owned used chevy and vw for short times.
No engine problems.

The main thing the above vehicles all had in common was regular interval oil changes.

Now I gotta worry about my Mazda engine blowing up, using the right oil, getting oil test report, getting engine fixed under warranty and after reading all your UOA reports, definitely gotta be and gonna be wearing gloves during oil changes.

Used to wonder why the jiffy lube guys had gloves. After seeing all the metals and chemicals in those reports, we should be wearing nuclear hazmat suits.

Lessons learned:

1. Wear Gloves
2. Test Oil - which also provides record of your oil change for warranty proof.
3. Use a different oil testing place once in awhile to validate the metals percentages and possible engine problems. Hopefully to help with warranty claim and prevent warranty denials.
4. Wear gloves.
5. Use Mazda or Castrol oil per recommendations.
6. Worry about Mazda engine problems.
7. Wear gloves or have someone else change it.

I just gotta ask, are there really that many people having skyactiv engine problems?

Ignorance is bliss indeed. If online forums were around back then, you might have learned these "lessons" much, much sooner. I think that in the pursuit of improving fuel economy and reducing emissions, engines are smaller to reduce weight, and tolerances are much tighter than they used to be, which means there is much lower margin of error.

All of the things listed in your previous post aren't "required". UoAs can help to determine an oil change interval, or help to diagnose a suspected problem, but they aren't really necessary otherwise. The first UoA I did was just to satisfy my own curiosity. You can use any oil that meets Mazda's minimum requirements for that particular engine/region.

Keep in mind that you're on an online forum. Many people join forums when they have issues to report, when they need help with something, or when they just want to complain. You'll never hear from those who are happy with their engines because there's nothing to report. Our community also only represents a small portion of owners.
 
Ignorance is bliss indeed. If online forums were around back then, you might have learned these "lessons" much, much sooner. I think that in the pursuit of improving fuel economy and reducing emissions, engines are smaller to reduce weight, and tolerances are much tighter than they used to be, which means there is much lower margin of error.

All of the things listed in your previous post aren't "required". UoAs can help to determine an oil change interval, or help to diagnose a suspected problem, but they aren't really necessary otherwise. The first UoA I did was just to satisfy my own curiosity. You can use any oil that meets Mazda's minimum requirements for that particular engine/region.

Keep in mind that you're on an online forum. Many people join forums when they have issues to report, when they need help with something, or when they just want to complain. You'll never hear from those who are happy with their engines because there's nothing to report. Our community also only represents a small portion of owners.
Thanks sm1ke. Am learning a lot. Although was being partly sarcastic, was also serious. The UoA seems like a great idea, even if done occasionally.

All the same, after seeing more mechanics wearing gloves nowadays, and as long as the engine is in warranty period, still gonna

1. Start using gloves
2. Oil test at least once per year til out of warranty.
And test every oil change during last year of warranty.
3. Change oil at recommended 7500 miles. For me that's about 2-3 times per year.
4. Use recommended Castrol 0w-20 oil. The Mazda oil is just too expensive.
5. Once out of warranty, will probably switch to Valvoline high mileage at 10 k intervals.
 
Old engine people just used to dump more oil in ad it got burned. Remember the days when driving around with extra oil in the trunk and checking the oil level at gas station was normal ?

I am sure you would be surprised by the horrendous results an oil analysis would provide on all the engine you mentioned above. Yet they still ran.

The mazda engine is the same, stick to the right grade of oil and change the oil regularly and it will be fine. People on the forum are worried about the potential coolant leak issue, which can potentially be identified through an oil analysis, but the type of oil and frequency of oil changes has nothing to do with it. Don’t worry about it.

The oil analysis is just an “additional” way to get a status of how well the engine is. It is fun to do and geek about, and can show early signs of problems, but that’s it.
 
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You don't really HAVE to wear gloves if you don't want to. Those guys who do many tens of oil changes a day, yeah it's probably a good idea. But for those of us who do it once or twice a year, it's not really a big deal. I wear gloves to protect my hands when working on a hot engine, but that's really the only reason. Chemicals don't magically pass through your skin immediately. Wash hands thoroughly after doing the job and you'll be fine.

I've started doing UoA's mainly just to monitor engine wear, especially with my Integra having over 375,000 miles, plus my Miata engine being non-original and unknown service history before 2 years ago. And of course the CX5, just to ensure that 8,000 mile OCI's are still working well for the car.
 
You don't really HAVE to wear gloves if you don't want to. Those guys who do many tens of oil changes a day, yeah it's probably a good idea. But for those of us who do it once or twice a year, it's not really a big deal. I wear gloves to protect my hands when working on a hot engine, but that's really the only reason. Chemicals don't magically pass through your skin immediately. Wash hands thoroughly after doing the job and you'll be fine.

I have to agree with this. Doing an oil change once or twice a year and not using gloves isn't going to hurt you. Believe it or not it is possible to do an oil change without getting the mess all over your hands.

There are products, such as this below that can be used to coat your hands with before doing the work.


I've found that just using some hand cream before starting work can help. It helps seal your skin a bit and prevent stuff from soaking into your skin.

YMMV
 
I have to agree with this. Doing an oil change once or twice a year and not using gloves isn't going to hurt you. Believe it or not it is possible to do an oil change without getting the mess all over your hands.

There are products, such as this below that can be used to coat your hands with before doing the work.


I've found that just using some hand cream before starting work can help. It helps seal your skin a bit and prevent stuff from soaking into your skin.

YMMV
A few months ago, I might have agreed with you.

I grew up when you worked on cars with your bare hands and used good ole dino oil. However it was natural & thick, etc. & your skin is a protective layer against most contaminants.

However we have not changed. Although college educated, it appears I have used new synthetics without proper hand protection.

The more research I do, the synthetic oils are designed to catch microscopic particles. Not only that, they are designed with all kind of micro and nano particles additives put into the oil.

There even a picture of a scientitist with a tiny microspe slide of motor oil that has nano infused chemicals in it..he has gloves on while holding the slide by the very tip almost as if he's afraid it will get through his gloves.

You can bet for sure if diseases like hepatitis, hiv and ebola can penetrate the skin barrier via blood. That nano and micro particles from used synthetic oil damn sure can. Even new synthetic oil with all it's nano additives has to get through your skin.

Sure potassium and salt and iron are in our bodies already but

Chromium, boron, lead.. those are nano/micro particles we can do without.

All these nano and micro particles yet no warnings on the synthetic oil labels.

It just amazes me how I never gave this a second though before.

To each their own, but for me it will be gloves from now on.
 
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Been wearing gloves for years. A mechanic friend told me to start wearing them when working with any lubricant. Gloves are cheap.
 
I just received the UOA from BLACKSTONE Labs for my 2021 GTR. I don't know how to post the results but, there was a form where you could put in values. Cut and Paste would be wonderful. Ed
 
I just received the UOA from BLACKSTONE Labs for my 2021 GTR. I don't know how to post the results but, there was a form where you could put in values. Cut and Paste would be wonderful. Ed

You should be able to click/tap on the "Attach files" button just below the reply box (where you'd type up a post). From there, you'd just navigate to wherever the UOA is located on your phone/computer, select the file, and hit OK. I think Blackstone's reports are sent to their customers in PDF format, and the forum does support PDF, so that should work.
 
I just received the UOA from BLACKSTONE Labs for my 2021 GTR. I don't know how to post the results but, there was a form where you could put in values. Cut and Paste would be wonderful. Ed
How long did it take to get your report? Sent my sample in after Thanksgiving and still waiting.
 
I believe it took about 18 days and I took the BLACKSTONE container to the post office and handed it to them. I do that way just to make sure it doesn't get hung up, if someone doesn't know how to handle it.
 

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I'll be sending in my sample shortly, planning on changing my oil next week. We have the same car and very similar mileage. This will be my second oil change, first done at 1500 miles. Will be interesting to compare.
 
I believe it took about 18 days and I took the BLACKSTONE container to the post office and handed it to them. I do that way just to make sure it doesn't get hung up, if someone doesn't know how to handle it.
Did you change the oil yourself? What oil was used?
 
The only issue I see with this particular UOA is the drop in viscosity as the oil is now a 20 grade. However, it doesn't appear to have impacted wear all that much.
 
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