I just got my oil analyzed for the first time in my max. The car has 54k miles and I changed it at 5k and used the bigger nissan filter. I stored the oil in a no-name water bottle until the kit arrived. It came back with high sodium which they trace to antifreeze. I was thinking this was likely from the bottle it was stored in, I'm hoping. Has anyone had similar results? This was in the comments RYAN: Storing the oil while you waited for the sample kit won't hurt anything, unless the container you
used could have been contaminated with antifreeze. We found sodium in this sample, which is one of
the main markers of antifreeze. Mobil uses sodium as an additive in some of their petroleum oils, but
not in Mobil 1 products that we know of. If you think there's an explanation for the sodium and lead
(bearing wear) other than antifreeze, then run 5000 miles on the next oil & resample. Otherwise try
pressure-checking the cooling system. TBN=1.8, low.

Sodium was 173 parts per million avg was 7ppm. Lead was a little high with 10 ppm avg of 5ppm. Tell me what you guys think. I plan on reanalyzing next oil change.

 

Good Idea. You should probably change at 5 K miles too, as the lab suggests.

 

post your results in the UOA forum over at bobistheoilguy.com you will have knowlegeable people chime in. there's also terry dyson who you can pay to help you out. in my opinion 10ppm lead is not way out of whack, but you will want to understand where the sodium is coming from. was copper high too?

 

Copper was 3 ppm with universal avg being 6ppm so that is good. Would the lead be an indication of bearing wear? I just got my response from blackstone and they said that Mobil clean 5k and 7.5k synthetics have sodium as an additive. I forgot that I used that in the oil that I sent them, I changed it like 6 months ago and remember now that the local discount auto didn't have regular Mobil 1. What about the TBN? Mine was low but what does that mean? Would I be able to safely go longer on this oil?

 

Routine 30K mile oil analysis is a must and will help dispel any issues with oil. I would strongly recommend doing it every year or 15K miles.