Results from my second engine oil analysis:

[Imperator]

I'm at just under 20K mi. on my '05 CTS-V and performed my 5th oil change last week. Each interval took 7 qts. of Mobil 1 5W-30 and a PF46 filter. My car is a daily driver and sees a mix of city/highway driving with some spirited runs every now and then. Fortunately, I have not observed any excessive-consumption issues with this engine and follow the oil life monitor to predict drain intervals.

I posted my first analysis back in October of last year, and I'm pleased to see the accuracy of the OLM has been verified, not to mention the effectiveness of the oil and air filters, especially since I drive through some pretty dusty environments.

To me, this was $20 well-spent for peace-of-mind. Since this last change, I've switched to the M1 Extended Performance oil just to see if the moly and viscosity levels hold up better over time. Hopefully the copper and lead wear metals reduce even further, then I'll turn the wick up with a bigger cam and a set of heads.

[urbanski]

so it came out good?

[rand49er]

Very interesting ...

Still no gold, though.

[Imperator]

Yep, looks pretty darn good... it surprised me since I've been driving the car hard recently. Lead went from 26ppm to 11 and copper 183ppm to 119. Higher composition of these two "wear metals" can indicate premature bearing failure and should level off once complete engine break-through is complete. It's interesting to see that it's still shedding some of these metals even up to 20,000 miles, which tells us the LS6 has a longer break-in period than many think.

rand49er: Sorry, no gold yet... but you've reminded me of this gem! http://wheredagold.ytmnd.com/

[Dennisscars]

First time I read this I thought it was increasing.. My bad.. who puts data right to left?

Do you have a K&N filter, if so when was the last time you serviced it? Serviceable filters only work when serviced "properly." And please don't tell me you use compressed air to clean any kind of air filter.

[heavymetals]

Pretty high on the calcium.

Got milk?

[urbanski]

hard oil?
oil softener?

[Imperator]

Originally Posted by Dennisscars

First time I read this I thought it was increasing.. My bad.. who puts data right to left?

Do you have a K&N filter, if so when was the last time you serviced it? Serviceable filters only work when serviced "properly." And please don't tell me you use compressed air to clean any kind of air filter.

Yep, I have a K&N drop-in, and I usually clean it every 4-5,000 miles with a gentle wash and light re-oil (to save the MAF). I switched back to the OEM paper filter halfway through this second interval, which might be why the silicon numbers dropped. Despite K&N's claims of airflow when dirty, most experienced users agree that they don't filter nearly as well as pleated paper.

[TrazzNJ]

Will you add some Barium for future testing?? I see there was none in this test. Did the V have to fast for 24 hours prior to being tested??