My oil looks like Testor's Metalic paint

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

bloc said:
*Ferrous metal. A magnet won't attract/trap lead or copper.

UOA will show all of it, including extremely early signs of head gasket failure, fuel dilution, water (condensate) in the oil, whether the oil is still thick enough to protect....
Click to expand...

Lead or copper won't destroy cranks, steel (what the base of the bearings are made of) will. To be honest, I can't think of a bearing (outside of poured babbitt bearings) that use lead anymore. Regular bearings are made by forming steel into shape, then coating it first with copper then (and this varies a lot) with a coating metal (such as dry film lubricant like zinc). The copper is there so the coating will adhere (copper adheres to steel, etc)....
 
Last edited:
Do the Blackstone Labs test. That does not look good.
 
SuperBuickGuy said:
Lead or copper won't destroy cranks, steel (what the base of the bearings are made of) will. To be honest, I can't think of a bearing (outside of poured babbitt bearings) that use lead anymore. Regular bearings are made by forming steel into shape, then coating it first with copper then (and this varies a lot) with a coating metal (such as dry film lubricant like zinc). The copper is there so the coating will adhere (copper adheres to steel, etc)....
Click to expand...

I wasn't aware of the movement away from lead, so thanks for that info. Either way, a magnet won't collect the softer metals coming off of crank/rod bearings which are an early sign of issues. Hopefully you catch the problem before you get to steel in the bearings.. which is exactly where a UOA is useful.
 
I'm not suggesting no test - I said "mitigation" meaning, to keep more badness from happening. Soft metals won't do permanent damage, so beside making pretty oil, it's really a non-issue. Keeping the steel out of the oil will lower the risk of more damage.

I also suggest a speaker on the pan because there's a magnet-wrap for oil fliters - which, to me, is snake oil.
 
I guess I should have specified ENGINE parts...I am always buying parts. Rear hatch glass and gasket, rear door locks, and few other things are 'in the mail' right now.
I changed the oil to Castrol high mileage and a new NAPA Gold so will keep an eye on it.
 
Blown head gasket. Check if you are low on coolant.
 
So what was the verdict?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom