Millers Oil Analysis - Please add your 911 Oil details

When I had my car serviced I sent a sample of the oil off to Millers for analysis. I've received the report back so thought I'd post it on here as it's always good information for reference/comparison, etc. Nothing alarming engine wise as any metallic particle count is low. Boron & fuel dilution was quite high, most likely due to using the car daily on short trips. Viscosity also out of spec and a bit thin. Think I'll start doing my own mid service oil change now for what it costs. [/b]

Re: Millers Oil Analysis Multiple stop/starts from cold or as you say, very short journeys will be the cause most probably. But it may be worth checking for leaking fuel injector, as these can deteriorate with age and tarnish build up, Alex. Best check I know of is to start the car from cold and go to the rear and use your nose! Bad injectors sometimes mean you can literally smell raw fuel from behind the car on start up. They do have to be leaking heavily for this though.

It's a good service isn't it, always good to see those wear metals registering so low! Think I'd try a different oil as well as increase the frequency of change given its gone out of spec on viscosity, has to be due to the oil rather than your car's engine? Had the analysis done recently on the Millers CFS NT 5w-40 that came out of my 91k mile 986, similar readings to yours, except the B was lower and the Mo was much higher (additive) and the 100 degree viscosity had dropped to 11.7 from the 13.4 it started at.

Re: Millers Oil Analysis Since having Coronavirus I've no sense of smell anymore and the GF was born without it too.

Interesting Alex :thumbs: I'm about to have an oil change done. :question: How do you arrange for Millers to do this ? Whats the charge , how much oil do you give them ? How long does it take for results to come back ? 2009 GT3 is just shy of 26k miles. Random smoke from the Mezger is normal apparently , but always interested to know what brand / grade to use next

I have been using this service from Millers for a few years now ad even during this Corona conundrum they have always been super efficient, with results coming through in just 3 or 4 days time. You can order testing kits in a couple of versions, I usually buy a two test package that does for 2 individual analysis and even includes postage. You can order online at [email removed] The sample size is probably about 150ml or so, they supply a plastic screw top bottle for each kit, plus a pre paid plastic envelope and materials declaration form for each test. Select either the Premium kit which is one sample kit or the Advanced kit which is two sample kits £24.95 or £ 33.29 from the drop down menu on their site. https://www.millersoils.co.uk/oil-analysis/

What is the difference between the standard and premium kits? Why two sample bottles?

Im curious here .. obviously i have no idea what the charts mean , not something i've seen before other than here .. At what point does Boron / molybdenum become an issue ? They both appear to be coolant related and to have this in an oil sample would to me indicate the possibility of a cracked head / head gasket . Im guessing this is a small amount and as such not an issue but to have any of this in the oil would perhaps indicate there is the beginnings of a problem ? Basically im asking at what point is there an actual issue .. when they say there is or just by the readings and you work it out ?

I was led to believe they are both fuel additives and contaminate the oil over time, usually when the car isn't up at full operating temperature. As my car is my daily for work and only 10 minutes away, it spends most its time in this condition, hence why my levels are high. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

Molybdenum is a common additive to oil as it has lubricant properties I believe, same for boron? Good point from Demort. What level of copper and lead are you going to pull the engine and send for a rebuild? Both these are only going to be found in bearing shells are they not? While 23 parts per million is a tiny bit more than say 6 parts in a million. It's still almost 4 X as much..... How much is too much? I presume that we only have Miller's advice on that one. I had this done 3000 Miles before finding copper in the oil filter of my 3.4.......Oil analysis had came back with a copper count less than 23. Sent to Hartech for rebuild, who reckoned the bottom end was a very short way from being toast. Thin oil won't help.

What mileage was this at?

the report does say that the wear metals are at a satisfactory level?

I've received my kit, just waiting to get around to change the oil

89,000 miles.

Mine was done recently (3.6 /90k)

Wonder what it'll look like after 9k miles? :dont know:

What five years time!? I am sure I will change it again before then.

My point was you can't compare levels with oil that's only done 2.5k miles vs. oil that's done 9k miles.

Surely you can't compare anyway unless your type of engine and age and usage are all the same. For example. 9k worth of motorway miles on journeys of a couple of hundred miles a time, will be way better, and get less wear on any normal internal combustion engine, than 2,500 miles of multiple cold starts and trips of 5 miles a time.

That's another one with Boron listed .. if short starts then i guess that's the issue .. i was more concerned when it lists antifreeze as being a cause. If its an oil additive which is common then i would have thought it wouldn't show on the tests as its common to engine oil ? My assumption on these tests .. the company says when it's at excessive levels of a certain substance :?: I'm in no way mocking this .. just trying to understand something that is new to me ... i've been asked about this test before by customers .. hard to say i have no F.... idea !

Don't know. What if oil degrades more up at top temperature rather than when cold? :dont know: If you stick a an oil oil on your hob and have it bubbling away at 95c for 2 hours everyday vs. a pan of oil sat on a hob that doesn't get heated at all and stays at 20c everyday, which oil will be in better condition after 12 months? :?: Heat probably does more damage to oil than anything else. Not saying I'm right, just adding another theory to it.

I have this done at every oil change, every six months. Boron is present in anti freeze but can be found in oil as an anti friction compound. I was told not to be concerned. As a stand alone, done once, thing it's utterly meaningless really. You need to have a few done to start to see patterns. I have an early 3.4. My concern, logically, is that the fail on this engine will be crank bearing related so it looking for an increase in copper and lead primarily so I can arrange my engine rebuild!! Could it fail without me catching it in time? Course it can! But it does help and it's not an expensive service

So what are we saying, oil analysis is utterly pointless and worthless because there are so many variables that could affect the results?? I think if an oil has been in an engine 12 months, whether it is 2.5k miles or 9k miles, it has been round the engine a fair few times to be representative. I think if there is copper present, then I would like to know where it is coming from. Not to worry you, and Hartech will be able to confirm it, but I understand copper is used as an intermediate layer in a tri-part crankshaft bearing shell. As the ppm is not large at the moment, it could be indicating a developing problem and 145K is a good innings!!

The indy noticed my water pump was knackered not sure if it may have been letting a bit of coolant past a seal? Seeing as it was still well in spec might leave it longer next time.

For what it's worth, my take on it is simply this. Every year I sample and have tested the oil as part of an ongoing process. It simply gives me a snapshot of the outgoing oils life and when compared to all previously tested samples might give an indication of anything unusual or unexpected brewing up. One sample on it's own is just a starting point and not massively useful until a regular series of tests have been done and then perhaps a trend can be detected. It's entirely possible to test today and everything looks fine and tomorrow a bearing lets loose. So it isn't a fail-safe by any means but a useful trend indicator, providing all other variables have remained constant. As long as you bear that in mind and don't regard it as a magic bullet, I find it comforting to feel that I have some insights to the present condition of my engine's internal condition at that precise moment.

My reasoning was to see the level of copper and other metals so not totally pointless as they could've been at a high 3 or 4 figure ppm level. I will be doing this every year now though to build data and look for any patterns.

I think you're in the same boat Alex? Early 3.4 so it's likely to be crank failure rather than other things. Just keep monitoring it. I know someone who was doing this method and caught the start of wear in time and got a rebuild. It will depend on mileage between changes I guess. And a touch of luck ! But that's the fun of these cars!!

I was thinking it would be a useful selling aspect, as a buyer I wouldn't bother asking for a borescope if no sign of metals in the oil (mine is gen 2 3.6 so at risk)

I change the oil every 6000m (~9 months) and send a sample off, some short journeys but usually a one way 60m commute. Here is my last one @ 110,000m:

Oil needs to get up to temperature so that condensates boil-off it and don't dilute it. The condensate comes naturally from the air in the engine (sump, crank case, head voids) when it's temp drops below dew point - this is then mixed in to the oil when the engine is started first thing in the morning. It's this plus other dilutants (fuel, wear, coolant, combustion blowby, ash, sludge, dirt, etc) that reduces oil life. Then on top of that it's shear/pressure that breaks the oil down - this happens most when the oil is thickest/under load. Additionally oil doesn't boil until the hundreds of degrees, and good quality synthetics such as Mobil and Millers are rated to 150+degC continuous operation i.e. their lubricating properties don't decay until past this temperature. So in this example the oil that sits at 95degC would perform better for longer than oil that only ever gets to 20degC

Might want to use black ink to redact your personal details - I can make out nearly all of what you have covered over... :?:

Here is mine from last year when I changed the oil for first time in my ownership. Just over 2 years and a little over 3k miles since it was last changed. PO used Petrona Syntium which Millers thought could be a 30W oil, I've since changed to Shell Helix Ultra 5W40.

Personally I find this stuff more useful to keep an eye on trends of wear metals than anything else. If you suddenly get a higher reading than normal on a certain metal compared to previous years, age adjusted for interim mileage then you know that's unusual. One reading in isolation doesn't tell you much (unless you're got like >50ppm of something). I wouldn't read too much into additive levels, it just tells you that different oil brands use different additive packages.

Got my results today, not too worried as metal content looks fine but Molybdenum looks very high? I guess if it was anything to worry about they'd have written it in the report. Is this usually down to additives in the oil? Car is on 64k with 3k done since oil change last year by previous owner. I intend on using the same 5w-40 Millers CFS listed on the report, unless anyone suggests otherwise.

Moly is just a fiction modifier additive

here's mine, 146k miles, nothing special to report

Sorry for the potentially silly question but where do you get the test kits from? I've been on miller's website and can't see them anywhere. Even tried flea bay. No joy. Do I give them a ring to order one?

Bottom right of this web page where is says "Which kit do you want?" https://www.millersoils.co.uk/oil-analysis/

Ah cheers Alex.

Got my report back this morning and all is good.

Nice one. Might want to post a copy so other members have figures to compare.

[Image-only or quote-only post; no author-written text.] https://911uk.com/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fi.postimg.cc%2F52Wcc0Pq%2FScreenshot-20201001-091106.png&hash=e0a6f05487b8de633739ebe932227c1c

Sorry it put it up 3 times. It was stalling and didn't think it had posted the chart.

Thats clean. What oil do you use?

:thumb:

I think its mobil 5w40 however it was in the car when I bought it. Ive done about 4500k since burying the car as I use it daily. Its only a short hop from home to work so expected high fuel contamination but seems pretty clean. Mot last week and clean on emission so im well pleased. Ive put castrol magnatec 5w40 in it as ive always had faith in castrol oils and read its a safe bet on these engines. Oil always seems to be a hotly contested subject.

Thank you.

For reference, my oil analysis from May 2021 service. Apart from too much fuel in the oil all's well. :thumbs: NO WEAR METALS They've not put mileage on but it's 150k miles:

Hi Alex, is fuel dilation caused by short journeys?

That`s a decent result relative to the mileage, what`s causing the fuel dilution worn rings ?

You tend to get fuel going past the rings at first startup and when the engine is cold, as it isn't all being burned. Once the engine is up to temperature the oil will be up to 100 degrees and the fuel in the oil will evaporate. A lot of short journeys where the oil isn't up to temperature mean that fuel is going in to the oil for longer relative to the journey times and isn't getting the chance to evaporate off. MC

:yeah:

I had my analsis last month, fuel dilution critical at 5%! Hang on, will post it up.

Here - chek it out brothers. Edited - car's just ticked over 60k miles.

My mechanic was telling me you can tell cars that have a lot of fuel dilution as when you open them up everything is crystal clean and looks new. What's not to like? :grin:

You've got to be happy with that report at that mileage Alex :thumb:

One can't complain. Mileage+ nearly 22yrs old. The best age

Another to add...... It seems the previous owner was using 10/30w. I have now replaced with Millers 10/50 nanodrive Porsche 996 3.4 1998

Hey Folks, Is everyone still getting their kits from Millers? I notice they have hiked their prices now by £10 for the basic kit which is up to £34.99 vs the previous £24.99. They also now list them as - Passenger Car - £34.99 Motorcycle - £34.99 Classic Car - £39.95 Motorsport - £44.99 They all have the same description so I'm not sure what you are getting extra if you pay for the classic car or motorsport kits! sounds a bit like robbery to me.... Doing a quick google it seems there are other companies offering oil analysis services...

For the sake of keeping things together I thought I'd repost my results here. The thread I started about them, which Alex kindly responded to, can be found here: http://911uk.com/viewtopic.php?p=1615866#1615866 Fuel dilution has been highlighted as an issue for me. Leaking injectors when the car isn't being used rather than fuelling suggested as a possibility. I've mentioned that to the specialist that looks after the car as they were interested in the analysis results. To answer the question above, I bought mine from Opie Oils alongside the oil for my annual service. I can't remember how much it cost though :?:

My latest result - very similar to Alex's above, we also use the same oil so to be expected I guess!

157k miles 100k miles since Hartech rebuild Run on 10W50 Millers since rebuild

Interesting Sodium content, not had any coolant loss since fitting a low temperature thermostat but it did have a tin if Wyns oil additive which may account for it. Changed the mileage as they misread my 9 for a 4

I just did my first one - it was serviced in Dec 2018 by Porsche independent for previous owner using Mobil 1. 5400 miles later I changed oil last week and these are the results. I have switched to Millers and used a magnetic sump plug. I will do this every 5K. For reference it's a 2006 4S manual.

Seems okay apart from the fuel, will start the investigation when she is off the road during winter.

Oil sample from my 2003 C2 Tiptronic 110,000 miles on original IMS, RMS and hasn't had any work on engine. Oil had been changed every year before I bought it and I'm changing with Millers CFS 5W40 every 6 months.

From my 1998 C2 MC

From my 99 C4 - fuel dilution seems a little high but then it has been doing short runs.

Here is my last report attached.

I'm quite pleased with this. My 997.1 had a full Hartech rebuild and it's since done about 45K miles. I've not had any issues with the engine but I wanted to check. A caution for fuel at 3% but last year I used the car for a lot of short journeys and very few long runs, this year is very different!

My recent oil sample results. The usual fuel dilution but nothing else of note. Wear metals satisfactory.

Can a sample be taking without draining the oil from the sump? I'd quite like to do this between services. I can see from some reports it says that either the oil needs to be changed, or is ok for further use so assume this is possible.

How would you obtain the oil sample without draining? I think you could drain the sump into one of these oil pans below and obtain the sample mid way. When drained you pour the oil back into engine. I asked Millers how to obtain the oil and they advised mid drain and from a warmed up engine. I use one of these now, makes it so much easier. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00S18BI9A?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title Good luck

How would you obtain the oil sample without draining? I think you could drain the sump into one of these oil pans below and obtain the sample mid way. When drained you pour the oil back into engine. I asked Millers how to obtain the oil and they advised mid drain and from a warmed up engine. I use one of these now, makes it so much easier. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00S18BI9A?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title Good luck

How would you obtain the oil sample without draining? I think you could drain the sump into one of these oil pans below and obtain the sample mid way. When drained you pour the oil back into engine. I asked Millers how to obtain the oil and they advised mid drain and from a warmed up engine. I use one of these now, makes it so much easier. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00S18BI9A?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title Good luck

Good point Mac68 I'm not sure how you would do it either. I was thinking along the lines of syringe from the fill lid, but I don't know how practical this is really. Wouldn't make sense to drain some and reuse, would just change the oil anyway. Cheers

I was really hoping you had found a way of getting some out without draining. I looked into a way extracting some oil using a mechanics syringe and the advice was it's not worth the risk of leaving of leaving something behind in the engine. I wonder how much oil you would lose if you just changed the oil filter? If you didn't lose too much oil it might yield enough to send off to millers and you could cut open the filter to inspect it for swarf. hmmmmm i might this the next time before I drop the oil and see how much comes out. Good luck.

I had my yearly service at the end of May. As usual sent the oil off for analysis. In the meantime I've cut my filter open and seen metal particles in it. I'll probably do a separate thread on that as there's a bit of detail on what's gone on. Anyway, I was concerned about my filter findings so contacted Millers once I got the analysis back to question them about bearing wear & metal particles, etc. I'll not print the full email but quote some of Mike's comments: First of all, you are doing exactly the right thing, getting the oil tested regularly so that you have a baseline. Deciding on an action based upon a single result is very difficult; in your case the analysis shows some bearing wear but within limits, now you have that baseline, should the wear increase, you will have the evidence to know that the wear has changed for the worse. When a bearing wears, it doesn't chip away, it rubs away. The particle size of wear metal is very small compared to the bits you can see with the eye, think of the black staining you get when using metal polish rather that any glittery bits from using a file. Wear particles would not get picked up by the filter, they are small enough to be considered as dissolved in the oil. What we are checking for with your oil is a relatively sudden increase in copper to a level above 60 ppm, that would be a sign of increased wear in the bearings which should be addressed. Add to that, when Poppopbangbang religiously checked his oil, he had a copper ppm level that all of a sudden jumped up to 450ppm from his usual level, identifying something was wrong and time to open it up. Hope this infomation gives people a better understanding of what to look for with their oil analysis.

That's really helpful, because I have to say, following the other thread, the thought had occurred to me that the oil analysis is only going to pick up what the filter allows through. Would it pick up bore score particles for example? Or wear from the cam chains/gears?

Just had mine back, very happy with results, oil has only done just over 1300 miles and was serviced just before I got her 2 months ago, but wanted to change anyway as wanted to move over to Millers 10/50 Nano

[Image-only or quote-only post; no author-written text.]

This is my first oil analysis since buying the car last year, thankfully there isn't anything too scary in the results.

This is my first oil analysis since buying the car last year and covering 1,300 miles, thankfully there isn't anything too scary in the results.

Just use a vacuum tool through the dipstick tube, I have the one shown below on Amazon. There are various types and sizes available all designed for vacuuming fluids. https://www.amazon.co.uk/FreeTec-Ma...l+Extractor&qid=1662480631&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1

Just had mine done 187k miles / 1k (12 months) since last oil change on Mobil 0w40

:thumbs:

Wow isn't that a bit on the low side (viscosity) for a high mileage engine? Running a 5w40 on my 67k C2 3.4 but I think Hartech might recommend something higher even for rebuilt engines? Anyway here is the results from my latest change, 1100 miles and about 1.5 years since the last one. Shell Helix Ultra 5W-40 again this time.

I sent mine off on Friday so should get a result over the next day or so.

Got my results back this afternoon from the oil analysis. I notice now they make a comment about bore-score and no signs from the results. Results are all within limits and virtually identical as they've been for the last 4 years. Only concern, which is the same every year is the fuel dilution and oil viscosity because of it. I had a discussion with Mike last year about it and he recommend I go to a thicker oil to compensate for it, to quote: The M96 engine should run on an SAE 40 grade oil, your testing show the viscosity to be consistently slightly low due to fuel dilution. To give your engine the best chance of a long and healthy life, you could go up a grade in oil viscosity, to an SAE 50, and I would recommend the you change every 5,000 or 6,000 miles. So when I have my yearly service next Tuesday I'm moving to Millers 10W50. Will be interesting to see next year what the results come back like. Here are my results, I've posted all 4 from 2020 to 2023 for comparison: 2020 2021 2022 2023

Alex what causes the fuel dilution of the oil? I had this finding on my first Millers analysis and was told it was most likely due to the multiple short journeys in my first year of ownership. Thanks

The fuel first gets in there by having a leaky injector, but this is quite common. If you do long journeys, then the oil gets up to full temp and over time at that temp evaporates the fuel out and it burns off through the breather system from the crankcase into the inlet manifold. If you only do short trips, the oil isn't hot enough for long enough for this to happen and you end up with an increase in fuel dilution in the oil. This is what I'm led to believe so someone correct me if I'm wrong.

Thanks Alex, that makes sense to me.

My latest result had less fuel dilution, I'd given the car a good long drive before changing the oil and it was still warm. Not sure if that helps, maybe if you've been driving short journeys and then change the oil when it is cold it might skew the test results?

I thought that as well.

Received my oil analysis back from my newly acquired 997 C2S. Thought I'd have a search on the forum for comparisons when I came across this thread. It's only done 2500 miles on this oil as I wanted to change it to CFS NT. All the results seem good. This was on Mobil 1 5w40.

132k & 7,800m since last oil change. Mobil 3000 X1 5w40

Just adding mine for comparison from the last 2yrs. As a backstory, it was fully rebuilt by a local independent after IMS failure which then leaked oil badly it was taken back in as a warranty rebuild, borescore was then discovered. Rebuilt again using Hartech sleeves but I found a tonne of machine swarf left in on the first oil change (2k). I swapped to 3k oil changes and a K&N spin on filter to catch any further particles that might still be in there. The analysis aim was to highlight anything left floating around and to start a health trend on everything else

164,000 miles stone passed

Screenshot_20250114_095707_Microsoft 365 (Office) by Scott Osborne , on Flickr I've been waiting for this since changing the oil over Christmas, happy days!

This is my first analysis at just under 117K so is only a baseline with nothing to compare to yet. I had a clear borescope by Autofarm last July and done 6K since (5K on the oil tested) so it is relatively reassuring that my driving habits don't appear to be hurting the car! I ran a can of BG44K Platinum through a full tank before my oil change and have to say it seemed to have an effect. After 50 or so miles it was noticeably smoother and seemed to feel a little livelier through the full rev range. I also noticed the oil I took out after the fuel treatment was blacker than I expected it to be. Replaced the Mobil Super 3000 X1 5w40 tested below with Millers Nano CFS NT+ 5w 40

100k miles, Mobil 1 0W40. 2005 C2S

Is there a minimum mileage the oil needs to have served in order to yield meaningful results?

I would say not so long as it's not just something like 300 miles and also you factor in to it ppm levels vs. mileage. eg: ppm level of copper would likely be half the amount at 3k miles as it would be at 6k miles.

Quotes source post: 2735524

That's like a how long is a piece of string question, because logic would suggest it depends on the engine wear state, an engine that already has appreciable wear will probably contaminate it's oil quicker and dump contaminants into it, but a new engine with good surface integrity probably wouldn't. I can tell you that when we were developing oils with BASF and I used to go to monthly meetings at an oil lab in North Wales, they often said that one of the major problems was contamination from the old oil, it took surprisingly little of it to contaminate the new oil. This is very obvious if you're developing a food grade oil for something like a compressor in food manufacturing or pharma, or if it was because of acidity attacking certain plastics or metals, some oils will attack metals at a staggering rate, but it was also a problem in normal mechanical applications where you just needed decent and effective lubrication. We developed flushing applications that became compulsory SOPs on a lot of equipment, I'm surprised it's not more common on vehicle engines, but it wasn't my area of expertise, so again, I'm just guessing.

Thanks, the Mobil 1 in my car was fitted at OPC Cardiff in Feb last year, so 14 months old, yet has covered about 350 miles. I'm only asking as I'd not want to waste the analysis fees if that was too little to give useful data. I'm chaning the oil purely based on time, obviously.

I'd ask them, I'm trying to offer what I know but it's a very dim light compared to the experts in the oil analysis business, some of the things they used to tell me had me convinced they had Doris Stokes on speed dial, they could often predict what was going to fail and when, with alarming accuracy.

If you email them, they're very helpful and will advise you on what's best.

It's not Millers but attached below is the Oil Lab report for the Mobil 1 from my 2017 991.2. I bought the car in March as Porsche Approved Pre-Owned with 36,000 miles on the clock. The last service was in Dec '24 and the service book indicates the oil was "inspected" not changed. Does anyone know what a Porsche Service Dept. oil inspection involves? I'm assuming the car is connected to the PIWIS and they review any oil condition or sensor data logged by the ECU (e.g., operating temps, oil pressure, hours in service) and check if the car is showing any service due flags or engine wear alerts. Are these expectations reasonable or is the inspection just a check of the oil level? Whatever, the lab report confirms the oil is in pretty good condition, despite a high Fe level. The other wear metal contamination is ok. There's a 10% decrease in viscosity but TBN ok, no fuel dilution or water contamination. Soot and ash levels acceptable. I'm hoping the Fe is mostly from the running-in period and was not sufficiently flushed out during previous oil changes. My plan is to sample and test at 6 monthly oil change intervals.

Quotes source post: 2735524

I rang Millers and asked and was told between 3K and 5K

Quotes source post: 2738500

I spoke to them also who confirmed the same as an ideal for full analysis, however, despite my oil having only been in there for hundreds rather than thousands of miles, there would still be enough to work with to highlight bore score or IMS issue evidence. This is due to the oil having been in there for over a year, had a disproportionate number of cold starts for those miles, as well typically sufficient oil contamination from the previous oil that is never completely removed during an oil change. On this basis I sent mine off for analysis and should get the results this week. To put the miles into context, the majority of analysis performed is on motorsport applications where the oil only covers a single race event abd very little milage.

Make sure you check your spam folder. The results off them always end up in mine.

Got my results back but I'm pretty sure they're null and void due to my own contamination and school boy error as they show crazy amounts of silicon where everything else is zero or very little. The kit had not arrived in time for the service, so I used one of my own containers which (I thought) was clean, which I then transferred into the Millers bottle when the kit showed up a couple of days later. I just didn't think. D'oh! I'll do another sample once it's got some sensible miles on this fresh oil.

If you know the silicon is from your container then that's fine. It's not a pointless exercise as there's nothing else showing up.

Quotes source post: 2738742

I don't, just a possibility. Report said most likely from dirt, seals, or sealant, but it's at such a high level for such few miles (207) I suspect contamination, although I cannot be certain if or what was in the sample bottle prior. I thought it was a clean, new container, but it was one of many sample bottles I got given so who knows. The aluminium, iron, copper elements etc were all negligible which is a relief. It was all good, just a huge load of Si. EDIT: Two things have occured to me as I've scratched my head, one of which I think is the likely culprit. I have to consider that I did not take the sample, it was taken by the person draining the oil on my request, which means it could also have been contaminated with dirt from gloves, tools, a different container again etc. However, it just dawned on me that when I first got the car, I fully detailed the engine bay, which to gain access to as much of the pipe and hose work as possible, saw me remove the airbox and intake ducting - which I also fully detailed and dressed inside and out to remove every last trace of dust and dirt with liberal use of Autoglym vinyl and rubber dressing which is riddled with silicone. Throttle body, the lot. Muppet. I'm surprised the oil didn't smell more lemony. Learning experience.

Thanks for the posts guys, very helpful. Just got my first oil analysis as the car tips over 100,000 miles I was a bit worried about the Boron because my car is losing coolant for the first time (a litre in 1400 ish miles) and my indy can't find any leaks, but from the other examples here maybe it's ok.

Howdy Folks! Hope everyone is well? Anyone using another company for oil analysis other than Millers? I see they have put up the price now to £50. There are a couple of cheaper options including Motul (£39.99) and Finnings (via Ravenol) at £29.99.

Says £40 on their website: Vision Oil Analysis Reduce the risk of unscheduled downtime and costly breakdowns for your vehicles or machinery using Millers Oils Oil Sample Analysis. www.millersoils.co.uk

Quotes source post: 2782612

Here’s my latest UOA (January 2026). Analysis by Oil Lab rather than Millers, but competent labs produce comparable results. This sample covers ~3,095 miles over ~7 months on Mobil 1 0W-40, Compared to my previous sample from May 2025 (~1,000 miles / 5 months), wear metals have roughly halved, which is exactly what I’d hoped with the flushing out of oil loaded with wear debris from the long change interval OPC servicing specified by Porsche. I'm doing 3 discretionary oil changes between the scheduled changes. Iron: 12 ppm (down from 25 ppm) Copper: 4 ppm (down from 7 ppm) Lead and tin are zero in both samples, which is reassuring from a bearing wear perspective. Sodium has also dropped significantly (~10 ppm vs 29 ppm previously) and likely because the earlier report was taken soon after coolant pump, valve block and vacuum line work earlier in 2025. Now there are no corroborating UOA indicators of coolant ingress. Potassium is not included in this lab’s report. Viscosity is towards the lower end of grade, so I’m moving from 0W-40 to Mobil 1 FS X2 5W-50. My driving involves cold starts, low-speed warm-up (20 mph zone and single-track roads), followed by sustained climbs (Mam Tor), so I’m prioritising film strength over ultra-fast circulation. I may change brand depending on results and what garages who are on the PPN are allowed to do without invalidating warranty

So has anybody actually seen their readings rise and had a rebuild before a major failure occurred. I know of a couple of people who were doing regular tests which were all good, but still had a sudden major failure?

Quotes source post: 2782952

Assuming this is about 986/996 engines? UOA is only one part of the monitoring picture. I owned a 986, and alongside 6-monthly UOA I also did oil filter inspections — removing the paper element, unfurling it and checking with a magnifying glass for IMS bearing debris. That kind of contamination is not detected by UOA ; the particles are simply too large for ppm analysis. I also fitted a magnetic chip detector (MCD drain plug), copied from helicopter gearbox monitoring and manufactured by Jack Raby. It uses two magnetic electrodes; when ferrous debris bridges them, a warning light illuminates. Again, this is something UOA alone will not catch. I ran the original IMS for the four years I owned the car, and when I sold it the engine had 140,000 km on it. I can’t claim to have predicted a failure — because I didn’t have one — but I was able to reverse wear trends using UOA to guide oil change frequency, grade and lubricity. If the focus is specifically 986/996 bore scoring , UOA can help, but you need to know what to watch for. Early warning signs are combinations, not single numbers: * Aluminium rising faster than iron * Silicon rising alongside aluminium * A step-change versus previous samples (not gradual wear) * Increasing oil consumption or exhaust soot (correlated with UOA) That pattern is far more predictive than any individual element on its own — but it still needs to be interpreted alongside other checks

Screenshot_20250114_095707_Microsoft 365 (Office) by Scott Osborne , on Flickr Old above, new below: Oil analysis 25-26 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr Latest results, slightly more fuel dilution than last time, which seems to be the only thing they have mentioned as a negative (2%, rather than 1.5% of last time). I had just been doing the radiators and some other work and had the car ticking over to get up to temperature before draining the oil and doing this which probably didnt help! The big difference to last time is the moly content but this is in that type of Millers oil as an additive. I did initially crap myself if it was copper or aluminium

I've just sent off for a kit, so will be posting the results when I get them back.

Got my results back this week:

Some may notice a concern about high level of wear metals in the engine. Most likely down to my Hartech rebuild

It's years since I was in this game but we would see indicators that the result was carry over from the previous oil like higher acidity. We used to provide a written condition report with the sample, including any new components or a change that created different circumstances from the last sample, the guys at the lab would then be able to come back with a better condition report on their side. I haven't seen anyone talk about coolant samples on cars, but that can also tell you a lot.

First time I've used Millers Oil analysis. Thankfully it reports all's OK.

This just landed, very similar to last year with the main difference being the moly since switching from Super 3000 to Millers CFS NT+ 5w 40 in April 2025 and doing 5K on it. I have also just changed up to 10w50 CFS NT+ this year's service at the recommendation of Cotswold Porsche Specialist, which seems in line with what most people are using.

Hartech rebuild at 90k 2015, no on 109k oil changed at 105k 2 years ago.

First time analysis for me. 135k miles, no rebuild, 4k miles on this oil (Mobil-1 5w40). Results look positive, happy days.

Here is my first run at this - was Motul 5w/40 and all appears good - which is a relief.

I have more details in my 986 running thread in the Boxster section but I have a camshaft actuator issue that has left a fair amount of debris in my filter, so I thought I would have a look at the oil to see if anything else is going on. Thankfully, it seems ok. I phoned them up and asked a couple of questions and due to the thicker oil in the engine, that makes viscosity more sensitive to fuel dilution. The boron description reads like a potential coolant issue but if that was the case, then apparently, Na would be higher. My Indi wants to pull the engine to sort the actuator(s) and that opens up the 'whilst you are in there' discussion and from the wear readings, if the engine comes out, the IMS is staying! A good service and I will use in future.

Changed my oil last month, still using Shell Helix Ultra 5w40, I've noticed my Boron levels have steadily increased after each change. According to AI this is the detergent package that is contained within Shell Helix Ultra.

Ive just ordered a millers oil analysis kit to send off a sample from my newly acquired 996. Is it possible to pick up signs of bore score? ​

Yes, they put it in the report. You'll see it written on some of these posted.