Iron on oil report up

[Roadster Renovations]

Just got back the oil analysis and found that iron had went up by quite a lot. Went from 46 ppm on last sample. This one was 258 ppm.
Is the clutch going South?
What are everyones' thoughts?
I will post the report when I get to a big computer. This laptop is pretty limited.

 

[Chupaca]

Hard to say....

Have seen in the past that the valve train mostly the cam chain and sprockets will add to the higher levels and especially in the summer or hotter weather due to the oil draining off faster and the system being dry on the restarts. :thumbup: never seen them fail....

 

[PMK]

Iron can come from many areas. Even though the iron was up, was it out of normal ranges?

Did they suggest ride 10 hours and retest? Typically that would be a common way to validate it was not a bad sample or bad test.

In most cases the iron must be very minute to be seen in a SOAP sample. My question to you would be how polluted was the magnetic drain plug? Not looking for large particles, those may obviously indicate mechanical failure, but rather that black ferro magnetic sludge that accumulates on the magnet.

If the magnet appears as it has previously, probably best to retest in 10 hours or maybe at 1/2 the change interval.

Are you running the same filter as previously? Which filter do you use?

Not sure what your oil change interval is currently. I assume you may still be using Mobil 1 10/40 Sportbike oil. Same oil here but I am staying at 5000 mile intervals, with filter replacement at each oil change.

Want to, add, how old is the airfilter? You might want to ensure there is no sections of the airbox or plumbing allowing unfiltered air into the engine. Nikasil cylinders often run non plated rings, and ring wear can produce higher iron content.

The clutch could show iron wear, but the friction drive plates would need to have the fiber sections worn away which seems unlikely.

Cam or lifter bucket wear is possible, but often that is larger chunks of steel. Cam chain and sprockets can make iron levels increase as was mentioned.

If you saved the filter, wash the filter in a small clean container of mineral spirits or similar. See what settles to the bottom. Then, carefully cut the paper element if possible, around each end. Unfurl the paper element on clean paper towels and let dry. Visually inspect for “stuff”, and then use a clean magnet to capture ferro magnetic material from the liquid in the container and from the paper element.

it may be worth saving the filter and “stuff” if under a warranty program.

 

[Highwayman2013]

Just got back the oil analysis and found that iron had went up by quite a lot. Went from 46 ppm on last sample. This one was 258 ppm.
Is the clutch going South?
What are everyones' thoughts?
I will post the report when I get to a big computer. This laptop is pretty limited.

That's quite a jump. Waiting to see the full report.

 

[AeroPilot]

Last Iron count was up a little

I have 4 reports so far on the 15 RT and the iron has went from 19, 23, 20 and now 57 on the latest at 40,000 miles. It was noted as going up "on a ppm/mile basis", but also said wasn't high enough to be an issue. This was on a 8200 mi Oil change with the Rotella T-6 5w40. I did nave one hot/coolant overflow episode at around 33,000 miles.


Maybe you just got a "rich" sample from the bottom of the pan?

 

[Roadster Renovations]

Best I can do where I am at.

 

[Roadster Renovations]

I will retest at a shorter interval. And, I will draw from the dipstick hole, rather than the drain. If it continues high, I will get it to a dealer. Much easier to fix something before it grenadeds. Also, the oil is M14T 10x40 and I use the dealer oil filters. Thanks for all the responses.

 

[Little Blue]

Oil

Check the magnetic draining plug for anything. The best way to get an oil sample is by pulling from the dipstick tube. Oil at running temperature. High Iron is never a good thing. :thumbup: