Mobile 1 oil sent off

[Roadster Renovations]

At 6k it sheared to a 11.0 and a base number of 5.6. That is better than the last test at 5k. I am sticking with M1. Bike now has 29k on it. Trying to understand why the sodium was elevated? Possible head gasket seepage? if it goes up next oil change, it will probably have to be addressed before warranty runs out. As it is, I will continue to monitor coolant level.

 

[Roadster Renovations]

Doc, reading the report, I notice you have the oil listed as M1 ESP in a 5w40 grade. The testing lab also indicated the sample data conflicts with the oil that you have specified is being used.

Are you using a Mobil 1 product labeled as motorcycle specific oil, or are you using Mobil 1 for cars?

The increase in viscosity appears minor and could simply be related to the amount of miles and efforts of the gearbox while pulling a trailer.

I recently read a post from JCThorne where he stated Mobil 1 was not survivng any better than BRP oil. Your results clearly show otherwise. I had asked JC Thorne to post his data showing where the M1 had done as poorly as the BRP oil which he did not offer up.

Thanks for taking the time and expense to accomplish this and please reply back with the specifc Mobil 1 product you are using to prevent confusion.

The wife filled out the little card so she put the wrong information. We have always used 4T M1 oil. Good catch, and that explains why they are querying what oil it was based upon what we told them.
What do you think about the increase in sodium? Should I be concerned?

 

[Roadster Renovations]

Sodium, if it were me, I would do several things. First save a new oil sample to be sent in. Clarify the information and have the lab correct the mistake and list the correct oil on the spec. If they can rerun the results compared to the proper oil and will do it as a courtesy on ccount of the mistake cool if not no worries.

last I would pull another sample in 1000 miles and verify the trend. Send along the new oil to compare to. If it is a fluke indication, great, if not, time to consider reasons.

If it is coolant, I would expect the water content to be elevated also. But, since you may have done the sample after a long ride to boil out any water, possibly it would not show. Sodium is basically salt, has the last run been more coastal and is the air filter allowing grit by that is dropping into the oil.

We often saw large silica amount on certain aircraft engines, basically sand and it could show up for various reasons but often associated with high level Sahara winds blowing dust to the US.

All very good points. Have not been ryding costal, so that's out. We did ryde up to Michigan, but I doubt that would have done anything. May just be a fluke. Time will tell. Heck, I already have 1500 miles on the new oil. Since I have a little extra left over from the HCM filter change, I might just send off another sample.

 

[Lew L]

Sodium??

I thought that Sodium is a metal?? A highly reactive and dangerous one in its pure form. My Chem 1B teacher in college was not careful enough with it and she had a small " reactive event" that caused the third floor to be cleared.

But the Na could be part of the additive package ( which is 20+% of the oil volume)

Too much Science can cause::::::
Kaos
PS:
We need a Shell lubrication engineer ( like my prof. for Materials Science)