Lifeblood: Our Results from BlackStone’s Oil Sample Test

Get your engine oil tested – we promise, it’s worth it.

We have touched before on the oil sample testing services offered by BlackStone Laboratories of Fort Wayne, Indiana. These magicians of viscosity are really really smart people, sometimes referred to as scientists or engineers. Taking an oil sample, any oil sample really – from motor oil to transmission to hydraulic; they are experts in their field of determining what is really happening behind closed covers.

We sent an oil sample off from our 2017 RAM 2500 Power Wagon that, if we’re honest, has been through the ringer. We’d changed this particular oil sample out one week prior to a 5,000 mile long road trip from Louisville Kentucky all the way to Bozeman Montana and back. We averaged a speed of 80mph, navigating stop and go construction traffic as well as mountain passes and hauling a gross weight of ~9500 pounds. Add to that over a hundred off road miles climbing mountain passes, we beat the crap out of the truck in general. We put all of these 5000 miles on it in less than seven days time, and the remaining 3875 miles were all city commuting miles to the office and back.

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So after all that, here’s how our Blackstone oil sample test report looked:

The comments section reads:

WILL: Thanks for the detailed operational notes. We can track either hours or miles, but not both, so we went with miles. Let us know if you’d rather go by hours. Metals are pretty good next to averages, which show typical wear for the 6.4L Hemi after about 5,100 miles on the oil. Given the fair amount of time spent idling, a little more iron isn’t unexpected (that metal will increase with such use), and honestly it’s not bad for an 8,875-mile run. Silicon could show dirt, but if air filtration checks out, you’re green-lighted for a 10K-mile OCI next. The 4.4 TBN is good.

As you can tell – Blackstone can get down to the nitty gritty of the inside of an engine and tell you what is going on, and for $35, oil sample testing is worth it. It is incredible insurance and peace of mind knowing your baby is healthy. Check out their services at the Blackstone website.

Editor’s Note: A version of this story previously appeared on treadmagazine.com in October 2018.