Volvo Penta Oil Sample

J

Jfrano

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 12, 2018
Messages
473
Fluid Motion Model
C-30 CB
Vessel Name
June Sea
Who do people purchase these kits from? I’m in New York. Does it need to be from a local Volvo Dealer?

Thanks
 
I will second Blackstone. I started using them after my 50 hr oil change. They will send you the kits free with free shipping. I have done both reverse gear and engine. They maintain the records and email the results to you. If you have any questions about the results you can call in to them and they return the phone call back within a day.
 
Anybody ever received actionable insights from these tests or more peace of mind?
 
I oil sample to keep a record. Oil samples can tell you if there is an internal issue happening before it is a major failure. I have had two reports come back with elevated wear particles. Once in the engine once in the reverse gear. Both were within specifications but higher than previous reports. Both were higher iron ppm. This was contributed to a trip I took. The trip was 650 miles and my average cruise rpm was 3380 rpm. The oil sample had a higher engine speed than my the rest of my samples which had an average of 2250 rpm. The iron wear particles normally are at 42ppm . After the trip of running at higher rpm wear particles increased to 63 ppm. Extra wear from extra cycles. No harm . The idea is when wear particles get higher to change the oil more frequently. Having a full record of oil samples gives a baseline to determine the
Condition of the engine. It is also helpful when selling the boat.
 
I’m a big fan of Blackstone Lab’s oil analyses. I run them on our diesel powered Sprinter Van, as well as on our Ranger Tug 31’s Volvo engine and transmission. The mechanic that worked on my R27 (who, sadly, moved on to a much higher position and better pay for a mega-yacht dealer in Chicago), did oil analyses for me through the local Cat-Petersen dealer. They were cheaper, but bare bones. Just gave the metals percentages. That all made sense to my mechanic, but me . . . I need someone to explain it. Blackstone does that.

Our 31 is newer, so I have only one analysis on the engine, and one on the transmission. I ran both at about 156 hrs in January, before the 200 hrs specified. I did it at that point because it was after my more intense winter usage (Christmas Ships parading) and before spring/summer boating. I also ran the tests at that point because the Volvo service specifications had been posted to change the oil/filter in the reverse gear (transmission) at 25 hrs, where the only spec I had in the owner’s manual when I got the boat was to change the oil and filter at 12 months/200 hrs. I wanted to test right away, In case I had any issues caused by not changing the oil/filter sooner.

What I like about Blackstone’s reports is what Brian (BB marine) mentions: they maintain the records, give you a good narrative, and are there to talk to you by phone and answer questions if you have them. As an example, here is the “narrative” that came with my transmission analysis report:

Things look pretty good for this ZF.Typical wear is in the universal averages column, taken after ~175 hours oil use. Your metals mostly match up well with those benchmark values, even with wear-in still in the mix. The only metal that's higher is lead, but it just looks like harmless oxides washing off a new part(ex. oil cooler). Note the 0.1% insolubles, showing that solids were building up, so it was a good time for the oil change.We don't think you'd have any trouble sticking with this interval in the future, but following Volvo's protocol would be a fine choice too.
Click to expand...

I told them in advance that the Volvo transmission is a ZF model, that the analysis was for an essentially “break in” oil with 156 hrs on it, and that Volvo’s spec had gone from 12 months/200 hrs to 25 hrs for a FIRST oil change, with 12 months/200 hrs after that. I was extra curious about any problems in the oil given that change to 25 hrs for changing the break in oil. Their take on things was very reassuring. For what it is worth, I plan to run another analysis on both the reverse gear and the engine as soon as I have 50 additional hours on them (which should be soon) and get Blackstone’s take on how the oil in each is holding up.

The narrative Blackstone provides is part of a more detailed report that goes through metal elements one by one (compared to averages for your engine/transmission), plus other values (like water %, antifreeze %, other insolvable %). Those undoubtedly would mean a lot to others, but they don’t tell me a lot. I rely on the narrative that Blackstone provides.

Blackstone’s analysis charges are not the cheapest. But their substantive analysis is heads above anything else I’ve seen, making the expense well worthwhile. Plus, giiven what I spend on other things for the boat, the cost is almost negligable. And if I were buying my boat used, and the owner could produce these, I’m sure I’d be willing to pay enough extra to more than make up for the cost!

Gini
 
I use Blackstone and have for my plane as well. I often question the value of oil analysis in a boat V a plane. A plane engine is critical to staying in the air and tracking excessive wear on a particular component is critical for safety. So segway to a boat. Who among us that is doing the analysis will tear down your engine because you start to see elevated and excessive metal components in your oil? Yes it is helpful to see a trend and it being helpful to a potential buyer, but I have Boat US towing and I'm running my engine till it dies. 😀
 
knotflying":2rf0bhbm said:
Who among us that is doing the analysis will tear down your engine because you start to see elevated and excessive metal components in your oil?
Click to expand...

Me! If I get a report showing elevated trends of iron, aluminum or Antifreeze present in the oil, high fuel content in the oil along with elevated soot. I'm not running it until the rod is hanging out of the block! I realize that is extreme. I guess that all depends how deep your pockets are. Mine not so deep. Example: My boat neighbor had a Sea Ray 47 Dancer. He had a couple oil samples come back with higher iron and higher aluminum. 5.9 Cummins Diamonds. Engine ran perfect and he ran them hard. 45000.00 later he wished he had done something. Lost half his boating season and destroyed a Cummins. Spun a bearing and threw a rod. He found out he had an issue at the previous fall winterize when they changed the oil and sampled it. He could have had the engine repaired over the winter but took his chances. He ran it until it died $$$$.

If you don't know your going to have a failure and higher trends there may be something to be said about that. Run it till it dies. I guess I have worked in the reliability end of maintaining machinery for to long! I think there is a good argument on both sides of this subject.
 
Brian, you are a rare breed. You have the capability and knowledge to tear the engine down and examine and repair if necessary. I am pretty good at doing repairs, but would have to defer to a shop for an extensive engine repair. Now find the shop one can trust to do the correct repair in a reasonable time frame and to the standards we anticipate. They are few and far between. I hear more horror stories about simple repairs. I can't imagine having engine work done and a great experience going hand and hand. Your point is well taken though.
 
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