I had 2 samples sent out to the lab for testing - 1 @ 78,154 miles, and 1 @ 83,400. Wanted to see if any coolant was mixing with the oil. Also want a general idea of how the engine/oil are performing.Glycol level came back negligible, which is a relief. However they mentioned a possible condensation issue. I assume that's from the 0.1% water result.

Where can this water be coming from if there was no signs of coolant in the oil? Might just be from the extraction process and/or when I poured it from 1 container to another?

FYI, I use Castrol edge 5w-30 full synthetic - because that's what Jaguar recommends =] hahaha

 

Do you do mostly short trips?

 

Yes but I make sure the car gets up to temp during the short trips.

 

Sure, the COOLANT gets up to temp, but does everything else?

 

Yea, the condensation that forms in the engine oil must be boiled off. You need a good spirited and/or long drive every once in a while to get the oil hot enough. I wouldn't worry about it too much.

 

When I was running V12-engined Jags it was my practice to watch the oil pressure gauge at idle at various points during a run. In this way I was able to tell when the engine was truly "warmed up" (that is, not estimated by the coolant temperature - that reached the normal zone quite quickly - and these were not the "comfort" gauges on today's cars that always read "normal"; they were gauges that did in fact monitor and report the actual temperature). I knew that the car was at proper running temperature both in terms of coolant and lubricants when the oil pressure as noted on the gauge at idle dropped very noticeably (and no, this was not a sign of a worn engine; this happened in cars with less than 20,000 kms on the odometer as well as in cars with 100,000 - the oil used was always Castrol 20w50 - and this was the case in more than 20 V12 cars). The point here is that it took a run of considerable distance/time for the oil to be properly heated...enough to burn off any possible condensate. I am not equating the heating of the V12 engine with the far more advanced systems of our V6 and V8 engines but...

So my question also would be about the use of the car before the samples were taken.