Yes, makes sense. I agree, there shouldn't be a need to remove the old sealer and re-apply if the cam cover is just being reinstalled. I was thinking of my case after I did a full tensioner and chain replacement (front cover off, surfaces cleaned up). The sealer should be re-applied in this case.

Back to BurgXK8's high Si reading, there's no telling if they used some RTV on the seams or not.

Dan

 

No, there isn't. At this point it's all theory as I don't even know what kind of sealant they might have used down at the dealer. Hopefully this will all go away with the next oil change, but this is why I like to get oil analysis done.

I shudder to think what the tranny fluid analysis would turn up!

 

Ok, just got the new report back from Blackstone after only 1736 miles on the oil. This time I just did a filter swap and top-up and took a sample.

Here are the new numbers (all figures in parts per million):

Silicon: went from 203 to 39
Iron: 29 to 7
Molybendum: 112 to 104
Lead: 15 to 3
Boron: 64 to 68 (the only number that increased)
Calcium: 2678 to 2631
Magnesium: 15 to 12

there were others, but as you can see the trend is down since the last oil change. The oil in the engine is the same and will probably last another 3-5k miles with the new filter, which is a Wix - the only brand I've used on this car. This test begs the question as to whether a more expensive filter like a Mann would produce even better results.

 

We test the oil in all our engines here at work on a montly basis...never thought about doing it for my car until I read this thread! I just ordered the test kit from Blackstone so I can get mine tested while I still have the old oil in it from the previous owner (not sure when the last time it was changed, but am planning to do it very soon...)