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When i purchased my 2013 DB9 in late 2023 i saw the oil filter had a date written on it of 5/20/2016 -ouch
So for my second year maintenance and with about 2,300 miles on this oil/filter change i sent off for an oil analysis report.
With relief, here is what i got back...
the Dallas Aston Martin service center wrote date of install on the oil filter on my v8v. I kept up the tradition on self maintenance. I will also be sending off for analysis when I do my first change on my v12v
Nice! Good to see another believer in Blackstone UOA!
Back in March 2024 I did my first oil change for my (then new to me) 2015 and sent off a sample to Blackstone. Received a similarly good result. I then wrote back to them asking if they could share how many data points they had in the Aston NA V12 dataset and if they had seen any anomalies in the data.
Sure enough, in just about an hour or so I got this nice reply:
Hi Ram,
Sure. There are 42 samples in that data set. Yes, those averages are for any year or model vehicle that Aston Martin put that engine in. It’s only engine-specific, not vehicle-specific. I looked through all the data for that engine, and nothing stood out as a common issue. Long ago – like, 10 years ago, we saw more bearing wear (lead) than we do now. Mostly now when something’s out of line it’s copper or aluminum, and that’s not a very common occurrence. Also, it’s hard to draw conclusions on the things that are out of line without context – people sometimes don’t tell us when they’ve had work done, or how long they’ve run the oil, or whether they’re racing, etc. But looking through the data, I didn’t see anything that looked like a common occurrence.
Sincerely,
Kristin Huff
Blackstone Labs
So while 42 is not a large sample size (but consistent with the fact that there are probably few Aston DIYers and even fewer that would do routine UOAs), IMHO it's enough to draw a few conclusions. Firstly, that this is a pretty robust engine. Secondly, that the bearing wear they had seen 10 years back is entirely consistent with the oiling problems on the early DB9s. And thirdly, that the catalytic converter ingestion issue may be more internet lore than common reality, as otherwise they'd be seeing more wear and most probably silicon contamination as well from the ceramic catalytic matrix.
Nice! Good to see another believer in Blackstone UOA!
Thank you for that additional info, good to know.
As inexpensive as the Blackstone test is i plan on making it an oil change habit.
You 3rd point on cat ingestion - a number of people think these V12's are pretty bullet proof, i'm no expert but my feeling is that a few people are scaring up the bogeyman to sell some headers/parts.
It's a good thing to be aware of but not scary. Like any engine don't abuse it and it won't abuse you.
Here is a response i just got back from Blackstone:
1. What does the "TR" in the Insolubles % row mean?
2. Does the 4x higher results of Magnesium (843 vs 213) and 1/2 of Calcium in the report just represent the ratio that Mobil1 uses in there oil that I'm using?
"TR" is short for trace, which, for insolubles, means oxidized solids in the oil were at less than 0.1% of the sample volume. That's great! Oxidized solids are from use, heat, and blow-by, and having a low amount indicates the oil didn't get too oxidized and oil filtration did a nice job keeping them low in the oil.We also use "TR" when the flashpoint is at or just below the "should-be" flashpoint for the oil. In your DB9's sample, the flashpoint was well above the "should-be" flashpoint for the Mobil 1 oil you used, which means no measurable fuel dilution is present (less than 0.5%). We don't start to speculate about a fuel system issue until there's at least 2.0% fuel dilution in a sample, as anything below that can be from normal operational factors, like lots of idling and stop-and-go driving.
As for the magnesium and calcium in your sample, you're right -- those are additives in the oil. Both of those are used for detergent/dispersant purposes. Other additives in the oil you used are molybdenum, boron, phosphorus, and zinc, which are anti-wear additives. Having more/less additives in the oil doesn't necessarily make one oil better than another.
