Blackstone Labs Oil Analysis

AXE · Mar 5, 2026

22-ZR2 said:
Sorry to hear this AXE. Hope you sent him a picture of the tools required and the carnage to the oil filter. That is absolutely ridiculous and no excuse. To bad you can’t take the line tech out back and have a conversation.

I've known him for 25 years and he's been good to me. They have done a lot of good work for me and they have one of the best diesel techs, who always likes working on my stuff cause it's well cared for.

I wasn't looking for a fight and I just wanted him to know about it. He apologized and said he would talk with the tech. By the time he called me back, I had gotten it off and there wasn't any damage, so we had a good laugh about it.

This was the last exchange in the folllow up for the Tahoe. I liked his response. He knows I'll give him a hard time next time I'm in there.....LOL.

OC ZR2 · Mar 5, 2026

We can laugh cause it wasn't ours! lol

22-ZR2 · Mar 6, 2026

AXE, I understand.

AXE · Mar 21, 2026

Got my latest test results on my 1500 and Tahoe oil samples back. Everything looks pretty good at this point. Not sure if I'll continue to do these or not. It'll be interesting if one of these turds blows!

I see the calcium is considerably higher on this oil and viscosity is lower than Mobil 1 0W40 FS. That's what some guys said on Bob's the Oil Guy website. Also see that magnesium is considerably lower.

AXE · Mar 30, 2026

AXE said:
Got my latest test results on my 1500 and Tahoe oil samples back. Everything looks pretty good at this point. Not sure if I'll continue to do these or not. It'll be interesting if one of these turds blows!

I see the calcium is considerably higher on this oil and viscosity is lower than Mobil 1 0W40 FS. That's what some guys said on Bob's the Oil Guy website. Also see that magnesium is considerably lower.

I did a little more research and found that some formulations will run higher Boron and Calcium and low Magnesium to control ash build up. Looks like my 40 weight oil for my diesel oil analysis had similar balances, so must be something to do with the heavier oils too.

GoHack · May 20, 2026

laibal said:
Think they will actually do an oil analysis to figure out what oil you were actually using? I highly doubt it

To get to the root of the problem, they'll drain the oil first, so there goes their evidence.

slicer · May 21, 2026

would oil collected from my oil catch can be ok for doing an analysis? or is it best if it comes from the oil pan?

securityguy · May 21, 2026

slicer said:
would oil collected from my oil catch can be ok for doing an analysis? or is it best if it comes from the oil pan?

Oil pan.

GatorZR2 · May 21, 2026

slicer said:
would oil collected from my oil catch can be ok for doing an analysis? or is it best if it comes from the oil pan?

No, It would not be a sufficient sample. Catch can is just oil vapor collected by screens. Oil sample is best taken from the pan within the first 15 minutes of shut down for the sample to be accurate.

AXE · May 21, 2026

slicer said:
would oil collected from my oil catch can be ok for doing an analysis? or is it best if it comes from the oil pan?

No, there is moisture and crap in there and it'll be a poor test result.

I've tried to go thorough the dipstick with a Pela pump, but it will not get into the pan.

If you're not doing a full change it's a PIA. However, if you warm it up a couple minutes, then unscrew the drain bolt 95% of the way. Then rock the drain plug and you can collect a sample.

slicer · May 21, 2026

thanks all. I was in a rush to get my truck to the dealer for the 6.2 recall check, but I emptied out my catch can before doing that and wondered if it would be good to test. The verdict is clearly no.

Rem4411 · Sep 2, 2026

My first oil report from Blackstone came back today. 2023 1500 6.2 truck had 49000 with a fresh oil change from the dealership, sticker on windshield says Pennzoil 0w-40. I just did my first oil change on it at 53,500 miles using mobile 1 0w-40 supercar with mobile 1 filter. It had a gm filter on it. So these results look within average ranges for now we will see what happens with my next analysis. within that timeframe I've towed with it a handful of times, ripped through the paddles enough to put a smile on my face, and left a couple long ass strips of rubber in the golf course parking lot after league nights. I'm Always running it in L9. Still need to get the disabler.

AXE · Sep 3, 2026

Interesting to note the magnesium is low but calcium is higher on Supercar, viscosity is lower. All same as mine......I like Mobil 1 FS a little better for everyday use.

AXE · Oct 12, 2026

I rently did another 30k oil change on the Tahoe. This time it had 4000 miles on the sample, so I've been all over the map on intervals, but some of that related to the recall and viscosity changes.

I previously had a sample with ferrous metals too large to test. Then two clean analysis and filters. This test showed higher than normal iron, which is a wear metal for the bearings. The oil looked fairly clean to the eye and just a shade darker than the 3k changes.

Also when I cut open the filter, I did not like what I seen. There were many visible large and small particles and flakes (see photos, but it looked worse in person), The bigger flakes looked very bright like aluminum, but some of them pulled off with a magnet but didn't stick very strongly to the magnet) I would not expect to see that with a vehicle past the initial break in oil.

So not sure what to make of it, but I think this motor is heading towards failure. Maybe it's an anomaly and just a small piece of insignificant casting that let loose and got picked up in the fiter.

laibal · Oct 13, 2026

My last sample had the copper tick up higher which I'm not too excited about.

AXE · Oct 13, 2026

Yeah, overall it looks pretty solid though. Do you ever cut open the filters. Not that you'd see copper? Just curious what people see in the filters.

It's aiways interesting to see the variations in numbers. Since I've been inconsistent on my intervals, you can see the numbers change with more miles. Also notable additive package differences in the Mobil 1 FS vs Supercar.