I've been doing some marketing work for a newer oil analysis company called Zengine (similar to Blackstone Labs), and decided to send in a sample from my '22 P300 D90 with only 1,079 break-in miles just to see how things were looking. It's certainly not necessary to check on the oil this early (20,000 miles early according to JLR!), but figured it would be interesting to see how things are looking. Results attached for the oil nerds on the forum!

 

Interesting. So what would be a "normal" or "good" number for Fuel Dilution $?

 

Too early to have fuel in the oil even for break in.

 

Does it have insurance?

 

Coming from 2 Discovery Sports (the last one a D240) and being fully aware of the fuel dilution and DPF issues of the Ingenium diesel engine I regularly took oil samples for analysis by Millers Oils. I have had the oil in my D250 6 cylinder analysed - results below :

This is the first analysis of the Defender oil from new at 3800 miles; fuel dilution and soot are fine - my Discovery would have had about 6% dilution at this mileage i.e one third of the mileage between oil changes. I changed the oil at 10,000 mile intervals not the "recommended" 21,000 miles. I think I will continue to change the Defender oil at 10,000 miles too.

I had a very informative discussion with Mike Winn of Millers Oils. High levels of Silicon (Si) and Aluminium (Al) are indicative of dust ingression - he suggested I check the air filter for correct fitment; also he asked if I lived near the sea as Sodium (Na) is not generally seen in oil analysis except if the engine is exposed to a salty atmosphere. I live about 5 miles as the crow flies, from Peterhead on the North Sea coast (of Scotland) and 200 metres up on the last high ground before the sea; my road trips are mostly coastal - Peterhead, Aberdeen, Macduff, Dumfries - all good old seaside towns Even a pressure washer struggles to remove our hardy northern salt cake. When the wind is in the East the seagulls are grounded ! The recommendation is to change the oil because of the high Si and Al. The high Molybdenum (Mo) could be caused by any number of reasons but I am not concerned as it is not an effect of wear like a high Iron reading would be. I'm changing the oil and checking the air filter this weekend.

"As this is the "new" engine oil, could the molybdenum be from assembly grease/lube?"

I understand that this is the most likely source as Mo is not a component of the oil or additives. Apparently, if JLR are using a bulk first fill running-in oil then Mo would be the last thing they would add - Mo is generally used in racing engine oil to reduce friction - the opposite effect that is needed for running-in....

The good and reassuring thing about the analysis is that the fuel dilution and soot levels are really low so Discovery Sport DPF issues being repeated in the Defender are a thing of the past (fingers crossed). I shall continue to have the oil analysed periodically to build up a trend but I will be changing the oil at 10,000 mile intervals regardless.

By the way – for those that haven’t had (or heard of !) a diesel Discovery Sport, fuel in oil is “a thing” about the Ingenium engine and failed DPF regeneration cycles, in the main caused by compromised exhaust routing and "driving style". There are many, many pages to read on the subject on the Discovery Sport Forum if you are interested. Of course, petrol/gas engines are not affected in the same way.