High Iron levels in oil sample

Darthj12 · Jan 13, 2022

Hello, I reacquired my old 1994 7.3 IDI Turbo last fall as a restoration project, after trading it in about six years ago. It looks like it had a hard life with the previous owners even though they only put about 20k miles on it in that time. I changed the oil and sent in a sample to wix for analysis and the results show a high amount of iron, but everything else looks to be ok. What is the most likely cause of that condition? Also do any of the other numbers look high/bad?
Thanks

DaveBen · Jan 13, 2022

Generally high iron levls in the oil are symptoms of cylinder wall wear. Meaning the engine has been USED heavily, like pulling loads.

Shadetreemechanic · Jan 14, 2022

Do you know for sure when the oil was last changed? If it was your first oil change after getting it back, I wouldn't worry about it too much. Drive it for a while and send off your next oil change.

264WSM · Jan 15, 2022

High iron could be from short trips/multiple starts. Looks like you have elevated potassium and sodium which could mean coolant intrusion into the oil. Silicon is dirt are should be below 10, your at 11, so a minor worry but not a major worry. If you don't know how long the oil has been in there, this could all be moot. For all you know the it's the same oil YOU put in it when you sold it before.

beechkingd · Jan 15, 2022

Also can be from cylinder wall rust if it sat for an extended period of time. I see that frequently in oil sample results from stuff I deal with at work. On owner doesn’t use something for a few years and the first oil samples show high iron.

Darthj12 · Jan 15, 2022

Thanks for all the replies. I traded it in back the spring of 2016, and regretted that almost immediately so I was excited to find it again when I was browsing craiglist last summer. So obviously it wasn't driven to much the last six years. Sounds like the best idea is to drive it around for awhile and get another sample once it is road worthy again. Just have to do a whole lot of wiring work since they previous owners hacked some of that up pretty badly. If there was a coolant intrusion in the oil would that be from head gaskets or the oil cooler?

IDIBRONCO · Jan 15, 2022

You won't be able to tell that unless you start replacing parts/gaskets.

High Iron levels in oil sample

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