Over the winter I installed a Ballad baffle plate and sent my first sample off to get tested. I figured everyone would be interested in the results, at least based on the first result the installation of the baffle plate seems to be a good thing! My guess is that the increase in silicon is due to the installation of the pan and possibly some extra Hondabond

 

5W/50 !!??

 

Thanks for posting that is great info, and yes Hondabond will increase silicon content, the labs can't distinguish between dirt silicon or chemical silicon. The only other thing would be an air intake leak but not likely as you would have likely found it. Thanks for the info.

 

Yeah the person commenting wasn't having a good day, he thought I was driving a Mazda too. I had 5w/40 Joe Gibbs. Same exact oil as the prior sample.

 

I'm not super into oil analysis, but which number(s) make you think that the baffle is helping? Most of the numbers seem the same or worse.

 

Mainly the lead. The aluminum is a bit higher but my guess is that was from the pan itself being a freshly machined piece of aluminum.

 

So is the thinking that there is occasional brief oil starvation (or at least some drop in pressure) that occasionally happens without a baffled oil pan which causes small but incremental wear of the bearings? And the baffling reduces this so hence there is less lead in the oil?

 

Yes, again this is just one sample, but the only change was the baffle. My lead wasn't super high before, but it was elevated. Admittedly it was trending downwards. So who really knows. One thing I do know is that the one sample on there had high lead, aluminum, and shearing. It was right after one of that hardest tracks on a car IMO.

 

i have hasd that baffle sitting here for waaaay to long. one of these days i'll get around to installing it. hahaha