Engine Oil Analysis

rodney eppes

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 3, 2010
Location
Mt.Holly NC 28120
Any one here have experience or use the Analysis? Who do you use, & what's the cost. I came up with 1 company on internet, that seemed to be what I need. Standard test $28 and $10 more for showing a time line for oil change. Got the Chvey truck with 6.2 gasser. Takes 8 qt. of 0/20 synthic/dos. I use Mobile 1, & been changing at 5000 mi. By the truck computer, I'm not even using 1/2 the oil life. My next change I'm going to 7500 mi. Would like to see what the analysis tells me.
 
@Ron does it religiously if I remeber right.
 
We sale a Cat kit. Not sure of the cost. It’s what we use. You can get them at most any truck dealer.
 
I did when I had my diesels...not as religiously on the gasser.

Blackstone was who I used. They were like $25 I think last time I sent one. There is an optional service where they test the shear viscosity to determine truly how much life is left on your oil...
 
^^^That...did it for about a decade on everything I owned, stopped when the results basically showed as long as the engine wasn’t metal on metal, you could go 20k oci’s with basically any oil(slight exaggeration, but you get the point).
 
I've done one on my Duramax through Blackstone. I'll do one again at my next oil change...which might be next year. Last oil change was like 14k miles. Going to go for 20 or 25k on this next one. I'll spring the extra 10 bucks for the TBN test which tells you how much of the additive package is still kicking around.

If I were you I might would do one or two tests and after that just run it. If it worries you, maybe change the filter half way through an oil change.
 
Blackstone is the one I found on-line. Kit & test for $28, & the TBN is $10. I'll check with our Diesel shop, & see who they use. Probably Cat. I'd be comfortable with 7500 mile changes. Not so sure about 10k or more! Thanks!
 
If the oil is still good, there's no need in changing it.
 
Oil companies drilled the 3K OCI into our heads for years as "cheap insurance." Leaded fuel, softer metals, sloppier tolerances, etc. all lead to more rapid oil breakdown. True oil analysis has proven time and time again that this is hoopla today, yet the mentality prevails. It could be that for some folk, that's the only time they check their oil. In that case, it's good practice. Engines consume some oil, it's unavoidable. But if you stay on top of your levels, a 3K change is money literally down the drain.

To those of you doing 12, 15, 20K OCIs, do you change your filter between oil changes?
 
catfishblues said:
Oil companies drilled the 3K OCI into our heads for years as "cheap insurance." Leaded fuel, softer metals, sloppier tolerances, etc. all lead to more rapid oil breakdown. True oil analysis has proven time and time again that this is hoopla today, yet the mentality prevails. It could be that for some folk, that's the only time they check their oil. In that case, it's good practice. Engines consume some oil, it's unavoidable. But if you stay on top of your levels, a 3K change is money literally down the drain.

To those of you doing 12, 15, 20K OCIs, do you change your filter between oil changes?
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1) exactly, If you travel back 30-40 years, you’ll see factory oci recommendations 12-20k depending on year and engine.
2) I used to swap filters as I remembered some time between 3-7k, for 4-5 filters between oil changes. Didn’t pay as much attention to that, but did seem to increase oil life 3-5k. I’ll also say quality of filter used seemed to have another 3-5k impact on oil life.
 
IMO..changing oil is more about the detergent and cleaner additives than it is about viscous shear or breakdown.

I know, for example, my mom had an 80s S-10 blazer that she bought new. She put just over 180k miles on it before it was totaled when she was rearended by a drunk driver. SHe had changed the oil 5 times "and not in the last year or 2". I took the motor and used it in a project. When we tore it down the cylinder walls and such were as good as any Ive seen. However there was considerable "gunk" buildup under the valve covers. To the point that removing the valve covers the shape remained. And that il stunk worse than any rearend grease Ive ever smelled.

Thats the worst abuse Ive personally seen
 
Ron said:
IMO..changing oil is more about the detergent and cleaner additives than it is about viscous shear or breakdown.

I know, for example, my mom had an 80s S-10 blazer that she bought new. She put just over 180k miles on it before it was totaled when she was rearended by a drunk driver. SHe had changed the oil 5 times "and not in the last year or 2". I took the motor and used it in a project. When we tore it down the cylinder walls and such were as good as any Ive seen. However there was considerable "gunk" buildup under the valve covers. To the point that removing the valve covers the shape remained. And that il stunk worse than any rearend grease Ive ever smelled.

Thats the worst abuse Ive personally seen
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And that is why still change the oil. If you get build up like that, and something breaks loose it could easily block passages and starve certain areas, or everything. I tend to run 5-7k between changes in my Camry. My truck however, had low oil pressure when I bought it. I changed the oil and used the Wix filter and it came back up, but after 4,000 miles I was having low oil pressure again. I used Peak the last time, and this time I used Penzoil. We'll see if it keeps pressure longer this time.
 
Okay help me out here. My chemistry sucks. What is actually happening to the oil (conventional) when it is jet black and smells burnt? I usually change my oil at 5k and what my eyes and nose are telling me the oil seems pretty well used.

My brand new oil is pretty clear. Is it the detergents that are being used up when I see black oil running out of the drain? Is it the hot and cold cycles making the molecules turn dark?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Ron said:
However there was considerable "gunk" buildup under the valve covers. To the point that removing the valve covers the shape remained. And that il stunk worse than any rearend grease Ive ever smelled.
Click to expand...

@BIGWOODY can tell you more precisely, but according to a mechanic I use for the wife's car, a BMW/Merc computer will base the OCI off the way you abuse the car. Wife had a Z4 she drove like a grandma and it would say over 25k between changes. This same mechanic will tell you that if you follow that route you will have this issue by 150k

oil.JPG
 
On my original 4.0 motor, I ran 20-30k intervals with rotella t 15-40 (or carquest oil later) & carquest red filters from 150k-350k. When I removed the motor (turned out #3 piston broke into pieces, not sure why. I swear that I heard it crack coming out of my drive way.), the head had no sludge build up.
 
a_kelley said:
On my original 4.0 motor, I ran 20-30k intervals with rotella t 15-40 (or carquest oil later) & carquest red filters from 150k-350k. When I removed the motor (turned out #3 piston broke into pieces, not sure why. I swear that I heard it crack coming out of my drive way.), the head had no sludge build up.
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Did you change the filter any in between?
 
On a 25k change, I don't change the filter. I also only run synthetic motor oils with extended intervals. I'm only at about 6000 miles on this oil change, but I'm already anxious to do the next oil analysis.
 
Could you make/buy a special drain plug that had a smaller drain within itself so you could open it to fill the tube without actually draining more oil than you need?

I’m picturing something like what’s in the bottom of an air compressor drain.
 
77GreenMachine said:
Could you make/buy a special drain plug that had a smaller drain within itself so you could open it to fill the tube without actually draining more oil than you need?

I’m picturing something like what’s in the bottom of an air compressor drain.
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They have oil pain drain valves/spigots...like $25 or so.
 
They also sell exactly what you asked about.. sometimes people install them if they have to install an oversized plug because it stripped on an alloy pan. Common parts house stuff.

IMG_20190123_010514157.jpg
 
96C02E95-A501-4C16-B9C6-E7403EEB47C5.jpeg
Kits should come with a tube to run down the dipstick. Less chance of contaminating the sample. The SOS kit is 22$. And comes with everything. Postage is included. It gets send to Carolina cat labs. You will receive an email with results in around a week. They also analyze auto trans fluid and diff fluid if needed.
 
Just figured that may be an easy way to grab just enough oil for the analysis, but what @Nakoma said makes a bit more sense.
 
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