1st oil blotter test - comments?

[lindermant]

The oil looked pretty dark on the dipstick, but it lightened up quite a bit overnight. Does it matter if the oil is hot or cold? I did both and they turned out the same...

*photo courtesy acustrip.com

Planning to leave factory fill in until 10K, then send sample off for a UOA.

 

[Master ACiD]

i have that same inner dark ring on my 10,000 mile old delo blotter.. i wonder what iot means? i was thinking it was soot loading or somthing. the acustrip.com photo doesnt even show any inner dark rings in the example.

 

[TallPaul]

That blotter does not look bad to me. There is a ring, but relatively faint. I get worse than that in 3000 miles on my F150 ('95). How many miles on it?

 

[lindermant]

TallPaul,

The sample is @ 6734 miles (engine cold). I took a sample today after running some errands (oil was at operating temp), and that blot looks the same.

I was brought up in a "3 month/3000 mile" household, and it's killing me to wait until 10K miles

But it sure seems that everything is holding up well.

I'm planning to cut open the filter after the change, anything special to look for and/or photograph when I do?

 

[TallPaul]

It might be a good idea to do a UOA at this time and then based on the results keep running it, but that blotter looks great for the miles.

Yes, I wondered the same thing about cold vs hot and got the same blotter images both ways.

I am not a filter examination expert. Mainly I look for chunks of sludge in the folds, anyting that may be in the dome end of the can, especially if it has a dome end bypass, and hold the media up to a light to see how much of it passes light. I figure if it looks black over a light, it must be clogged (not necessairly true, but my assumption).

Hacksaw works great for filter cutting, but does make a lot of aluminum dust. Still that is at one end. Nail two blocks to the workbench so the filter just fits between to keep it from rolling and sliding.

If you PM me your email I can send you some blotter images and UOA results tomorrow.

 

[lindermant]

TallPaul,

PM sent.

 

[BigAl]

The scientific name for a blotter test is chromatography. Don't you feel smarter already from doing your own chromatographic analysis? You can now impress your friends and co-workers.

 

[lindermant]

BigAl,

I sounded less scientific, and more like porky pig when I asked for chromatographic paper at the specialty paper store yesterday - that's a hard word to say

Needless to say, they didn't carry it. I tried a coffee filter, but I think the business card is the way to go - I have a box of old ones that now have a purpose!

 

[BigAl]

I'm not sure if I can say it either. I'm not so sure I can even spell it correctly. I hope you have old business cards because you got promoted. I only get new ones when mine turn yellow with age. But hey, these days I'm just happy to have a steady gig.

 

[sky jumper]

lindermant - won't you void your warranty going 10k miles on your factory fill??? be careful!!

because your car is still in the break in stage, I would change your oil much more often to get the wear metals out. do a few UOAs in the first 20k to establish baseline trends, and shift to longer UOAs once you are out of warranty.

 

[lindermant]

sky jumper,

My manual states 10k OCI's for normal service schedule (5k OCI's for severe); even recommends not swapping the filter out until 20k! No mention/recommendation of shorter OCI for the factory fill...

 

[ekpolk]

Good heavens NO! It will NOT "void" his warranty. The car makers would love you to believe that there's such a thing as "voiding" your wty, but really, there isn't, at least not in the US. Voiding your bladder, yes; your wty, no. Under the Moss-Magnuson Warranty Act, the car maker must prove that something that you (or a 3rd party) did caused the failure for which you are making a wty claim. They must prove a link, establishin that act or omission on your part led to failure. Demanding oil change receipts you can't find WILL NOT SUFFICE! Anyone who gets told this needs to get a lawyer - right now.

So what if he goes 10k -- how can they link that to a failure - possible but remote. Now let's suppose you do something really stupid -- like run straight 60 wt racing oil in your new Ford in Anchorage in February. That would probably cause a provable failure and would generate a valid wty claim denial.

Now suppose you have the same broken Ford in Anchorage in February -- and the radio fails too. It's still covered by the wty, since Ford could never prove that the 60 wt molasses caused the radio to fail.

Claims can be denied, but it's often harder for the mfr to make it stick than you'd think, and the wty is virtually never truly "void".

 

[sky jumper]

that's good to know. I've never owned a car that was in-warranty, but someday I just might!