Personally I don’t see this as a lesson as much as I see it as a corporate image building tool probably politically based (pushing the green initiative) and pimping their oil life system.
I personally cannot stand any of these so called condition monitoring rain making Rube Goldberg type systems because they measure and quantify nothing of relative value.
In the absence of an actual full spectrum lab report I would recommend the car owner to periodically conduct “field tests” of their oil. (Obviously not a substitute for the real thing but more than good enough for at least a legitimate SWAG in regard to your actual oil in your specific application)
(Pay attention as you suck it out because there will need to be a little bit of make-up oil required) Also, none of this is expensive enough to prohibit the average home mechanic from getting these few basic tools and add them to their collection.
I would recommend:
Buy a vampire or other extraction device and pull a hot sample. (Not expensive and you can get the tube small enough to fit in the dipstick tube and there are other ways to get in the sump)
Purchasing a decent microscope and visually inspect it for particulate contamination
Perform the blotter test and compare it to the base
Perform the basic crackle test
If you want to go real high tech go to an industrial supplier like McMaster Carr and:
Buy a SS sieve in the micron rating you want and pour it through it
Get a hot plate, candy thermometer and manual viscometer and run your own test
Go to a company like Dexsil and get the field titration kits that match your needs and use them. You can run checks for glycol, TAN/TBN and all sorts of good stuff.
I do this in the field (labs unfortunately take time and often I have to make situational judgments) and for myself personally and it’s a very effective method to get a functionally accurate condition assessment on both a machine and the lubricant.
Plus you can get everything for around $300 and other than replenishing the kits it will never wear out and it will pay for itself.
