One Drop Oil Test

[gregoron]

Originally Posted By: Shannow
I do it all the time, about every 1,000km on both of my vehicles.

It costs nothing (travelling salesmen leave me lots and lots of business cards), you need to be under the bonnet regularly anyway to check stuff like coolant and P/S hot.

Get into a habit, and you can see "good"; "good"; "good"; "good"; "good"; "good"; "good"; "good"; "hmm, not as good as it's been"; "still OK, but it's change day"


Lol, I check my oil level every 1k miles as I have a consumption issue so I do the blotter test at same intervals.

 

[147_Grain]

Originally Posted By: GreeCguy

I think the point here is not that oil testing by labs is a bad thing. The point is the oil drop test does have it's uses.


The One Drop Oil Test shows a general trend of the oil's condition. An oil analysis is specific in nature and not always needed. For the cost of a formal oil analysis, you can purchase 5 quarts of synthetic fluid (and perhaps a filter in some cases) and perform a LOF change.

 

[fdcg27]

My tongue was firmly in my cheek.

 

[fdcg27]

Just as M1 on 10K intervals has worked for what you need for decades.
I don't mean to be unkind, tig, but your M1 enthusiasm, albeit based on long experience, sometimes makes you seem a troll.
I've used plenty of M1 myself over the years and would not hesitate to use it again.
If I had no stash, I'd be scarfing up M1 jugs at Wally at the current giveaway price.
It is a great deal at 22.47/jug, especially for the Euro 0W-40 and the otherwise hard to get 15W-50, for those who have applications needing these oils.
I can tell you that my old BMW did well on M1 15W-50 when I ran it a couple of summers back.
It does seem equally good on the Nextgen Maxlife 10W-40 in it now, though.

 

[tig1]

Originally Posted By: fdcg27
Just as M1 on 10K intervals has worked for what you need for decades.
I don't mean to be unkind, tig, but your M1 enthusiasm, albeit based on long experience, sometimes makes you seem a troll.
I've used plenty of M1 myself over the years and would not hesitate to use it again.
If I had no stash, I'd be scarfing up M1 jugs at Wally at the current giveaway price.
It is a great deal at 22.47/jug, especially for the Euro 0W-40 and the otherwise hard to get 15W-50, for those who have applications needing these oils.
I can tell you that my old BMW did well on M1 15W-50 when I ran it a couple of summers back.
It does seem equally good on the Nextgen Maxlife 10W-40 in it now, though.


4 1/2 year troll at BITOG. I have never said M1 oils are the best,or do I critize other products, but I do think M1 oils are some of the best in the world. Just my simple opinion from a simple man.

 

[fdcg27]

I can't argue with your experience with M1.
I'm only saying that you seem a little monomaniacal on the subject.
You may be wiser than me in that you don't even think about oil choice, drain intervals or UOAs.
You just go right for the silver jug (the one that doesn't say Synpower!), dump it in and run 10K.
What could be simpler than that?
There is, perhaps, wisdom in simplicity.

 

[Art_Vandelay]

Originally Posted By: tig1
Originally Posted By: fdcg27
Just as M1 on 10K intervals has worked for what you need for decades.
I don't mean to be unkind, tig, but your M1 enthusiasm, albeit based on long experience, sometimes makes you seem a troll.
I've used plenty of M1 myself over the years and would not hesitate to use it again.
If I had no stash, I'd be scarfing up M1 jugs at Wally at the current giveaway price.
It is a great deal at 22.47/jug, especially for the Euro 0W-40 and the otherwise hard to get 15W-50, for those who have applications needing these oils.
I can tell you that my old BMW did well on M1 15W-50 when I ran it a couple of summers back.
It does seem equally good on the Nextgen Maxlife 10W-40 in it now, though.


4 1/2 year troll at BITOG. I have never said M1 oils are the best,or do I critize other products, but I do think M1 oils are some of the best in the world. Just my simple opinion from a simple man.


Tig, I don't think that was meant in a bad way. He's just trying to say that you're the ultimate Mobil 1 believer and that makes you a bit biased. You're long term experiences with high mileage oil changes are an asset to the knowledge base here.

Now can you just fill your crankcase with Pennzoil Ultra and run it out to 10k please. We want to hear your thoughts on it.

 

[Doug Hillary]

Hi,
fdcg27 - You said this:

"There is, perhaps, wisdom in simplicity."

And, for those interested in lubricants, this is why the one drop oil test is a very handy contributor in assessing lubricant condition. And it is very well respected within the Oil Industry. I first used it in in the early 1960s in consort with Caltex, Shell, Castrol and Mobil in HD lubricant evaluation with CAT, Terex, IH and Allis-Chalmers heavy machinery in NZ's virtually in-accessible Southern Alps. It sure saved a lot of OCs and the resultant disposal of large quantities of lubricants in a very sensitive and pristine environment. And I may add, extra work in several meters of snow too at times!

Well, IMO there is, and Tig has been a good contributor over the years and backed up his product enthusiasm when required

It works - thanks Tig

 

[ottotheclown]

Hey until I found this BITOG I had only one thought change the oil 3k or 5k either way about 25 cars over my career never a oil problem and 4 are still running way past 100k. Boy I never realized how some can get really worked up. It is very tempting to just have fun but then you realize that this is something important to some. Either way it is interesting and you really see some who know their stuff and are class. Who would of thunk?? We should include a warning on the home page. I think in all it is good fun and maybe alittle de caf might work too.

 

[tig1]

Originally Posted By: Art_Vandelay
Originally Posted By: tig1
Originally Posted By: fdcg27
Just as M1 on 10K intervals has worked for what you need for decades.
I don't mean to be unkind, tig, but your M1 enthusiasm, albeit based on long experience, sometimes makes you seem a troll.
I've used plenty of M1 myself over the years and would not hesitate to use it again.
If I had no stash, I'd be scarfing up M1 jugs at Wally at the current giveaway price.
It is a great deal at 22.47/jug, especially for the Euro 0W-40 and the otherwise hard to get 15W-50, for those who have applications needing these oils.
I can tell you that my old BMW did well on M1 15W-50 when I ran it a couple of summers back.
It does seem equally good on the Nextgen Maxlife 10W-40 in it now, though.


4 1/2 year troll at BITOG. I have never said M1 oils are the best,or do I critize other products, but I do think M1 oils are some of the best in the world. Just my simple opinion from a simple man.


Tig, I don't think that was meant in a bad way. He's just trying to say that you're the ultimate Mobil 1 believer and that makes you a bit biased. You're long term experiences with high mileage oil changes are an asset to the knowledge base here.

Now can you just fill your crankcase with Pennzoil Ultra and run it out to 10k please. We want to hear your thoughts on it.


No, I knew there was jesting with the troll comment. No problem. Besides I've been here too long for trolling. As for Penz, if M1 went out of business tomorrow PP would be my next fill. My hands are shaking as I type. LOL

 

[Art_Vandelay]

Originally Posted By: tig1

No, I knew there was jesting with the troll comment. No problem. Besides I've been here too long for trolling. As for Penz, if M1 went out of business tomorrow PP would be my next fill. My hands are shaking as I type. LOL

Lol! I happen to love Mobil 1 myself. Recently I picked up a couple jugs of Pennzoil Ultimate. Never tried it before but that's half the fun of it. If I'm ever in Illinois I'm dropping one of them off on your doorstep!

 

[Shannow]

More details on the blotter test, timing to check for glycol and soot, and a trick for fuel.

http://www.machinerylubrication.com/Read/499/blotter-spot-method

 

[Garak]

That should be a sticky in the UOA section, if you ask me.

 

[Clevy]

Originally Posted By: tig1
Some here have mocked the one drop test as I mentioned on my thread " M1 16K OCI". Well it's not sicentific, but I find it helpful and follow the examples on this web site.

http://www.acustrip.com/specs/onedrop.html



Well tig just to add to you point here.
I get emailed to me a newsletter called machinery lubrication. They actually recommend this exact test,and in their article they explain with pics the different results and what that translates too.
So tig a major lubrication magazine also considers this test legit as an indicator whether or not the lubricant requires a more in depth investigation.

 

[Clevy]

Originally Posted By: Shannow
More details on the blotter test, timing to check for glycol and soot, and a trick for fuel.

http://www.machinerylubrication.com/Read/499/blotter-spot-method



And here Shannow has not only beat me too it but also provided a link. Nice work.
As far as tig and his enthusiasm for M1 if I had the success that he has with it I would be singing it from the rooftops.
And when a question comes up he offers his experienced opinion. I will admit in my first couple years here his M1 posts eventually drove me to being very rude at times,so I decided why fight,why not take a lesson from the man.
So I did. I swallowed my distaste for M1 this winter on tigs advice and ran the 0w-20 AFE.
And I learned something from it. And I also learned a bit from him as far as posting. I quit pushing my favorites and scaled it back,and I quit dismissing Mobil as a whole.
I still don't like Mobil as a company however their oils are as good as anything else on the shelf,and using it is almost always a good bet.

 

[andyd]

My last oil related engine failure was on an air cooled bug engine. When I check under the hood, I pull the dipstick and run it under my nose. I use both hands, my left finger tips are assessing the feel of the oil. All the cars are fuel injected , so I hardly smell gas anymore.

BITOG has cured me of rigid 3k mile OCIs. ANd reinforced my faith in dino oil.