UAO worth it when parameters unknown?

[Car Luver]

I finally found some GC to put in to my BMW. I was thinking about sending it to blackstone to do a analysis.But I don't know what kind of oil and how long its been in there.

If they don't know the type and interval what can they tell me if I were to send it in?

 

[TallPaul]

I'm not clear. You have new GC? Run it for an OCI and do the UOA.

You don't know how long or what kind of oil is now in the BMW? Maybe better to skip UOA on that oil. Is it pretty dirty? Maybe want to do a rinse with a short OCI on some low priced oil before putting the GC in.

 

[kanling]

No point in doing a UOA when it won't give you any information for the future.

 

[radiometer]

Several years ago I bought a used car. I didn't know anything about the oil that was in it. I changed oil and had a UOA with Dyson interpretation done on the used oil. A suspicion of coolant ingression into the oil was immediately raised. Subsequent UOA with Dyson interpretation from the following OCI confirmed coolant ingression.

So, the UOA on the used oil was of value right up front. It was well worth the cost. It helped me to get the dealer to do the repairs under warranty.