UOA how can you tell if....

[Baveux]

Let say I dont have the choice. All I can get is a complete UOA without TBN. Am I going to get enough information to tell when my oil is shot ? Let say, if a report give me contamination ok, wear ok, and oil ok (without TBN reading )should I conclude that my oil is doing ok ? Can I based my OCI or can I rely on this analysis without knowing if the TBN is ok or too low ? What are the other sign of an oil due for a change . Thanks for helping your favorite Frenchie !!!

 

[Ken2]

A skilled, experienced interpreter of oil analyses can produce a good estimate of the remaining life of an oil without the TBN number. Ken

 

[RichR]

quote:

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Originally posted by Ken2: A skilled, experienced interpreter of oil analyses can produce a good estimate of the remaining life of an oil without the TBN number. Ken

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Cough,Terry Dyson,cough cough. See in home page site sponsor links under oil analysis.

 

[TooSlick]

I can also tell pretty much what's going on without looking at TBN's, but it's taken me ten years of looking at oil analysis results. I also have a very strong background in materials science and mechanical engineering and get paid to look at and analyze data five days a week. Even with that, I still miss perhaps 1 in 10 analyses I look at, in terms of root causes of abnormal wear. Interpreting oil analysis results is more art than science and just takes a lot of experience. The method is not something Terry and I can easily explain - that's not a sales pitch, it's the truth. Tooslick Dixie Synthetics

 

[widman]

As said, experience is the key. Also the other variables. Run a Universal oil in a gasoline engine and you will almost never have to worry about TBN. Run terrible diesel fuel in an engine and TBN is critical to longer oil changes. Our biggest contaminant here is dirt, maybe 1 in 200 analisis I run are low on TBN, and usuallly only on the garbage oils, not the good ones.