Used Oil Analysis- Good or Useless?

[bretfraz]

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Originally posted by Spector:

quote:

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Originally posted by Dr. T:
The point of this post is that while used oil analysis are an indicator, they shouldn't be taken as gospel to determine appropriate wear or oil change intervals. Again, the 3mp oil study....why aren't we all doing 18k oil change intervals with Mobil 1 5w30??? Can someone tell me they're convinced to switching to 18k from 3k/3mo. changes???

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Good point.

In my case although I am playing the devil's advocate on this thread, I have used used oil analysis to establish the intervals, from 5000-12,000 depending on the car/driving etc., but do I need to keep doing them once this has been established, probably not.

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I agree with the thought that used oil analysis do have a tangible value in establishing OCI's but beyond that it's more entertainment than anything.

I would not use someone else's used oil analysis history to determine how to care for my car. The only used oil analysis that matters is the one done on YOUR car, based on YOUR choice of oil and YOUR driving habits and conditions. While the 3MP test was interesting and entertaining, ultimately its meaningless for everyone except 3MP.

 

[Dr. T]

What's funny is you guys dicker with used oil analysis to find out which 30 weight is the "best"

The point of this post is that while used oil analysis are an indicator, they shouldn't be taken as gospel to determine appropriate wear or oil change intervals. Again, the 3mp oil study....why aren't we all doing 18k oil change intervals with Mobil 1 5w30??? Can someone tell me they're convinced to switching to 18k from 3k/3mo. changes???

 

[widman]

The coolant was in a regulara analisis for the customer. I monitor 117 pieces of equipment for him, and this was the second analisis for this pickup, the first being fine. The subsequent analisis is also fine (probably will post to my site when I slow down a bit). This customer used to rebuild engines every 6000 hours with (Bolivian Pennzoil) oil changes every 200 hours (3000 km on vehicles). after two years of analisis he now changes oil between every 450 and 500 hours (6,000 to 8,000 km) and hasn't lost an engine. I've paid for more than 400 oil analisis for him, but he spends more than $30,000 a year on oil. Down from $60,000 he spent on the cheaper. We have totally changed his maintenance program.

 

[Robbie Alexander]

Originally posted by TheTanSedan:
So what youre saying is to Simply Connect a wire like a battery cable wire from the frame to the MOTOR ? perhaps TWO> ??? and this will make my engine run better and my electric components run longer and NOT (why) to use dielectric grease.

 

[Mark in NY]

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Originally posted by userfriendly:
For the price of a used oil analysis, I'll change the oil 3X instead.
That way I can spend most of my money on beer and women.
The rest I can waste.

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Thanks for the info Userfreindly,

Living in one of the worlds high cost neighborhoods, I am not sure I can relate the cost of just one used oil analysis to a night of beer and women. But I am a curious person so, my next vacation is gonna be in your town !

 

[Robbie Alexander]

I want my Chicks for free !!!!

quote:

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Originally posted by Mark in NY:

quote:

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Originally posted by userfriendly:
For the price of a used oil analysis, I'll change the oil 3X instead.
That way I can spend most of my money on beer and women.
The rest I can waste.

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Thanks for the info Userfreindly,

Living in one of the worlds high cost neighborhoods, I am not sure I can relate the cost of just one used oil analysis to a night of beer and women. But I am a curious person so, my next vacation is gonna be in your town !

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[ekpolk]

Originally Posted By: Robbie Alexander
I want my Chicks for free !!!!

quote:

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Originally posted by Mark in NY:

quote:

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Originally posted by userfriendly:
For the price of a used oil analysis, I'll change the oil 3X instead.
That way I can spend most of my money on beer and women.
The rest I can waste.

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Thanks for the info Userfreindly,

Living in one of the worlds high cost neighborhoods, I am not sure I can relate the cost of just one used oil analysis to a night of beer and women. But I am a curious person so, my next vacation is gonna be in your town !

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WARNING: THREAD FROM THE DEAD, REVIVED!!!

Yeah, I'm a Dire Straights fan too!

Seriously, though, every once in a while, I like going back and finding an ancient thread that seems to have some relevance to things that are still being discussed. I like this one because of how well it addresses the debate as to the value of used oil analysis and how far they may be taken.

Since this issue seems to keep on going, year after year, I decided to go ahead and revive this long dead, yet very relevant, conversation. Enjoy.

 

[rclint]

ekpolk I think this was a good regenerated thread just look at the views on used oil analysis now.. we have now 3 aspects (more I'm sure) but this seems to be big disagreements or contradicting views.. Synthetics verses convention and within this contradiction is real synthetic verses group III oils. Then we have OCI's extended verses short, and now we have used oil analysis it's a valid tool, or it's worthless with many things in between it's good for some things but not for others or it can be used if trending for long periods of time, catching a event before catastrophic breakdown, and last but not least judging an oils makeup/judging oils comparing to each other etc.

I'm not saying any of these are valid, just the opinion I come to by reading the forum. It also seems that many have gone to not using a used oil analysis as any evidence or only looking at specific things while giving no creditability to any other part of the used oil analysis (any of this is the users choice as they paid for it)...

 

[webfors]

As buster mentioned 7 years ago and just a couple of pages back they are good for trending, all things staying the same. They are also good to evaluate the condition of an oil, which I think is very important when looking to find a comfortable interval for an engine/oil combo. As a result some engine/oil combos are found to be severely flawed for even the recommend oci (i.e. VW's DI and fuel dilution issues). So in this case it provides a tool to confirm that decreasing an OCI below the manufacturer recommend OCI is required.

Also an excellent tool to catch head gasket leaks, which can save an engine if caught early. My policy is a used oil analysis every 12-18 months. Since I don't extend my OCI the only thing these used oil analysis are good for are finding coolant and other contaminants.