Virgin UOA'r Advice

[Gebo]

Okay, how and where do I begin? Thanks to dnewton3 I'm gonna try and break my addiction to synthetic oils. I've been addicted for over 25 years so this ain't gonna be easy. I want the most bestests and most accurate and most cheapest with lightning fast turnaround oil analysis. Also, what tests do you recommend I ask for? Do I need TBN?

What if I want to send a sample in without removing my drain plug? Say I do one at 3k and again at 5K. Do I suck it out the dipstick? Understand, I am willing to do a little more in beginning as I am going "cold turkey." As things check out and I can start sleeping at night knowing my engines aren't dissolving while a bunch of rust maggots and and roaming zombie iron particles aren't chipping away ....then I can back off a little and just continue experimenting per Dave Newton. Anyways, I have 8 engines to evaluate.

 

[bepperb]

Aren't you going to spend more on UOA's than the premium Synthetic runs over conventional? I mean, if each of your cars needs 2 UOA's to make you feel good about it that's 320 bucks. That's a lot of 5 quart jugs of Synthetic.

3000 miles? Don't waste your money on a report you already know what it will say. Maybe 5000 and then if that looks good 7500 on most of those. Personally if I had that many cars everything would be on a 5000 mile OCI just to keep from going insane. And conventional really will do 5000 on all of those.

The problem with pulling a mid-oci sample is the mess you make. If you have a mityvac you can just pull it out the dipstick tube. If I've already got the drain pan out, car on ramps, the plug off I'll just go through with the whole shebang.

 

[Gebo]

I only have to pay for 3 so it won't be "that" bad. I'll follow your advice and just do the initial one at 5000 miles through the regular oil change.

What about who to use and what to have tested? I'm assuming Blackstone is the favorite?

 

[yucca]

I like to use wear check labs. I also prefer to use a pressurized port to pull samples.

I don't get much value out of pulling samples on the p/u's in our fleet @ 40gas/20diesels. Mostly HEMI's and Cummin's. I think your better off just using a quality conventional oil and doing OCI's at 5k.

 

[Oregoonian]

IMO...if money is tight....just use a good conventional like PYB....and do 5000+/- OCI's...and forget UOA's because we know that PYB will easily do 5000.

Since your a pastor....spend more time in study....and "Preach the Word".

 

[Artem]

Start at 5k for sure. It's been proven time and time again that there's plenty of oil life after only 3,000 miles. At around 5k most oil are nearing the end with a few thousand miles left to spare as a safety buffer zone.

I hope you're using good quality oil filters with all these engines as you step into the vortex of extended OCIs.

 

[roadrunner1]

Currently I'm spending less than 12 dollars on UOA's, but this test doesn't include TBN testing.

The test kits I use are available through any Deere dealer, the only additional cost is shipping, around $1.50 through USPS.

The kits available offer a bellows with a tube for extraction through the dipstick tube, or a small large mouth container.

Turnaround is usually within 3-4 days, I have an online account (free of charge) so I can check as soon as they are posted and compare previous ones, then a few days later I receive the paper copy in the mail.