Well now you shifted to the topic to
early draining or not.
Somewhere else on BITOG I posted a list of additives or chemistries that would not be seen in a $20-35 VUO or UOA.
Dispersant - Succinic ashless dispersants
Cleaners - Ethoxylated alcohols
AW - Polymer Esters, Ionic Liquids
Friction Modifiers - ashless friction modifiers such as GMO and other fatty acids
And any other chemistry that may be ashless.
As far as early oil changes in a new engine and FF oil, I look at it this way: It is my vehicle and my engine so I will change the FF oil and filter at 500 miles if there are no signs of oil consumption during that period. If there is, I may take it to 1500 miles.
What you want in a break-in (run-in) oil for a
rebuilt engine is plenty of ZDDP from an oil that shows about 1200 ppm of zinc and phosphorous, + ,- 300 ppm with little or no friction modification.
If you are going to do UOA's for trending and to track oil condition over time, you need a VOA for any oil you are using since formulations have been changing quite a bit as of late.
The VOA will show you what the CURRENT,
visible oil mix is to establish a baseline.
For example, if the oil manufacturer changes to a sodium multi-functional additive component with 200 ppm of sodium chemistry, and your UAO shows that, then you don't have to replace the head gaskets.