When Should I Do My UOA?

[DD]

So I'm right in the middle of my first ARX cycle right now. Specifically, I'm almost 500 miles into the 'clean' phase. The oil and filter were changed about 170 miles before I put in the ARX (seemed 'new' enough).

Would it make any sense to do a used oil analysis at the transition between clean and rise? Or after the rinse phase?

Or would it be better get the whole ARX cycle complete, and do it with just a 'regular' oil change? This would make it 3 changes in the future: clean->rinse at 1500 mi from ARX time zero, rinse->regular at 3000 mi from ARX time zero, regular->regular at 6000-8000 mi from ARX time zero.

Thanks,

DD

 

[blupupher]

What is the mileage and history of the engine, and what vehicle?
Personaly, I would probably wait untill after the rinse phase, after the first "clean" run of oil. If you did it now or during the rinse, it would probably be scewed(sp).

 

[Gary Allan]

I wouldn't do a used oil analysis until you're on your second OCI of whatever oil you intend to use normally. If you're just looking for how the oil did ..then you can do it with the first OCI. You'll know if you have coolant issues or air filtration issues ..how the TBN is ..visc and fuel and water content (all outside influences in terms of trouble) ..but you may not be able to determin how the engine is responding to the oil. You don't know how much is diruption of the previous chemsitry ..residuals from the last OCI ..etc..etc. JMHO.

 

[DD]

quote:

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Originally posted by blupupher:
What is the mileage and history of the engine, and what vehicle?
Personaly, I would probably wait untill after the rinse phase, after the first "clean" run of oil. If you did it now or during the rinse, it would probably be scewed(sp).

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Well, the vehicle is in my sig...

Up until 40K (I'm the original owner), I was getting my oil changed under maintenance and using whatever oil the Audi dealers were putting in. Since then, I've used various synthetics with 5K OCIs. My current oil is Mobil 1 0W-40.

Current mileage is just a hair shy of 52000, or about 500 miles into my ARX clean cycle.

DD

 

[LVHospiceRN]

quote:

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Originally posted by DD:

quote:

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Originally posted by blupupher:
What is the mileage and history of the engine, and what vehicle?
Personaly, I would probably wait untill after the rinse phase, after the first "clean" run of oil. If you did it now or during the rinse, it would probably be scewed(sp).

---

Up until 40K (I'm the original owner), I was getting my oil changed under maintenance and using whatever oil the Audi dealers were putting in. Since then, I've used various synthetics with 5K OCIs. My current oil is Mobil 1 0W-40.

Current mileage is just a hair shy of 52000, or about 500 miles into my ARX clean cycle.

DD

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Is there a specific reason why you ARX'ed it? Oil consumption? "Dirty" engine?

darrell
sin city

 

[DD]

quote:

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Originally posted by LVHospiceRN:
Is there a specific reason why you ARX'ed it? Oil consumption? "Dirty" engine?

darrell
sin city [/QB]

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Just paranoia, really. The car is hitting the 50K mark, the engine type is sludge-prone, it's chipped now, and for half of its life it was using the standard-sized filters that Audi had previously recommended before switching to the giganto ones last year.

I haven't pulled the top off the engine, but if I look in the filler hole I don't see any sludge, although I do see what is probably varnish.

DD

[ July 04, 2005, 03:41 PM: Message edited by: DD ]

 

[Steve S]

Why would you want to do a used oil analysis with cleaning or rinse oil ? What do you expect to gain from an oil anaylsis at this time? did you do one before the A R/X treatment?

 

[DD]

quote:

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Originally posted by Steve S:
Why would you want to do a used oil analysis with cleaning or rinse oil ? What do you expect to gain from an oil anaylsis at this time? did you do one before the A R/X treatment?

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I didn't do one before the ARX. I'm sure doing one mid-cycle would give screwy results that would make a poor baseline, but I'm curious as to what it would show. It might be interesting, because as far as I know, nobody's ever done that.

FWIW, I sent this question to Blackstone tonight. We'll see what they say...

DD

 

[DD]

FYI, here is what Blackstone had to say on the issue:

[FWIW, some might consider it a breach of netiquette to post this without permission from Blackstone, but I don't think there is any sensitive or private information in this reply.]


" to me

We've seen samples from all stages of the Auto Rx additive, and it doesn't seem to make too much of a difference. Terry Dyson might be able to give you more insight as to how it might affect results, since he has a lot of experience dealing with it. But from my experience writing reports, I have not seen a major correlation between Auto Rx and weird results. I would just run a normal oil change interval and send in your oil at that point.

Kristin"

 

[TomJones76]

I'd personally wait until the oil change after the Auto-RX rinse phase, but that's because I'm cheap and I feel I'll get my most valid results then.
If you want to do a before, during treat, during rinse, and after rinse UOA, though, I'm sure the whole board would be highly grateful if you posted all four.

 

[LVHospiceRN]

quote:

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Originally posted by DD:
FYI, here is what Blackstone had to say on the issue:

[FWIW, some might consider it a breach of netiquette to post this without permission from Blackstone, but I don't think there is any sensitive or private information in this reply.]


" to me

We've seen samples from all stages of the Auto Rx additive, and it doesn't seem to make too much of a difference. Terry Dyson might be able to give you more insight as to how it might affect results, since he has a lot of experience dealing with it. But from my experience writing reports, I have not seen a major correlation between Auto Rx and weird results. I would just run a normal oil change interval and send in your oil at that point.

Kristin"

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If Auto RX does such a GREAT job cleaning your engine....wouldnt the "dirt" for lack of a better term, show up in a used oil analysis, possibly as silicon?

darrell
sin city

 

[DD]

quote:

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Originally posted by LVHospiceRN:

If Auto RX does such a GREAT job cleaning your engine....wouldnt the "dirt" for lack of a better term, show up in a used oil analysis, possibly as silicon?

darrell
sin city [/QB]

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I would have thought it would have shown up, too, in some manner. But maybe it shows up in a way they don't measure?

DD