Why do UOA with low miles?
- Thread starter mez
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UOA can be done to detect coolant leaks or fuel leaks, for example, regardless of the number of miles on the oil.
For the most part they are a waste of money. If you suspect a problem(coolant leak)then a UOA might be able to help you. I did two last year on both of my cars for the novelty of it. If you plan to do very long OCIs( well past 10k)it might give you some peace of mind with the TBN, but up to 10K UOAs aren't necessary for a well running engine.
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I agree. A uoa with less than 7500 miles are always boring and the exact same thing. Oh 11 or 14 ppm iron? Who cares. It's in the noise of the reading anyway.
Maybe a coolant leak or another problem, but almost always just an anal owner.
Maybe a coolant leak or another problem, but almost always just an anal owner.
Originally Posted By: bepperb
I agree. A uoa with less than 7500 miles are always boring and the exact same thing. Oh 11 or 14 ppm iron? Who cares. It's in the noise of the reading anyway.
Maybe a coolant leak or another problem, but almost always just an anal owner.
AO here....I'm thinking about doing a UOA on mine at about 2K (never done one before). This is a high mileage engine...194K...and I want to understand what's causing the early discoloration of my oil. I have very little history on this engine.
Anal Owner maybe........inquiring mind certainly......a test for the UOA lab to convince myself if they're worthwhile too.
I agree. A uoa with less than 7500 miles are always boring and the exact same thing. Oh 11 or 14 ppm iron? Who cares. It's in the noise of the reading anyway.
Maybe a coolant leak or another problem, but almost always just an anal owner.
AO here....I'm thinking about doing a UOA on mine at about 2K (never done one before). This is a high mileage engine...194K...and I want to understand what's causing the early discoloration of my oil. I have very little history on this engine.
Anal Owner maybe........inquiring mind certainly......a test for the UOA lab to convince myself if they're worthwhile too.
Turbos are tough on engine oil. I'm going to start my first UOA with 5k miles.
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I agree that I see what seems like a lot of low mile syn UOAs. I keep on extending my OCI on both my cars (running on PP Syn) and haven't found the bounds yet. One is still breaking in and the other gets such varied use (3 miles at a time on cold starts around town for months on end and then perhaps 500-5000 miles on a road trip) that to keep from wasting my money by changing the oil too often/leaving it in too long I'm going to go to pulling a sample and having it analyzed and then deciding how much longer to go before changing it. If I go the more economical route I won't bother getting a UOA on the oil when I change it and just stick with the partial OCI analysis.
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