Sammy, I know Hergurth labs well. We should really talk off line.

As for using right before you change your oil is too late, I understand your stance and agree to a point. Oil analysis is used for two main reason and several other reasons. first and formost as a diagnostic tool yet it is also used as a means to set change intervals. Now, is it a waste to take a sample and change oil anyway? Nope, not at all. The idea is that oil analysis will be able to see some emerging issues way before they are a serious issue. So, how often should you test? Well, I guess that depends on why your testing. If its just for diagnostic reasons I would test for the first time when the oil was in the system for 10 to 20 hours - this gives a engine or tranny base-line. You only have to do that once. I would also as good measure send in a virgin sample from the oil can just so you have a virgin baseline. Then I would test 50% into the life of what you think that oil life is. After that I would pull a sample right before I was going to change. I now have 4 samples for $40 to $50 that trends what my engine blood looks like. I can change if I wish or wait to see what the lab says. If it looks good I would keep it in and go out 25% into the future and draw another sample them. If the tests come back OK I would continue with the 25% rule until the lab says the oil is beginning to breakdown. By this time the oil is actually OK but the lab will tell you to change it. The rule of thumb is that if the lab says to change it it measn you have about 20% life still on the oil.

For the cars we drive it sure seems to make sense that we test the stuff that has a direct relationship to the life and well being of the engine.

ok - here is some more info beyond what I wrote above...

Oil analysis is like a blood test
1) Sample is taken, sent to lab
2) Sample internally documented
3) Sample is analyzed (see above for tests done)
4) Results are interpreted - thats the difference in many labs. I know a great one that has a real person looking at the data and responds! You can even talk to them directly!!!
5) Diagnostic report is issued - you get results via email or the web but they also have an app that dilers real time results as well.

Why do Oil Analysis?
Fluid Management
Serviceability
Contamination
Drain intervals
Predictive Maintenance
Abnormal machine wear behavior
Maintenance planning
Elimination of repetitive problems
Reliability
Ferrographic failure predictive capability
Root cause analysis
Lifetime projections
Machine Wear Behavior
Identify problems in the initial stage of development
Pinpoint component source of wear
Contaminants
Early detection of Dirt, Water, Coolant, Fuel Dilution, Soot
Wrong oil
Lubricant Serviceability
Lube suitability for further service time
Lube requires off-line purification
Reservoir needs sweetening or changed

so i guess it goes into much more than just fig'n if it needs changing or not...

There was a guy doing this on Rennlist(?) a few years ago. Don't know what happened to him. I did it a few times for my 911, and while I found it interesting, I was never able to reach any definite conclusions from it.

I'm in

I would be interested as well.

I'd be interested...

I send my oil off new cars (to me) to Blackstone to get a baseline and figure out if I need to sell it again quickly. :) I also have used oil analysis when I had slow coolant leaks (disappearing wihtout a leak) to make sure it isn't going into the crankcase.

So, yes, I use it, but how are you going to offer this at 1/2 to 1/3 of the price of Blackstone Labs? And will it have the same great customer service and customized analysis (real person writing a summary / diagnosis of the findings)?

G

Ok, Doc... Am I doing this right or wrong?

Air cooled engines that get little use may only get one oil change per year, so I encourage my customers to get oil analysis at their annual service. I believe that these documents give me data that I can look at and hopefully see any deviation from a normal trend-line. That tells me something is going wrong, and that I should look for a cause. If I can find that cause, then maybe the damage is only a couple thousand rather than tens of thousands.

At least one post here seems to indicate that I am just pissing up a rope.

I know people ;)

Your not pissing up a rope. Any yes, while sammy is very direct with his opinions and he is a bright guy I disagree with his ideas on a certain level when it comes to oil analysis.

I would suggest pulling a sample about twice as often. At $10-$12 a throw - it ain't gonna make anyone rich and it sure ain't gonna break a bank but, the amount of data derived is invaluable.

At $10-$12 a throw it's good clean fun for just the curiosity value alone

and yes you do get top notch folk pouring through the data...I know because I have trained some ;)

Bring it on. But I want "Hello George, your Sequoia blablabla, you can push the interval another 2k miles for next analysis blablabla ... " :)

G

I'll play.

I am in IF....

I fully understand all the great information that an oil analysis will.tell me.
I just don't understand what to look for with the report.


Can I ask questions or get help with a summery (oil analysis results for dummy's) of the report?


Just saw this has already been answered. I am in.

OK, I'm going to be in LA next week - maybe I should swing into PP and set sump'n up...

also brake fluid analysis

Thats doable as well...actually pretty easy. Test it like any other hydraulic fluid analysis.

How about deep fat fryers? Can you check the french fry oil too?

G

Actually, I do know an enviro lab that can!