Oil Analysis

[widebody911]

As you know, I've been buying the oil analysis kits from Larry Turner and sending in samples to be analysed. At first it was just for the novelty, but I took it a little more seriously when the results showed ~10% of fuel in my oil! I'm still working on getting that fixed.

Larry has the results posted on his site, but I always have to go one better, so I got a text-dump of the data, put together a quick perl script to sort and format the data, and threw it up on my site.

http://www.vintagebus.com/cgi-bin/oil.cgi

Disclaimer: I did this a programming excercise - I need the practice. I am in no way affiliated with Larry Turner and his band of married men. He ain't payin' me, and I ain't payin' him. Your mileage may vary. If you're pregnant, or think you might be, or having a fun time trying, consult your doctor. Offer void in Elbonia. and other "Axis of Evil" states

[autobonrun]

Interesting analyses.

Once you receive all these data points, how do you know what is normal for your car (eg. for a 911, what is the normal amount of fuel that should be in oil)?

What does each individual metal tell you about what is happening? That is, does the presence of Al or Zn for example mean something in the engine made of these metals is releasing abnormal quantities of these components?

Are you able to narrow down the sources of the contaminants (eg. do you know what each engine component is made of?)

[RoninLB]

IMO, Larry Turner's oil analysis is a class act..he's 911 specific in his diag...I showed a relatively high silicone reading which relates to air filter/dirt...I did a better job on the current air filter install and want to retest to see if I did the right thing. He does supply info on what the readings mean. The tests are inexpensive and a great "eye opener".....Ron

[widebody911]

I'm still trying to get some sort of white paper on what the different contaminants represent. Someone has to have it, and until then, the data is interesting, but not conclusive. Larry is trying to get it from the lab, but for some reason, they're holding their cards close to their chest.