Oil Analysis To Avoid - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

TomJ · #1 06-14-2004, 08:13 PM

This was from a customers truck (Ford Powerstroke) who's having problems since a "quick-change" oil place changed his oil and left it 8 quarts (yes, TWO GALLONS) low!

About the most pathetic analysis I've seen. Blackstone labs for me from now on.

lietuviai · #2 06-14-2004, 10:03 PM

I would say it would be better to avoid that quick change oil place even more!

boneheaddoctor · #3 06-14-2004, 10:13 PM

I think A lawsuit is in order.......................

And I want to know the economics of a $20+ analysis when I can buy 2 gallons of Delo 400 Isosynthetic for $15 and change it frequently..................

oldnavy · #4 06-14-2004, 10:32 PM

Boneheaddoctor the oil analysis was originally started so company's could detect a truck developing problems before break down to prevent losses in revanue from vailed deliveries or deadline dates, not to mention repairing an engine before it blows it guts all over the pavement.

It can be used the same way once a year or so by someone here.

To help prevent sudden failure of your engine or even excessive wear from an airfilter not fitting correctly.

wolf_walker · #5 06-14-2004, 11:55 PM

There's a 70 year old man at work, wrenches on the semi's that haul our scrap, we have a small fleet running daily. He was just saying yesterday, that every time he changes the oil he sticks his finger in the oil stream as soon as it comes out and watches for anything odd, metel bits, etc, and reaches in and feels around the bottom of the oil pan(large drain holes). They've never had one go down from an internal failure, he's probibly been at this place twenty years or more. Sometimes common sense is the best sense. He goes for that change it hot and often bit as well...

boneheaddoctor · #6 06-15-2004, 12:05 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by oldnavy
Boneheaddoctor the oil analysis was originally started so company's could detect a truck developing problems before break down to prevent losses in revanue from vailed deliveries or deadline dates, not to mention repairing an engine before it blows it guts all over the pavement.

It can be used the same way once a year or so by someone here. To help prevent sudden failure of your engine or even excessive wear from an airfilter not fitting correctly.

OK, with big rigs with 10+ gallons of oil and real long change intervals that makes a lot of sense since many go million+ miles between rebuilds.

On a car where it doubles oil change costs even with frequent changes, more frequent than really needed. Well I don't doubt the more you know about them the more sense they make.

I'll just lurk a bit more and read on........

oldnavy · #7 06-15-2004, 08:20 AM

On ships in the US Navy there is a position in the engineering dept called "Oil King" and this is the person that is responsible for testing the oil in ships engines.

On one of the ships I was stationed on a friend was the "Oil King", and I use to take a sample of my oil from my vehicles in an let him check them out. One of the many things I learned from him was that if you use a Class IV synthetic oil, you will probably never own the car long enough to ware the engine out. Unless you developed a problem that caused early ware, such as using poor quality airfilters, design, or mfg flaws.

He caught a problem on my '75 Olds '98 that saved me $$$$$, when on one sample from the Olds the silicon jumped big time. I had installed a K&N filter and it did a very poor job of filtering for normal streetf use, my friend reminded me that those race cars that run those filters get frequent rebuilds. I was hoping the car would get better fuel eccomony with the new filter, not to mention saving by not having to buy new filters all the time.

I have never used a K&N filter since then and in the 30 years I've been using synthetic oil, I've never worn out an engine or had an oil leaker. That includes one gasser that is pushing 200,000 mile at this moment and an '81 Datsun truck that went passed 200,000 miles.

autozen · #8 06-15-2004, 12:44 PM

Tom,
Call me slow, but I'm missing your point with the oil sample test.

Peter

JHZR2 · #9 06-15-2004, 01:19 PM

Depends upon the cost of that analysis. Id doesnt give TBN, but in our engines at least, soot is the determining factor. you can see that the major AW/D/D adds are still there in force, and that wear rates are low. For the most part there is no need for much else.

That said, oil analysis is very important to do, IMO. I caught an intake manifold leak on my 98 S10, which if Id have left it, would most likely have caused me to spin a bearing or ruin the engine in my pristine, showroom quality truck.

It also allowed me to do a cost/benefit analysis of my use of delvac 1, from a soot loading and maximum dispercancy standpoint, as well as MPG, oil costs, etc., to detemine that for my driving, delvac 1 is more economical than a conventional oil, considering MPG improvement and the ability to hold 4% soot rather than 2% typical.

But thats just me. Plenty of people have gone plenty of miles the traditional, non analyzing, drain ever 3000 mile method. And thats fine, nothing wrong with it. There is just technology that is available that can prove to be very useful, and which I and others like to take advantage of.

JMH