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Nope. It's a bolt. It works like normal bolts do. Loosen, tighten, top up.
Meh if I’m under there I’m there to change the oil not to screw around with oil samples. Either way. If a car sits around and it’s driven very little in a year just change the oil. What difference does it make? It’s oil that’s been exposed to some chemicals, wear and moisture. Even if your analysis shows high metal wear there is nothing you can do about it. About all you can do is sell it and let some ******* buy your headache. No oil sample is going to change anything about the way your engine is wearing out anyway. I guess if you’re a racer, or a engine with a lot of miles and you get consistently test the oil (basically every oil change you send a sample), for the average person with a car with low miles a oil analysis is fairly worthless.
I have NEVER in 28 years of driving and probably 70/80 different brands of vehicles had a oil related engine failure. (I’m counting work vehicles along with personal vehicles) for the past 15/28 years I routinely drove 50,000 miles a year (now about 35,000) and all I’ve ever done was change the oil at 5000 or 7500 depending on synthetic or regular. Once I hit 200,000 I get rid of the vehicle. The only exception on this is my diesel trucks.
Last edited by Electrician4you; 07-28-2018 at 05:39 PM..
The correct term for an oil analysis is called Spectroscopy. An oil analysis is not about one particular batch of oil but trending the performance of the oil in A specific engine. There's a bunch of engines out there that don't like synthetic based oils. Some don't like the sodium additives and some have a major issue with the amount of calcium used in the formulation, glazing of the cylinders will happen and excessive oil usage is the resulting problem. Spectrcscopy is subject to a few issues all in itself. Who sets up the machine WILL effect the results. Even if calibrated to an exact match to a fixed test sample, it still has a +/- allowance of 10%. That's a 20% variable. So using oil analysis is about trending the performance of an oil, not an exact equation or measurement of one batch of oil in your engine. In most cases, a single oil analysis report is a complete waste of money.
When you submit a sample for testing, the sample is heated and flashed in a chamber. The emitting smoke is subject to pure light. What is read by the machine is the color of the materials flashed. Each metal has a different color or light wave length when it's flashed. The machine reads these different light wave lengths and the volume of the same. That's what is reflected in your report. If you pay for the fuel dilution measurement in the oil, know that it is a calculation, not a real measurement. The TBN is a simple test that determines how much acid handling additives are left in the oil. The TAN tells you how many acids have been formed/neutralized by the oil. If you are going to get the oil analyzed, get the TBN and TAN. When TBN and TAN are close to the same number, the oil is toast, done, causing issues with lubrication. You can't go by TBN alone.
An oil analysis is not a good technology to determine total wear on an engine. Particle Count is the way to go. It will give you exact measurements of each micron size size particle and how many of each. Not all particle sizes will flash in Spectroscopy. Large particles like a 40 micron particle may not necessarily flash and it remains an unknown. A particle of 40 microns can and will damage your engine. A micron is 1/1,000,000th of a meter. Should you ever have an oil related failure, demand a particle count and analysis of the oil. PAY out of your pocket for each. This makes it YOUR property, not the car dealership, mechanic, etc that might be out an engine. You'd be amazed to know oil samples can disappear overnight.
The correct term for an oil analysis is called Spectroscopy. An oil analysis is not about one particular batch of oil but trending the performance of the oil in A specific engine. There's a bunch of engines out there that don't like synthetic based oils. Some don't like the sodium additives and some have a major issue with the amount of calcium used in the formulation, glazing of the cylinders will happen and excessive oil usage is the resulting problem. Spectrcscopy is subject to a few issues all in itself. Who sets up the machine WILL effect the results. Even if calibrated to an exact match to a fixed test sample, it still has a +/- allowance of 10%. That's a 20% variable. So using oil analysis is about trending the performance of an oil, not an exact equation or measurement of one batch of oil in your engine. In most cases, a single oil analysis report is a complete waste of money.
When you submit a sample for testing, the sample is heated and flashed in a chamber. The emitting smoke is subject to pure light. What is read by the machine is the color of the materials flashed. Each metal has a different color or light wave length when it's flashed. The machine reads these different light wave lengths and the volume of the same. That's what is reflected in your report. If you pay for the fuel dilution measurement in the oil, know that it is a calculation, not a real measurement. The TBN is a simple test that determines how much acid handling additives are left in the oil. The TAN tells you how many acids have been formed/neutralized by the oil. If you are going to get the oil analyzed, get the TBN and TAN. When TBN and TAN are close to the same number, the oil is toast, done, causing issues with lubrication. You can't go by TBN alone.
An oil analysis is not a good technology to determine total wear on an engine. Particle Count is the way to go. It will give you exact measurements of each micron size size particle and how many of each. Not all particle sizes will flash in Spectroscopy. Large particles like a 40 micron particle may not necessarily flash and it remains an unknown. A particle of 40 microns can and will damage your engine. A micron is 1/1,000,000th of a meter. Should you ever have an oil related failure, demand a particle count and analysis of the oil. PAY out of your pocket for each. This makes it YOUR property, not the car dealership, mechanic, etc that might be out an engine. You'd be amazed to know oil samples can disappear overnight.
I’ve never herd of anyone who was so obsessed about getting an oil analysis on their vehicles engine oil that’s ocd.
But in order to get the oil sample you’re gonna have to change the oil. I have never done any oil analysis on my vehicles. I just change my oil every 5k. I have never had a oil related vehicle failure.
I used to send in an oil sample every change with my planes, because I wanted to know if there was any sudden increase in metals, etc. I'm not worried about being stranded at the side of the road, but I really, really didn't want my aircraft engine to quit while in flight.
I'd probably want an analysis for a race car, just because they're driven so hard, but I've never gotten one for any of my cars and don't intend to ever do so.
I've never had an oil related vehicle failure either, not in 55 years of driving -- probably a little over a million miles.
I’ve never herd of anyone who was so obsessed about getting an oil analysis on their vehicles engine oil that’s ocd.
Plenty of people do them. They are usually a topic of discussion on may enthusiast forums as people who spend $50-60K+ for a vehicle, want it to last a long time.
The oil type I use in one of my vehicles (which I personally have never had an analysis done on) was selected based on posted results of oil analysis showing the metal content. One particular oil posted better results (less metal content), so that's the oil I run in that vehicle now.
Call it OCD or not, but excess engine wear is something you generally want to avoid.
I used to send in an oil sample every change with my planes, because I wanted to know if there was any sudden increase in metals, etc. I'm not worried about being stranded at the side of the road, but I really, really didn't want my aircraft engine to quit while in flight.
I'd probably want an analysis for a race car, just because they're driven so hard, but I've never gotten one for any of my cars and don't intend to ever do so.
I've never had an oil related vehicle failure either, not in 55 years of driving -- probably a little over a million miles.
Yeah well.......planes are a little different. If cars were subject to the same maintenance and safety inspections as a plane most of us would be taking the bus.
Race cars....sure I got a engine that’s worth more than a entry level car I would want to know things like that. But again racing is a pretty expensive hobby. I’m talking real racing not taking your personal car out on track day or coffee and cars.
To me the oil change analysis ranks in the same rung as the guy who uses synthetic oil and changes it at 2500/3000 miles because “it will make the engine last longer”. It’s a feel good effort. Sure it may possibly add some amount of longevity. Not enough to pay off the added expense over the years in oil costs. And too bad the guy most likely won’t have the car to enjoy the supposedly added longevity.
I have multiple cars that reached 160/180/395,000 miles. All original engines never been apart. And that 395,000 miler? Still cranks over just fine.
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I just went 8900 miles on my oil. Castrol Edge was used. Its a synthetic oil. I am going to do an oil analysis so I can know whether its good for another couple of K miles or I am pushing. In the past I have done 10k oil change blindly. This time want to push it to 12k with Pennzoil Ultra Platinum.
No, when it hits 3k I'll dump it again, then go to 4k after that.
It's mostly City/Suburbia with extreme dust conditions.
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