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Oil Analysis... To do, or not to do.. That is the question..

ragpicker

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14 Apr 2013
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4,062
Rag's old leggy Boxster is coming up for its next 3k mile oil and filter change...

Car is on 144k miles, the engine is on 110k miles (the first engine being replaced by OPC after IMS failure)..

So, i've never had oil analysed before and am thinking of doing it this time. How do I go about it and what will it tell me?

Assuming I get the oil tested and it tells me there are traces of the elixir of human life in it (or whatever else may be in it), what do I do with the information?

Is it a repeat in 3k miles and see if there are more minerals/metals in it, or is it a REBUILD IT NOW BEFORE IT BLOWS UP scenario?

I mean, what exactly is the point of oil analysis?

:?:
 
Never heard of it :dont know:

Beyond cracking open the filter for bits of metal what else can analysis detect? :?:
 
New997buyer said:
Never heard of it :dont know:

Beyond cracking open the filter for bits of metal what else can analysis detect? :?:

I believe:

It gives you a breakdown of the various microscopic minerals and metals in the oil which are in greater quantities than they should be.

So if the oil shouldn't have any copper in but yet it says there is 10.000ppm in the sample then it is a sign that copper is getting in from somewhere. You can then think of whichever parts within the engine consist of copper and deduce that this part is wearing more than it should.

Well, thats my very limited understanding, hence asking the question :thumb:
 
That is pretty much what it does, most get it done to find out a specific problem that has arrised but there is no harm in finding out in advance if something is on its way out or not as the case may be. It can also tell you the condition of your oil, ie past its best.
 
I'd only bother if I had a hunch something was untoward. Next option is just inspect your filter and mag sump plug if you have one. :thumb:
 
I did see an episode of car SOS where they visited MILLERS oils and they analysed the oil and gave a good/healthy or bad/rebuild now analysis :thumb:

Obviously based on the metallic/mineral inclusions in it they can determine the state of the engine.....................might be a can of worms though RP :dont know:
 
I did one recently as I needed a new variocam solenoid, and wanted to see if it was better to just replace that part only or include it as part of a full rebuild.

Oil analysis test gives a lot of info.

1) Water content in oil (any cracks in liners, head etc)
2) Viscosity @ 40C (is oil holding up)
3) Insoluble content (soot)
4) Iron / Chromium / Aluminum / Moly / Copper / Nickel / Silicon etc (if something is wearing this should be elevated and the offender identified; copper - crank bearing, Aluminum = piston, Chromium = rings...)

Combined with a compression / leakdown test, an oil analysis is about as good as you're going to get to see how things are going without a teardown.

This great thread by a fellow forum member detected a dying crank bearing with oil analysis.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=47&t=1601182&i=220

For the record, my '99 3.4 engine passed the oil test nicely and showed great compression all around on a recent test. But it has only done ~117k miles so its early days yet.
 
Im going to do it for every annual / oil change. It gives you a good indication of whats happening.

You'll need two or three spread out samples to give a good indication if something is wearing quicker. For all it costs its good info to have for sure I believe.
 
Had my oil analysed before the service last month. After 5000 miles it came back as suitable for further service and with no elevated levels of wear metal or contaminants.

Will repeat before each oil change to see if anything is cropping up.

Coullstar - I wonder if oil analysis would have picked up on RS4 exhaust cam wear? I suspect it might have shown elevated iron levels.
 
I was going to do this for the first time ever this service, however I forgot to tell my Indy when I dropped my car off and by the time I text him a few days later, he'd dumped the oil. So I guess I'll wait until next year now. :D

There wasn't a spec of debris in my oil filter though and my IMS bearing is absolutely perfect he says (engine on 65k), so seal now flipped off.

So like I say, maybe next year for analysis. One half of me says the more you go looking for problems, the more you find them, but the other half says obviously it's good to have a heads up on impending doom.
I'm happy enough with my engine for now though. We all have our own view on how to approach things. :thumb:

Also -

Raggy! Just the man! I've got a special on leather belts this week. Guaranteed 100% "engine transportation" spec. :grin:
 
Marky911 said:
I was going to do this for the first time ever this service, however I forgot to tell my Indy when I dropped my car off and by the time I text him a few days later, he'd dumped the oil. So I guess I'll wait until next year now. :D

There wasn't a spec of debris in my oil filter though and my IMS bearing is absolutely perfect he says (engine on 65k), so seal now flipped off.

So like I say, maybe next year for analysis. One half of me says the more you go looking for problems, the more you find them, but the other half says obviously it's good to have a heads up on impending doom.
I'm happy enough with my engine for now though. We all have our own view on how to approach things. :thumb:

Also -

Raggy! Just the man! I've got a special on leather belts this week. Guaranteed 100% "engine transportation" spec. :grin:

You normally suck the oil sample out through the dipstick hole so it doesn't get contaminated.

I think that an oil sample analysis would find issues before you could see metal flakes in the filter - by then all those metal flakes have been through your oil pump and damaged that at the very least.
 
Hi searider,

Yes I wasn't suggesting I could spot what the oil analysis could. :D
I was just stating that for another year I'll just be content in the old skool method of checking the filter for debris.

I know the oil analysis spots things earlier. I didn't know you had to remove oil separately though so thanks for that. I may do it next year, we'll see. :thumb:
 

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