Oil Analysis question

Maintenance/Repairs
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1


Hi guys,



I want to do an oil analysis to check for damage to my engine. I had read somewhere on this forum that I could take the filter off my car after 500 miles post-trauma, and submit that.



I called Blackstone lab and they told me they needed 3.5 ounces of oil, at least.



Unfortunately, all I have from the last oil change is the old filter, which has some oil, but probably not more than 3 ounces.



Questions:



Are there any labs that can analyze the filter itself?



Or any labs which can use a smaller amount of oil, such as the residual oil from the oil filter?



Thanks!

2

3 oz. may be enough. You could submit what you have. You could also let the filter drain for a day or two and see how much you can collect.

There may be places that will analyze the filter material. I think that if you submit oil that’s been lying in the filter for a while though, you may be concentrating all the debris and crud that the filter captured in the oil sample, and I don’t know if the sample could be trusted as ‘normal’

3

The 3 ounces should be enough to get a good picture of what the oil is like. Make sure the continer is clean and the oil has not been contaminated by outside materials.

4

I’m not a chemist, but 3 oz is the size of a Dixie cup. That would seem like enough to analyze for elements that would indicate internal engine damage.

Analyzing the filter itself may be an even better indicator. Analysis of the oil will show whatever’s in suspension, but the filter COLLECTS evidence. The filter may contain better evidence of metallic particulates than the oil itself. As a mater of fact, and I’ll trust the chemists here to correct me if I’m wrong, I’d imagine that the first step in analyzing what’s in suspension would be to run some of the sample through a filter and examine the evidence.

5

Right now I ONLY have the oil filter and maybe a bit of oil that’s in it. So I’m worried that I won’t have the 3 oz of oil to pour into a container.

Does anyone know of any lab that accepts filters for analysis?

6

I don’t know of any labs that do filters. But I’m just wondering why you wouldn’t just wait until your next oil change. Or are you wondering about that batch of oil in particular?

If you really want people in the know check out this site:
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/cms/

7

Cut it open and give it a good squeeze.

transman