The bottom line is that having an oil analysis done for other than diagnostic purposes and basing your oil change frequency on it is a purely personal choice. If it “floats your boat”, that’s great. Me, I’ll just change it on the recommended schedule or sooner if I get bored. Criticizing those who aren’t interested on getting an analysis done, or demeaning them, or trying to make them feel ignorant, or attempting to cause them guilt or fear about their oil change schedule, is just plain wrong. Not on a technical basis, but rather on a personal respect basis.
Your car’s designers have determined an oil change schedule that should provide your engine with a long happy life. For those who choose to try to prove themselves smarter than that designers, more power to you. Leave the rest of us alone.
The technical issues are not what have caused this thread to run well over 100 posts. The attitudes have.
@asemaster: “For the average guy, my comment rings true. Spending the $40 or so for an oil analysis in the hopes of being able to save $35/year on oil changes just doesn’t make sense to me.”
If one $25 oil test allows the next 10 oil change intervals to be extended then it can save money.
Say $350 for 50,000 miles vs 75,000 miles. 75K would otherwise cost $525.
In my case I drive infrequently, so I change oil once a year: 4-5,000 miles.
I wouldn’t feel right going past a year, even if it tested good.
??? Prices for oil analysis ranges from $18 (plus shipping) to $50. Blackstone is but one of many that offer the service, including Associated Petroleum, Spectra, and others. The cost also depends on the level of testing, etc.
But again, I believe that if doing it to gain information and insight into engine condition it’s a good thing to do, regardless of the price.
If you’re doing it SOLELY to try to extend the oil change interval, well, it’s not even worth the trouble of collecting and mailing the sample, much less the $18-$50 cost.
Is anyone disagreeing with the notion of getting an oil analysis to confirm that it’s OK to change the oil at today’s extended intervals recommended by the manufacturer (10K-15K or what the OLM says)?
I don’t think the cost and trouble is needed if you follow factory service schedules and use the proper oil and filter–and check and add oil as needed.
@asemaster, that thar is one interesting straw man.
I don’t think the cost and trouble are needed either. I’ve never suggested an oil analysis is “needed” or “necessary.” I only suggested that it might be a useful tool for those who are interested in using it. You’re obviously not interested, so at least in my view, it doesn’t apply to you.
My comment about getting the analysis was based on so many here being reluctant to follow the manufacturer’s recommendations for today’s extended oil change intervals.
If the manufacturer and OLM keep saying change it in the 10K-15K range, and fear of the unknown is keeping someone from following it, then the cost of an oil analysis is very cheap.
@JoeMario, yeah, but if someone doesn’t trust the auto manufacturer’s recommendation, and he doesn’t trust the oil life monitor, I don’t think he will trust a used oil analysis either. It’s too scientific.
Again, we keep talking about different oil change intervals, the never ending topic, in isolation. It means nothing. No one disagrees that changing mineral oil more frequently is better for a car. No one claims that changing synthetic oil is better. But, all of you who stand stead fast with 5k oil changes WITH MINERAL OIL, can only make sense if you compare it with 10k up to 15 k oil changes with synthetic oil. If you find, that after 10k oil test of synthetic oil results in better lubrication properties like a retention of viscosity rating, BETTER THEN MINERAL OIL after 5 k oil, then you have answered your own question. ( why should I bother )
If you claim that changing oil at 5k is better then 10 to 15 k miles and don’t mention the synthetic being used, you need to. Maybe, the tests on a 10k oil oil change using synthetic would be benefiting and worth doing. Worth doing especially if the 10k synthetic was much better then mineral was after 5k in properties that convince you it’s better for your motors.
I wonder if some board members assume that the oil test be done at every extended oil change after working up to it. It seems to me that a possible scenario goes like this:
Start with an analysis of the oil when it is changed to see how much life is left.
Increase the oil change interval until it is about 3/4 of the apparent total life based on the analysis.
Test the oil again to confirm whether a quarter of the life is remaining.
Continue changing at 3/4 oil life gone if a quarter of the oil life remains.
You might test again if you are conservative.
These every 3rd or 4th oil change to verify that nothing has changed.
Test immediately if normal driving regimen changes dramatically to become more severe.
This may reduce the total cost of oil changes, depending on whether you can find mineral oil with enough ZDDP for extended oil changes or synthetic oil with enhanced ZDDP levels. The California test already showed that the Fram X2 filter can handle extended change intervals. And ther might be other reasons to extend oil changes as well.
Oil analysis deals with wear metals, oil viscosity, water content, glycol content, acidity, non-metal contamination such as carbon and acidity. If any of these fall outside the borderline, the oil is condemned.
A used oil lab reoprt has all these facts, plus a set of comments from the analyst. For instance, a lot of glycol may indicate a gasket leak, a lot of metals such as copper indicates excessive bearing wear, and so on. Oil lab reports are easy to read and cover a lot of items a computer analog from an OLM will not tell you!
Equipment operators and trucking companies perform regular oil analysys to identyfy impending problems as well as optimize the oil change interval.
…and I agree that if you have a fleet it is a great idea.
I also maintain that pretty much every thing you cited above can be seen by simple observation.
granted you won t have the exact percentages, but an experienced person can see feel or smell most of it.
and thanks whitey, I went with the above post instead of my original idea in the same interest…
Auto manufacturers that put OLMs on their cars have already done the oil analysis and tied the results to key parameters that camn be measured on the engine. You can follow the OLM if you don’t want to do an oil analysis yourself.
yeah, but if someone doesn't trust the auto manufacturer's recommendation, and he doesn't trust the oil life monitor, I don't think he will trust a used oil analysis either. It's too scientific.
The problem with non of the extended oil change advocates addressed (although I asked many times)…is how they hold up for 300k miles (which is what I usually do). Every single report I read said that they are fine for 150k miles…but NOT ONE report said anything about 300k miles. The 15k oil change should be fine for the 90% of new car buyers. Until I see the evidence that it’s fine for 300k miles I’m sticking to what I know works.
@MikeInNH, the reason I don’t address that is that it can be addressed in the results of your used oil analysis. If you switch from dyno oil to synthetic long life (10,000 mile) oil, and go from 5,000 mile oil change intervals to 10,000 mile oil change intervals, a used oil analysis can confirm your car will last as long as it would have otherwise.
If you think you’ll get more life out of your engine with 5,000 mile dyno oil changes than you’ll get changing Mobil 1 10,000 mile synthetic oil every 10,000 miles, it’s an easy theory to test. You just send both oil samples for testing, the dyno oil after 5,000 miles and the Mobil 1 10,000 mile synthetic oil after 10,000 miles.
I realize you aren’t willing to do this experiment yourself, so next time I change the oil in my car, I’ll do it for you. I’ll collect a sample, send it for analysis, and replace it with long life synthetic oil. Then, after 10,000 miles, I’ll send the synthetic oil for the same test at the same lab. Would you care to wager which oil will have more life left in it?
Unfortunately, my experiment on my 1998 Honda Civic at 275,000 miles won’t tell you if you should do the same with your car, unless you happen to drive the same car in the same conditions, but I am willing to conduct the experiment if it will satisfy you.
The California Dept of Corrections buses averaged 949,649 miles during their extended oil change interval test. The average oil change interval was 23,162, but many oil change intervals were 50,000 miles or more with the highest mileage interval at 79,777 miles between oil changes.
The CDC also tested 15 GMC 8 vans, and they accumulated an average of 213,290 miles during the test. The average change interval was 10,157 miles and the max was 44,721 miles between oil changes. At higher mileage they noticed increased levels of potassium and sodium in the oil. The problem was known to the test team as a design flaw in the engine that led to coolant leakage. Oil analysis showed th eextent of this problem and the CDC switched to Ford V10 vans.