CarKeys

Why should I do it? What am I looking for?

I also hear the name Blackstone, should I get a kit from them or send the oil to them for analysis?

thanks

Optionman1

https://www.speediagnostix.com/

I've done 6 UOA with Lake Speed, Jr's company and they are more than happy to talk you through a report

Optionman1

UOA provide valuable information on how your oil is holding up (viscosity/oxidation/fuel dilution), the ppm of various additives, but most important it details any wear metals accumulating in the oil. Tracking trends in wear metals can show early signs of engine issues, etc. I suggest getting a UOA with EVERY oil change.

Hella-Buggin'

You basically send in a sample with each oil change to get a baseline of how your engine's components are wearing.
Ideally you'd see low wear numbers forever, but if you get a sample analysis back that's got something out of character, you'll
have an idea of what may be impending issues like bearings. It will also give you an idea if you have too much fuel in your oil, coolant in your oil
nerd stuff like that :-)

CarKeys

Thanks for the quick replies. Since the bottle from the kit holds just a sample, where should it be coming from? Like just a random sample or more toward the end of the drain?

Optionman1

Mid stream I seem to remember, just not the first oil that comes out. LN Engineering sells the Speediagnostix kits, very simple...collect sample and ship it off in prepaid box. Report either expedited (extra $) or 5-7 business days via email.

voiceprint1

would like to hear from a member who ran these and detected an issue before failure?

ZuffenZeus

I recommend this class hosted by The Knowledge Gruppe...

8x57IRS

[QUOTE=Optionman1;17303746]Mid stream I seem to remember, just not the first oil that comes out. [...]/QUOTE]

Just out of curiosity, why not take the first or last sip of an oil that comes out after warming up (and even cold would be fine)? It is constantly circulated and should be sufficiently homogeneous...?!
What sound reasoning would be against it?

Optionman1

[QUOTE=8x57IRS;17307295]I'm not qualified to answer but would assume taking the first oil that comes out if done when cold would yield contaminants that settled to bottom of sump, just my uneducated guess. Email speediagnostix and I'm confident they will give you the proper answer.

8KaboveMSL

[QUOTE=Optionman1;17307448]
I suspect that it is more important to sample consistently since the idea here is to look at trends. A single UOA (unless something terrible has already happened to your engine) probably won’t tell you much. The idea is to look at trends over time to understand if anything is changing (e.g. more of a certain particulate in the oil) and use that to understand what is going on inside the engine.

I am going to do my first couple of oil analysis (still have the oil from previous change and current oil needs changing soon) and plan on making sure I can repeat the sampling procedure consistently as I suspect that you’d get better understanding if you don’t inadvertently do something to affect the results of a single UOA. I think you want changes in the result in the UOA to be driven by actual changes in the engine and not your sampling methodology.

Just my 2 cents w/o being an expert on this topic, but having done a ton of data collection and analysis in both labs and real world environments in my career. These are basic things you have to think about when you want to collect data and trend it over time.

cosm3os

[QUOTE=8x57IRS;17307295]Because dirt on the outside of the pan will contaminate it when it first comes out, and crap in the pan will contaminate the last it out. Pull the plug, and in the time it takes to reach for the sample cup, you'll be good to go.

tapcon

A year or so into a new to me 997.2, the first couple UOA were consistent with nothing out of the ordinary. The third came back with fuel dilution elevated from .5% to 1%. The fourth at 2%. Car was running fine, no codes. My internet sleuthing led me to suspect the injectors. The local indy suggested instead trying a cheap alternative first - the plugs. Plugs were changed out, but looked good. Two UOA later, fuel dilution consistent back to trace amounts. For me, the UOA is cheap money for a range of good info on the oil package performance and the overall health of the engine.