Oil Change

[hauss]

Originally Posted by patrickt

Of course she sits in a climate controlled garage 99% of the time and I send off samples regularly to monitor for wear particles, ZDDP levels, the presence of water, coolant, or fuel and to watch the TBN value. The latter is 10.6 for Brad Penn right out of the bottle, and I believe it was down to 8.8 when I changed it. And if you're thinking, "gosh, wouldn't it be cheaper to just change the oil more often?" you'd be absolutely right... but not as much fun.

I still think my oil is cleaner than yours because I change it more.Remember they do not test for everything just some things.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by hauss

I still think my oil is cleaner than yours because I change it more.Remember they do not test for everything just some things.

Naah, if it's important then it's on the list... including plain old dirt. Plus, if you've got antifreeze in your oil, or even a high level of fuel, then you need to know it... even if you're changing your oil every other weekend. It's more important to know what's in your oil, and how your oil behaves over time, than it is to just blindly change it at a given interval. Unless, of course, you own a Jiffy Lube franchise, then you want to encourage people to blindly change their oil as often as possible.

[Kit Coyle]

Patrick...Having the oil checked sounds like a good thing to do. I have my
blood tested once a year, so why not my oil... which is sort of the blood of the
car. Who do you send your sample it to, what does it cost and what does their
diagnostic form back to you actually look like? I'm sure the results
give you a pretty good snap-shot of engine health if it reveals things like
oil and gas being present where they should not be.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by Kit Coyle

Who do you send your sample it to, what does it cost and what does their diagnostic form back to you actually look like?

I have sent my samples to Blackstone Labs for over a decade. There's a little form on their website to ask for free sample bottles (yes, just like going to the urologist) and the cost is about $35. Here's a sample PDF report from them (this is not mine, I just Googled for it). https://www.blackstone-labs.com/wp-c...cooled-BMW.pdf But what they also do is pull your file and go over previous tests for the same engine and then red flag any trends they don't like or anything that they're going to be watching for in the future. Kind of like what your doctor does with your weight, cholesterol, A1C numbers, etc.