Got some flyer in the mail for a company that sells oil analysis kits. Having never heard of this, I read further that they claim that trace amounts of certain metals and chemicals in your used engine oil can indicate an imminent engine failure, or help you troubleshoot an engine problem. Sounds like a lot of horsesh#t to me, but was wondering if anyone had enough money laying around to try it. Just curious, really, but thought it was worth asking.

 

 

There was a 15-20 page thread about this in the itr forum ... but I can't find it.
If you go to http://www.bobistheoilguy.com there's an assload of info about oil analysis and 2 of the sponsors do the analysis- Blackstone labs and Terry Dyson.

Personally, I think it's good to see how your engine is looking over time by comparing analysis , but as for indicating 'imminent engine failure' ..... I wouldn't hold my breath

jeff

 

I send my oil out to Black stone laboratories for analysis. They have been doing this for years and have a huge data base of all cars, it's a great tool. I would recomend them over any self oil testing kit.

BTW, I find that my oil is still very clean after 4 track days, so you guys who say you need to change oil after every weekend are wrong, at least for my car anyway.

 

I'll also recommend the bobistheoilguy board and have my oil analysed by Blackstone. Obviously, oil analysis is not going to identify every upcoming engine failure, but it can (for example) detect a glycol leak from a blown headgasket in the early stages. Glycol-contaminated oil is a poor lubricant, so it's good to pick up on the contamination as early as possible.

Also, intake leaks that result in dirt bypassing the air filter can lead to high silicon counts in the report. Also good to know before the problem causes excessive wear.

 

aircraft engine builders get the engine oil analyzed. u can tell whats goin on in the engine by what metals show up int he oil

 

Amsoil offers the same service, though they may send the samples to one of the national labs. It's probably a good idea for maintenance reasons.