A few years back an aggressive (...OK fraudulent) quikie oil change place told me I had a bunch of metal shavings in the oil of my Suburban. I thought they were full of it, but the question stuck in my mind. So I sent an oil sample to Blackstone labs, and it turned out the engine was fine, no evidence of excessive metal. Do any of you folks routinely send oil samples on your cars or on prospective new purchases of used cars? http://www.blackstone-labs.com/ Addendum: check out the FAQ under Technical, look at gas/diesel, pretty funny.
Many airplane owners do it religiously. I've never done it for my cars though, even though I knew about the service (not Blackstone in particular, there are lots of others) because of my airplane ownership. If you just want to look for metal, you can always cut the oil filter open and look for yourself. The % elemental analysis is more molecular and can be useful, since it tells you something's out of norm in terms of wear and probably which parts before it gets to metal bits in the oil filter. However, a good oil analyst, who is familiar with an engine, can not only tell you something is out of norm and which type of parts, but can be even more specific and diagnostic - but that's a real expert, you usually don't get that for $20.
I have a BlackstoneLabs test bottle sitting at home waiting for my next oil change. I haven't used an oil test in the past but, as my car is getting close to 170,000 miles I figured it'd be best to get some info. I plan on rebuilding the engine and keeping the car as long as I can. Knowing how long before I need to rebuild it is key. Then I can plan for it well in advance. FWIW I’ve always run Mobil 1 15w-50 in the car as did the previous owner. At 110,000 miles valve clearances were within spec and I just recently adjusted them. Only three valves needed new tappets (adjustment). My turbo also lasted about 60,000 miles longer than the usual 100,000 miles most turbos go. I can only hope the rest of the engine is in such good shape. I guess we’ll find out.
I had an intake manifold leak on my car and I was able to find this out through oil analysis. You cant really depend on sending just 1 sample in from a car from one oil change interval to determine how an oil or engine is performing. You need to do 2 or 3 oil change samples in a row to get an idea where youre at. Ive used Blackstone in the past, great turnaround time. I think I sent my sample in on a Monday and had the results Thursday of that same week. For any and all things you might want to know about oils/filters/lubrication your best bet to acquire information is at: www.bobistheoilguy.com Probably more info on that site than most of us will learn in a lifetime. Member AEhass that posts here is a regular there and has shared his insite on thinner oils in his Ferrari and Maybach.
