How often do you get a UOA

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It depends. In my Jeep, every oil change as I am trying to see what is up with the copper/lead. In my Dodge pickup, a few times trying to determine the safe OCI. In my new Forester, maybe once its at 25K miles, then we will see.
 
Never....a waste of money IMO. Just purchase top shelf oils, and do OCI's in a reasonable time frame. Most vehicles will go 250k +\- with good maintainance, reasonable OCI'S, and good oil and filters.
 
It depends upon what you're trying to accomplish. It's an entirely different thought process if you're trying to extend OCIs to the max versus checking occasionally for coolant intrusion and how the lube survives the regular OCI versus doing it just for the fun of it. I haven't done any, but I certainly may. The average motorist has never even heard of a UOA, much less had one done.
 
Originally Posted By: Oregoonian
Never....a waste of money IMO. Just purchase top shelf oils, and do OCI's in a reasonable time frame. Most vehicles will go 250k +\- with good maintainance, reasonable OCI'S, and good oil and filters.


Ditto. Never.
 
Originally Posted By: micmac
Once it is broken in, do you check once a year? Every third OC? Recommendactions please.

Any time there is an itch that needs scratching.
 
Let's say I determine 12k miles is completely safe with oil X and filter X when the car has 50k miles. By 100 or 150k at least it seems like another UOA would be in order?
 
Mostly for fun and to confirm my OCI is not too long. If the maintenance schedule changed significantly I might do another one. I go around 9,000 miles between changes and the UOA confirmed it was okay but I was going that far for years before I ever bothered to have a test done.
 
Well, if it makes you feel good, has entertainment value, and you can write it off in your maintenance budget, what a deal!
 
I do it mostly as a hobby for my 13 Accord. I change the oil when the intelligent OLM this 15%. This has been between 8 and 10 months so I do an oil UOA every time. I may do it less once I get two UOAs on the oil I started to use for my last oil change.
 
At ~ 15,000 to confirm proper break-in and no other surprises like coolant in the oil. Maybe again at ~ 70,000 IF I am going to keep the car for another 30,000 or more. Ed
 
Originally Posted By: micmac
Once it is broken in, do you check once a year? Every third OC? Recommendactions please.


In our fleet if we were running bypass filters and extended intervals we tested every 90 days.

But seriously, if you change your oil as soon as most folks do there is virtually nothing in a single UOA that will help you do anything. You need a minimum of 3 to even begin to understand what they can give you, and there is an awful lot of stuff they can miss entirely.

Most folks here give them wayyyyyy too much importance IMO...
 
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