Pre oil change UOAs
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The only downside I see is if you do it via extracting a small sample and the oil is past its useful life, had high wear metals, or it was loaded up with fuel, dirt from bad air filtration, or it was loaded with coolant from a bad head gasket. Then you ran it even longer than you should have while waiting for the report. Other than that I see no downside.
I have not. But i could see it if you wanted to do a 10-15k run.Pull a sample at 7500-10k to see where you are.
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I can get 5 quarts of good oil for less than $18 at my local WalMart
I can get a quality oil filter for under $7 there too.
$25 for oil and filter, and I do the change myself
..or..
Roughly $28 for a standard analysis from Blackstone Labs - $10 more if I want TBN, which would be a given if you want to see how much life is left in the oil. I still get my hands dirty.
Costs me less to do an oil change at 7,500 miles and be done with it than it would cost to test at 7,500 miles and then go another 7,500 miles if the oil is still good.
I'll stick with the 7,500 mile OCI.
I can get a quality oil filter for under $7 there too.
$25 for oil and filter, and I do the change myself
..or..
Roughly $28 for a standard analysis from Blackstone Labs - $10 more if I want TBN, which would be a given if you want to see how much life is left in the oil. I still get my hands dirty.
Costs me less to do an oil change at 7,500 miles and be done with it than it would cost to test at 7,500 miles and then go another 7,500 miles if the oil is still good.
I'll stick with the 7,500 mile OCI.
Conservatively? No problem. Leaving dino in for 12,000 miles? Potential problem.
Originally Posted by SirTanon
I can get 5 quarts of good oil for less than $18 at my local WalMart
I can get a quality oil filter for under $7 there too.
$25 for oil and filter, and I do the change myself
..or..
Roughly $28 for a standard analysis from Blackstone Labs - $10 more if I want TBN, which would be a given if you want to see how much life is left in the oil. I still get my hands dirty.
Costs me less to do an oil change at 7,500 miles and be done with it than it would cost to test at 7,500 miles and then go another 7,500 miles if the oil is still good.
I'll stick with the 7,500 mile OCI.
I used to feel the same way. I bought the Wix UOA kit from Rock Auto for under $10, a while back, which includes TBN. They run it on sale from time to time so I loaded up. Yes in some cases they can exceed the cost of an oil change. Keep in mind the UOA can detect a head gasket leak, long before the coolant level starts dropping, and tell you if your air filter and related plumbing is up to par, fuel dilution issues, along with other things. It can also tell you if your OCI really is good for your driving pattern. Mine told me my OCI was good, that I could increase it slightly in one vehicle, and following the OLM would not have been a good idea in both my Jeeps.
I wasn't a fan until I got one, the information was useful and beneficial. Opinions vary.
I can get 5 quarts of good oil for less than $18 at my local WalMart
I can get a quality oil filter for under $7 there too.
$25 for oil and filter, and I do the change myself
..or..
Roughly $28 for a standard analysis from Blackstone Labs - $10 more if I want TBN, which would be a given if you want to see how much life is left in the oil. I still get my hands dirty.
Costs me less to do an oil change at 7,500 miles and be done with it than it would cost to test at 7,500 miles and then go another 7,500 miles if the oil is still good.
I'll stick with the 7,500 mile OCI.
I used to feel the same way. I bought the Wix UOA kit from Rock Auto for under $10, a while back, which includes TBN. They run it on sale from time to time so I loaded up. Yes in some cases they can exceed the cost of an oil change. Keep in mind the UOA can detect a head gasket leak, long before the coolant level starts dropping, and tell you if your air filter and related plumbing is up to par, fuel dilution issues, along with other things. It can also tell you if your OCI really is good for your driving pattern. Mine told me my OCI was good, that I could increase it slightly in one vehicle, and following the OLM would not have been a good idea in both my Jeeps.
I wasn't a fan until I got one, the information was useful and beneficial. Opinions vary.
Originally Posted by demarpaint
Originally Posted by SirTanon
I can get 5 quarts of good oil for less than $18 at my local WalMart
I can get a quality oil filter for under $7 there too.
$25 for oil and filter, and I do the change myself
..or..
Roughly $28 for a standard analysis from Blackstone Labs - $10 more if I want TBN, which would be a given if you want to see how much life is left in the oil. I still get my hands dirty.
Costs me less to do an oil change at 7,500 miles and be done with it than it would cost to test at 7,500 miles and then go another 7,500 miles if the oil is still good.
I'll stick with the 7,500 mile OCI.
I used to feel the same way. I bought the Wix UOA kit from Rock Auto for under $10, a while back, which includes TBN. They run it on sale from time to time so I loaded up. Yes in some cases they can exceed the cost of an oil change. Keep in mind the UOA can detect a head gasket leak, long before the coolant level starts dropping, and tell you if your air filter and related plumbing is up to par, fuel dilution issues, along with other things. It can also tell you if your OCI really is good for your driving pattern. Mine told me my OCI was good, that I could increase it slightly in one vehicle, and following the OLM would not have been a good idea in both my Jeeps.
I wasn't a fan until I got one, the information was useful and beneficial. Opinions vary.
Oh, I still do regular UOA's on my oil, but not as an excuse to extend the oil out that far.. more as a way to track wear in the engine.
Originally Posted by SirTanon
I can get 5 quarts of good oil for less than $18 at my local WalMart
I can get a quality oil filter for under $7 there too.
$25 for oil and filter, and I do the change myself
..or..
Roughly $28 for a standard analysis from Blackstone Labs - $10 more if I want TBN, which would be a given if you want to see how much life is left in the oil. I still get my hands dirty.
Costs me less to do an oil change at 7,500 miles and be done with it than it would cost to test at 7,500 miles and then go another 7,500 miles if the oil is still good.
I'll stick with the 7,500 mile OCI.
I used to feel the same way. I bought the Wix UOA kit from Rock Auto for under $10, a while back, which includes TBN. They run it on sale from time to time so I loaded up. Yes in some cases they can exceed the cost of an oil change. Keep in mind the UOA can detect a head gasket leak, long before the coolant level starts dropping, and tell you if your air filter and related plumbing is up to par, fuel dilution issues, along with other things. It can also tell you if your OCI really is good for your driving pattern. Mine told me my OCI was good, that I could increase it slightly in one vehicle, and following the OLM would not have been a good idea in both my Jeeps.
I wasn't a fan until I got one, the information was useful and beneficial. Opinions vary.
Oh, I still do regular UOA's on my oil, but not as an excuse to extend the oil out that far.. more as a way to track wear in the engine.
Thanks for the feedback guys.
I wasn't necessarily looking to extend the interval, just pondering the utility of a pre- change UOA. On my trucks ( EB 3.5, GM 5.3 and Triton 5.4) I generally have done 5k OCI just cuz. All of them have their known issues, and I'd like do be oil change aware.... Now with my Acura I'm not so concerned and just follow the OCI More or less.
I have an oil extraction pump that I use my outboard boat engine, and using its tube and a syringe makes sampling easy actually.
And whoa! $10 Wix kits sounds like the ticket!
I wasn't necessarily looking to extend the interval, just pondering the utility of a pre- change UOA. On my trucks ( EB 3.5, GM 5.3 and Triton 5.4) I generally have done 5k OCI just cuz. All of them have their known issues, and I'd like do be oil change aware.... Now with my Acura I'm not so concerned and just follow the OCI More or less.
I have an oil extraction pump that I use my outboard boat engine, and using its tube and a syringe makes sampling easy actually.
And whoa! $10 Wix kits sounds like the ticket!
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