Oil Analysis Lab

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Joined
Mar 10, 2011
Messages
5,960
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Location
Oklahoma
My Car
1971 Boss 351
1971 Mustang Sportsroof
1972 Q Code 4-speed conv.
I work on overhead cranes in steel mills and manufacturing facilities. We do a lot of oil samples and analysis. We pull oil from gearboxes on the cranes and send them out to see if there are any signs of significant wear happening inside. If there are large amounts of bearing material, or brass from certain types of bushings, we can catch it before it becomes a failure. How often we do it depends on the environment the crane is in. Some companies ask us to do this twice a year, others once a year, others once every few years. By catching it early you can schedule a rebuild and have all the parts and bearings onsite ready to go, much less down time rather than waiting for it to break. A little preventative maintenance can go a long way.

 
Just sent my sample of oil out to Blackstone. Kind of like a blood test....

they sent me a kit to collect the sample (less the pump for $35 which can be used later)

Very easy to do by extracting the sample through the oil dipstick tube.

when I get the results back via email, I'll post them.

Now off to do a compression test (stress test).

Feels like something I do every year...:-/

Dan



 
One thing I would suggest to you guys that have hot cams and big valve springs is to always cut your oil filter open and look for any metal in there. That would be signs of cam or lifter wear. Can check with a magnet if it sticks it is iron if not it could be bearing material.

The only reason I had the oil checked in my car was due to sitting since 1982. It cost as much to test as to change, lol.

 
One thing I would suggest to you guys that have hot cams and big valve springs is to always cut your oil filter open and look for any metal in there. That would be signs of cam or lifter wear. Can check with a magnet if it sticks it is iron if not it could be bearing material.

The only reason I had the oil checked in my car was due to sitting since 1982. It cost as much to test as to change, lol.
+1 I always cut my filter open and inspect after each oil change.

 
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