T&T: oil analysis

[Faure, Marin]

>What has been the experience of the list with oil analysis companies?
Cost and understandable results.

An important thing to understand is that a single oil analysis doesn't
mean a whole lot by itself.  It may show a snapshot of the levels of
metals, acids, etc. in the oil, but this will depend on how long the oil
that was tested had been in the engine.  The real value of oil analysis
is as a trend indicator, and for this you need to have the oil sampled
and tested on a regular schedule.  Then you'll be amassing data that can
be analyzed to see what's going on inside the engine over time, what
components might be wearing out, how the way you run the engine is
affecting it, whether your service intervals should be changed, etc.

______________________________
C. Marin Faure
GB36-403 "La Perouse"
Bellingham, Washington