Oil analysis - worthwhile as a routine practice?

[Bob England]

There is an interesting article about diesel engine oil analysis in the September issue of the online magazine Fresh Water Seas (see http://www.freshwaterseas.com/2000/09/coverpage.asp#oil). This article recommends engine oil analysis as a part of annual maintenance. It discusses do-it-yourself analysis by color testing and the "crackle test" but also discusses lab testing. Does anyone do this? Is it a worthwhile practice? What would a routine lab analysis cost? I've read of people having warranty disputes with engine manufacturers using lab analysis, but not heard of anyone doing this routinely. By the way, this online magazine, devoted to Great Lakes sailors, may also be interesting to some salt water sailors.Thanks for your comments,Bob England

 

[Gordon Torresen]

Oil analysis

Thanks for steering me to Fresh Water Seas. It looks interesting. I hope I can find enough time to read it all. Their article on oil analysis is interesting. We have been offering the service at our yard fo a number of years and, of the 250 oil changes we do each fall, none of our customers choose to utilize the service with any regularity. Occasionally we get a taker and send his sample out. The results come back, get looked over, a copy goes to the customer and the report gets filed. As the FWS article says, a history of reports might be more meaningful. I'm afraid I can't advise as to the merits of the testing. Looking at the number of responses, there aren't too many out there doing it.