Different types of motor oil ?

[Biggd]

Sorry but in post #12 you said do the first 5 oil changes regular and then every 100K after that?

Originally Posted by mswlogo

Yeah, I’d do anything on a car when I was kid.
But I moved on from 100’s of bolts to millions of transistors.

In the 70’s and 80’s you were lucky to reach a 100K miles.
Assuming it didn’t rot out before then. Changing oil every 3K.
Today it’s pretty routine to reach 200-300K. Without rot. With 10K intervals.
Problem is, other systems in the car need work and are not worth fixing.
Old Electrical, suspension, AWD systems can get expensive on repairs.

All my cars were in top running condition when I sold them.
Some with over 230K.

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[mswlogo]

Originally Posted by Biggd

Sorry but in post #12 you said do the first 5 oil changes regular and then every 100K after that?

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I know testing oil is a foreign concept for you.

I would do OIL TESTS on the the first 4-5 oil changes.
After confirming the interval had some life left in the oil and nothing was changing test to test.
Then I would stop doing OIL TESTS, it's not cheap and a PITA, but a few tests were worth it to me.
Then I MIGHT do another OIL TEST at 100K and 200K. More curious than anything. At 200K I didn't really care.

If you are really into cars it can spot problems before to much damage is done and a lot of car fanatics will test every oil change.

I just wanted to confirm the oil interval was safe (with plenty of margin for error) I don't do 12K miles. Typically 8-9K. But if it ran to 11K I knew it would be fine.

My latest car I skipped doing oil tests, don't ever check the oil and never change the oil or filter Kind of like your lawn mower I guess.

Yes, I've done my research on the internet for a lot of things and I wouldn't try to learn about oil on a Lake Forum. That's why I steered the OP to the right place.

Oh and that high mileage oil can help on some cars with some problems. I'd love to share stories on it but I don't feel like getting bashed on that too.

[thinkxingu]

Originally Posted by mswlogo

I know testing oil is a foreign concept for you.

I would do OIL TESTS on the the first 4-5 oil changes.
After confirming the interval had some life left in the oil and nothing was changing test to test.
Then I would stop doing OIL TESTS, it's not cheap and a PITA, but a few tests were worth it to me.
Then I MIGHT do another OIL TEST at 100K and 200K. More curious than anything. At 200K I didn't really care.

If you are really into cars it can spot problems before to much damage is done and a lot of car fanatics will test every oil change.

I just wanted to confirm the oil interval was safe (with plenty of margin for error) I don't do 12K miles. Typically 8-9K. But if it ran to 11K I knew it would be fine.

My latest car I skipped doing oil tests, don't ever check the oil and never change the oil or filter Kind of like your lawn mower I guess.

Yes, I've done my research on the internet for a lot of things and I wouldn't try to learn about oil on a Lake Forum. That's why I steered the OP to the right place.

Oh and that high mileage oil can help on some cars with some problems. I'd love to share stories on it but I don't feel like getting bashed on that too.

Is the interval the only thing you would've changed with the testing results? I mean, how many vehicles/machines fail because of oil quality? Other than running dry or overfilling, I'm not sure I've ever even heard of it happening.

I've only been driving and using machines for 27 years, but I'd be surprised if outside of racing/incredibly high tolerance engines, oil doesn't matter much beyond proper amount, viscosity, cleanliness, and interval.

I suppose if one is attempting to see how long an oil would last between changes, testing might be useful, but, for me, there are so many variables I'd have to build in a sizeable margin of error anyway.

For example, I go 10k on full synthetic in my 4Runner, but if I'm towing or doing a lot of backcountry runs in summer, I'll go 5K.

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[Biggd]

Usually the only reason to test oil is for an insurance company or an auto manufacturer to have legal standing for getting out of paying for an engine failure under warrantee.

Originally Posted by thinkxingu

Is the interval the only thing you would've changed with the testing results? I mean, how many vehicles/machines fail because of oil quality? Other than running dry or overfilling, I'm not sure I've ever even heard of it happening.

I've only been driving and using machines for 27 years, but I'd be surprised if outside of racing/incredibly high tolerance engines, oil doesn't matter much beyond proper amount, viscosity, cleanliness, and interval.

I suppose if one is attempting to see how long an oil would last between changes, testing might be useful, but, for me, there are so many variables I'd have to build in a sizeable margin of error anyway.

For example, I go 10k on full synthetic in my 4Runner, but if I'm towing or doing a lot of backcountry runs in summer, I'll go 5K.

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[Poor Richard]

Actually there are people who use oil analysis to monitor engines over the course of time, not necessarily for litigation purposes.

Originally Posted by thinkxingu

Is the interval the only thing you would've changed with the testing results? I mean, how many vehicles/machines fail because of oil quality? Other than running dry or overfilling, I'm not sure I've ever even heard of it happening.

Oil testing can be (and is) used to monitor engine health in general so it's not so much a failure would be related to the quality of the oil rather it could be a failure of an engine component that is affecting the quality of the oil.

Internal combustion engines are comprised of numerous types of metals and coatings. There are a handful of laboratories, Blackstone being one, that have a database and therefore a good idea of what a "normal" amount of wear looks like in oil samples.

So, in addition to being able to test the quality of the oil in your oil sample, they can also see if there is anything that might be wearing prematurely within the engine.

I can say for sure Blackstone knew I had a main bearing failure in one of the samples I sent them, a turbo bearing failure in another.

[mswlogo]

Originally Posted by thinkxingu

Is the interval the only thing you would've changed with the testing results? I mean, how many vehicles/machines fail because of oil quality? Other than running dry or overfilling, I'm not sure I've ever even heard of it happening.

I've only been driving and using machines for 27 years, but I'd be surprised if outside of racing/incredibly high tolerance engines, oil doesn't matter much beyond proper amount, viscosity, cleanliness, and interval.

I suppose if one is attempting to see how long an oil would last between changes, testing might be useful, but, for me, there are so many variables I'd have to build in a sizeable margin of error anyway.

For example, I go 10k on full synthetic in my 4Runner, but if I'm towing or doing a lot of backcountry runs in summer, I'll go 5K.

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Pretty much yes. I would start out around 7500 miles and see what blackstone would say as far as how much life left is in the oil I sent. Then if they said I could go say 3000 miles more I might add only 1000 miles instead (e.g. 8500 miles) on the next round and test again. I wanted plenty of margin. Like at least 1000 miles less than they said I could go. Because I might not always change it on the dot. I didn’t want to pick a number out of thin air like some folks do. The oil I was using on the last car was VERY expensive. So in the end it saved me money and time, and time is money. And I’d never let anyone change my oil even when it was free. Seen to many screw ups. And it took less of my time to do it myself.

An important measurement is TBN explained here. There are many other parameters to indicate the oil is still functioning. They will give you all the numbers (and typical range for your motor and age) and then a written recommendation. Sort of like what you get from a blood test. It’s not black and white.

https://www.blackstone-labs.com/do-i-need-a-tbn

And no, the most common reason for testing oil is NOT litigation. It’s probably the least common.