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Oil Analysis... To do, or not to do..

notly1988

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11 Aug 2018
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Rag's old leggy Boxster is coming up for its next 3k mile oil and filter change...

Car is on 144k miles, the engine is on 110k miles (the first engine being replaced by OPC after IMS failure)..

So, i've never had oil analysed before and am thinking of doing it this time. How do I go about it and what will it tell me?

Assuming I get the oil tested and it tells me there are traces of the elixir of human life in it (or whatever else may be in it), what do I do with the information?

Is it a repeat in 3k miles and see if there are more minerals/metals in it, or is it a REBUILD IT NOW BEFORE IT BLOWS UP scenario?

I mean, what exactly is the point of oil analysis?
 
I think with a bit of luck it can be early warning of IMS failure, thus preventing the need for a rebuild due to failure?
 
In my case its to diagnose what the metal is in the oil this will assist in identifying what componant may be wearing or damaged allowing for a repair before it goes on to do further damage incresing the cost, I have installed a magnetic sump plug which doesnt seem to have collected any metalic bits indicating the metal is non furious which is a starting point ,it would allow you to decide it it was normal engine wear or if it was the start of something potentially more serious. you need to strip your oil filter at the same time and see if there are any particles the size etc etc. :thumb: :thumb:
 
When we've sent samples ashore for oil analysis it's usually a case of your original oil spec is compared to your sample taken. Looking at various stats such as fuel/water content, viscosity and as others said iron etc levels in the oil.

I'm unsure whether doing this as a constant prevention is worth it however it's interesting to see what results are.
 
notly1988 said:
I mean, what exactly is the point of oil analysis?

Is there a specific problem? If not, then there is basically no point in doing this at all. Traces of metal, certain percentage of water, different viscosity? How on earth is that useful in the context of a car which is running fine? Are you going to strip down the engine based on the results and start fault finding?

How much does it cost? Spend the cash on petrol or detailing!
 
On these engines the big end bearings can be worn out at anything over 100k, but they can go on for over 300k without much wear, its all pot luck.

These bearings are copper with a white metal wear surface.

Once the wear surface is worn out you will start to get copper in the oil.

Worth doing oil analysis on a car with more than that mileage to monitor the level of copper in the oil.

Once you see lots of copper = time to rebuild, even if the engine is seemingly running fine.

Leaving it will wear the crank which on these engines cannot be refinished and is £thousands.

You are not going to catch an IMS bearing failure.... these just let go with not real warning. Best Insurance against that is to buy an early 996 3.4 or a gen 997.

I get mine done by millers, under £30 each oil change. They always say the oil is fine for another 10k, put it back in :floor:
 

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