[Shop-talk] Lubricheck

[Karl Vacek]

Amen.  On the cars, I do 3,000-mile (or annual on the MG and Model T) oil
changes, despite running synthetic in the Mustang and Yukon.  I doubt that
this would show that the oil I'm throwing out is bad.

I change the Stearman's oil (4-1/2 gallons at a time) based on running time
and season.  Because of seasonal changes, I seldom approach the very
conservative 25-hour spec that applies but was set in the 1930's, but still
send samples to Blackstone every time.  They send more than a full sheet of
data, which I correlate to my recent maintenance and use/storage pattern to
make sure it looks right.

A simple good/sorta good/bad display doesn't tell you much about the
identity of various particulates, like how much iron, tin, lead, aluminum,
zinc, carbon, etc., so it's NOT a substitute for actual oil analysis.  Is it
better than not testing at all?  Maybe, but I don't want to wait to change
oil till I see a "bad" reading.

Karl


-----Original Message-----
From: Wayne 
Subject: Re: [Shop-talk] Lubricheck

Sounds awesome, but also like snake oil.

I send samples to Blackstone Labs for analysis. For $40, sounds like
sub-harbor-freight garbage I wouldn't trust further than I could throw it.
   -Wayne