Lube Oil Analysis?

[Bigredmariner]

I was thinking of sending off a lube oil sample here pretty soon. Who should I use and how much does it cost these days?

 

[Zembonez]

Nick should know. I've never had it done myself.

 

[Bigredmariner]

I think he had mentioned using Terry Dyson but I was looking for a little extra info. I haven't had any done in many years, I used to lump them in with the samples from different shipping companies. But I can't do that with the gubberment.

 

[Carolinaboy]

Nick knows I'm sure, we were talking about oil analysis the other day

 

[Black02Silverado]

I use Terry Dyson I think for the money he is the best out there. You get a complete UOA. Most places just give you the basic wear metals. Terry offers everything that shows all aspects involved in a UOA. He sends you a report via e-mail in a PDF file and another MP3 file of him explaining each and every detail of the report. He offers suggestions to "fine tune" what might need to be done if there are issues. The analysis isn't cheap at $100 each. The lab is in Houston and he is located just outside of DFW. He has over 24yrs experience and is prior Navy as well. A really great guy. You can even call him if you have any questions and can't wait for him to respond to an e-mail.

There is also Blackstone Laboratories. They are good as well and offer a regular UOA for $22.50 and if you want them to read the TBN, which tells you how much life the oil has left in it that cost an extra $10 so a total of $32.50. It isn't as complete as what Terry offers but it gives you and idea on how your engine is operating.

 

[PenguinLTZ]

Jarrod, I use Stavely Labs (branded Detroit Diesel PowerTrac) and Horizon (branded MTU off highway) and you can pick these kits up for around $30 at any Freightliner or Detroit Diesel shop. You can also go into ANY Caterpillar store and get an SOS kit for about $35. They have thier own container, and all you do is mail them in, and create your own free account online to track results.

They work great.

 

[Bigredmariner]

Great I'll look at them all, appreciate the feedback from both of you. The SOS system with Cat I'm fairly familiar with just never thought about getting them to do one for a small truck. But hell oil is oil. Thanks fellas.

 

[PenguinLTZ]

Great I'll look at them all, appreciate the feedback from both of you. The SOS system with Cat I'm fairly familiar with just never thought about getting them to do one for a small truck. But hell oil is oil. Thanks fellas.

Yeah, the SOS will give you all the info you need. You just fill in the engine type, and they will flag any abnormalities. Many fleets use SOS for gas, diesel, stationary, marine, natural gas on/off highway, forklift, and yes...cars

 

[Bigredmariner]

It just shows how close minded we can get, I just always think of Cat as marine and truck engines. Even though we have small Cats in some of our other equipment as well. Never to late to learn a new trick.

 

[PenguinLTZ]

It just shows how close minded we can get, I just always think of Cat as marine and truck engines. Even though we have small Cats in some of our other equipment as well. Never to late to learn a new trick.

Yeah, I have just sold so many of them, and used them in the shop that I started using the Detroit kits years ago on my own stuff. Pretty cool, and it helped me identify the lifter failure in my '07. The dealership jumped on my sample data, and went with the lifter replacement.