Used Oil Analysis (UOA)

[brad]

The ones which pop up on Google are:
Oilcheck with pricelist - lowest $36
OilTest

e-Monitor comes up third.

So what sorts of test results do we need that aren't in the cheaper tests???

We get the $52 Level 2 check done (but we buy 20 kits at a time = $38 each). The price includes sample bottles, postage & the report. We've only just started doing oil analysis recently so it will be a while before I get enough history to judge the benefit.

Quote from my post at another forum:

Here's a sample engine report from oilcheck - which we don't use. We are more concerned with hydraulic systems & freakin' big water pumps (24 metres high) and get a slightly different report at Level 2 complexity (it doesn't test viscosity index or PQ index).
By the looks of it, the OilCheck test (over & above e-monitor) looks for Nickel as a wear agent; Potassium & Boron (contaminents??); checks the additive pack (Calcium, Zinc, Phosphorous, Molybdenum); checks oil viscosity @100c rather than 40c (more relevant?); gives actual fuel dilution (rather than Pass/fail); plus some other extras. But e-monitor gives a PQ index (metals in suspension?).

I was going to use OilCheck to determine how the oil is holding up to 15,000km service intervals. By the time the car is out of warranty, I might swap over to variable services (up to 30,000km/2 years between oil changes) if the oil appears to be staying in good chemical condition.

[bluey]

The company who sample/tests your engine oil has no data specific for every engine ever made.

But surely most engines would run similar sorts of numbers in different phases of their life...

Secondly, they have the data and should be able to analyse it more sensibly in comparison to all their data on record if they were doing the job properly. The oil analysis companies have way more data than an online community forum could ever collect.

[Transporter]

But surely most engines would run similar sorts of numbers in different phases of their life...

Secondly, they have the data and should be able to analyse it more sensibly in comparison to all their data on record if they were doing the job properly. The oil analysis companies have way more data than an online community forum could ever collect.

If you want to be very accurate in translating results of UOA the engine manufacturer would be the best source for that. Since the materials they use to make the engine from could be changed at any time - like gaskets and adhesives. All aluminum engine like R5 in T5 and Touareg which has even the timing gears made of AL alloys would have resulted in showing to much AL particles which could be wrongly translated by oil company if they don't know what is the engine made of. But you are right the oil company can give you rough idea if the result is good or not.

[brad]

But surely most engines would run similar sorts of numbers in different phases of their life...

Secondly, they have the data and should be able to analyse it more sensibly in comparison to all their data on record if they were doing the job properly. The oil analysis companies have way more data than an online community forum could ever collect.

While the analysis should provide some guidance, I think it's up to the end user to interpret the specific data and decide what action should be taken. There were a couple of "red flags" on our first hydraulic oil tests but when I started making some comparisons & asking a few questions, things weren't as grim as first thought.

Maybe it's a waste of time getting a check done on the first fill of oil.

[Arctra]

I am about to get my first service done on my Tiguan and am considering UOA. My brother is a farmer and gets the UOA done on the tractors regularly and reckons it is amaizing how accurate the reports are.

I have 2 questions:
1) Is it worth getting UOA done at my first service?
2) Do you know if the VW dealers can do it themselves?

[Transporter]

I am about to get my first service done on my Tiguan and am considering UOA. My brother is a farmer and gets the UOA done on the tractors regularly and reckons it is amaizing how accurate the reports are.

I have 2 questions:
1) Is it worth getting UOA done at my first service?
2) Do you know if the VW dealers can do it themselves?

Yes, it is a good idea, from the wear particles you'll be able to tell when your engine is fully run in. Usually it gets done when oil is close to being changed so you know if you can continue driving on that oil or change it. If you drive the same routes you could use the UOA to plan to get maximum from the oil. You don’t need UOA every time you change oil.

You can contact oil company, they will send you oil sampling kit and you send sample to them. You will need to strictly follow the instructions how to get sample from sump to sampling container without contaminating it (not that difficult).

[brad]

I am about to get my first service done on my Tiguan and am considering UOA. My brother is a farmer and gets the UOA done on the tractors regularly and reckons it is amaizing how accurate the reports are.

I have 2 questions:
1) Is it worth getting UOA done at my first service?
2) Do you know if the VW dealers can do it themselves?

2) Probably not. Generally UOA is used where the sump volumes are much bigger. For $80 oil + $20 filter it's hardly worth spending the $40 on UOA.

1) I can get mine done for nothing, and i still don't bother. At the first service, I just figured the report would come back with the oil full of metals - so what's the point? i know it's full of metals at the first service.