oil analysis at 197,000 miles

[mcrews]

I am a big believer in regular oil & filter changes. Several months ago there was a thread about intervals and I realize that everybody has an opinion. I get my oil analysed on a regular basis. As I approached 200,000 I wanted to get a good idea of where I was at on longevity of the engine as far as wear goes. I bought this car at 40,000 miles so I could not effect the breakin wear.
Here is a copy of the report. with the cost to replace this engine being $10-15K, it is worth changing the oil 3-5k.



As an additional note: my bus partner bought a 2007 tahoe used from a chevy dealer. Very clean and a good deal. He drove 3,900 mile (tex to ca to colo to tex) and finally had it changed and got a test sample sent in.
The engine came back with very low wear which was very reasuring, but even better news was that the oil from the dealer still had plenty of 'properties' left in it. Which was an add plus. It meant that the dealer does not cut corners on the quality of the oil they use on cars that they sell as used. (the dealer had show jerry their check list of the service that they do before they put the tahoe uot for sale)

[DieselDan]

Hey mcrews
That's it, regular oil+filter changes give long engine life

How much does an oil analysis cost?

[mcrews]

It's $20-25 us for the top part and $10 more for the properties.

[RobertSmalls]

Originally Posted by mcrews

with the cost to replace this engine being $10-15K, it is worth changing the oil 3-5k.

Nonsense. You can get a working pull with half as many miles for $650 and have it installed for under a grand.

There's no sense in extending your OCI to the point where it causes a significant increase in wear, but there's equally no sense in changing it every 3000mi whether it needs it or not.

Regular oil changes are critical, but regular does not imply frequent. My car calls for an oil change every 10000mi/1yr, so I change it every spring.

More modern engines are supporting much longer OCIs, and 10000mi is commonplace. Even my '96 Subaru called for 7500mi on conventional oil, and those are not known for lubrication-related engine failure.

[Big Dave]

I use a high-quality synthetic with a by-pass filter. I routine go 75,000miles between oil changes. Watch the iron, copper and silicon closely.

[mcrews]

Nonsense. You can get a working pull with half as many miles for $650 and have it installed for under a grand.


really...........

[evilskillit]

On topic. I once got a 99 chevy metro with a blown motor for free. Bought a 2000 motor with 55k miles from a junkyard for $300 and put it in over a weekend. Great econobox for $300, bottom line. Sadly the metro met a messy fate when I loaned it to my father in law and he hit a deer at highway speeds.


As for Oil Change Interval my Factory Service Manual for my 2003 Nissan Sentra suggests 7,500 miles. It says 3000-5000 if you live on a dirt road or on the top of a mountain. I'm assuming thats a worst case scenario. With a good filter and something like Mobil1 Synthetic 10,000 OCI should be no problem. I try to change mine every 5000 just to be safe, but I've let that slip by 100% and not felt too bad about it.

[RobertSmalls]

Per car-part.com, yep. $650+ship for a tested Q45 engine, grade "A". Huh, engines for my car are down to $650 as well.

[cfg83]

mcrews -

I've done that twice now on my Saturn. I'll dig up the results of the last test and post them. My engine was happy the last time I tested. I know I'm an oil-burner, but it doesn't seem to be cause for alarm.

CarloSW2

[mcrews]

RS,
for the 02-06 4.5L motor?????