Oil Sample Analysis - Should I Be Concerned
Well I got my oil sample analysis back. Not sure if I should be too concerned. Here are the results. 3 items of possible concern, everything else is normal readings. If anyone has any comments please ...
Forum Discussion
At 40 ppm, your iron content is high. Aluminum is also higher than it should be but not critical. Iron cylinder bores, aluminum pistons. That makes sense.
As others have said, oil analysis is trend based. To establish a meaningful trend, you need a series of tests, done over similar intervals, using the same oil.
The ultimate issue with ICP oil analysis tests (Inductive Coupled Plasma) is that they only test for the presence of certain elements, not their molecular structure, particle size, or origin. For that you need a visual analysis and FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy) which is much more thorough and definitive. Also, much more expensive. The ICP test guys just give you a sheet of paper with numbers on it to compare with your friends. What the numbers mean is just an educated guess, but, IMO better than nothing.
Chum lee
As others have said, oil analysis is trend based. To establish a meaningful trend, you need a series of tests, done over similar intervals, using the same oil.
The ultimate issue with ICP oil analysis tests (Inductive Coupled Plasma) is that they only test for the presence of certain elements, not their molecular structure, particle size, or origin. For that you need a visual analysis and FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy) which is much more thorough and definitive. Also, much more expensive. The ICP test guys just give you a sheet of paper with numbers on it to compare with your friends. What the numbers mean is just an educated guess, but, IMO better than nothing.
Chum lee
