Oil Sample Analysis From 2nd Oil Change (@ 3,782 miles)

[stemplar]

Before the holidays I did a second oil change on my 2025 Ranger Lariat FX4 with the 2.7l engine. I did the first oil change at 769 miles and filled it with Amsoil Signature Series 5w30, then did the second oil change at 3782 (just over 3k miles on the oil). I had a sample analyzed from both drains, and the results from each are on the latest report that I'm sharing here. I paid a few extra dollars to include the TBN which I'll eventually use to determine how long I'm comfortable going between oil changes, but I won't care about that until it seems that the engine is fully broken in and flushed of the initial wear materials. For now, though, it's interesting to me that the Ford oil yielded a TBN of 5.2 at 769 miles while the amsoil yielded a 5.3 at about 3,000 miles.

For the record, I'm not advocating or promoting any brand of oil, filter, change interval, or even lab for oil analysis. Choose an oil you like that meets the appropriate ford spec, use a good filter, and either follow the published maintenance schedule or have your own oil analyzed with TBN to determine how your oil of choice is holding up in your engine, in your climate, with your driving habits. With that said, enjoy the report for what it is...

Sponsored

 

[TractorFixer]

Thanks for sharing. I've also been sending samples to Blackstone at each oil change and it's interesting to watch and compare over time.

 

[JimG]

I’m no oil expert but my mechanic would get oil analysis on every oil change on all our heavy equipment. While 1 single analysis would be like a chapter in a book. As you continue get analysis done and add them all together, over time they will tell the story. Also any significant changes in any one line item can help prevent major problems. As to how often you should change oil based on TBN in order to be the most efficient with oil changes seems somewhat counter productive When looking at cost alone. A general consensus with normal driving conditions appears to be 5000 mile intervals. A person should not have any concerns with engine damage at that interval. And you won’t be spending the same amount on an analysis as the oil change cost. But if you like looking to the numbers they will tell a great story.
If you want to see something interesting, send in a sample of unused oil. You will be surprised at the amount of dirt is in it. We always ran our new oil thru a filter pump prior to using.

 

[stemplar]

I’m no oil expert but my mechanic would get oil analysis on every oil change on all our heavy equipment. While 1 single analysis would be like a chapter in a book. As you continue get analysis done and add them all together, over time they will tell the story. Also any significant changes in any one line item can help prevent major problems. As to how often you should change oil based on TBN in order to be the most efficient with oil changes seems somewhat counter productive When looking at cost alone. A general consensus with normal driving conditions appears to be 5000 mile intervals. A person should not have any concerns with engine damage at that interval. And you won’t be spending the same amount on an analysis as the oil change cost. But if you like looking to the numbers they will tell a great story.
If you want to see something interesting, send in a sample of unused oil. You will be surprised at the amount of dirt is in it. We always ran our new oil thru a filter pump prior to using.

You make some good points, but I don’t necessarily agree with the tbn part. I don’t necessarily disagree either. Yea, you can skip paying for tbn and pick a conservative interval and you’ll be fine. On the other hand, understanding how well your oil of choice holds up in your engine under your driving conditions can be valuable. Two personal examples of mine: (1) one of my motorcycles has a factory-defined change interval of 6000 miles. Multiple tbn reports showed that I was still over 5 at 6,000 miles so I was wasting my money at that interval. But more import to me is that when I do my annual cross-country trip on that bike where I put 7,000-10,000 miles in 2-3 weeks, I don’t need to schedule a change while on the road because even at 10,000 miles my tbn was still over 3 That bike is coming up on 200,000 miles and is all-original. And (2) I have a bmw suv with factory maintenance intervals of around 12k miles an tbn reports consistently show that at less than half the interval my tbn has dropped below 2, and that’s regardless of oil brand. So in one case the tbn reports are saving me money because I can safely go farther on the oil than I otherwise would have (bear in mind I only paid for the tbn enough to establish a pattern and only occasionally like to validate it so in 20 years I’ve spent less on tbn reports than one oil change) an the other case I believe paying for the tbn saved me from premature engine wear. It’s too early to tell with this Ranger so far, but perhaps I’ll settle into a routine where I just change oil twice a year when I put my snow tires on and off and not worry about mileage. Or maybe not.

So pick a conservative interval or get some tbn reports. Either is fine, but I’m of the opinion the former is more expensive in the long run.

 

[Tom W8JI]

I'm trying to remember the last time I heard of an engine wear or component failure from lack of oil change or oil failure. I think it was in the 1970's when a brother-in-law drove his 1968 Impala over 50,000 miles on original oil and had a ring and lifter issue. All issues I hear about today are mechanical failures due to design or production issues.

Flat tappet camshaft vehicles, especially those with cast iron rings or high tension steel rings buring leaded gas through poor mixture carburetors, loaded the oil up and wore out pretty fast.

Haven't heard of undue or premature wear even with 10,000 mile oil changes due to oil failures.

 

[stemplar]

I think the vast majority of the time it’s a lot more subtle. People push off oil changes for a month or three from time to time and the engine doesn’t explode. I’ve seen a number of “reliable” or durable cars like corollas and civics come into my dad’s shop with low compression at less than 100,000 miles. Those are the folks who say that they skip oil changes all the time and nothing broke.

 

[bigb]

I am a firm believer in UOA. I became even more so 3 years ago when it caught coolant contamination in my Jeep in time to save the engine.

 

[JimG]

Again, how often you do an analysis or oil change is up to each persons comfort level or experience. There is no right or wrong way. Everyone is making good valid points. Good to hear people different experiences.

Sponsored