Spot Check Your Car's Oil

Jim Fitch
It had been more than 5,000 miles since my last oil change and I was pretty sure my synthetic motor oil would
survive the extended drain. Still, to ease my anxiety, I decided to do a little test on the oil - the blotter spot test
using a business card from my wallet.
Within five minutes of spotting the card with oil from the dipstic, I new something was horribly wrong. !he
heavy blac soot in the oil was immobile, creating a sticy center on the card. !his was not what I wanted to see
and I new it was symptomatic of an oil that had passed its prime.
Cause and Effect
Why did this happen" !he main reason was my driving habits. I#m fre$uently away on business so my car sits in
the garage most of the time. When I do drive, it#s usually short distances %typically & to ' minutes to the office(.
!his causes moisture to build up in the crancase %perhaps as much as )0 percent(, which in turn, causes
additive distress, loss of dispersancy and sludge. !he condition was compounded by the fact that it was *anuary
%cold driving conditions hold moisture longer in the oil(.
!he Solution
+ double oil and filter change was prescribed. I new from the blotter test results that the oil in my engine had
thrown sludge, and soot had dumped %lost dispersancy(. +n oil change brings in a fresh supply of detergents
and dispersants. With the single oil change, these additives would have lifted up much of the sludge and carried
them to the filter. ,onse$uently, the filter would have plugged within minutes, sending the oil into bypass and
unfortunately, automobiles don#t have bypass indicators. -y performing two oil changes, most of the sludge and
deposits are discarded with the first oil and filter, enabling the second oil and filter to have normal service life.
!his was confirmed by another blotter spot test after the second oil change.
Aunt Minnie Drivers Give Synthetics a Licking
.ven the very best motor oils cannot safeguard against sludge when free water is present. Within several
minutes after starting an engine, the oil typically reaches the thermostat setting. !his heat can drive off the
moisture, even in cold winter conditions. /owever, it can sometimes tae 05 to )0 minutes of continuous driving
before the condensed moisture has dissipated. When water accumulates in sooty used oil and remains in the
engine for an extended time, the damage to the oil is irreversible. !his is why short-trip 1+unt 2innie3 drivers
need to change their car#s oil more fre$uently.
/ow fre$uently" If you are a short-trip driver lie me, consider performing a simple blotter spot test before a
scheduled oil change in order to regulate the optimum oil change interval to your driving conditions and climate.
If you see undispersed soot, characteri4ed by an inability of the soot to wic outward into the card stoc, this
may indicate that you need to change your oil more fre$uently. In contrast, if you see no structure %sticy
centers, rings, etc.( on the card, you might consider extending your oil drain. 5eep in mind6 !he optimum drain
interval may change by season, age of the car and $uality of filtration. +lso, other oil properties may become
impaired before dispersancy is lost.
Poor-Boy Oil Analysis
7aboratory oil analysis for personal automobiles is often too expensive. 8or those who are in$uisitive and need
to now what#s luring in their oil, there are a few low-cost and simple alternatives6
Blotter Sot !est
Information about soot dispersancy, coolant leas %glycol( and fuel dilution.
Crackle !est
Water contamination %fuel dilution may cause an interference(.
Patch !est
9articles from the oil can be collected and examined with a top-lit microscope.
"sed #ilter $nsection
Information about wear debris, contamination and sludge.
Oil Dro Placed on %ater Surface
When oil ages and becomes contaminated and oxidi4ed, the oil drop spreads out over the surface of the water
%instead of beading up lie a new oil(.
&iscosity Co'arator
Information on changing oil viscosity influenced by shear down, soot load and fuel dilution.
!he reasons for analy4ing passenger car motor oils vary. :ne reason might be a need to optimi4e a scheduled
oil drain interval as discussed above. +nother reason might be as an inspection test of engine condition when
buying a pre-owned car. :il analysis might also be helpful in comparing the performance of lubrication
alternatives, such as aftermaret additives, different oil viscosities, different oil filters, etc.
!he common availability of onboard oil analysis sensors with dashboard indicators is in the near future. Several
well-funded research efforts are currently underway offering promising new technologies. 8uture automobiles
may have the ability to analy4e changing properties of oil on the fly, replace depleted additives and engage an
assortment of cleansing and re;uvenation technologies. -esides its role in the development of oil films, the base
oil would serve as a transient host for both additives and contaminants and would be recycled in the engine
indefinitely.
*im 8itch


Please reference this article as:
Jim Fitch, "Spot Check Your Car's Oil". Practicing Oil Analysis Magaine. Jul! "##"
$ssue %um&er: "##"#'
Practicing Oil (nal!sis
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