Napa oil lab

[Fl_Fyr_Fytr]

Has anyone here ever used Napa's oil lab? What's your impression of it? What all results do they give you? Have you done a baseline sample?

What all labs do others use? I'm not even considering a lab run by an oil manufacture as it is a conflict of interest. I went to three diferent auto places before I found an oil analysis kit at Napa (Napa Filters 4077 FIL). I didn't even see any other choices.

I decided to see exactly how well the old girl and her blood are doing after reading this story of a vehicle running Mobil 1 going 18k on a change. I'm still changing the oil now (@6k) and will check it again after another 6k to see how they differ but will continue using the oil if the analisis thinks it's safe. I have also purchased another test to test a virgin sample of oil I bought at the same time as the last oil change (same lot?) to be a baseline. Unfortunatly, I will have to use oil from a different lot to perform the third test as I only have one quart left.

[MN Driver]

I've used these guys Blackstone Labs
There are various options out there but I've been using them for awhile. It costs $22.50 to analyze a sample, they provide commentary on how your engine is doing, recommendations for extended oil durations, viscosity of the oil, if there is any insoluables(dirt/grit) in the oil, the oils flashpoint, etc.

Oil analysis is how I found out one of my previous cars had coolant seeping into the oil. I found out the car I was using had a known issue where the lower intake manifold gasket would fail and leak oil internally. The wear was very bad but once I fixed the issue the engine was showing a respectibly small quantity of wear metals.

You might also want to see if there are any analysis results from the NAPA kit that you are asking about, I haven't come across anything but I haven't been looking through the site as often in the past two years as I used to.

Here are 3 UOA(Used Oil Analysis) results for the Honda Insight, you will need to scroll up because I searched for the results so the links ended up at posts in the middle instead of at the top:
The first one is with Honda 0w20, the next two is a different Insight with Penzoil Platinum Synthetic 0w20. I'm not sure what is going on with copper, he thinks it may be a reaction between the magnesium pan and copper in the fumoto valve since he is seeing greenish around the mating edge. He hasn't followed up with another sample yet, but it looks like he gets about 7,500 miles every 9 months. It's possible he is running a 10,000 mile run or something this time.

Honda 0w20, Honda Insight, 4875miles - Bob Is The Oil Guy

PP 0w-20, 7501 Miles, 2000 Honda Insight - Bob Is The Oil Guy

PP 0w-20, 5126 Miles, 2000 Honda Insight - Bob Is The Oil Guy

[Fl_Fyr_Fytr]

Hummm, I go on average of 6k miles every change and believe that that might be too frequent. It seems that OEM oil is some real crap. Now I really can't wait till I see what my results are...

Thanks for the info!

[satchel]

Honda suggests 7,500 miles for normal service. I just set the dash indicator and it goes off at 7,500 and I get to the oil change as soon as I can after that. I'm sure it does fine with the Mobil 1 synthetic.
I might spring for an analysis around the 105,000 mark out of curiosity even though it costs more than an oil change.

[MN Driver]

Originally Posted by Fl_Fyr_Fytr

Hummm, I go on average of 6k miles every change and believe that that might be too frequent. It seems that OEM oil is some real crap. Now I really can't wait till I see what my results are...

Thanks for the info!

I don't think the OEM oil is crap based on that analysis, all wear metals are in single digits. The only thing that is odd is the low TBN for the relatively short duration that it was in the engine. This could be due to the 2.5 quart oil sump but there could have been other factors too. I think the oil would likely come out looking nearly as good at the Honda specced 7,500 miles. Any more than that and I'd be looking somewhere for a decent synthetic, of which there are a handful of options.

[theaveng]

Originally Posted by MN Driver

Honda 0w20, Honda Insight, 4875miles - Bob Is The Oil Guy

PP 0w-20, 7501 Miles, 2000 Honda Insight - Bob Is The Oil Guy

PP 0w-20, 5126 Miles, 2000 Honda Insight - Bob Is The Oil Guy

These oil analyses are worth looking at. The Honda oil didn't do well, and I doubt it would make it another 2000 miles. Another guy who ran his Honda oil 6000 miles had a TBN of near 0.

The Pennzoil looks good. Of course neither of these oils exist anymore; by now they've probably been reformulated for the new standards.