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I became aware of the oil analysis in the 1980's. As an amsoil dealer we were sent to a class on the processes. The one major reason we did it routinely was to prove the oil was doing it's job. In the auto repair service we did it any time the oil looked unusual. It basically tells you what chemicals are in the oil, anything from metal particales to exhaust gasses and anaatifreeze to mention a few. When I met Bobby Unser, he said that he did the analysis before each oil change (he had a special filteration setup with his amsoil) and would not change the oil until it showed signs of deteriation.
It does take a couple of days for the results if you are not at a local facility.
Kathy
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From: "Russell Duffy" <13brv3@bellsouth.net>
Subject: [FlyRotary] today's oil pan inspection
Sent: 21 Dec 2004 02:40:44
Greetings,
I raised the tail to level, and drained another 12 oz of oil from the pan. I put a layer of plastic wrap on a white paper plate, and poured some of the oil on it. The oil looks absolutely free of any sort of metal particles. I also took a piece of wire as Leon suggested, and scraped the bottom of the pan. I got no residue, flakes, gunk, etc.
Before raising the tail, I turned the prop through a few times quickly, to feel the compression. The hose from the front cover was loose, and hanging from the engine, and I noticed that it pumped a few ounces of oil onto the pan below, so there must have still been some oil in the system. At this point, I'm more convinced than ever that the engine is undamaged. I may go ahead and send the remaining oil out for analysis as a final test, but I'm almost sure at this point that I'll just run it like it is to see if it appears OK.
Since I've never use any oil analysis service, I have a question. I've always understood that this was something you did routinely, to notice when some extra wear starts. In other words, the results are based on a baseline that you established when the engine was working well. Since so many people do this with Lycomings, there's a pretty good bank of data to compare to, even if your only sent in one sample. Do the oil test folks have a solid idea what's "normal" for a rotary engine? Will this test absolutely show if something is wrong?
Thanks,
Rusty (still have a lot of work to do, even if the engine is OK)
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