Was dead set against oil analysis kits until my 7.3 died on I-35

Ngl I always thought those oil sample kits were a waste of money. Like you just send oil to some lab and they tell you stuff. But after my 2000 7.3 started knocking last month on I-35 in Austin, I pulled the filter and found copper flakes. Sent a sample to Blackstone and they found high lead and copper. Told me the rod bearings were on their way out. Caught it before the motor grenaded. Has anyone else had a oil analysis save them from a major repair?

3 comments

3 Comments

seanjohnson2d agoMost Upvoted

Man you got lucky but thats still a gamble. Plenty of guys run those 7.3s for 300k miles with nothing but regular oil changes and never touch a test kit. All it does is make you paranoid about stuff that might never happen. Plus the cost adds up. Blackstone is what like 35 bucks a pop? Do that every change and youre out hundreds of dollars for peace of mind that dont always pay off. Id rather just change the oil on time and put that money into a good filter or a spare injector.

thomas_gonzalez3d ago

Almost cost you a whole engine just to learn oil testing is actually useful, huh?

hayden_rivera2d ago

What exactly did the test catch that saved your engine - was it metal particles or fuel dilution or something else entirely? Always curious what actually shows up in these tests that makes people go from "this is a waste of money" to "this just saved me five grand." Did you pull a sample mid-interval or wait until the oil was already used up?