Today’s vehicles are built to last longer and longer every year, with many vehicles lasting well past the expected 100,000-mile mark when old odometers would turn over. But what does it look like when your vehicle finally reaches high mileage, such as 300,000 miles, and you’re undertaking an oil change?
What does a 300,000-mile oil change look like?
Auto YouTuber ChrisFix goes through the process, including:
- How to perform an oil analysis, including taking an oil sample
- Why regular maintenance is vital in high-mileage vehicles
- How to interpret oil analysis results
- What repairs need to happen based on the analysis
Though the information you’ll discover during a 300,000-mile oil change and the related oil analysis can sound complicated, ChrisFix has great answers to help you keep your ride rolling and avoid expensive repairs. Keep reading to learn how to perform this process and get the best results for your vehicle.
Getting Your Oil Analyzed: DIY it or Get a Pro?
When you’re getting higher mileage on your vehicle, there are a lot of possible areas of concern to stay on top of potential failures that can occur as vehicles age. Engine wear, transmission chatter and other issues that can arise with age lead to very expensive and extensive vehicle repairs.
But what about the process of having your oil analyzed? Though it can seem intimidating, it’s actually a pretty simple process, which we’ll outline in the steps below and in the video above. By following these steps, it’s simple to take a sample from your engine for a quality analysis.
What happens once you’ve taken a sample? You don’t need to have a degree to handle the process, because you simply mail in the sample that you’ve taken to a professional lab that handles the analysis of the oil from your engine, providing you with detailed information about your engine.
Once they’ve completed their oil analysis, they’ll provide you with a lot of information to help you make decisions about what to do about your aging vehicle. However, if this seems too complex, you can always have a professional mechanic collect the sample when you get your next oil change.
What a 300,000-Mile Oil Change Looks Like: How to Take a Sample and Interpret an Oil Analysis
Beyond an oil change, an oil analysis on an older vehicle provides a lot of information on your vehicle’s engine. There are numerous companies that provide this service, but in this video, Blackstone Labs was used.
Note the type of oil and number of miles on the current oil change. To start, run the engine for about 15 minutes to get the oil moved around and water evaporated for a good sample.
When you receive your kit, you’ll receive a bottle for the sample, a baggy to put your sample in, forms and instructions. It may also include a card for recording when your next oil change is due.
Place your drain pan underneath the oil pan drain and loosen the drain plug. Collect the oil as it flows out after it’s run for a couple of seconds. Fill the container to the top, put the lid on it, and seal it up.
Clean the oil up off the outside of the bottle and place it in the baggy before sending it in, following the instructions in the kit. The results will come back once the oil has been analyzed.
Start with the comments section, which will show some fairly significant issues. In the video, the presence of potassium and sodium indicated coolant in the engine oil or possibly an engine additive.
Coolant can cause engine wear.
Excessive lead was found, which is from the bearings, which with the high copper and iron, indicates wear at the interface of the bearings and shaft. Some aluminum had shown up in the sample from the pistons.
The oil also showed a higher-than-normal viscosity from an oil treatment that hadn’t been mentioned in the test paperwork, with recommendations to keep an eye on oil pressure and coolant levels, then to have the oil retested in 4,000 miles.
It also said it was based on averages of a 5,200-mile oil change; as this one was based on an 8,000-mile oil change, the rest of the engine seemed to be performing well.
The readings were in parts per million. Do you have aluminum heads? Pistons? Knowing which parts of your engine have which materials help you learn where the problems are coming from.
The high antifreeze levels are causing wear because antifreeze doesn’t lubricate and protect the engine the way oil does. It’s quite possibly a head gasket leak, which requires removing the head to replace the gasket.
Though there weren’t any noticeable amounts of coolant being lost, the sensitivity of the test allows you to catch issues like this before they become a serious problem. A low flashpoint can be caused by fuel in the oil from piston ring blowby.
Low insolubles, or items that would be collected by the oil filter, were fairly low, showing that the oil filter was doing a good job of collecting these items.
By tracking these figures over time, you can get a better idea of what the condition of your engine is and what may be likely to fail down the road.
What Your High-mileage Vehicle Needs
Having a high-mileage vehicle doesn’t mean that you need to be constantly worrying about everything that could go wrong. With a comprehensive oil analysis, you’ll have a better idea of where your engine is wearing and what you need to do about it. You can learn more at Vehicle History.
