Oil analysis?

mk2driver

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What parameters are you trying to get analysed and what for?

There are many different levels of analysis and it depends what you are trying to achieve
 

richie_mck

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Oil from the Westfield (hayabusa engines)

Theres a smell of petrol from it so want to check for contamination of that and also for any metal contaminants

The oil seems in good condition and I dropped the dry sump pan to sort a oil weep issue and there was a bit of sparkle on it, I’m maybe being over cautious but would rather nip any potential issue before anything arises. It’ll also give me peace of mind so I can ring it’s neck in the good weather
 
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stevieturbo

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Cut open the filter and inspect it.

And if it smells of petrol....then it probably is petrol.
 

PaulYDP

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Oil from the Westfield (hayabusa engines)

Theres a smell of petrol from it so want to check for contamination of that and also for any metal contaminants

The oil seems in good condition and I dropped the dry sump pan to sort a oil weep issue and there was a bit of sparkle on it, I’m maybe being over cautious but would rather nip any potential issue before anything arises. It’ll also give me peace of mind so I can ring it’s neck in the good weather
It will be common enough to see very very fine particles in it as the gears/clutch etc are all in the same oil and so by nature they wear slightly. Now it the particles were large I’d be concerned but otherwise sounds normal enough to me.

Petrol is a different story though, not sure about that!
 

JamieG95

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I used David Brown in Bangor recently to get a sample tested. Took about 3 weeks - the results came back with the oil lab graphics on the report, might be quicker just to go direct.

There’s no one in NI that can test oil. I think David and SGS in Belfast are the only people that can facilitate it but both send the samples to labs in England.

If you want I can ping you the contact details I used. 👍🏼
 

richie_mck

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It will be common enough to see very very fine particles in it as the gears/clutch etc are all in the same oil and so by nature they wear slightly. Now it the particles were large I’d be concerned but otherwise sounds normal enough to me.

Petrol is a different story though, not sure about that!

that’s a bit of reassurance on the glitter. The oil looks new but I want to rule out bore wash, i read it might be from short starts and not getting the engine up to temp
 

richie_mck

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I used David Brown in Bangor recently to get a sample tested. Took about 3 weeks - the results came back with the oil lab graphics on the report, might be quicker just to go direct.

There’s no one in NI that can test oil. I think David and SGS in Belfast are the only people that can facilitate it but both send the samples to labs in England.

If you want I can ping you the contact details I used. 👍🏼
Cheers Jamie, if he’s using oil lab would be easier to just go straight with them
 

impact

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Never used this crowd before but their breakdown of different tests is useful as a guide if nothing else.
Some of the industrial stuff they do would have high expectations so they would know what they are at I'd imagine.

All our industrial stuff goes to England as there's nothing over here as Jamie says.
Only thing to note is that unless you have a base line or trend you'll get a report back highlighing a whole lot of figures which can be hard to tell if they are normal or not - unless they have prior knowledge of the application.
 

richie_mck

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Cut open the filter and inspect it.

And if it smells of petrol....then it probably is petrol.

I’ve no doubt that it is petrol but I’d like to know that the quantity of petrol isn’t an issue. Unfortunately my knowledge of these things are limited and I’ve never smelt petrol in oil as much so I’d prefer to get advice from people who can advise. It’s all a learning curve
 

Mark_C

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Has the engine carbs or efi? If bore wash is a concern it must have a pretty bad misfire and is reeking like a diesel?
 

gav525

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I used Millers for the 996 and they were great. 25quid I think it was and they send out the bottles. Full report back in no time at all. Not sure what clues in the sample would point to petrol in it but I'm sure they can advise.

Screenshot_20210408-050607_OneDrive.jpg
 

mk2driver

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So you will always get a bit of fuel into the oil, assuming like most you or the tuner have set it up a bit rich on cold start

However to actually smell it in the oil is either fuelling control very badly set up or multiple cold starts without the oil getting to temperature allowing the fuel to burn off

Has it been doing lots of cold starts without oil getting warm?

As @gav525 mentioned the basic Millers analysis should include fuel % and the breakdown of metals
 

mcmurray

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@mcmurray did you use somewhere for the E46?

I used the The Oil Lab a few times.

They send you the kit with a little sample bottle and cardboard tube to return it. Then they email you a report with the breakdown like the Millers one above.

Their bronze and silver tests don’t show fuel dilution though. You’d need to go with the ‘Gold’ test.
 

richie_mck

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Has the engine carbs or efi? If bore wash is a concern it must have a pretty bad misfire and is reeking like a diesel?

carbs, no reeking or misfires so. Thanks for the advice

So you will always get a bit of fuel into the oil, assuming like most you or the tuner have set it up a bit rich on cold start

However to actually smell it in the oil is either fuelling control very badly set up or multiple cold starts without the oil getting to temperature allowing the fuel to burn off

Has it been doing lots of cold starts without oil getting warm?

As @gav525 mentioned the basic Millers analysis should include fuel % and the breakdown of metals

yeah there’s been a get few cold starts in my time, it doesn’t like to hold idle so difficult to get the oil up to temp without driving it and with the weather it hasn’t been out to do that
 

AMG

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Finnings CAT in Lisburn will sell the kit and send away for analysis, think the last kit I got was £30.
 

IL

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The Busa will be on Fuel injection Richard

I had a similar problem with the midget after it’s 1st mapping session, it absolutely reeked of fuel, too many cold starts, it was like a diesel, hard started and fouled the plugs easily.. I had to get a load of fuelling trimmed off the start map and it hasn’t looked back.
 

richie_mck

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The Busa will be on Fuel injection Richard

I had a similar problem with the midget after it’s 1st mapping session, it absolutely reeked of fuel, too many cold starts, it was like a diesel, hard started and fouled the plugs easily.. I had to get a load of fuelling trimmed off the start map and it hasn’t looked back.

I haven't woken up yet, yeah efi.

Who does your mapping? wouldn't mind having it looked at as it wont sit on idle either
 

IL

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I haven't woken up yet, yeah efi.

Who does your mapping? wouldn't mind having it looked at as it wont sit on idle either

I use KGP in Rathmullan, but thats because he built the engine for me.

For anything Bike engined Jack at Holeshot is the best this side of the water as far as im aware!
 

PaulYDP

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As Iain says Jack is probably the go to for bike-engined cars as he has a two wheel dyno. I have heard good reports on DynoCentre NI and they'd be a bit closer to you but not sure if they work on cars or solely bikes. I'm sure they could look at the map though.
 

mk2driver

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Yeah so that all sounds like it’s set too rich at cold start maps and it might be taking too long to enter closed loop fuelling as well

A lot of people set maps up too rich thinking it’s a good thing but it’s clearly not
 
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