OIl sample for an excavator

Just from a quick review of the numbers there doesn't seem to be much there to be concerned about. Check with the OEM they usually have guidelines. If not there is quite a bit of info on the web about oil analysis and various types of engines. Cat is a great resource.

Geeze, results are all (too) low, can you get a soot/insolubles result also just in case you pulled a non-representative sample, OR the supplier changed the oil just before they sold it to you...may be run it for 25-50 hours then get a warm/hor/representative sample.

Hi Kelly,

when you restest check the fuel results as fuel "1" could indicate excess fuel, which if unattended can damage engines, fuel should be Zero,

Regards

Rob S

Hi Kelly,

Following on from Rob, analysing for fuel dilution is one of the more difficult tests to perform accurately in the lab. As you approach 1% most methods would be reaching their lower limit of what can be accurately measured. You could also check with the OEM what their recommendation would be. I know some major OEMS don't worry to comment on less than 4% fuel and others allow up to 7%. In light of this, there is probably no reason to be concerned at 1% fuel in oil.

To quote off the the ASTM website for ASTM D3524...
"1.3 There is some overlap of the boiling ranges of diesel fuel and SAE 30 engine oils. Moreover, the boiling range of SAE 30 oils from various sources can vary appreciably. As a result, the calibration can be altered by as much as 2 %, in terms of fuel dilution. When testing unknown or mixed brands of used engine oil, it should be realized that the precision of the method may be poorer than the precision obtained when calibrating with a new oil representative of the used oil being tested."

Regards
Paul