Everyone loves wet stacking talk but nobody mentions oil analysis

Last month I did oil samples on three fleet trucks that everyone swore were fine based on exhaust temps. Lab results showed high fuel dilution in two of them even though they ran smooth. Anybody else think we rely too much on what we see and hear instead of hard data?

3 comments

3 Comments

lily_torres311mo ago

Used to swear by exhaust temps myself, but after a buddy had a engine go south with normal readings I started testing. Pretty eye opening how much you can miss without actual numbers on fuel dilution.

ivan7741mo ago

...and that buddy's story is exactly why I started sampling too, @lily_torres31. I read somewhere that oil analysis can catch fuel dilution weeks before you'd ever see it in the exhaust. It's wild how much hidden damage can be happening while everything sounds fine.

sean_green441mo ago

Prompted me to remember something most people overlook, @ivan774. Fuel dilution is nasty but there's another silent killer - glycol contamination from a bad head gasket. Oil analysis will catch that antifreeze way before you see milky oil or overheating issues. Had a fleet truck a few years back that showed elevated sodium and potassium in the sample, drove another 800 miles before any symptoms showed up. Saved me a whole rebuild by catching it early with just a $35 test kit.