I'm looking to have this done on a 2017 Ram Cummins with 190K miles to see if I have any impending engine issues, before I throw more money into the truck.
What's the best way to do this? I assume you do an oil change and record the Brand/weight/mileage and then drive it to the next oil change interval? At that point pull your sample and send it to the test facility with the oil brand/weight/mileage? Anything else I need to know?
Pull sample before oil change.
One sample isn't enough tho - I'd want 3-7. What you're looking for is a CHANGE more than just presence of metals. An increase over several oil changes in aluminum might mean bearing issues but you won't know without a baseline. So several samples
pulled at the same mileage is helpful.
Drive 5k - pull sample. Drive 5k - pull sample. Drive 5k - pull sample. Now compare contaminant change from 1st to 3rd to see if you're "gaining contaminants" which would indicate increasing wear etc.
I've seen dudes FREAK at a sample showing contaminants but when it shows the same level EVERY time they pull oil - they calm down.
