Gas & Diesel Oil Sampling Procedure
It doesn’t matter if the oil is cold or hot when you take a sample. Just try not to start the engine immediately prior to sampling. Even if you do though, it’s not a big deal. Just let us know.
- If you’re changing the oil, try to pull your sample from the middle of the drain. The first oil out might have some dirt from around the drain plug. If you wait till the end, you might not have enough oil left to fill the bottle.
- If you are using a pump, thread the tubing down the dipstick and draw oil into the sampling bottle.
- Do not force the tubing! If it’s not going down, it may be too thick for your dipstick. We can send you thinner tubing.
- We need 3 oz to complete all our tests. But even if you only have 1 oz, we can still do some of our tests. If you have questions, call us at 260/744-2380.
- Fill out the information slip.
- The Unit ID is what you’d like to call the engine (e.g., Truck 1, Old Blue, 2021 Civic).
- Make-Up Oil is how many quarts you added between oil changes.
- The TBN measures the amount of active additive left and can be useful for running your oil longer. It costs an extra $10.
- Wrap the gray material around the sample and put both in the plastic bag. Put that in the black mailer. Put the black mailer and the form into the white envelope and drop it in a mail box.
Having problems with the pump? The end of the tubing may have curled up out of the oil. Test it by just putting the end of the tubing into new oil and drawing it up. If you get oil, the problem is that the tubing is curled. Try straightening the end out (use a hair dryer to soften and bend it if needed) so that it sits in the oil.
Some post offices mistake oil samples for hazardous material. Oil is not hazardous material. Blackstone Laboratories’ oil sample kit meets all postal requirements. To see a letter you can give the post office, please click here.
