Routine oil analysis, which includes the evaluation of the internal components’ wear and contamination, is a key part of a complete maintenance program. Performing routine analysis can improve the performance of the engine, transmission and differentials, reducing downtime and contributing to significant savings.

What Happens Without an Oil Analysis Program?

Without routine oil analysis, customers could be negatively impacting their equipment without even realizing it. When fleet and maintenance managers are already juggling so many different challenges every day, something like preventive maintenance may not seem like the top priority. Shell LubeAnalyst has found that 32% of fleets demonstrate a need for preventive maintenance.¹ 

Some of the most common failure warnings that can impact components during operations are wear metals detection, additive depletion, and lubricant contamination and degradation. If routine monitoring isn’t in place, it’s easy for these warnings to slip through the cracks or be overlooked.

The Benefits of Routine Oil Analysis

An effective oil analysis program should determine several things. It will evaluate if the correct lubricant is being used, if the lubricant is contaminated or degraded and if equipment and filtration systems are operating as they should be. Based on the results, the analyst will offer recommendations to resolve any detected issues as soon as possible.

Catch Issues Early

Even something seemingly small can snowball into an expensive and disruptive problem down the line if it isn’t noticed in time. Routine oil analysis will identify warning indicators for potential failures, so repairs and maintenance can be performed early – before they turn into costly breakdowns or equipment failure later on.

Reduce Total Cost of Ownership (TOC)

Preventive and predictive maintenance programs are essential for avoiding unscheduled downtime, and routine oil analysis is one of the most comprehensive and effective ways to prevent unscheduled downtime due to breakdowns.

By monitoring equipment wear and tracking oil analysis sample results over time, it’s possible to document trends, so you can maximize component and oil service life and help your customers avoid expensive repairs or breakdowns.

Establish Yourself as an Expert for Customers 

The more often you perform oil analysis, the better you’ll be at it. Performing oil analysis routinely improves your own root-cause and failure-mode analysis predictions, so you can provide better guidance and support your customers in developing a proactive maintenance program. They’ll trust you to provide them with the critical insights they need to keep their trucks performing efficiently on the road.

Shell LubeAnalyst gives you access to analysis and actionable insights from 300+ technical experts. We’ll show you how to choose the right test suite for the type of equipment your customers have and get accurate results with optimal oil-test scheduling. 

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Oil Analysis cannot detect sudden failures. Do not attempt to extend ODI without the support of an oil analysis program or following the OEMs’ guidelines.

FOOTNOTES

[1] Based on 260 Fleet sector samples in the Shell LubeAnalyst database from April 2019 to January 2020.  

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