What oil analysis makes possible

Mobil™ Lubricant Analysis (MLA) is like a blood test for your machines. By looking closely at a small sample of your lubricant, our experts can identify challenges before they arise, diagnose performance issues, or even extend your drain intervals past what you thought was possible. Here are three situations that our collaborators encounter all the time:

Result 1: Moisture contamination 

After running tests on lubricant from a crusher in a mine in the Northeast region of North America, our lubricant engineers discover the presence of wear metals. This indicates excess wear on the machine, and can be caused by a leak, issues with lubricant storage, or early degradation caused by working the machines harder than anticipated. If the lubricant is going to maintain its necessary viscosity, and the crusher is going to last as long as its team requires, action needs to be taken. 
 
After contacting the site, our lubricant engineer discovers that the building where the site stores its lubricants is excessively damp, with leaks in the piping in the walls, causing corrosion in the lubricant containers and water contamination. After some quick, and comparably cheap renovation, later analysis indicates no issues whatsoever. 

Result 2: Coolant leak

After sending their fluids off to MLA for tests, a trucking fleet in the Southwest United States gets back the results: Unfortunately, their fluid is contaminated with tiny, barely perceptible amounts of coolant. Fortunately, this is actually good news! Regular preventative maintenance would never have identified such a small leak, but the cumulative effect of this impurity would have had a significant deleterious effect on the lifespan of the effected vehicles.

After scheduling maintenance in their own garages, the fleet is able to quickly identify the source of the leak and repair all the affected vehicles — all without having to interrupt their delivery schedules or miss any deadlines.

Result 3: Better-than-expected

On their very first interaction with MLA, a trucking company in Northwest Canada gets some great news: the lubricant in their tested vehicles, which have a routine oil change scheduled in just a matter of weeks, is, surprisingly, in significantly better shape than anticipated. Better yet, this seems to be true across the board for all the vehicles tested. 
 
After careful evaluation of the oil’s chemical properties and equipment wear trends, the Mobil™ lubricant engineers report that they can extend the vehicles oil drain… by 100%, doubling the ODIs. This cuts their lubricant costs in half, and saves them plenty more by reducing downtime and maintenance labor costs.* The team is grateful they chose to work with the Mobil™ team… and they quickly get back to work.  

^* Actual results may vary depending upon the type of equipment used and its maintenance, operating conditions and environment, and any prior lubricant used.