The FS-2500 kit costs $429 to $759, depending on the application.
Oil analysis tests are an invaluable way to keep a microscopic eye on the health of your engine. Think of these tests as you would a blood test. From a blood test, we are able to see the health of our bodies. A blood test may show high cholesterol, low white blood cell count, low platelets, high blood sugar, etc. Any imbalances are flagged in a blood test as problems may exist which can be remedied before they become bigger problems, such as heart failure.
An oil analysis shows things like soot, fuel, water, antifreeze and iron content. For example, when higher than normal fuel content is shown, you'll know to look for a leaky fuel injector. If higher antifreeze is shown, it points to a leaking head gasket. When we installed the FS-2500, we submitted a sample of our used Rotella T Synthetic oil with 4,000 miles on it to the lab for analysis to see what our contaminant levels were at with the OEM filter by itself.
We'll use this sample as a baseline for future oil tests. Four thousands miles is low for synthetic oil, while we normally run it for 7,500 miles, but it we should be able to get a good idea of the engine's current state from this analysis. We filled the engine with new Rotella T when we installed the FS-2500, which we'll test at the 10,000 mile interval. At that time, we'll also compare this sample to a sample of brand new Rotella T from the bottle in order to measure the performance of the FS-2500.