Sampling Procedures

When it’s time to take your oil sample, you can do it one of two ways: either take the sample when you change the oil, or draw it out through the dipstick with a pump. You can buy a pump from us, or you might be able to find one at a hardware store.

Whether you take a sample during an oil change or with a quick-draw pump, instructions are below!

Sampling at an Oil Change

Pulling an oil sample while changing the oil is easy as pie. Check out this video, or see the instructions below.

Sampling With a Pump

Want to sample without changing your oil? You need a pump!

Close up of Blackstone Joe reaching into an engine to thread tubing down the dipstick to use with our sampling pump

Sampling a Gas/Diesel Engine

  • Try not to start the engine before sampling; that can introduce fuel into the oil. If you do, no big deal – just let us know.

  • Try and get the middle of the drain. The first oil might catch dirt on the drain plug. If you wait till the end, you might run out of oil. We need ~3 oz to do all the tests. If you don’t have that much, that’s fine. Just let us know.

  • If you’re using a pump, thread the tubing down the dipstick but don’t force it. If it won’t go, there may be a shield or you may need different tubing.

  • Fill out the info slip. The Unit ID is what you want to call it (or the N-number for aircraft, or the boat’s name for a marine engine). Make-up oil is how much oil you added in between oil changes.

  • Wrap the gray stuff around the white bottle. Put that in the bag. Put that in the black mailer. Put that plus the slip in the white envelope.

Sampling a Transmission

  • No need to run the transmission before sampling.
  • Try not to get the first or last oil out of the pan, for the same reasons listed above.
  • Most people don’t add make-up oil to their transmission. You can probably leave this field blank. If the transmission is leaking oil, make a note on the slip.
  • We don’t run a TBN on transmission oil. Instead we can do a TAN (Total Acid Number) to see how acidic the oil is.

  • Wrap the gray stuff around the white bottle. Put that in the bag. Put that in the black mailer. Put that plus the slip in the white envelope.

Close up of someone cleaning an engine dipstick with a paper towel

Industrial Sampling

  • Take the sample from the sampling port (if there is one) or from the fluid reservoir. Sample downstream from the filter if possible.

  • If sampling with a pump, thread the tubing down the dipstick and pull the oil into the white bottle. The tubing can be cleaned with kerosene.
  • Our 20-pack box (pictured) is ideal for sampling several machines at once. Write the machine number on the lid and the particulars on the info sheet.
  • For smaller quantities or individual kits, the Unit ID is the machine ID or serial number. Note if you want a PC, TAN, or other special tests.

  • Wrap the gray stuff around the white bottle. Put that in the bag. Put that in the black mailer. Put that plus the slip in the white envelope.