I'm somewhat of a gadget junkie.  I just bought one.  Should arrive in a
couple weeks.  The item number came up as "LUBRICHECK2", so that confirms
this is the second generation (Oilyzer).

My Scirocco has not had an oil change in more than 5 years. It will be
interesting to see how that oil checks out.

-Dick-
78 Scirocco
87 Vanagon Syncro
12 Golf TDI

On Fri, Jan 24, 2014 at 9:50 AM, Stuart MacMillan <stuartmacm@gmail.com>wrote:

> I checked the "Bob the Oil Guy" forum for "Oilyzer" and found a thread from
> 2010.  Apparently they had problems getting it to market back then.  One
> caveat is if there is fuel dilution it reads bad oil as good.  Here is a
> comment from "Oilyzerman" himself:
>
> "The Oilyzer product uses the same physics for sensing the TBN of oil as
> many of the oil sensors used by automotive manufacturers. Although GM uses
> predictive statistics to assess the next oil change (often surpassing 15K
> mile oil replacements for newer vehicles), other manufacturers use
> capacitive sensing for detecting the oil acidity level, typically based on
> the TBN (Total Base Number)of the oil under test. As oil becomes more
> acidic
> due to friction, temperature, pressure, suspended contaminants etc, the TBN
> value changes, and is a very reliable indicator of oil quality. Optical or
> Photoelectric sensing has been used in the past to gauge the viscosity and
> opacity of oil, but has been proven to be unreliable and is not a
> technology
> used in the "Oilyzer" product. The combined capacitive and resistive
> aspects
> of measuring oil health or quality determines acidity, viscosity and
> contaminants (metal particulates, soot, dirt, coolant, water) with the
> exception of gasoline.
>
> The Oilyzer is able to capture most of the information regarding the "TBN"
> of oil when compared to a high end spectroscopy, flash and chemical based
> tests. It is a scientific and technologically reliable indicator when
> measured against subjective human based test methods (based on the color of
> oil or driving mileages.
>
> There is a plethora of scientific information on the web and in scientific
> journals or on SAE.org supporting the premise for reducing the number of
> unnecessary oil changes (replacements) and to extend driving distances
> based
> on TBN and other factors related to scientific measurement rather than by
> subjective means.
>
> http://www.calrecycle.ca.gov/UsedOil/OilChange/
> http://www.nordicgroup.us/oil.htm
> http://money.blogs.time.com/2009/09/08/the-3000-mile-oil-change-myth/
> www.sae.org keywords engine "oil dielectric longevity"
>
> The Oilyzer tests oil the same way a person is able to determine their
> health by a blood test. It targets the four main variables for general oil
> testing;
>
> 1. Total mileage of the engine.
> 2. User driving habits (stop start versus long haul driving).
> 3. Environment the vehicle is typically driven (ambient temps, humidity,
> etc).
> 4. Engine condition (poor, fair, good).
>
> Auto manufacturers already have many vehicles on US roads today, with oil
> sensors on board, surpassing 15K miles between oil changes without any oil
> or engine modifications warranting such mileage extensions (see GM
> technical
> forum). The 3000 mile myth stems from the post WWII era, and it is easy to
> understand that oil and engine science and technology has advanced to
> accommodate superior performance and longevity of oil and an owner's
> vehicle
> since that era."
>
> I wouldn't need this for my Vanagon since I go by time, not miles, but it
> could be useful on my other cars.
>
> Stuart
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
> Paul Rogers
> Sent: Thursday, January 23, 2014 9:02 PM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Re: Anyone tried "LubriCheck" yet??
>
> Is it legit or is it fool of it? Pun is intended I have spell check enabled
>
> Sent from my Pad where I keep my iPad
>
> > On Jan 23, 2014, at 2:43 PM, Jeff Schwaia <vw.doka@GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> >
> > It's not new, just a name change, update, and re-release of an older
> > product: Oilyzer
> >
> > Cheers,
> >
> > Jeff
>