Intellistick, anyone use it?

Sooo. some gadget in My sump, is gunna tell Me That;

My alternator belt is about to fly to bits & Its' easier to change it while I've got the hood up checking My oil.....& not on the side of the Highway

Or that i should Tighten that radiator hose clamp where It's a bit wet,while i'm checking My oil level...& not have the engine shut down from Low coolant up the Road somewhere


Or there dozens of Little things that people with good Obversation skills can pickup on


That, I CAN comprehend.

 

You guys are way off subject to go to calling driver's lazy for wanting real time oil analysis to protect their motor.

You are being childish with name calling and only want to bicker about nothing. Grow up!

Now back to the oringinal subject of finding an on board oil monitoring system????

FYI. It has nothing to do with raising the hood to check everything else and who said that was going to stop anyway....You guys just love to bicker over nothing!

 

I don't have a clue if this Intelistick thing works, but for those that think you can use the "sniff" test or see the concentration of wear metals in your oil, then you need to go into business doing oil analysis. I defy anyone, just by pulling out the dipstick to tell me if the oil has 5 ppm or iron or 100 ppm of iron. And also tell me if the oil has .5 ppm of soot or 3 ppm of soot. Not to mention what the ppm of copper, aluminum, tin, etc that is present. All of which could indicate a wear problem without seeing "chunks" or "particles" of metal. How about the detecting a 1% dilution of antifreeze? Can't tell all of this by just looking at a stick. But like Dice said, some just want to nitpick over something and belittle a poster.

 

oil and water don't mix. any concentration will show up. if you got 1 percent. it's pretty much a given the problem will get worse. if you need a machine to tell you something you eyes should already see.

soot is an indication of a rich condition. is it not??? something you can see out the exhuast would you not?>??? i have slight smoke. but my oil is clean. so how rich do i need to burn before that's detected???

worn bearings. just look at the gauge. new bearings will ALWAYS have higher pressure then worn bearings. how low does your oil pressure have to go before an analysis shows worn bearing?

don't get me wrong. i do samples on occasion. but if you pay attention you should already see things that an analysis will tell you.

 

No.. you are completely wrong.

I hope no one follows your advice. They will find themselves in a world of hurt.

You can't see 1% water dilution. That is the equivalent of 1 can of soda in 10 gallons of oil. You will not see it. And it will be doing damage. All diesel motors put soot in oil. The main reason for testing and changing the oil before the soot level is to high is so you don't do damage. But, if you go with the old standard of changing oil every 10-15k, you are probably throwing away good oil. You just don't know exactly what is going on without oil samples.

If you are waiting until your oil pressure drops before you change bearings, you have already done damage to other parts of the motor. Low pressure might not be caused by bearings either.

Another problem you can detect through sampling is injector issues. You can't see or smell 1% fuel dilution. Oil samples will find it and give you a indication of what might be happening long before you are ruining bearings running them in thin oil.

 

I wouldnt mess with it because it wont do a better job than that high dollar machine speedco use and to think about making it pay for it self would take around 5-7 years will it even make it that long. I'll just stick to speedco even if I just have to take a cup of oil to them

 

I would agree with that. I am not convinced that a sensor in the oil can do a decent job of analysis. Either taking a sample to a lube shop and having it run on their machine, or sending a sample to a lab of your choice, is much more precise and trustworthy. And the cost to run a sample is not that bad. I actually use both, but not all the time. I will have a lube shop run samples because they are quick and no waiting on results, and occasionally send one into a lab to, shall we say, to compare and keep the lube shop's machine "honest". Some would say changing oil frequently is "cheap insurance", but I would contend that regular oil sampling is truly cheap insurance. Just changing the oil frequently will not detect a problem starting, but an oil sample will, and you can more often than not get appropriate repairs done before major damage occurs.

 

Great post!

And a great response below to the post above!

I also don't believe anything like this should be solely dependent on to check oil quality, but the first sign of coolant in oil no matter how small the amount needs attention ASAP in my opinion. This device would work great for that first alert of at least detecting fuel and coolant in the oil that would lead me as fast as possible to verify at the nearest Speedco for their 2nd opinion sampling.

Glad the adults took back over the thread to get it back on track.

Let me ask is there anything else out there simular to this product available?

 

Dice - good job waking the dead; 4-year-old post and look at the replies! Guess you can call this thread a "zombie"!

For anyone interested, a product that may be on the market is an Oil Guardian, more info at 650-733-4645. I think I will call and post about it just to give somebody an itch they can't scratch.

I don't know any of you, but I can tell from reading posts who has interests in some device that might make our work easier, more productive, safer, etc. And also someone who is willing to look at a new idea and intelligently discuss merits versus those who think another opinion always wrong and nothing more than fair game to be ridiculed. Sticks-and-stones...

I like the idea that my equipment can monitor important functions and report to me in some way. Will be buying a tire pressure/temp monitoring system very soon, so I know that makes me inept since I can't tell pressure by kicking the tires or temp by p___ing on 'em. You know, some of these things might actually work and be worth the investment, but that might take away from the budget for thousands of $ worth of chrome, lights, and stacks.

Do you detractors have gauges in your trucks? If so, then it would seem you like some information, just not everything you could have; I on the other hand, want as much as I can get! And I much prefer my cell phone to a pay phone, but I'm certain that makes me lazy. And I have functional power steering as well.

My truck, my money - my decision.