The article shown below will describe for you one from a total of six incredibly useful oil analysis tests you can use to quickly establish the continued viability of your oil, without ever paying a single dime to an oil analysis lab.

The crackle test is valuable for establishing whether water build-up from condensation is an issue. Typically, you will be most susceptible to water build-up in your oil if you are a short trip driver and/or if your vehicle sits for long periods without being run.

Why a water test? Because water doesn’t lubricate very well and because water build-up leads to acid build-up. Acid causes corrosion , and that can lead to pitting. Of course, you don’t want pitting in your engine. Even a high TBN extended drain synthetic oil like AMSOIL can eventually be overcome by water/acid build-up. So, as a general rule, you’d probably want to know if you were getting water in your oil BEFORE acid build-up depletes the acid fighting additives in your oil. For this reason, I recommend performing the crackle test.

However, if using the blotter spot test prior to the crackle test shows that you have fuel in your engine oil, performing the crackle test will likely give inconclusive results, since the fuel in your oil will “throw off” your results. This is the reason that the blotter spot test (business card test) is most often performed PRIOR TO the crackle test. If you’ve got fuel in your oil, you may already need to change out your oil, and the results of the crackle test will not be clear anyway.

The test goes something like this: place a small amount of oil onto a hotplate of some type (just a few drops is plenty). You want to set the hotplate to a temp greater than 212 degrees F (the boiling point of water). Since motor oil won’t typically be volatile till 350 degrees F or higher, setting the temp of the hotplate anywhere between 250 and 300 should work well.

Listen for the sound of the crackle. At 300+ degrees, you should soon hear the crackle of the boiling water, that is IF you’ve got water in your motor oil. The more oil you place on the plate, the longer it will take the water to boil, so keep the amount to a minimum.

A professional oil analysis will be more accurate in that it will tell you if the level of water in the oil is a problem and what the level is, but the the DIY crackle test detailed here is a good, cheap way to establish water ingression.

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