Given below is the second out of 6 useful tests that you can use to analyze oil and you don’t even need a chemistry set to do it.

You can use this test, called the crackle test, to determine whether condensation is causing your engine problems. People who only drive short distances or use their cars sparingly are more susceptible to this condensation.

Why is this a problem? Water in the oil causes acid to build up in your engine which causes corrosion. This corrosion will lead to something called pitting which is not good for your automobile’s engine. Even AMSOIL which is a high TBN extended synthetic oil can eventually be affected by acid/water build up. Thus, it is very important that you find out if your oil is being affected by water build up quickly so that the additives in the oil that are made to fight this process don’t get used up. For this you can use the crackle test.

But, if you do the blotter spot test prior to the crackle test and find fuel in your motor oil there is no need to perform the crackle test as the fuel that is present will cause your results to stray from the real picture. This is the main reason why you perform the blotter spot test before the crackle test. If there is fuel present in your oil, you anyway need to change your oil and the results that you get from the crackle test will be indecisive.

This is how to perform the crackle test: First, take a small amount of motor oil and put it into a hotplate. A few drops would do. The hotplate must be at a temperature higher than 212 degrees Fahrenheit which is the boiling point of water. As motor oil does not become volatile till it reaches a temperature of at least 350 degrees Fahrenheit, you can set the temperature of the hotplate to anywhere between 250 and 300 degrees.

Now, you need to listen carefully to be able to hear the water crackling. You should be able to hear this at temperatures above 300 degrees Fahrenheit. If there is water in the oil then you will hear it crackle. Try to keep the amount of oil to a minimum as more oil will take longer to heat.

If you still choose to get the oil analysis done by professionals, you will be told if the oil is contaminated and also how much of it is contaminated. But you do have to pay for this and even though the crackle test does not give so much information, it doesn’t cost you anything and can at least tell you if there is oil or not.