Heavy Equipment Preventative Maintenance: Keeping Your Iron in the Fight

I’ll never forget a fleet manager I worked with in West Valley who thought oil sampling was just a 'scam' by the oil companies. I told him, 'Listen, an oil sample is like a blood test for your machine. It tells me if your engine is "bleeding" metal before the whole thing stops beating!' The report came back with astronomical levels of lead and tin—signs that the main bearings were literally disintegrating. We caught it in time to do a $3,000 bearing roll-in; if we’d waited another week, he would have been looking at a $45,000 engine replacement.

When we show up for preventative maintenance, we aren't just looking at the dipstick. We’re looking for the 'silent killers.' Is there soot loading? Is the viscosity breaking down? In Utah, we have extreme temperature swings that cause condensation in the tanks, which leads to acid buildup in your oil. If you aren't testing, you’re just guessing. And in this business, guessing is a very expensive hobby!