The Crackle Test: Perform Oil Analysis at No Cost
This is number two from a series of 6 very useful, and no cost, motor oil tests that you can perform in your very own garage.
Although any vehicle owner can end up with water in their engine oil, it is more commonly an issue for vehicle owners that make primarily short trips with their vehicle, drive very infrequently and/or live in a humid climate or one with significant fluctuations in temperature. If you are one of these individuals, it would be wise to perform the crackle test, which is useful for determining whether condensation has caused a build-up of water in your oil.
Of course, you might wonder why you would need to check for water ingression, and the answer, to put it simply, is that, water build-up leads to acid build-up. Acid build-up leads to corrosion, and pitting is caused by corrosion. In case there is any confusion, pitting is BAD, and, even a premium, extended drain synthetic oil like AMSOIL can eventually be overcome with water/acid build-up. So, perform a crackle test to find out if water is building up in your oil BEFORE acid build-up depletes the acid fighting additives in your oil and corrosion begins.
However, if using the blotter spot test prior to the crackle test shows that there is fuel in your engine oil, performing the crackle test will likely be of little use, since the fuel in your oil will "throw off" your results. This is the reason that the blotter spot test (business card test) is generally performed PRIOR TO the crackle test. If there's fuel in your oil, you may already need to drain your oil, and the results of the crackle test will not be clear anyway.
The test goes something like this: place a small quantity of oil onto a hotplate of some type (just a few drops is plenty). 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, any temperature setting between 250 and 300 would be good.
Listen for the crackling sound. At 300+ degrees, you should quickly hear the snap, crackle, pop of the boiling water, IF you have water in your engine oil. The more oil you put on the plate, the longer it will take the water to boil, so keep the amount to a minimum.
Paying for a professional oil analysis will not only tell you IF your oil has been contaminated with water, but also how much contamination has occurred. Nevertheless, even though less information is provided through the crackle test it's nice to know that you can use this DIY test to at least tell you if there is water present.