"For nearly 60 years, our family has provided the highest quality site development services to our customers," said Martin Savko, vice president of Nickolas Savko & Sons, Inc., and the son of Founder Nickolas Savko. "As with any major construction company, our equipment is the life blood of our day-to-day operations and our business in general."
Finding the Right Oil Analysis Partner
With such expensive heavy duty equipment playing a major role in the company's success and with a tradition of high quality service, Martin Savko knew that a well developed, comprehensive oil analysis program was a top priority. However, after years of participating in oil analysis programs with several other lubricant providers, Savko became frustrated with the results he was receiving.
"Reports [from lubricant providers] were not clear and often difficult to understand, causing the reaction to those reports to be delayed or simply overlooked and risking catastrophic damage to critical pieces of equipment," said Savko. "We often wasted valuable time just trying to interpret them so we could react. This is not something that we have time for."
Looking to find the right oil analysis partner, Nick Savko & Sons chose ExxonMobil Lubricants & Specialties for a comprehensive oil analysis program for their heavy machinery, such as dump trucks, bulldozers, excavators, concrete placing machinery, and paving equipment.
With a large fleet of machinery and trucks, Nick Savko & Sons requires nearly 1,500 oil analysis samples each year.
"At times, we send up to 30 reports per week, each of which accurately describes the results of our comprehensive testing," said Bill Brandt, senior lubrication engineer, ExxonMobil Lubricants & Specialties. "This follow up is essential to our customers' ability to properly maintain their equipment."
"In our oil analysis testing, we carefully examine for things such as elevated wear metals in the presence of silicon — which may indicate an air intake leak — and the presence of constituents such as sodium and potassium that are found in most coolants," Brandt said. "The presence of these elements in a used oil sample indicates potential coolant leaks."
As part of Mobil Planned Engineering Service, lubrication engineers such as Bill Brandt reach out to their customers to alert them of any irregularities in analysis results and often contact them to make sure they've reacted to the reports.
"I can remember occasions in which Bill himself reached out to me personally six times in one week to make sure I was aware of samples that needed immediate attention," said Savko. "The personal attention we received was above and beyond what we expected. It's a good feeling to know that someone on the outside is looking after our equipment. To me, that's service."
Routine Oil Analysis Identifies Critical Leak
Nick Savko & Sons relies on heavy machinery to get the job done. One piece of equipment, a CMI Soil Stabilizer, plays a critical role in the company's daily operations by allowing work to continue in wet conditions. A catastrophic engine failure of that machine would cost the company valuable time and money.
"The CMI Soil Stabilizer is extremely important to our fleet because it enables us to continue our work regardless of the ground and weather conditions," said Savko. "Without it, a simple thunderstorm could set our project back two or three days — and that's not something we like to have happen."
As part of Mobil Planned Engineering Service, the CMI Soil Stabilizer underwent routine oil analysis sampling via the Mobil Monitor EM/PA II used oil analysis program. In a recent test, Brandt noticed the presence of glycol in one of the used oil samples. A glycol leak in the machine's massive engine, if unchecked, could lead to a catastrophic engine failure. He noticed unusually elevated levels of copper, sodium and potassium, telltale signs of glycol in the engine.
Understanding the potential results of the glycol leak, Bill Brandt immediately notified Martin Savko of his concern for the condition of the CMI Soil Stabilizer.
"To rebuild that engine in-frame would have cost Nick Savko & Sons upwards of $13,500, plus an additional $10,000 for 10 days of lost production and $10,000 per week for a temporary replacement," said Brandt. "We felt an immediate need to notify Savko so the team could react and prevent any further damage to the equipment."
Moving Forward
Following the discovery of the glycol leak, ExxonMobil recommended a pressure test of the cooling system on the cylinders in order to locate a possible seal leak. The pressure test was executed, and the leak within the cylinder was located and repaired. Once the repairs were completed, the machine was drained, flushed and refilled with new Mobil Delvac heavy duty engine oil, and returned to full working order.
"The personal attention ExxonMobil provided not only saved our company more than $25,000 in repair and lost production costs, but also helped preserve the excellent reputation of Nick Savko & Sons for on-time project completion," Savko said. "Each year, more than 85 percent of our sales come from repeat business due to our ability to meet deadlines and deliver on-time results. The reliability of our equipment plays a major role in maintaining that level of service."
