Are all UV tracer dyes equal?

I’m thinking about adding tracer dye to my engine oil on an ongoing basis, as part of my routine oil changes, to detect any oil leaks early. I might even add it to all my oil bathed components. Color me crazy, I just hate leaks of any nature. He’ll, maybe I’ll add some water soluable stuff to my coolant in a second color.

Is there any reason, chemically speaking, to not do this? Do these dyes have any sort of expiration in terms of service life? I.e., will they only fluoresce for a short time after being added?

 

They stay bright forever once leaked out, but I think it loses its effectiveness if left in for months on end.

I have worked on cars since 2005 and I have yet to use dye on oil. With Toyota's it starts off as a sweat, and eventually changes to a leak. They are easy to find with a good high powered flash light.

Just do your own oil changes and check it during the service, skid plates off everything. The 16's have very few issues regarding leaks, only a hand-full had timing cover leaks.

They are not intended for leak prevention, they are used to assist in finding leaks. When the Cadillac Northstar engine was introduced it was necessary, but I can't think of many other examples. They had cracked block issues.

 

Of course, that is my intention...

 

Most quantified leaks are drips which you find on the garage floor, this is when most customers complain about it. Thus needing to find it.

If you simply check the motor on oil changes you'll find a sweat long before the need for dye or a drip starts.

 

Mercury adds dye to their oil for outboard motors. Every new mercury/mercruiser engine will have dye in it from day one. Therefore, I would say there are no ill effects of doing so. It has helped me twice to locate a leak on their engines.