Methodology to estimate temporal and spatial variation of friction coefficient in partial slip contacts using reciprocating full-sliding tests is presented. Basic assumption is that surface modification and consequently the friction variation is a function of sliding distance. Friction coefficient is obtained as a function of sliding distance from the reciprocating full-sliding tests with low amplitude sliding at the contact interface. An analysis tool is used to estimate the slip in the interface for a given cycle. Cumulative slip at each point in the interface is used to predict the friction coefficient using friction curves generated from the full-sliding tests. Average value of the estimated friction coefficient variation was found to be in reasonable agreement with the values measured experimentally. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd