04½ Oil Analysis Results

[KBertetto]

491 hours on engine, 25k miles, 6k on sampled oil, most of that towing 10k fiver. Here's the results:



Iron 108

Chromium 3

Lead 3

Copper 13

Tin 0

Aluminum 10

Nickel 0

Silver 3

Silicon 7

Boron 13

Sodium 3

Magnesium 20

Calcium 3493

Barium 0

Phosphorous 1398

Zinc 1699

Molybdenum 9

Titanium 0

Vanadium 0

Potassium 0

Fuel (% Vol) <1

Vis @ 100c 13. 96

Water (% Vol) 0

Soot/Solids (% Wt) 0. 5

Glycol Negative

TBN 6. 17

Oxid 12

Nitr 8

F-soot 0. 54





What does all this mean? Also, the report says no corrective action, suitable for continued use. What are the normal parameters? Oil is Amsoil HDD 15w40

 

[Diesel Nut]

Should be good. Primarily, you need to look at trends. If you see certain numbers that stay in a range then go haywire you see the beginnings of a problem. Get a few anaylises together and see how it progresses in what direction. I wishI could help more, but I am just learning about Oil Analysis. Amsoilman will probobly jump in here and expand on this. You should be problem free with this motor for a long time. ALso, be aware that your motor is still wearing in to its happy place. My milage continues to get better as my motor wears in, and I have 74K on mine. Honestly, I think they level off around 100K. Just my opinion, others may disagree.

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Iron looks pretty high. On my 2001 HO the Iron was usually in the 50s at the end of my 20,000 mile oil changes using Stratapore filters (no bypass, filter changed x2 between oil changes). I didn't tow much though.



Vaughn

 

[nickleinonen]

looks pretty good to me... silicon is a little higher than i would like to see, and TBN seems a little low, but everything else looks fine

 

[MMeier]

TBN does appear a bit low ,but still lots of life left. Mine usually comes in at the high 7 range after 22k miles on the stuff, with a filter change and 2 qts of make up at 11k . Have a sample to drop off at Cummins this week, 94. 1 k on mine as of now !

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

The synthetic/Amsoil fans might give you a "thumbs up" - but regardless, for a 6000 mile run on the oil, your wear numbers are unacceptably high - far higher than the VAST majority of similar samples using dino oils.



Not uncommon - I regularly see unusually high wear numbers on synthetic reports...



Do some research for yourself, then let your conscience be your guide...

 

[jwduke]

The synthetic/Amsoil fans might give you a "thumbs up" - but regardless, for a 6000 mile run on the oil, your wear numbers are unacceptably high - far higher than the VAST majority of similar samples using dino oils.



Not uncommon - I regularly see unusually high wear numbers on synthetic reports...



Do some research for yourself, then let your conscience be your guide...

Really makes a person wonder about synthetic oils... .....

 

[Mundgyver]

The iron is a bit of a concern, but then looking at the mileage you have on the engine 25,000 I find myself wonder about break in. Is this your first oil analysis sample sent in or did you provide them with a base line sample before this.



When I started my program, I sent in two samples. One was a base line of the oil and the other was after 8,000 turns on it. I will be sending in my 3rd sample next month with 15,000 on the oil and 155,000 on the truck. My iron wear (I am at work and do not have the paper in front of me) was allot lower than yours. So I am wondering.



Which lab did the work for you??

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

"Which lab did the work for you??"



I'm betting it was Oil Analyzers...



No OTHER analyzer outfit I know of would give a "suitable for extended use " recommendation with wear #'s that high...

 

[KBertetto]

"Which lab did the work for you??"



I'm betting it was Oil Analyzers...



No OTHER analyzer outfit I know of would give a "suitable for extended use " recommendation with wear #'s that high...

It was OAI, and this was my first sample that I've ever sent in. I was using Valvoline Premium Blue Extreme prior to this. This was my first change with the Amsoil in, so I'll sample again when it's time. And after doing some of my own research, I found that a lot of 3rd gen's have high iron counts in the samples, this is from using the search function on this site. My intention of this post is not to stir up an argument on labs or get into an oil war, just want good technical info as I'm new to the oil sampling world. I'll stick with the Amsoil and OAI lab so I can see a trend of what my CTD is doing. I won't be doing any towing until spring so I'm interested to see what the next sample will be. All personal opinions aside, I think it's more important to stick with the same lab for numbers comparison rather than switching to someone else and starting over. I learned this early on when I used to do asbestos work, one lab would say it's legally asbestos... and the next would say it isn't, all depends who's looking at the stuff. Thanks for the info fellas.



Bert

 

[Mundgyver]

If this was your first change to Amsoil, then I would think that your next sample will be of interest for trending. Are you going to stick with changing the filter and add some make up oil at the regular interval??

 

[Badunit]

The iron is a bit of a concern, but then looking at the mileage you have on the engine 25,000 I find myself wonder about break in.

I don't know about it being break-in. I sampled at 20K (haven't done it since then) with 5K on the oil and my iron was 18. I penciled in a note on the report that said 50 for iron on 10K oil was bad (for a Cummins). I don't know where I got that from, though. OAI did the analysis. This was on Delo, prior to switching to Amsoil. Maybe I should retest to see how things are going with Amsoil in there.

 

[Mundgyver]

Well I made it home and looked at my numbers.



8,910 miles run on the oil with 148,855 on the truck.



Amsoil 15W/40 with a Stratapor Fleetguard filter



... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Active Oil... ... ... ... ... Reference Sample

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..... 07/16/05... ... ... ... ..... 07/16/05



Aluminum... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... . 4... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..... 0

Chromium... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... . 1... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..... 0

Iron... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... . 13... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..... 0

Copper... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..... 1... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..... 0

Lead... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..... 2... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..... 0

Tin... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... . 0... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..... 0

Molybdenum... ... ... ... ... ... ... . 0... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..... 0

Nickle... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... . 0... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..... 0

Manganese... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 0... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..... 0

Silver... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..... 0... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..... 0

Titanium... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... . 0... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..... 0

Potassium... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..... 1... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..... 0

Boron... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..... 0... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..... 0

Silicon... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... . 3... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..... 2

Sodium... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 1... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..... 2

Calcium... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... . 2779... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 3577

Magnesium... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... . 8... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... . 11

Phosphorus... ... ... ... ... ..... 1038... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... . 1128

Zink... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 1109... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... . 1295

Barium... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..... 0... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..... 0



Viscosity @ 210*... ... ... ..... 89. 3... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... . 74. 3

FlashPoint... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 455*... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 450*

Fuel%... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..... <0. 5... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..... N/A

Antifreeze... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... . 0. 0... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... N/A

Water... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... . 0. 0... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..... 0. 0

Soot/Insolubles... ... ... ... ... ... . 0. 3... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... TR

TBN... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... . 8. 3... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... . 11. 8



This engine has been on Amsoil since 1,500 mile when I bought the truck new. My next sample will be interesting because I installed a Spinner II at the same time I took this active sample. I will be looking for my soot content to drop. The reference sample was a sample of the original oil lot that I used for the active sample. Hope these numbers help you for a comparison. The lab I used was Blackstone Laboratories out of Fort Wayne, IN.



I will be pulling another sample when the oil has 15,000 on it next month and will be posting the results with these numbers and a picture of what comes out of the Spinner II.



Should be very interesting When I looked at the Spinner II after 20 hours of run time, I got what can only be describe as thick pasty coal tar.

 

[Mundgyver]

I am trying to figure out how to include a copy of the report with it's descriptions of how to read it.

 

[JOblenes]

My next sample will be interesting because I installed a Spinner II at the same time I took this active sample. I will be looking for my soot content to drop. The reference sample was a sample of the original oil lot that I used for the active sample. Hope these numbers help you for a comparison. The lab I used was Blackstone Laboratories out of Fort Wayne, IN.



I will be pulling another sample when the oil has 15,000 on it next month and will be posting the results with these numbers and a picture of what comes out of the Spinner II.



Should be very interesting When I looked at the Spinner II after 20 hours of run time, I got what can only be describe as thick pasty coal tar.

Mundgyver,



What model of the Spinner II did you go with and how did you plumb the oil return?



Sorry to hijack the thread but I have really, really, been wanting to install one of these but can't figure out a good way to do the oil return. My local dealer is recommending the model 25 but it needs a huge 1"ID oil return line so I would need to drop the oil pan and modify it.



Jonathan

 

[Mundgyver]

You don't need to drop the oil pan. This link



https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/showthread.php?t=133882



will take you to my original post and you can find how the install was done and see exactly how I did the return line.



-Wally-

 

[JOblenes]

Thanks for the link, can't believe I missed that thread. I was out of town for two weeks on business (no internet) and missed this, clearly I need a wireless device so I can read TDR 24/7 anywhere in the world.

 

[KBertetto]

Thanks for the info guys, and Mundgyver, thanks for posting your results. I'll use that for comparitive purposes on my next one. I plan on sticking with the Amsoil and OAI so I can get a trend. I do by the way, change oil and filter every time. I think maybe that my iron was high because of the 6k on the oil, 5k was towing heavy (10k). I'm not easy on the truck when towing either, my foot is in it pretty steady. I could be way off on my theory of the iron, but my next sample should tell me more as I'm not towing at all. Thanks again.

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Bert&Holli I do know whenever you switch oil brands your first change will have higher wear numbers. I saw that on my '01, and have read of others experiencing the same. So like you said I'd stick with the Amsoil at least for now. That's what I always ran and had good results with it.



Gary commented about synthetic oils showing high numbers. . . maybe with the high detergency of the oil it holds more wear metals in suspension than a comparable Dino oil can and thus this gives the false sense of higher wear? Just a thought.



Vaughn

 

[flattracker]

Have had three of these trucks , do 150000 mi changes running delvac 1 and stratapore filters have never had a iron count over 50. Would switch to delvac if you want to continue to run synthetic or delo if you want to try dino. Ran several hundred dollars worth of amsoil thru 3 different vehicles a couple of years ago got crappy wear numbers on all of them I would'nt put that stuff in my weedeater now. Theres a reason there is not a major fleet in the world running that stuff.