04½ Oil Analysis Results

[amsoilman]

Thanx for the info amsoilman. You've obviously done your homework and nothing works better than real world testing. One thing that may not be obvious to everyone, is that your info reinforces the notion that the "cost vs. benefit" factor depends largely on how you use your beast, and what year it is.



An 05 using maint. sched. "A", has an oil change interval of 15K miles. An 05 using schedule "B" uses 7500 miles. I haven't done the math but I would guess that the HPCR's are comparable in operating cost to the extended drain interval of your system. Personally, (well at least from an "old-school" mentality) 15K on factory recommended oil seems excessive but I'm open to change. I think I'd be more concerned about corrosive compounds moreso than any other factor on an extended drain program.



What are your thoughts on this? For example, has there been any testing on the effects of PH variation (obviously considering that PH doesn't always tell the whole story when talking corrosion)

BigGunZ,

I don't know about the Ph variation, as oil analysis doesn't give that. I just recently had my oil analyzed 11/20/05 with 45,300 miles on the oil without change, 4 quarts added in this time frame, due to oil fitlter changes.

(By-pass as well as Full-Flow)

TBN =5. 99

OXID = 7. 0

NITR 8. 0

SOOT=0. 20

Viscosity = 14. 05 cSt@100 c. (15W-40 Oil)



ALL wear metals were within acceptable levels, and additives were within acceptable limits as well.





Wayne

amsoilman

 

[BigGunZ]

BigGunZ,
I don't know about the Ph variation, as oil analysis doesn't give that. I just recently had my oil analyzed 11/20/05 with 45,300 miles on the oil without change, 4 quarts added in this time frame, due to oil fitlter changes.
(By-pass as well as Full-Flow)
TBN =5. 99
OXID = 7. 0
NITR 8. 0
SOOT=0. 20
Viscosity = 14. 05 cSt@100 c. (15W-40 Oil)
ALL wear metals were within acceptable levels, and additives were within acceptable limits as well. Wayne
amsoilman

Wayne... ..... school me a bit. What is TBN, NITR, and OXID? I understand the others but what do the numbers mean... meaning... . what do they represent? For example, if TBN =5. 99... ..... 5. 99 what? PPM?

Dave

 

[amsoilman]

Wayne... ..... school me a bit. What is TBN, NITR, and OXID? I understand the others but what do the numbers mean... meaning... . what do they represent? For example, if TBN =5. 99... ..... 5. 99 what? PPM?



Dave

OK Dave, I'll try to give you info without going too deep, IF I CAN!



TBN=TOTAL BASE NUMBER The number (5. 99 in this case) indicates the "Reserve Alkakinity" in the oil. There are additives in the oil that "neutralize acidic by-products of combution. NEW oil starts out with the strongest TBN they can posess. The Amsoil (15W-40) in this case starts out with a TBN of 12, and will decrease as nitration and Oxidation increases. Some oils start out with much less TBN. When TBN strength diminishes to<2, it is time to change the oil.



NITR=Nitration. Nitration occurs during the fuel combution process when the combustion by-products mix with the engine oil. Test results are reported as absorbance units per cm-1. For synthetic oils if this number became 50. 0 units, it would be considered excessive. If it were petroleum oil 30. 0 units would be excessive.



OXID=Oxidation. Oxidation occurs when the oil undergoes a chemical change under the influence of high operating temps or operating over extended drain intervals. If oxidation becomes high (BIG numbers) the acids will increase and the Viscosity will increase, then the additives will deplete very rapidly. Test results are reported absorbance units per cm-1. For synthetic oils if this number became 50. 0 units, it would be considered excessive. If it were petroleum oil 30. 0 units would be excessive.



ALL of the above fall under the "PHYSICAL PROPERTIES" of an oil analysis.



Hope this helps answer your question,





Wayne

amsoilman

 

[BigGunZ]

OK Dave, I'll try to give you info without going too deep, IF I CAN!

TBN=TOTAL BASE NUMBER The number (5. 99 in this case) indicates the "Reserve Alkakinity" in the oil. There are additives in the oil that "neutralize acidic by-products of combution. NEW oil starts out with the strongest TBN they can posess. The Amsoil (15W-40) in this case starts out with a TBN of 12, and will decrease as nitration and Oxidation increases. Some oils start out with much less TBN. When TBN strength diminishes to<2, it is time to change the oil.

NITR=Nitration. Nitration occurs during the fuel combution process when the combustion by-products mix with the engine oil. Test results are reported as absorbance units per cm-1. For synthetic oils if this number became 50. 0 units, it would be considered excessive. If it were petroleum oil 30. 0 units would be excessive.

OXID=Oxidation. Oxidation occurs when the oil undergoes a chemical change under the influence of high operating temps or operating over extended drain intervals. If oxidation becomes high (BIG numbers) the acids will increase and the Viscosity will increase, then the additives will deplete very rapidly. Test results are reported absorbance units per cm-1. For synthetic oils if this number became 50. 0 units, it would be considered excessive. If it were petroleum oil 30. 0 units would be excessive.

ALL of the above fall under the "PHYSICAL PROPERTIES" of an oil analysis.

Hope this helps answer your question, Wayne amsoilman

Sure does, thanx. I was trying to figure which values coincided with the potential buildup of corrosive compounds and it appears that TBN and OXID are those indicators.

 

[betterthanstock]

Starting with the "600-610" CTD, engine oil gets very black very soon after a change.

... BUT, also starting with the "600-610" CTD engine, the recommended oil change doubled to 7500/15,000 miles.

Not quite. The 15000 mile oil change started with the super clean running (from an oil point of view, not EPA) 2003 (555/305) and early 2004 trucks made with 2003 engines.



To meet 2004 emissions, DC decided to avoid the Cummins cooled EGR, which also dirties the oil by itself. (they saved a few dollars and complexity, at a fuel consumption penalty, back when fuel was 1. 20/gal)



DC added the third injection event and left the same oil change interval as before. Many other manufacturers now use multiple injection pulses.



If you plan on keeping it for a while use the CI (not CH) rated oil to better handle the soot, and change it at half the recommended miles.