amsoil out--mileage up??

[dozzer]

My 04. 5 has had amsoil in it since 20,000 miles, after the last oil results came back with the iron a little high (21 ppm) i decided to try some thing else. My truck has 50,594 miles on it now, this weekend i put delo back in it and my mileage went from an averae of 16. 5 to 17. 9 over the last 2 tanks. I drive about 300 miles a day over the same terrain so its easy to track. The other thing thats odd is the truck is not as loud as it was and others have said the samething when i pull up?? is it because the oil is thicker? better??



I am confused by my findings, any thoughts????

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

Dunno - but Chevron recently started including Molybdenum and Boron in the Delo 400 - the Moly in particular is a respected wear and friction reducer - might make a difference.



I've been using the Delo in my truck since new, and last oil change was totally the "new" Delo - will do an oil analysis at about 5000 miles or so - mostly RV towing miles - and see what effect the Moly has on wear numbers, Iron, aluminum, etc...



Good to hear about your experience tho'...

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

dozzer how many miles on your last change? 21 ppm Iron is a nice low number especially if you've gone more than 5k on a change (assuming you've left it in at least 10k or more). Did you do the 5w30 or 15w40? I didn't like the 5w30 when I tried it in my '01.



Vaughn

 

[dozzer]

I had 7200 miles on it at sample time. The engine sounding quieter puzzles me still? I only say its a little high because of other lab results i have seen on the web and this site. I have tried to find normal wear limits on these motors but have had no luck. 15-40 marine

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

dozzer how many miles on your last change? 21 ppm Iron is a nice low number especially if you've gone more than 5k on a change (assuming you've left it in at least 10k or more). Did you do the 5w30 or 15w40? I didn't like the 5w30 when I tried it in my '01.



Vaughn

Well, for what it's worth, the first 4000 mile analysis on my new '02 gave an iron reading of 19 ppm - that's a NEW engine.



Later, with the Frantz bypass installed, I put 20,000 miles on Delo 400 15/40, and got an iron reading of 22 ppm.



To each his own, but 22 ppm on oil with just a bit over 7000 miles is too high in anything but a new tight engine - nothing remotely catastrophic, just too high. But not unusual as far as Amsoil is concerned, I have seen other similar iron readings with it at similar miles, and would be willing to bet the next sample at similar miles on the Delo will be down around 12 ppm...



We'll see...

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Each truck varies. . . 22ppm during 7200 miles isn't bad at all, certainly not high or excessive. My '01 was in the low 30s at 7000 mile intervals on Delo 400 (2nd oil change since new) and high 20s on the following 7k mile oil change. It dropped to the 40s-50s over 20,000 mile changes when I went to Amsoil 15w40 but of course it was more broken in by then (averages to 11ppm every 5k). When I tried 5w30 it fell on its face though, 88ppm at 20k but I blame that on the 110 degree weather we had that year and an oil that's too light.



I never had bypass, just used Stratapores.



Vaughn

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

It IS interesting to see how typical wear numbers compare, Cummins vs Ford vs Duramax - the Cummins normally shows about HALF the wear numbers, all things being equal, vs the other brands...

 

[amsoilman]

I had 7200 miles on it at sample time. The engine sounding quieter puzzles me still? I only say its a little high because of other lab results i have seen on the web and this site. I have tried to find normal wear limits on these motors but have had no luck. 15-40 marine

For your information, Cummins "AVERAGE Normal" wear rate for Iron for a 10,000 mile drain is 50 ppm. Also every engine is different! NO TWO engines are the same, even if run the same. Each will have differeing wear rates, but the average for the cummins is 50 ppm for (Fe) Iron.



The very best way to determine your wear rate is to continue oil analysis at specified intervals. Also make sure you do not add oil in between the analysis, or it will skew the results!



Wayne

amsoilman

 

[DSpencer]

Wayne

I had 64 ppm iron on my amsoil 15-40 @ 41k on the sample. Is there an absolute level that would warrant changing the oil? I am going to try to go to 75 thousand if samples look ok.

 

[amsoilman]

Wayne

I had 64 ppm iron on my amsoil 15-40 @ 41k on the sample. Is there an absolute level that would warrant changing the oil? I am going to try to go to 75 thousand if samples look ok.

For the amount of miles you have on your oil (41K) 64ppm (Fe) Iron, is quite low. I generally let the lab tell me when an element gets to high, as they will "flag" it,and then tell me what is happening, and give suggestions on what to do, such as change filters or oil.



On my own truck (2003) I installed the 15W-40 at 8,700 miles. With 10,200 miles on the oil, (18,700 on the truck) the (Fe) Iron was 39 ppm. Then when sampled with 21,000 on the oil (29,500 on the truck) the (Fe) Iron went to 87 ppm. Changed filters at that time and the next analysis at 31,500 miles on the oil (40,000 on the truck) the (Fe) Iron went back down to 62 ppm.



Just remember, NO TWO engines will wear at the same rates! Many factors will determine wear rates, and as I said above, the best way is to continue with periodic oil analysis, so one can develope a trend in the wear rates generated.



Wayne

amsoilman

 

[Heavyweight]

Lets take a look at the variables:



Temperature

Wind

Altitude

Throttle position

Weight of Vehicle



Those variables play a "HUGE" part of MPG.

unless you can reproduce the same above conditions,

a +-1MPG change is almost impossible to detect.