--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Skeptical John, As you know I e-mailed the info to you that you have requested. After some thought I have decided to publish this info for all the TDR to see. Sorry for the length of the letter.
You mentioned that you would like to know how LE 607 stacks up against other synthetics like Royal Purple, Red Line, or NEO.
The testing that we just did with Amsoil and LE cost more than $11,000. The testing was done for Mag-Hytec because he sells Amsoil and LE and wanted to know the truth about which one was better so he can recommend the best with his covers.
We have tested some of the Royal Purple products in the past. I can find two that we have tested, the Synergy 90 from Royal Purple and Synfilm 132 Air compressor oil. The AC oil is a 100% synthetic fluid which utilizes a blend of ester and PAO as its base stock. It uses barium sulfonate probably as a rust inhibitor and Moly as a soluble antiwear/antioxident additive. When testing was done we had tested LE 9032 synthetic air compressor oil against Royle Purple synthetic oil on the 4-ball test LE had approximately 25% less wear at the 20 kilogram load and 35% less wear at the 40 kilogram load than the Royal Purple product.
The Oxidation resistance of three oils was evaluated via the rotary bomb oxidaton test (RBOT). Oxidation lifetimes for the three oils tested were as follows;
LE 9032 synthetic 715 min.
LE 6401 petroleum 510 min.
Royal Purple synthetic 379 min.
When we tested the demulsibility characteristics of the RP AC oil we saw very poor results. They had 38 milliliters of emulsion remaining after 30 minutes. The RP oil has a pronounced tendency to mix with water. The pour points were about the same between the LE syn and RP syn. The LE petro oil did not have as low of a pour point.
Royal Purple synergy 90 was tested against the LE petro product on a 4-ball test. The results were as follows;
Maximum bulk oil temperature generated was;
LE 607 59 deg. c (138 deg F)
Royal Purple 131 deg c (268 deg F)
The average wear scar diameter for the two ols were;
LE 607 0. 64mm
Royal Purple 2. 44mm
These were heads up tests on ASTM calabrated test machines at an ISO 9001 test lab.
I will post more info later Sincerely Kevin Dinwiddie
Oil Man
Member
Posts: 43
From: Santa Clarita, CA
Registered: Dec 1999
posted 02-07-2000 05:05 PM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
John, I don't think we have any testing against NEO oil. As far as I know they are not a very big player in the commercial indursry or heavy duty trucking industry.
Oil Man
Member
Posts: 43
From: Santa Clarita, CA
Registered: Dec 1999
posted 02-07-2000 05:34 PM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
John, I have found some info on testing with Redline. First three oils were sampled and analyzed. All oils were Red Line, 10w30, 10w40,and 20w50. The tests run were the Falex pin and Vee Wear Test and the Thin Film Oxidation Update Test (TFOUT). These tests are good comparative tools to evaluate different motor oils. The infrared Analysis confirms that the Redline oils are all ester-based products. The base numbers are all above nine and the viscosity's are normal for the viscosity ranges claimed for each product. Elemental Analysis on the three oil samples showed the same chemistry in each of the samples. This is a predominately calcium based detergent package with a heavy dose of Moly. Two things arise from these elements. First, a high calcium along with the high levels of magnesium, phosphorus and zinc suggests that these oils are a rather high ash type engine oil, which may be prone to deposit formation. The presence of Moly indicates the presence of a moly disulfide type compound used for friction modification and wear prevention. Moly has a history of problems in engine oils that may be also present in these oils based on the presence of moly. In the past, Moly compounds have had difficulty with thermal stability and becoming corrosive above 750 deg F. I think you"ll agree that engine temperatures in the ring belt area may exceed the thermal stability limits for moly compounds.
In the Falex Pin and Vee Wear Test, both the 10w30 and 20w50 oils showed five teeth of wear. The 10w40 product showed four teeth of wear LE 8800 15w40 oil showed similar wear on the same test. This shows that there is very little difference between the LE and the Redline engine oils for wear purposes.
The TFOUT test however, the Redline product failed miserably, This failure is related to the type of base stock used in these products. As we stated earlier, this is a polyolester product, which has difficulty handling water and moisture, In the TFOUT tests, these products did not show a pressure drop on the Rotary Bomb used to conduct the test. After sixteen hours, the bomb was disassembled and there wes a very heavily oxidized residue remaining in the test jar.
Experience with this test tells us that products formulated with esters have a chemical reaction occurring during the test which consumes oxygen as expected, but the chemical reaction also produces water vapor and other gases at approximately the same rate as the oxpgen is consumed. The result is a nil pressure drop. However, the water vapor and hear in the test severely degrade and oxidize the ester causing a total failure of the oil. This is a detrimental feature of these oils in that in an engine under short run conditions where the engine may not heat up completely. there is a great deal of moisture produced. This moisture will effect the ester base and cause rapid significant oxidation of the oil.
Overall, we feel that the Redline products, while exhibiting good wear protection in the Falex Test, are not well balanced products and would have difficulties performing in long drain service due to their susceptibility to oxidation and degradation. The high calcium chemistry does not give the total base number longevity that is seen in the predominantly magnesium chemistry of the LE 8800 and the Moly may also be a source of potential corrosion and thermal instability in these Redline engine oils.
Sorry the posting was so long but I'm writing it off the Lab analysis results.
PS. An article written in the SAE magazine a few years back said that the use of Moly in concentrations above 200 ppm caused excess wear on the NTC 400test by Cummins. The article was called Reduced Durability due to a Friction Modifier in Heavy Duty Diesel Lubricants. by R. D. Hercamp of Cummins Engine co. Inc.
Sincerely, Kevin Dinwiddie
Oil Man
Member
Posts: 43
From: Santa Clarita, CA
Registered: Dec 1999
posted 02-07-2000 05:45 PM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
John, You said that other oils have solved problems in racing. I can see that also because there are different qualities out there. One will be better at reducing wear than another, thus solving the proplem. However LE is no regular oil. There are rear end MFG out there that recommend LE and for Top fuel and Alcohol dragsters and funny cars. Even some of the ones that are sponsored by another oil company. This is a fact one oil company comes to me to buy LE oil for a car that he sponsors. I have worked with Top alchol dragsters and solved problems that Royal Purple could not solve, not even if they used a SAE 70 vs LE SAE 50
John also keep in mind that just because an oil works better in a racing application it does not mean that it has what it takes for a diesel that goes many more miles than a race car and incounters other things like Oxidation resistance or TBN stability etc.
I hope this answers all of your questions
Sincerely, Kevin Dinwiddie