Oil Analysis results

[amsoilman]

I agree. A lousy oil with an excellent filter, will make it look like the engine is in pristine condition, when in fact there could be a pound of metal in the filter.



Maybe a better way would be to cut the oil filter and remove the paper and all debris, and have it analyzed and weighted. That's what they do for air filters, but it's much harder when you have the weight of the oil to deal with.

That's no $50 oil test anymore, more like a few hundred.



This is why it's bogus to rely on an OIL analysys to tell you whether or not the AIR FILTER is doing its job. The oil filter could hide the evidence of damage.



I'll just stick to 5w-40 rotella synth every 10K and let someone else worry about analysis. And I'll open the oil fill cap and check for blowby every few oil changes, to get an idea if the engine is starting to wear.

Oil analysis is the best way to tell if you are having any engine problems before you have to tear it down to see the problem.

Yes, oil analysis can tell you if you have air induction problems as well.

Example: I had a customer who had been doing oil analysis for several times on a chevy Diesel. (5 times to be exact) when he received a "FAX" satating the oil had to much silicone or dirt in it. He pulled the air filter element and it was in great shape, but then he pulled off the air intake hose, which was corragated like ours, and when he looked at the inside of the curve radius, it had a large 2 inch tear in the tube. , which was allowing un filtered air to get in the engine. NOW, if he had not been doing oil analysis, and only oil changes, he would never had been aware of thein happening! Saved his truck!



Wayne

 

[betterthanstock]

Oil analysis is the best way to tell if you are having any engine problems before you have to tear it down to see the problem.

Yes, oil analysis can tell you if you have air induction problems as well.

Example: I had a customer who had been doing oil analysis for several times on a chevy Diesel. (5 times to be exact) when he received a "FAX" satating the oil had to much silicone or dirt in it. He pulled the air filter element and it was in great shape, but then he pulled off the air intake hose, which was corragated like ours, and when he looked at the inside of the curve radius, it had a large 2 inch tear in the tube. , which was allowing un filtered air to get in the engine. NOW, if he had not been doing oil analysis, and only oil changes, he would never had been aware of thein happening! Saved his truck!



Wayne

Wayne, I'm not saying it did not help him (although some damage has already been done), but the best thing for him would have been regular inspection of the parts. Silicone enters thru the air, then gets lodged in the piston ring grooves where it grinds away, and some of it gets washed into the oil. The filter traps most of it, but some will show up in the oil analysis.



Had he had a real good oil filter, the filter would have caught the silicone from the oil, but the silicone would still have continued to grind away at the cylinder/piston/rings virtually undetected. Needless to say, a better oil filter will protect the bearings and cams from excess wear, but not the point of dust entry, the cylinders.



Mining trucks use a "safety" (backup) filter after the initial air filter, just because one day with a damaged air filter can take out an engine.

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

There was one guy in the TDR magazine some time ago who lost his 12-valve from a cracked intake tube. Pretty much ruined the engine and ended up replacing it.

 

[JSpencer]

Question of oil availability

For my first oil change in my new to me 2500, I used Delvac 1300. For the second change I used Devo 400 and planned to use the same in my next change coming up.



My problem is locally I have only found Devo 400le at several local stores. Has Chevron stopped making and distributing 400 in favor of 400le? I continue to look but are others having problems finding it in their area? Vermont is kind of a different place... ...





Jim

 

[amsoilman]

Wayne, I'm not saying it did not help him (although some damage has already been done), but the best thing for him would have been regular inspection of the parts. Silicone enters thru the air, then gets lodged in the piston ring grooves where it grinds away, and some of it gets washed into the oil. The filter traps most of it, but some will show up in the oil analysis.



Had he had a real good oil filter, the filter would have caught the silicone from the oil, but the silicone would still have continued to grind away at the cylinder/piston/rings virtually undetected. Needless to say, a better oil filter will protect the bearings and cams from excess wear, but not the point of dust entry, the cylinders.



Mining trucks use a "safety" (backup) filter after the initial air filter, just because one day with a damaged air filter can take out an engine.

How many of us remove the air filter tube between the filter box and the turbo on a regular basis to see if the rubber tube is damaged? As too the oil filter, he had an Amsoil By-pass system installed, which is considered a very good oil filter system.

The bottom line was the oil analysis revealed a problem, that he would not have known about, since he only changed air filter elements and did not look at the entire air induction system.

I realize we all do things differently, which is fine with me, but my preference is to use oil analysis, especially if you extend your oil drain intervals.



Wayne

 

[OT-OF-HERE!!]

Valvoline

Jetpilot on Comp Diesel recommended to me Valvoline Premium Blue Classic which has the zinc properties left out or removed from most of the newer blends due to the zinc wearing on the Cat. Since I have no Cat and would benefit from the zinc additive I'm going to go to the Classic. :-laf

 

[JSpencer]

Thanks, I'll look around for Blue.....



Jim

 

[JCasper]

Only 2,000 miles or so on this sample, but it looks better.



I am going to change it again this weekend

 

[SKari]

Smarty and oil viscosity

I have a problem I was wondering if anyone could help me with. I run LE 155w40 oil with 6000 mile drain intervals, soft service (mostly), smarty on level 3 (not Revo), otherwise stock motor-73K miles-never hot. One oil analysis came in with viscosity 18. 4 (high), mild lead, soot, and chromium. A second came in worse than the first (after 1000 miles on fresh oil and filter change). Third sample with 30 miles on fresh change pending (good baseline for the oil I am hoping). Fourth sample at 1500 miles with no smarty box in the future.

Questions:

1. Why no soot increase as reason for viscosity increase (Smarty on level puts out lots of smoke over stock).

2. Is the Smarty or oil or the motor itself the problem?

3. Would Amsoil be better?

4. I am gonna go through the intake system to check for leaks and put in an AFE element. Should I do that now or wait til after the fourth sample?

5. Is the test itself being skewed by the amount of soot the Smarty puts out?



Appreciate any thoughts

 

[SMorton]

I just got back a lab report on my 04. 5, with 13 months and 10k on Amsoil AME 15-40, and my report was clean, no action reqd, low ( nearly undetectable soot levels). I run the Edge Juice w/attitude, but keep it set on 1 most of the time, wear metals all very low, and contaminants nearly non-existent.



04. 5, AT, 4x4, Edge Juice w/ attitude, MBRP duals, A/fe stage 2, Amsoil throughout.

 

[flyby night]

have a problem I was wondering if anyone could help me with. I run LE 155w40 oil with 6000 mile drain intervals, soft service (mostly), smarty on level 3 (not Revo), otherwise stock motor-73K miles-never hot. One oil analysis came in with viscosity 18. 4 (high), mild lead, soot, and chromium. A second came in worse than the first (after 1000 miles on fresh oil and filter change). Third sample with 30 miles on fresh change pending (good baseline for the oil I am hoping). Fourth sample at 1500 miles with no smarty box in the future.

Questions:

1. Why no soot increase as reason for viscosity increase (Smarty on level puts out lots of smoke over stock).

2. Is the Smarty or oil or the motor itself the problem?

3. Would Amsoil be better?

4. I am gonna go through the intake system to check for leaks and put in an AFE element. Should I do that now or wait til after the fourth sample?

5. Is the test itself being skewed by the amount of soot the Smarty puts out?



Appreciate any thoughts/QUOTE]



SKari, do you make a lot of short trips? Or run it a little hard before it gets fully warmed up?



I run LE 8800 15w-40 oil in mine. I have actually had great success in not just my truck, but many others. I change the filter at 5k miles and keep running it. I pulled a sample at 11k or 12k miles and it came back excellent. Most of the miles were 4 miles each way to work, and that is not long enough to even get warm air from the heater when it is 5 below in the winter time.



I don't believe the amsoil is better, the LE is better as it is not a synthetic. As for the high viscosity, was this your first run of LE oil in the engine? If so, the LE and the previous oil could have been incompatible and the remaining remnants of the previous oil could have clashed with the LE. The lead and chromium are a direct result of the soot levels. I have seen this in equipment that goes short trips (especially run harder when cold), and/or idles excessively. They are pretty rough on firetrucks, but I have seen the LE go 20k miles in a firetruck and still sample good. which would be about 6 times longer than was possible with the delo 400.



I don't know much about the smarty's as I don't have any experience with any of the tuners. If it is altering you timing it could be possibly elevating the soot levels.



What are you using for filtration?



You may benefit greatly using a bypass filter. I put one on right around the time a pulled a sample. I also got a beater with a heater to drive back and forth to work and save the wear and tear from the short trips.