DBLR

Below is my latest UOA report along with the previous two UOA numbers.

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Oil Brand: Amsoil 5W-30 HDD
Oil Filter: Fleetguard Stratapore LF16035
Sample Miles: 7695-----6564-----6972
Vehicle Miles: 34291-----26396-----20032
Sample Period: 10/02/08 to 10/05/09
Make Up oil: NONE
oil changed: Yes

IRON: 77, 37, 41
CHROMIUM: 2, 2, 1
LEAD: 5, 6, 6
COPPER: 6, 7, 7
TIN: 0, 0, 0
ALUMINUM: 2, 3, 6
NICKEL: 0, 0, 0
SILVER: 1, 2, 2
SILICON: 5, 6, 10
BORON: 2, 2, 4
SODIUM: 2, 6, 0
MAGNESIUM: 8, 14, 29
CALCIUM: 3558, 3620, 4009
BARIUM: 0 0 0
PHOSPHORUS: 1173, 1236, 1328
ZINC: 1334, 1238, 1533
MOLYBDENUM: 0, 1, 3
TITANIUM: 0, 0, 0
VANADIUM: 0, 0, 0
POTASSIUM: 16, 0, 0
FUEL (%VOL): 0.5, 0.9, 0.5
VIS @ 40C, cSt: NA NA NA
VIC @ 100C, cSt: 11.2, 11.37, 11.19
WATER: <.1, <.1, <.1
SOOT: 1.0, 0.7, 0.5
TBN: 9.24, 10.39,10.03
OXID: 36, 5.0, 4.0
NITR : 15, 8.0, 6.0

purduepurdy

Iron is a bit high on the last one it looks like. TBN is awesome though.

Hvytrkmech

I agree with the iron being a little high. It should be decreasing not increasing. How do you capture your sample? Is the engine at full operating temp when you capture the sample?

RowJ

Does not ever seem to work out that way.
If I'm reading this correctly...it's an annual oil change? You're just adding the 1-2 qts needed with the new filters @ 7,000 +/-?

Higher iron ppm is not serious, for an engine still under 50,000 miles, IMO.

RJ

Ruralmedic

I've been told you want your iron number to be around 2ppm per 1,000miles on the change interval. I don't know if the oil was changed at each interval on this report. Adding up the interval miles if this was the same fill equals over 21K miles. 77ppm is a little over the mark if this is the case, certainly something to keep an eye on if only around a 7K mile change interval. This engine may fare better using an SAE 40 grade oil, rather than 30 grade.

What is the price of this stuff per gallon? I have run the amsoil AME 15W-40 in the past, but at over $30 a gallon, oil analysis reports didn't prove to me that it was worth the extra cost. JMO

DBLR

The oil was changed at each interval for all 3 UOA. The oil filter is not changed during the oil run. The oil was collect from the oil pan drain plug for all 3 samples. This last time the oil was a lot hotter compared to the other 2 as it sat for less then 10 minutes before the oil was drain. If it matters on the way to have it serviced it was driven about 20 miles total with speeds of 70 MPH for 12 of the 20 miles, about 7 miles at 55 MPH and 1 at 35 MPH..

purduepurdy

Yea, I would run another cycle to see what it does. With that much TBN you could definitly keep going but the iron will begin to make it abrasive. Amsoil's bypass is really nice and there are other systems out there. I have been using mine for two oil changes now and it seems to work well.

RowJ

Absolutely!
You could run that oil and filter for 10,000 easy!
But....so FE (iron) number is growing, maybe just hotter oil... but can't reason that one out.??

When taking samples...should always be "mid stream"... as the oil in draining. Did you? If not, that could account for some wild variations.... maybe.

RJ

Lil Dog

The Oxidation and Nitration numbers went really high at the end.. did the ambient temperatures change alot?

DBLR

No I was not the person taking any of the samples. IIRC when the other 2 samples were taken it sat for 30 minutes or more after a 20 mile drive to town to get the oil changed. BTW I have been thinking about installing a oil by pass but for some reason other things come up that take my $$$.

Why yes the temps this year are colder compared to when the other 2 years for samples. We've had cooler temps almost all year along and with very little summer heat that we normally get and very little fall warmth and now we've already had 4 inches of snow a good 45 days early.

trik396

I know its a rated diesel oil but why go with a 5w30 when our trucks need a 40 weight (5or15w40)?
That iron number would kinda worry me some.

Ruralmedic

Another thought here on the iron since it's the highest wear number. Do you happen to have any fresh, unused oil left to send in and sample?

I know this will end up adding cost to an already expensive oil use. But it's possible this stuff is coming from the factory already contaminated, possibly rusty pipelines or storage tank, etc. I have seen reports of virgin and used analysis of the same batch of oil, with the used report actually showing better wear numbers, because the engine's filter cleaned it up during it's use. The oil was cleaner after being run, than when fresh out of the bottle!

Because formulations can change over time, analysis of both a virgin and used sample, can many times only show the true picture.

DBLR

The reason for 5w30 is I get 1.1 mpg better then 15w40 Delvac and 6/10 better then I got from Rotella 5w40. BTW I also know of several guys who live in So Cal an use 5w30 year round without any problems so I don't think its the oil not being up to par. Also the engine has less noise with 5w30 then it did with the 5w40. My self I like the idea of its -56 pour point being an oils flow point is 30 degrees higher then its pour point so that means the oil will still flow at -26 below zero and that good as last year it got to -34 below inside of my garage so its nice to have oil that flows well in cold temps.

Ruralmedic,

The only extra oil I have left over is from the current oil in the engine and none from the oil that was used in the sample above.

Ruralmedic

If you have some left from this time, it might not be a bad idea to go ahead and send it in for analysis. So on the next used sample testing, you'll have the same batch to compare.

The lab that does the testing for the fire apparatus here asks for a virgin oil sample for analysis to compare the results with the used samples.

One would expect(at least myself)if paying a premium price for a motor oil, that the used report would be stellar, with wear numbers being minimum, if any at all.

louielouie

I've recently switched to the HDD 5w-30 & by-pass so this is definitely interesting. My only other thought was the potassium went from 0 in the first two samples to 16. I forget what the other component of coolant is that together might indicate a leak somewhere...