Oil Anlysis - 10,000 report
 

Thought a few of you may want to see my Anlysis of 10,000 miles on Shell's Rotella T 15w 40. Main resons for the test was to see how much more life the oil had left and get the silicon count. Wanted to see if the AFE Pro guard 7 was keeping the dirt out. Motor use: 70% hi-way use unloaded - temps from 90*-25*.

http://mnelson.smugmug.com/photos/15352260-L.jpg

I was kind of worried about using a Uni or Amsoil drop-in oiled foam, but if you're AFE is doing that well, I feel better. Kind of curious about the copper though. If I deceide to use a high flow filter, I will do a few UOAs as well, but at eariler intervals (maint schedule for my new '05 is 3750 "B" and 7500 for "A"). What happened to the "B" = 7500 and "A" = 15,000?

Not that it is a big deal, but you know we dont have a signature 600 in our trucks. The signature 600 is an engine that Cummins makes for big trucks. I think the rating on the engine is 600 HP and well over 1500lbs of torque.

Just wanted to let you know in case the metal alert levels are diffrent between the engines.

The copper is from the brand new oil cooler. It will go away over time.

Cummins still recomends "B" = 7500 and "A" = 15,000 for the 600 & 610's. I wouldn't think Doudge would print that it be less.

I noticed that too (signature 600), but don't think it made a differance in the report.

Your right, it will not make a difference in the report, they just might look for diffrent things in certain engines. Might want to have them correct that on the next sample. I'm getting ready to do my first analysis on my 17500 mile change. Good to hear the rotella is holding up for 10000 miles. I've been going 5000 on mine. I figure 20000 mile increments I'll send in a sample just to see whats going on in the engine. I have no plans of doing extended drain intervals.

I feel like I'll be one of the few on this forum to run on the same oil for 10,000 or more miles. If Cummins says its cool and the report proves the same thing, I'll use oil past the 10,000 mile mark (12,500 - 15,000) depending on motor use. Although, I know most just like to change w/new oil to be on the safe side (limiting risk & peace of mind). I believe the Cummins 600 motor, Fleetguard Stratapore filters & Rotella T 15w/40 are all up for the task and will do it safely.

Does anyone else run dino oil up to 10,000?

I will if the soot doesn't get too high. Before I put on my big ol' stinky injectors I ran a batch of Delvac 1300 for a year and almost 8k. Sampling showed that it would have been OK to 10k at least. I'll see how the Rotella "synthetic" handles the soot when I dump it this spring, if all is good I'll go back to yearly oil changes.

You are correct that most on this forum like to change oil more often than the book says, believing that it's good preventive maintenance.

I run Rotella 15w-40 dino oil for at least 10K intervals all the time. Sometimes I let it get closer to 12-13K. I also use the Fleetguard Stratapore filters. IMHO these engines are very easy on oil. No reason to dump 12 quarts of oil if it can still go longer.

Cummins600 I'd start looking for a new lab or get more results included in your test. It was nice they told you the TBN in the comments, but make sure you always get that. Also, the exact soot amount would have been nice. Overall the numbers don't look too bad though. For comparison, here is my 04 555 engine with 10k miles on Delvac 1 with a bypass filter and a scotty3 intake with the AFE(K&N style) filter. About 20% towing.

10,000 miles on oil
30,000 miles on vehicle at time of sample

Wear metals
Fe 19
Ch 1
Pb 0
Co 4
Sn 0
Al 4
Ni 0
Ag 3
Si 5
Additives
Boron 32
Sodium - 4
Magnesium - 407
Calcium 2228
Barium 0
Phosphorus 1103
Zinc 1361
Moly 1
Titanium, Vanadium, Potassium 0

Fuel <1
Visc @100C 13.77
Water 0
Soot 0.1 %
TBN 8.75
Oxidation 17.0
Nitration 14.0
F-soot 0.01

Lightman

What was your potassium number, or didn't they test it? I'm curious because my oil report came back showing potassium at 43 ppm (I posted it yesterday in this forum). Most of the new Cummins oil reports I've seen show higher than normal potassium levels. Do you have any ideas on why this is the case?

I've heard of other 3rd gens with high potassium levels, however in the last three analyses I"ve done on my truck - my potassium level was 0. If I didn't include a level it's because it was zero. I read an explanation of why some folks thought the third gens had high potassium, but I can't really recall the details. Could have been related to break in but not sure.

Lightman, what lab do you use? Yep, I thought a soot number would have been nice to include.

I seem to recall the high potassium levels were from the oil. Valvoline Premium Blue shows a higher potassium level than others, does this sound right?
I use PB and the potassium numbers are always a little high. So high they put a question mark in the %antifreeze value. 18,000 miles on truck and no change in antifreeze level ??