O.k. Sent my last oil change off to BlackStone and just got the results. I have a question about the Potassiumvlevel. First the back-ground this was my second test, the oil was Valvoline Premium Blue with 4,716 miles on it and 156 hours. I use no diesel or oil additive. They are saying the Potassium level is high. They said this the first time I tested with only 10,000 on the truck. The original test was assumed a high level due to break in, but this time they say it is probably anti-freeze contamination and told me to watch the coolant level. The potassium level was 27 the first test it was 25. I have noticed the overflow bottle is not full to original level but the radiator is always full when I check it. There suggestion was to test next oil change and see if the level is still there. If so then there is a problem. My question is do I really want to wait to go get this checked? What could be causing this maby a bad head gasket? If this is the case what are the chances of it blowing while I am making it to the next oil change ?

Thanks Tom

 

Your potassium level is a little high, but I'm not sure that is a good indication of an internal leak. My potassium has been 18 at its highest with Valvoline PB. Potassium is an antifreeze inhibitor, along with boron and sodium, and an additive in most oils. If you truly have antifreeze in your oil, all three of these elements will be sky high, not just one. The average for boron is 115 and sodium is 5. My last boron was 23 and last sodium was 2.

Also, Blackstone looks specifically for Antifreeze in the oil, along with fuel and water. The Blackstone report should be broken down into two parts. The section labeled "Properties" down at the bottom gives you viscosity, flashpoint, percent fuel in the oil, percent water, percent antifreeze....what does that percent antifreeze value say? Mine has always been zero, even with a high potassium level. Generally, if there is real antifreeze in the oil, not just additives, they can tell.

Other than that, I think you would have an extremely hard time getting your dealer (unless he is family) to tear that engine down to chase a "possible" coolant leak. The good part is, I think the head gasket is about the only place coolant could possibly get in, so there is only one place to look.

 

My Boron level is129, and Sodium was 3. For the % break down all they put for anti-freeze was a "?" water was at 0%. I would jsut pos t the whole thing but I am not sure how to get the PDF on here.

 

I don't think there's anything wrong with your truck, and I sure wouldn't want a Dodge mechanic tearing into a Cummins with only 10k on the clock because one oil analysis says there's an abnormally high level of an antifreeze additive -not antifreeze- in the oil. Oil analysis is useful for monitoring trends, 2 analyses on a barely broke in truck is not a trend.

Try changing brands to one with no potassium for a couple of changes and see if the potassium goes away, that's a sure way of knowing it's from the oil. Mobil Delvac 1300 has no potassium. I think you just got oil from a batch that was mixed a little strong. Maybe one of the monkeys in the plant dropped his bananna in the tank...

 

Sorry guys this was my second test and there was 20,000 on the truck the 10,000 is in reff to my first test. Changing brands of oil is a good ideal thoough I will try that if things stay persistant.

 

You would have to highlight and copy the table, then paste into a graphics program to save as a .jpg (picture file), then post the picture. Max picture size to post in a thread is 500 pixels X 500 pixels, so it would be really small and hard to read anyway.

Although you would like to see it lower, that is still not bad enough for boron and sodium to scream problems (I don't think). They are just a tad above average. What sucks is the inconsistency. All of the elements that should skyrocket with a coolant leak are not skyrocketing, just slightly elevated, making it hard to commit to a problem existing.....and the "?" for antifreeze. If antifreeze is present in the oil, surely it would have showed something. Makes you think that the slightly higher elements that can indicate an antifreeze leak stumped them when no antifreeze showed up, so they didn't know what to do. Kind of a liability thing, so they didn't give you a definite 0%. Another thing, coolant in your radiator is 50/50 antifreeze and water. A coolant leak would put the % water and % antifreeze at about the same level, with water being a little lower. Your water is still 0%. Just trying to give you peace of mind. What brand oil filter are you using?

Just "seeing what happens" is hard, but that may be the best thing to do. I would switch oil for a cycle and keep an eye on the coolant level. Coolant would have to drop a good inch to dilute 3 gallons of 15W40 enough to hurt anything, so it should be easy to catch before it gets to a point where damage could occur. Just check it often. Valvoline PB can be a little high by design, that is why I love running it in the winter. It won't gum up as much at -20*F like some others. If Mobil Delvac 1300 has no potassium, that would be a good switch for a cycle. Rotella T 15/40 is a good oil as well and should be in the low single digits in potassium. Don't know about others.