Oil Analysis Results

[My1stHemi]

I ran an oil sample on my second oil change and here are the results. This was Rotella Gas Truck Oil 5w20 with a bottle of Lubeguard Biotech moly additive.
My friend who runs this service for our shop/fleet said the copper being high is not of concern and is normal for new engines. It’s not bearing related but is leached/soluble copper from the new oil cooler.
I also pulled a half cup of oil from my catch can during this oil change interval.

 

[TruckDriver]

Thanks for sharing! I should probably consider it - though I never ran a baseline; which OA company did you use?

 

[My1stHemi]

ALS Tribology

 

[Scram1500]

How do they prepare the oil sample for analysis? I know a little about instruments that analyze metal and they use aqueous solutions

 

[HoosierTrooper]

What was your OLM at? Be interesting to see how it compares to the TBN.

 

[My1stHemi]

What was your OLM at? Be interesting to see how it compares to the TBN.

Around 49%. Thats what its been at both times when I changed my oil.

 

[HoosierTrooper]

Around 49%. Thats what its been at both times when I changed my oil.

Thanks. There's a VOA of this oil on BITOG that shows a starting TBN of 6.49, yours is at 2.4 after 5200 miles so this oil still had some service left in it. I'd be curious to see what your friend thinks about how the TBN depletion matches with the OLM .

 

[My1stHemi]

I'll ask about the TBN. My driving consists of mostly highway commuting but it is metro highways so probably average of 35-45 mph when you throw in the surface streets too. This oil was my winter oil so it did have some idle time(remote start mornings) and it was Pre-Covid-19 so traffic was greater which meant more stop and go. I'm not sure if I will run a sample on the next oil change or if I will wait. This analysis was free because I sold my 3rd gen Cummins to my buddy who is also our lube rep.

These results along with my internet research tells me that this is pretty good oil, and it is usually well priced with rebates. I could stretch my OCI's a bit more but I probably will stick to 5-7k OCI's to play it safe. I maintained my Cummins in the same way and it proved to be effective. That truck I bought at 14,400mi and I personally changed the oil every 5k(+/-) with either Valvoline Premium Blue or Rotella T6 oils. When my friend, the lube rep, bought it with about 130k on the clock he ran a sample and he said the samples looked like it came from a new engine.

I am in the camp that if you maintain equipment and perform preventative maintenance, it will pay off. Oil is cheap, my average oil change not including rebates was $40. If i run my truck for 200,000 miles that's about $1600, or $800 more if I ran 10,000mi OCI. That's not even half a penny per mile or roughly $80/year premium to play it safe.

 

[highgear2005]

Just drive your truck, and stop worrying.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[HoosierTrooper]

I'll ask about the TBN. My driving consists of mostly highway commuting but it is metro highways so probably average of 35-45 mph when you throw in the surface streets too. This oil was my winter oil so it did have some idle time(remote start mornings) and it was Pre-Covid-19 so traffic was greater which meant more stop and go. I'm not sure if I will run a sample on the next oil change or if I will wait. This analysis was free because I sold my 3rd gen Cummins to my buddy who is also our lube rep.

These results along with my internet research tells me that this is pretty good oil, and it is usually well priced with rebates. I could stretch my OCI's a bit more but I probably will stick to 5-7k OCI's to play it safe. I maintained my Cummins in the same way and it proved to be effective. That truck I bought at 14,400mi and I personally changed the oil every 5k(+/-) with either Valvoline Premium Blue or Rotella T6 oils. When my friend, the lube rep, bought it with about 130k on the clock he ran a sample and he said the samples looked like it came from a new engine.

I am in the camp that if you maintain equipment and perform preventative maintenance, it will pay off. Oil is cheap, my average oil change not including rebates was $40. If i run my truck for 200,000 miles that's about $1600, or $800 more if I ran 10,000mi OCI. That's not even half a penny per mile or roughly $80/year premium to play it safe.

Yeah another sample on an engine that young probably won’t tell you much. Thanks for asking him about the TBN and OLM, I’m interested in seeing how closely he thinks they are tracking to each other.

 

[aimlowrobin]

Just drive your truck, and stop worrying.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

LOL, kinda my thoughts as well, but to each their own. I have owned several RAMs that I put near 200k on them before trading, and many of those miles were hauling heavy loads, and all had lifts and big tires of some sort. Never give oil change, brand, or type a thought past doing one when the truck says to. Out of 5 RAMs, not one single engine issue.

 

[My1stHemi]

Thanks for your concerns guys but my oil analysis wasn't performed out of worry rather it is curiosity and a way to establish a baseline from which to reference in the future.

 

[highgear2005]

A baseline for what? If the number change, what’s the solution? Replace engine, change oil brands? In all my vehicles, I change the oil based on the recommendation of the owners manual! I’ve never had a single engine issue. Our fleet of trucks here at work are maintained per owners manual, over my 25 years at this company they’ve had all the brands. Some of these trucks have over 700 k and I can think of maybe one truck that had a engine issue.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[smonska]

My copper was 263 on first oil change, I think 109 is great for a new engine. At my 2nd oil change (like yours) I'll probaby be right around there, as they trend down as the engine wears in.

 

[My1stHemi]

I like the narrative that Blackstone provides with their tests. What oil are you running now?

 

[HoosierTrooper]

The high copper is not from "wear", it's caused by a chemical reaction between the oil and the oil cooler that causes the cooler to release small amounts of copper into the oil. After a few OCI's the oil will form a barrier on the surface of the oil cooler that will help show lower amounts of copper in future UOA's. Copper is a soft, non-abrasive metal that causes no damage to the engine.

Iron levels in a simple, inexpensive UOA like Blackstones are mostly irrelevant. They only detect iron particles around 8 microns and do not "see" the larger particles that are abrasive and can cause damage. They may be valuable if the iron levels are tracked over numerous OCI's using the same oil and there is a sudden rise in the iron level which might show a problem developing with some component in the engine such as excessive timing chain wear, cam failure etc. Keep in mind though that iron levels may be low in the UOA but there could be large abrasive particles that aren't detected circulating around in the oil.

UOA's are a good way to see the condition of the oil and determine what a reasonable OCI is for that particular oil, engine and driving conditions. They are also a useful way to check for contaminants such as fuel and antifreeze in the oil but they really aren't a great way to judge wear in an engine. But, they are fun for oil nerds (like me) to look at!

 

[smonska]

I like the narrative that Blackstone provides with their tests. What oil are you running now?

I run Castrol Edge Extended Performance 5w-20 (gold bottle) with a Fram Xtended Guard filter. I initially used a Mopar filter, but had startup lifter noise from a bad anti-drainback valve and swapped it for the Fram XG. Noise fixed immediately. That was discussed in another thread on here.

 

[Tyleroflb]

A baseline for what? If the number change, what’s the solution? Replace engine, change oil brands? In all my vehicles, I change the oil based on the recommendation of the owners manual! I’ve never had a single engine issue. Our fleet of trucks here at work are maintained per owners manual, over my 25 years at this company they’ve had all the brands. Some of these trucks have over 700 k and I can think of maybe one truck that had a engine issue.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I run a fleet of 76 emergency vehicles and the oil analisys allows me to make a more informed decision when it comes time to replace vehicles, if I have one what is showing signs of a bad turbo bearing or main bearings I may shoose to replace that vehicle first and keep one with higher mileage but no wear. Other than that it helps diagnose head gasket failures before they become issues that would cause failures during an emergency response when these vehicles are pushed hard. For every day vehicles there isnt much an oil analisys tells you that you cant find out through other less expensive means. At $60 a pop for a top of the line analisys they cost more than just changing the oil in a light duty vehicle, but when you look at 48 quarts of synthetic diesel oil and $200 in filters an analisys can allow you to push ypur PM interval back for a significant cost savings to the public while not puting the health of the engine at risk.