03 Dmax, 3 years on Kendall SuperD XA 15W-40

[AITG]

Here's my latest OC. The mileage is way low but the oil has been in the truck for three years.
Code:


Sample date 6-6-10 4-2-11 9-8-11 10-26-12 10-27-15

Miles on unit 32900 38685 46900 55560 61150

Miles on oil 3479 5785 8215 8660 5590

Fe 9 9 8 11 8

Cr 0 0 0 0 0

Ni 0 0 0 0 0

Al 1 1 0 1 2

Cu 12 13 12 12 11

Pb 19 10 8 1 1

Sn 1 3 1 1 2

Cd 0 0 0 0 0

Ag 0 0 0 0 0

V 0 0 0 0 0

Si 13 9 7 9 6

Na 2 0 2 3 3

K 1 2 4 3 3

Ti 0 80 88 98 90

Mo 0 0 0 0 1

Sb 0 1 0 0 0

Mn 0 0 0 0 1

Li 0 0 0 0 0

B 1 70 61 67 59

Mg 15 276 289 313 242

Ca 3976 2067 1744 1766 1562

Ba 0 0 1 0 0

P 1139 1010 969 1018 853

Zn 1240 1202 1110 1271 986

Fuel Dilution
Soot, % volume
Water
Vis, 100 C cSt 13.5 14.0 15.3 14.3 14.4

Add oil 0 0 1 qt 2 qt 0


This truck has been used very little since 2012. I took 1 road trip from MI to Western CO and back. This year I only ran 2 tanks of fuel through it. It gets stored indoors in a heated garage all winter. I didn't want to push the drain any farther. The OLM was at 47%. As soon as I get TBN/TAN I will post it.

 

[bigt61]

Great #'s. The time in the sump didn't hurt at all. Likely you could get another year or two at the pace you're driving it.

 

[dnewton3]

Typically boring Dmax UOA.

Three years is very doable.
Five years is "iffy" more because of potential for rust at the filter (exterior). But an FCI at 3 years might allow you to leave the oil in for 5 years.

As long as you're not super-short tripping the mileage (three miles at a time, for example), then your TBN/TAN is going to be fine. This issue is often misunderstood. TBN/TAN is good to know for longer OCIs; I agree with that. But it's not, in and of itself, a cause to OCI. This info is a predictor of a potential for wear metals to be altered by acids. It is, simply put, an input and not an output. Until TAN affects wear rates, then acid is not an issue. Don't think that there is some magic number of TAN that assures your engine is going to screech to a halt. Knowing the TBN/TAN relationship only helps to PREDICT when wear MIGHT be affected; it's not a condemnation point by itself. Because ULSD has so little sulfur now, there's little to contribute to acid except for some minor blow-by combustion gasses. Some folks think that when TAN usurps TBN, it's time for an OCI. Well that is no different really than using a calendar or odometer to OCI. It's an arbitrary relationship and nothing more. I've seen many UOAs where TAN crossed over TBN, and yet the wear rates were still in a downward trend! So how is it that folks think TAN is a problem if the wear is still extremely low????? It's fear mongering out of ignorance; they don't understand WHY we use TBN/TAN. It should be used in longer OCIs as a predictor to evaluate wear with more scrutiny. It's an input, not an output. It does NOT mean the oil is bad; it means it's time to pay closer attention to wear, looking for an eventual uptick in the wear rates. And nothing more.

TBN/TAN is good to know, but it should not take precedence over wear numbers. Use the data accordingly and you'll get the value out of your UOAs. Ignore the data and you're just wasting money on information going unused.

At the rate you're using your truck now, it will rust away FAR sooner that it will quit running, even with 5 year OCIs.

 

[AITG]

I found your comment about rust on the oil filter interesting. This truck has never seen snow...the assembly labels are still on both frame rails. I use only AC oil filters. After three years there was NO sign of rust on the filter. In fact, it looked like it just came out of the box. Nothing that concerned me at all.

One small Dmax quirk: its weird to torque a drain plug to 62 ft. lbs. in a stamped oil pan.

 

[AITG]

I just went thru 10 pages of acronyms, never found FCI. Filter change?

 

[k1rod]

Originally Posted By: AITG
I just went thru 10 pages of acronyms, never found FCI. Filter change?


Filter Change Interval

 

[dnewton3]

Originally Posted By: AITG
I found your comment about rust on the oil filter interesting. This truck has never seen snow...the assembly labels are still on both frame rails. I use only AC oil filters. After three years there was NO sign of rust on the filter. In fact, it looked like it just came out of the box. Nothing that concerned me at all.

One small Dmax quirk: its weird to torque a drain plug to 62 ft. lbs. in a stamped oil pan.



I live in the rust belt; filters rust on the outside. If that's not a concern for you, then up to 5 years may well be doable.