07 Chevy 3500, 8.1L 129K, 6K Amsoil ATM 10W30

[TXHunter]

Oil and filter were changed during sample. Truck is used for welding on gas/oil fields, and towing a 15K 5th wheel travel trailer when moving between job sites. All 6K on this run were spent up in Wyoming.

Owner recently switched from Valvoline 10w30 conventional to Amsoil Signature 10w30 and is planning to work up to 12K OCI.

2007 Chevy Silverado Classic 3500
8.1L (496cid) V8

Code:


Oil ATM 10w30 Valv10w30

Miles in Use 6k 3K

Miles 129K 123K

Sample Taken 10/23/12 8/15/12





Iron 34 10

Chromium 1 0

Nickel 1 0

Aluminum 10 3

Copper 1 0

Lead 14 8

Tin 0 0

Cadmium 0 0

Silver 0 0

Vanadium 0 0

Silicon 27 12

Sodium 78 177

Potassium 4 0

Titanium 0 0

Molybdenum 144 31

Antimony 1 0

Manganese 30 47

Lithium 0 0

Boron 67 0

Magnesium 19 17

Calcium 3556 2298

Barium 0 0

Phosphorus 727 773

Zinc 848 861

Fuel Dilution
Soot
Water
Viscosity @100C 11.0 8.9

Base Number 5.54 4.55

Oxidation 48 10

Nitration 11 8

 

[donnyj08]

it looks live the valvoline was good for another 3k easy and the Amsoil is good for double as well. TBN looks great on both. wear is decent.

 

[aquariuscsm]

I`d stick with the Valvoline.

 

[TXHunter]

Did you guys see the valv viscosity at 3k? It didn't hold up...

 

[donnyj08]

Originally Posted By: dhellman12
Did you guys see the valv viscosity at 3k? It didn't hold up...


yes i did, however i saw it as little concern seeing the low wear. it's not uncommon for a 30wt to shear into the 20wt scale. the thinning did not affect its ability to provide protection, so i see no issue. it also looks like the thick side of 20wt. its not a worry as far as im concerned.

 

[jjcom]

That rise in wear across the board would make me feel a little uneasy. It was ran twice as long, but the iron more than tripled. I know it's not too uncommon for GM motors to shed some iron, but from the way this looks, I would wonder if truck and the conditions it's under aren't really suited for extended drain.

Also checking the data sheet for the Amsoil, it actually thickened up some. That seems a little strange to me, seeing as the Valvoline seemed to take enough of a beating to thin down. I would wonder if a stout, less expensive 10w-30, such as Rotella T5, with a more conservative OCI would be better suited to the conditions the truck sees.

 

[ltslimjim]

Well, lordy the silicon jumped too. 27ppm at just 6,000 miles is a bit much. This number should be more like 15 max for the miles.

I bet the iron jump is from particle streak.

Fix the air filtration problem.

 

[dnewton3]

The Si jumped.
The Fe, Al and Pb jumped up. Way too high for 6k miles.
The oxidation went way up; bizzare.

Something is amiss; check for dirt intrusion in the air tract. (Or, a big slug of dirt/grit dropped in during an OCI?)



I will point this out, and I'm sure people will growl and curse under their breath at me, but this is a great example of the limitation of ANY lube. Regardless of base stock, the oil was not able to address a fundemental problem. While the likely issue is not the fault of Amsoil (or any brand/grade lube), it also cannot save the engine from excess wear. In no way, shape or form am I condemning the selection of the lube here; I'm pointing out the fact that no lube can retard the effect of excessive contamination in physical form. Here, the use of synthetic was of no benefit.

I realize that the lube was changed, and that the intent is to extend later on; fine. I'm speaking more to the faithful AR short-OCI folks here. Often we hear that using syntehtics is "cheap insurance" against wear issues should a problem arise. This proves otherwise. It's not the fault of Amsoil; nothing can fix this except to address the suspected air leak.

Once the Si is stopped, the Amsoil can be safely extended out to meet the ROI.

 

[ltslimjim]

^The oxidation is easy. Amsoil this report, Valvoline conventional at half the miles last report.

 

[dnewton3]

The miles doubled, but the oxidation went up on a 5:1 factor ... how is that easily explained?

 

[Pablo]

Originally Posted By: dnewton3
The miles doubled, but the oxidation went up on a 5:1 factor ... how is that easily explained?


1) Easy. No one who has posted here actually knows how to interpret oxidation. Hint: What is the virgin oxidation number.

2) (not related to 1. above) No way is silicon virgin that high in Amsoil. Find the source before going on an extended OCI. I am also suspicious of the K, and I realized Na is left over so hard to tell. Both indicative of dirt intrusion, and I would deduce air intake not lower end leak, because the Al is up, and Pb did not increase proportionally.

 

[TXHunter]

The silicon is explained on how the truck is used, gas/oil field. 30 miles off road to a job site in high dust conditions, I don't see this as an issue with air filtration. Under the conditions I think it did just fine.

Note nothing on this report was flagged as a concern. I'm going to wait for the trend in the next run before raising any red flags.

 

[INDYMAC]

Originally Posted By: dhellman12
The silicon is explained on how the truck is used, gas/oil field. 30 miles off road to a job site in high dust conditions, I don't see this as an issue with air filtration. Under the conditions I think it did just fine.

Note nothing on this report was flagged as a concern. I'm going to wait for the trend in the next run before raising any red flags.



I agree with this 100%. This is the severe service that requires oil changes early and often if you want to save your equipment for another day.

Wasn't this the worst drought Wy has seen in 50 years?

 

[edhackett]

Originally Posted By: Pablo
Originally Posted By: dnewton3
The miles doubled, but the oxidation went up on a 5:1 factor ... how is that easily explained?


1) Easy. No one who has posted here actually knows how to interpret oxidation. Hint: What is the virgin oxidation number.


Yup, ester based oil or additives will read as oxidation in the tests used in cheap UOAs.

Ed

 

[tig1]

If this was a M1 report(iron) all the bashers would be chiming in.

No contamination from coolant but check the air filter for leaking dirt. Your good with Amsoil.

 

[dnewton3]

Originally Posted By: Pablo
Originally Posted By: dnewton3
The miles doubled, but the oxidation went up on a 5:1 factor ... how is that easily explained?


1) Easy. No one who has posted here actually knows how to interpret oxidation. Hint: What is the virgin oxidation number.



So is there a virgin number unique to each bottle, or is it fairly consistent for the brand/grade? What would be the delta you expect to see?

 

[Nickdfresh]

Originally Posted By: jjcom
That rise in wear across the board would make me feel a little uneasy. It was ran twice as long, but the iron more than tripled. I know it's not too uncommon for GM motors to shed some iron, but from the way this looks, I would wonder if truck and the conditions it's under aren't really suited for extended drain.
....


The Amsoil package could also being doing some cleaning and loosening trapped debris...

 

[INDYMAC]

The oxidation and nitration levels on both samples are very close, if not identical to virgin clean levels.

I would have loved to have seen the air filter after the Amsoil run with 6K miles in Wyoming. I bet it looked like an overstuffed vacuum cleaner bag.

 

[buster]

Pablo is right, the virgin oxidation figure for this oil is about what is showing.

 

[dnewton3]

I realize that there is a differnce out of the bottle, but I didn't understand that it was that large of a descrapancy.

Is that typical of most PAO syns, or just the package in Amsoil?