2004 Land Rover Discovery 3650 miles Chevron Delo 15w-40

[Geoff]

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Miles 3650 3200 3200 3050

Date 4/30/2006 2/10/2006 8/30/2005 3/27/2005

Total Miles 22450 19700 10906 4388

Oil Chevron Shell Castrol Shell

Rotella Syn Blend Rotella

Delo 15w-40 5w-40 20w-50 5w-40

Aluminum 6 5 6 8

Chromium 1 2 1 3

Iron 14 10 8 18

Copper 4 2 6 4

Lead 9 2 8 4

Tin 7 6 9 24

Moly 180 11 67 2

Nickel 6 6 5 5

Manganese 0 0 0 1

Silver 0 0 0 0

Titanium 0 0 0 0

Potassium 1 2 1 1

Boron 59 2 13 1

Silicon 11 9 22 61

Sodium 3 0 3 4

Calcium 3004 2747 1783 2363

Mangnesium 10 8 9 51

Phosphorus 1093 1015 869 888

Zinc 1396 1133 1096 1027

Barium 0 0 0 0



Viscosity 75.5 73 81.5

Flash 415 405 405

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Not a great report. Used a Purolator filter on this round. It might be slower flowing than the OEM (I think Wix). The oil light goes out slower than I like at start up. I refilled with Delo, again with Purolator. Looks like Rotella and OEM filter might be best. Will also check for dirt ingress.

 

[Drew99GT]

That's odd, Purolators visually look like they are one of the best flowing filters and tests have confirmed this. I use them on all cars I service and they give instant oil pressure and by far the least startup noise.

The analysis isn't that bad. I'd say nickel and tin may be out of line but they trend with the other results. Thought about using a 30 weight for ****s and giggles to see how it compares?

 

[ccdhowell]

Nice report. My '02 Disco hasn't yielded a UOA with low numbers like that. I may have to try the Rotella Syn 5w40.

Did you check the TBN? Might be able to go farther on the oil.

 

[Rodbuckler]

Seems like the bearings like the thinner oil on startup. The iron and aluminum wear seems more seasonal, so maybe it has to do with piston to bore fit on cold start. The Rotella T 5W-40 syn looks like a winner.

 

[Geoff]

Thanks for the comments. From what I have seen elsewhere Purolator appears to be a good filter and I have used them for years. Could be that there were a number of cold starts around 28-40 F, dirt, or just Rotella T Syn is a better fit. This engine, like most these days, has a 1500 rpm start for emissions purposes. 5w-40 might be helping here (it is the recommended viscosity grade).

Another factor may be that the oil pump bypass kicks in at 50 psi. If cold start pressure is too high, a lot of the oil volume may end up back in the sump. I will do another analysis after this run in warmer weather with Delo and see if anything changes.

 

[Gary Allan]

Geoff, why the short OCIs with HDEOs? RTS and Delo should be easily good for 6m/6k without breaking a sweat.

 

[Geoff]

Gary, as soon as I find the right oil/filter combo I will start stretching it out.

 

[Gary Allan]

Until Mobil comes out with Turbo Diesel 5w-40, I'm dedicated to RTS for my 40 weight requirements. Was that a PureOne you used or a PremPlus??

You can't get much heartier then a synth 5w-40 HDEO

I'd like to see two consecutive RTS UOAs on this engine. Sometimes when you switch hit it will disrupt things a bit.

 

[Bror Jace]

"I'd like to see two consecutive RTS UOAs on this engine. Sometimes when you switch hit it will disrupt things a bit."

I agree. That was the first thing I thought when I saw the jump in wear metals. It might be a new/different add pack is reacting with or stirring up something left behind by previous oils (although they are mostly HDEOs as well).

Two similar results in a row with the same oil and I'd agree that you'd be best off using a different oil ... probably one of the 5W-40s.

--- Bror Jace

 

[Geoff]

Gary: Premium Plus.

Bror, I will do a second analysis with Delo following this run to around 3500 mi. After that the dealer will put Castrol Syntec Blend 20w-50 in at the 30K service. I will raise with them using my own RTS stock.

I like RTS. It has the same base stocks as Helix. In our Isuzu Trooper, oil consumption has slowly declined and it just passed the emissions inspection at 100K miles. The Trooper was burning up to 1 qt/3K miles, so worries over cat poisoning by HDEOs might be exaggerated. I am using it in our boat now.

With the Discovery, there was a ticking at hot idle that is gone with Delo. I am curious as to how the next results might come out.

 

[sprintman]

My boss just bought a 2005 Disco with V6 diesel engine. Owners manual says to use 5W30 nothing else. Why are you using 5/15W40 in the States when you guys usually use thinner oil than we do?
What does your owners manual spec?

 

[ccdhowell]

On my '02 Disco with the V8, the manual specs 5w40 as the "universal" oil.

You can use 5w30 if climate doesn't get hot, or 10w40 if not too cold.

 

[JohnBrowning]

These UOA reports are right in line for this engine. I would say that most of the difference in most of the wear metals as far as PPM's are concerned are right in the noise floor for this type of test. I would say that any of the above oils will work just fine. You might try Redline 10W40 or 5W40 and see how it goes?