2008 Dodge Ram 3500, 14.5k miles, Rotella T6

Originally Posted by PDRig
This has my curiousity. The oil thickening seems excessive for the miles on this oil. I wonder how many hours are on these runs. OP. Have you been tracking hours at all?


My truck doesn't have an hourmeter, at least that I have been able to find in the information menu. New trucks I know have a total hours run and idle hours readouts on the vehicle information display. But my truck is a 2008.

Going by my logged hours and miles, I average 60 mph, so for the 14,500 miles of this OCI, it would be about 240 hours. Then there is idle hours, which I can only generalize about. When I am hooking up to a trailer and doing pre-trip inspection in the yard, it is about 45 minutes of idling. As long the weather is not too hot or cold, I idle the engine about 30-45 minutes on an overnight. If the weather is too hot, I run the A/C to be comfortable. If the weather is too cold, I run the heater to be comfortable.
 
Originally Posted by dnewton3
Better Diesel FBC will alter your Fe rates; it will skew the Fe in a UOA because it uses Fe to improve the soot burn-off in the DPF (or something like that). It will also have the propensity to alter oxidation. I cannot discuss the chemistry; beyond my skill set, but I accept it for what it is. This FBC phenomenon has been discussed before.

We really cannot compare this UOA to others without additives; not the same apple in the basket of oranges.


The people at Better Diesel seem to be very in touch with their customers. I get e-mails from Jane Gates, who is the inventor of the FBC, with updates on new products and promotions from Better Diesel. I think I will e-mail her my UOA results, and ask if the additive can promote oxidation of the oil.
 
Mr. Harman per the manual:

NOTE: There is also an engine hour function. This
indicates the total number of hours the engine has been
running. To display the engine hours perform the following:
Place the ignition in RUN, but do not start the
engine. With the odometer value displayed, hold the trip
button down for a period of 6 seconds. The odometer will
change to trip value first, then it will display the engine
hour value. The engine hours will be displayed for a
period of 30 seconds until the ignition is turned off or the
engine is started.
 
Originally Posted by Dodgetracker
Mr. Harman per the manual:

NOTE: There is also an engine hour function. This
indicates the total number of hours the engine has been
running. To display the engine hours perform the following:
Place the ignition in RUN, but do not start the
engine. With the odometer value displayed, hold the trip
button down for a period of 6 seconds. The odometer will
change to trip value first, then it will display the engine
hour value. The engine hours will be displayed for a
period of 30 seconds until the ignition is turned off or the
engine is started.


Thank you for the tip. I didn't get a manual with the truck. I should get one.
 
Put the truck in my local diesel specialist's shop to check out the EGR system. He ran a scan, and found there was a code for High Crankcase Pressure. He says the crankcase vent filter is clogged. Maybe that is contributing to oil oxidation.

There is also a code for Low EGR Valve voltage, and they are checking that out.
Also will inspect the EGR cooler for leaks.
 
What Cummins' OCI for that little engine? The Heavy Duty Engines were at 15k, now maybe 20k OCI's.

Then again, the HD engine sumps are 4 x the capacity for only 2 x the displacement. So the "B" series is really working with far less reserve oil capacity than the "X" (N).
 
Originally Posted by Dodgetracker
Mr. Harman per the manual:

NOTE: There is also an engine hour function. This
indicates the total number of hours the engine has been
running. To display the engine hours perform the following:
Place the ignition in RUN, but do not start the
engine. With the odometer value displayed, hold the trip
button down for a period of 6 seconds. The odometer will
change to trip value first, then it will display the engine
hour value. The engine hours will be displayed for a
period of 30 seconds until the ignition is turned off or the
engine is started.


I just checked the hourmeter: 3756 hours
Odometer is 222,470 miles.
Average lifetime speed is 59.2 mph
 
Originally Posted by Dodgetracker
For a 2008 6.7 intervals are 7500 miles or 6 months.



Wow, that's short. Is the sump still 3 gallons? Then again, the Cummins ISB engine is 6.7L displacement w/ 3 gals. oil = 2.23L displacement per 1 gal. oil
Cummins ISX engine is 15L displacement with 12 gals. oil = 1.25L displacement per 1 gal. oil.

The ratio is 1.25 / 2.23, or 56% less mileage OCI based on engine size vs. oil sump size. 7,500 miles / 0.56 = 13,400 miles. Close enough to 15,000 mile OCI for the ISX. I guess that makes sense in that most Class 8 tractors get more miles per year than most diesel pickups. Otherwise they'd have to offer a 6 gallon sump for the ISB6.7L engine.
 
I think they used a very short index on those non SCR trucks due to the heavy load the emissions systems put on the oil. Lots of egr and lots of regens.
 
Originally Posted by BrianF
I think they used a very short index on those non SCR trucks due to the heavy load the emissions systems put on the oil. Lots of egr and lots of regens.


Bingo.... EGR soot build up on the grid heater at about 70K miles on my 2012 was nasty. About 30 minutes with small wire brush and shop vac.

[Linked Image]
 
Yeah that's a mess. Makes me wonder if the early models would be good candidates for bypass filter systems.
 
Originally Posted by Bighorn2500
Originally Posted by BrianF
I think they used a very short index on those non SCR trucks due to the heavy load the emissions systems put on the oil. Lots of egr and lots of regens.


Bingo.... EGR soot build up on the grid heater at about 70K miles on my 2012 was nasty. About 30 minutes with small wire brush and shop vac.

[Linked Image]




Wow. You have a Tupy head casting. Is that the original head?
When I had the head on my '01 replaced, it was a Tupy casting. (Brazilian.)
 
Originally Posted by PDRig
Op,

Any updates on this? What came of the visit to your diesel shop?


They replaced the crankcase vent filter, which I hope was contributing to the oxidation problem.
They also replaced the EGR valve with a reconditioned one. That cleared up the Low EGR Voltage fault code. I drove it about 6000 miles in the last 2 weeks, and got a check engine light today, so I'll have to check that out.
They inspected the EGR cooler for coolant leaks, and found none.
I'll be doing an oil change this weekend, (about 10k miles) and will send a sample for analysis.
 
Originally Posted by A_Harman
Originally Posted by Bighorn2500
Originally Posted by BrianF
I think they used a very short index on those non SCR trucks due to the heavy load the emissions systems put on the oil. Lots of egr and lots of regens.


Bingo.... EGR soot build up on the grid heater at about 70K miles on my 2012 was nasty. About 30 minutes with small wire brush and shop vac.

[Linked Image]




Wow. You have a Tupy head casting. Is that the original head?
When I had the head on my '01 replaced, it was a Tupy casting. (Brazilian.)


Yes OE factory head.
 
Originally Posted by Dodgetracker
Which oil are you planning to run this time?


Motorcraft 15w40.
 
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