2022 Ram Cummins 25.8k mi using Valvoline PBR 10w-30 10.7k mi

[Alifbaa02]

I'm wondering about whether the elevated wear metals on these last two samples is important and I'd appreciate some expert thoughts.

This is a 2022 Ram Cummins. I bought it used last January with about 11k on it. Carfax showed an oil change at 9,500 and again at 11 or so, making this last change the 4th drain. I don't know what oil was in it when I purchased it, but this last sample was Valvoline Premium Blue 10W30. I have no reason to believe there's anything wrong with the engine, but I also saw another user's analysis at 5k with wear metals much closer to the universal averages.

I lack the experience or context to know what to make of these numbers aside from knowing they're high. Is this a new engine still breaking in or should it have settled into a better rhythm by now?

I blacked out Blackstone's analysis to help avoid bias.

 

[fantastic]

Simply elevated wear metal that is present while the engine is "Breaking in". If you look at your last sample you can see it has trended down substantially from the previous sample taken. Everything appears in order on these samples.

 

[wwillson]

@fantastic is correct. Take another sample in 10K and I'll bet you will see a downward trend in the metals.

Welcome to BITOG!

 

[Alifbaa02]

Thanks. So do I understand it correctly that the latest sample is about 1/3 the wear per mile of the first?

 

[JavierH19]

That's not out of spec for diesel engines in general and especially the 6.7. 11-12ppm of iron per thousand miles is fine when it's still breaking in at just 25k miles. That wouldn't be a great number at 60k+ though. It should continue to go down until about 40-50k as that's where most diesels settle, gasoline engines tend to settle earlier. I'm not a huge fan of 30 grade for diesels but I'm not against it either. Maybe consider switching to 15w-40 after the next 10k. Delvac extreme has a nice additive pack. After break in metals should be about a third of what they are at the same 10k internals.

 

[fantastic]

Thanks. So do I understand it correctly that the latest sample is about 1/3 the wear per mile of the first?

If your first sample stayed constant on Fe (Iron) alone it would of been 357 PPM but it now shows up as 126 PPM so you could say 1/3rd less on that wear metal.

 

[Alifbaa02]

Thanks all. Great info. I appreciate it!

Javier, Yes, was planning to switch to 40 weight at the next change.

In case there’s another Ram owner out there… there’s a TSB advising not to use 15w40 on the 5th gen rams. It’s fine for all others and most ISBs, but our valve bodies will form deposits on 15w. 5w is what we’re supposed to use.

 

[SEBZX79]

2022s have major issues with bad lifters killing motors. This guy runs a fleet of rams in his hotshot operation and I think lost 6 of 8 engines out of the 22s that he has.

 

[Alifbaa02]

Yeah, his issues are a large part of why I’m watching this so closely. Unfortunately his fleet started having problems about 3 months after I bought the truck or I’d have waited.

My guess is the issue is with pandemic-era part suppliers and not the design. As I understand it, the engine design hasn’t changed since 2019.

Ram just recently (November?) released a TSB telling dealers to check an internal oil screen for metal if an engine comes in with unusual noise. If they find metal they go straight to an engine replacement — no need to ask permission, call into the engineers, ship the engine for analysis, etc. There’s no way to know if the two are connected, but they’re clearly tracking something unusual in the 6.7’s.

 

[cptbarkey]

One loud guy on youtube doesnt mean squat.

Post the link to the TSB. Share the info. Dont just "talk" about what you heard.

 

[fantastic]

One loud guy on youtube doesnt mean squat.

Post the link to the TSB. Share the info. Dont just "talk" about what you heard.

It's true their is a TSB about the oil. I've read it a while back.

https://www.tsbsearch.com/RAM/09-011-20

"CAUTION! 15W-40 grade oil CAN NOT be used in any 2019 model year or newer 6.7L equipped vehicles due to the new designed valve train of this engine. If this oil is used, it will cause deposits to form in the Hydraulic Valve Lash Adjusters leading to undesirable noise, and/or engine damage."

 

[Bighorn2500]

The Blackstone report says Valvoline Premium Blue Restore 10w30, isn’t that the cleaning oil for deposits which is different than the Valvoline Synthetic Blend 10w30 Premium Blue.

Out of curiosity which oil was actually in the truck?

 

[tnt_motorsports]

@Alifbaa02 I'm with others, go another 10K and resample to see the trend. I agree the numbers are higher than one would like but it is also a relatively new rig.

FWIW, I have posted several UOA's on here of my 2012 CTD Ram and it took ~30k to settle down on a new short block.

Just my $0.02

 

[Alifbaa02]

The Blackstone report says Valvoline Premium Blue Restore 10w30, isn’t that the cleaning oil for deposits which is different than the Valvoline Synthetic Blend 10w30 Premium Blue.

Out of curiosity which oil was actually in the truck?

That was an error on the report. It was premium blue, not the restore.

 

[hawkdriver]

I'm wondering about whether the elevated wear metals on these last two samples is important and I'd appreciate some expert thoughts.

This is a 2022 Ram Cummins. I bought it used last January with about 11k on it. Carfax showed an oil change at 9,500 and again at 11 or so, making this last change the 4th drain. I don't know what oil was in it when I purchased it, but this last sample was Valvoline Premium Blue 10W30. I have no reason to believe there's anything wrong with the engine, but I also saw another user's analysis at 5k with wear metals much closer to the universal averages.

I lack the experience or context to know what to make of these numbers aside from knowing they're high. Is this a new engine still breaking in or should it have settled into a better rhythm by now?

Definitely think they should have settled more than that. This was from my 2019 6.7 with Rotella T6 5W-40