Amsoil 10w40 MCV - BMW K1300GT

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I'm just about due for the switch. My plan is to run a conventional 10/40, or 15/40 in the engine for 6000 miles. I plan to test at 1000 and 3000 to track the viscosity degradation, under the theory that a conventional oil will show a quick loss of viscosity with the shared sump / wet clutch design.

Right now, Shell Rotella 15/40 seems to be the pick. Any other requests?
 
The new UOA is out.

This UOA is from 6600 miles running Shell Rotella 15w40 mineral oil. This sample was taken 600 miles past the specified change interval due to my budget and schedule.

It's unclear whether the high levels of aluminum are being caused by the oil it's self, or some other issue, although I will say that I ran the bike fairly hard on this stuff (wheelies, drag launches, high speed, significant time at WOT.)

Regardless of what's causing the wear, I will never run this stuff in my bike again.

The oil it's self seems to be in okay condition after 6000 miles, which surprises me. TBA is acceptable, and while 11.6 is a mid 30 weight viscosity grade, the oil hasn't thinned out nearly as much as I've expected. I suspect it's because this oil is targeted at diesel engines; I would not be surprised to find it doesn't have as many VIIs as some other 10w40 conventional oils.

From the report:

Quote:
SUGGEST INSPECTING this unit for excessive cylinder region wear; Cylinder region metals (pistons, rings, liners etc.) are at a SEVERE LEVEL; Abrasives (silicon/dirt) are at a MODERATE LEVEL; Copper is at a MINOR LEVEL; Bushing/thrust metal and/or most of the copper may be coming from lube cooler (as applicable); Tin is at a MINOR LEVEL; FUEL DILUTION is at a MINOR LEVEL; FUEL DILUTION has caused viscosity to decrease moderately; Flagged data has been rechecked and confirmed; RESAMPLE IMMEDIATELY so we may verify results;


rotella15w40.jpg
 
I think it may be time to swap out the air filter. Any comments on what might have caused aluminum levels to shoot up so much?
 
Originally Posted By: Craig750
I would run some Rotella 15w40 mutligrade and see how it performs, same miles same lab. That Amsoil doesn't look good for the reputation it is supposed to have.


People frequently tell others to change away from Amsoil on BITOG. Not sure exactly why. Probably just inexperience and listening to couple others here.

You probably have something going on with your piston/top end that has nothing to do with your oil. Maybe some dirt ingress, or perhaps a premature part failure. That level of Al is nothing to sneeze at. In fact the Al and Si could be coming from the piston itself.

Why the fuel dump this OCI or was the oil sampled cold?
 
very interesting report.

HOW did iron go down?

why didnt they flag that?

or better yet, why did copper drop by 65% ??? why?

why no mention of that?

the aluminum is almost at the point of crazy bad. and your silicon doubled. like pablo said, they both may be from the pistons. or clutch basket.
i would pull a cover and see how bad the basket looks now.

so in summary:
iron drops by a lot
copper drops by a even more amount
aluminum and silicon goes up

all after drag racing launches and you are blaming the oil?

ha ha ha ha ha!

do you blame electricity for oil analyizers lack of detail in their report?
 
Silicon has risen quite a bit. Could this be from the nikasil coating of the cylinder bore? If so, it could possibly suggest a problem at the piston/cylinder bore interface.
 
Actually iron went UP a tad from 4.4 ppm/kmile to 5.7 ppm/kmile.

With Ni at 3 ppm, dunno about the bore. Something is interacting with an Al part and it's not a lube choice thing, IMHO.
 
Sunrah:

I've gotten more aggressive with the bike since switching to the Rotella. That doesn't mean I was gentle with it on Amsoil.
smile.gif


The copper has been trending down. You can see that levels actually dropped somewhat in my 2nd Amsoil analysis, even though I hadn't changed the oil since the first sample.
 
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Pablo,

I'm pretty sure I took the sample while hot, but I'm not absolutely positive at this point. I know that a hot sample is part of my normal procedure.

Towards the end of the life of the oil, I noticed that the bike would start to stall on downshift. Oil level had fallen off somewhat, and I ended up adding a half liter of Amsoil after taking the sample. Seemed to help somewhat.

I currently have Redline 10w40 auto oil in the bike with a trackday and about 1200 miles on the oil. My plan going forward is to re-sample now, and check how we are doing.
 
On a bike that is performance ridden, 6,000 miles is alot between intervals. I normally rarely go over 2500 miles on interval, that would have dropped your oil degrade or contamination by 2/3rds.

If you want to run long intervals, Id look at 20w50 mobil 1 or 20w50 amsoil, thats your best chance. That might offer a strong enough barrier. But really 2500 mile and frequent flushes does work fairly well.
 
Change the Air filter. Then change the oil and filter. Reduce the oci to 2,000. Ride it easy and then resample.
 
UOA for Redline 10w40 with 7200 miles of use. Metal wear is slightly better, in the same way that a missing arm is better than a bullet in the brain. Oxidation levels are way up.

Information on the oil currently in the engine is incorrect; I failed to update it as part of the sample submission.

Redline10w40.jpg


Oil has one trackday, and went about 7200 miles, instead of the more typical 6K miles. Unfortunately, I've had a couple busy weekends and a number of long trips scheduled for when the oil is due, so I'm late.

I'm going to perform a leakdown test on the bike to see how the pistons are looking, replace the air filter, and replace the oil filter. Next change is back to Amsoil MCV, to see if it improves the situation at all.

Haven't had much free time at all lately, so I've been slacking with the bike. Not good.
frown.gif
 
Aluminum pistons? IIRC the cylinders are plated/coated aluminum. If the plating gives way the wear will go through the roof. The resulting blowby might explain the high oxidation too.
 
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Like you I also am very anal about my oil. My F800 BMW rotax built engine also chewed up Amsoil 10w40 pretty good in short order. I am a faithfull Amsoil user, but I will tell you that engine ripped that 10w40 down to a 30 weight in 2k miles. Although I had no wear metals like your showing. The diffence between my anal intencity and yours ? I would never go that far on oil in a bike. Never ! Holy smoke, thats nuts. Shared gearbox and wet clutch abuse on the oil ! Even with my R1200 GS that is seperate I'd never go that far. 3k tops for me not matter whats in there. In my F800 I switched to Spectro full syn 15w50 and that would test at a 40 weight at 2,500 miles.
Just my uneducated opinion though, Im no expert for sure. Good luck. Maybe run into you at the MOA rally in Pa ?
 
Bike is still under warranty, though I'm concerned that the Rotella doesn't meet BMW oil spec, providing them grounds to reject a warranty request.

Generally, the oil has been changed more or less according to the OEM guidelines. IMO, an oil that can't live up to OEM spec has no business in a motorcycle.
 
DockingPilot: The Amsoil actually held up relatively well in the GT - according to the original two reports, it was green lighted to >13K miles. It did shear down to a thick 30 weight, but to be honest I think it's expected in most motorcycle engines. I wouldn't start getting concerned till it sheared below 30 weight specification.
 
Update: Engine seems healthy and normal.

Finally got around to doing a valve adjustment and compression test on the engine. I've been putting it off, since the procedure is very much non trivial, and the factory service manual requires a number of specialized tools and processes.

Short version is that cam cap plane bearing wear looks normal for a bike with 32K miles. Compression is above 14 bar on all cylinders, which is rated 'good' by the specs ('normal is 14-12' and 'poor' is < 11.) All cylinders were within a bar of each other. Pouring a little oil down the cylinders had the normal ~1 bar impact on compression readings, indicating healthy rings and cylinder walls.

Very little wear on the valves; everything was in spec, and the worst was right at the middle of the range.

I'll post a few pictures and details later; I still have to bolt the bike back together and re-fill the coolant.

I haven't been riding as much as normal. Will probably have the next UOA in a couple months. Currently have an Amsoil fill, and hoping to see a lot of the wear metals return to normal.
 
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Your track daying a bike and running 7200 mile intervals?

Thats insane Man! Look at your motor screaming in pain, ditch the redline. Use something a BMW likes. Switch to a Diesil and run 3000 mile intervals, I bet no more bad numbers.

BTW, run a track day, that oil comes out same day.
 
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