Amsoil AME 15W40, 12K, 04 Duramax

[TXHunter]

Our move 1yr ago drastically changed the driving routine for my LLY. Went from ~60 miles per day commute down to less than 5. With all of the short trips I wanted to get a sample submitted at 1yr to see the differences. Oil was not changed during this sample. Make/Model: Isuzu 6.6 Duramax LLY Vehicle: 2004 Chevy 2500HD

Code:

OIL             AME 15w40	AME 15w40	AME 15w40	AME 15w40	AME 15w40	AME 15w40	AME 15w40	
MILES IN USE    12,406		20,617		24,757		21,779		19,779		12,006		9,006		
MILES ON UNIT   181,364		168,598		147,981		145,003		123,224		115,451		112,451		
SAMPLE TAKEN    8/9/15		8/9/14		8/9/13		6/13/13		6/13/12		3/1/12		1/2/12		
MAKE UP OIL	.75		2		0		2.5		2.5		0		0		

ALUMINUM	2		2		3		2		2		2		2		
CHROMIUM	0		0		1		0		1		0		0		
IRON		15		16		17		14		16		11		9		
COPPER		4		4		6		3		4		2		2		
LEAD		3		2		3		2		2		1		2		
TIN		3		0		0		0		1		0		2		
MOLYBDENUM	1		1		2		0		6		7		8		
NICKEL		0		1		1		0		1		0		1		
MANGANESE	0		0		0		0		0		0		0		
SILVER		0		0		0		0		0		0		0		
TITANIUM	0		0		0		0		0		0		0		
POTASSIUM	3		7		0		4		4		0		0		
BORON		2		7		5		2		10		9		10		
SILICON		6		7		8		9		8		7		7		
SODIUM		5		5		6		5		6		5		5		
CALCIUM		3744		3729		4140		3888		3604		3153		3334		
MAGNESIUM	12		19		33		31		197		213		234		
PHOSPHORUS	1137		1145		1401		1252		1262		1132		1241		
ZINC		1338		1384		1474		1500		1323		1226		1369		
BARIUM		0		1		0		0		0		0		0		
CADMIUM								0
VANADIUM							0
ANTIMONY							0
LITHIUM								0	
     
SUS @ 210F	79.9		72.6		73.2				74.6		73.0		71.3		
Visc @ 100C	15.5		13.63		13.8		14.6		14.14		13.73		13.29		
Flashpoint	445		450		430				430		425		435		
Fuel %		<0.5		<0.5		<0.5		<1%		<0.5		<0.5		<0.5		
Antifreeze %	0.0		0.0		0.0				0.0		0.0		0.0		
Water %		0.0		0.0		0.0		<.1%		0.0		0.0		0.0		
Insolubles %	0.3		0.3		0.3				0.3		0.2		0.2		
TBN		7.6		6.9		4.5		7.0		5.8		8.7
Soot								<.1%
Oxidation							53
Nitration							10

Blackstone Comments: Leaving the oil in place for a year or longer isn't a problem in modern automotive engines. The oil doesn't go bad and it only accumulates metal with use, so feel free to go by miles or hours instead of the calendar. You've had this oil in place for 12,406 miles so far, and your metals are basically the same as last time after 20K+ miles. That's great! If you do take this oil out to 20K miles, iron may go up a little, and that's fine. the viscosity was thick for a 15W/40, but only barely so. It's not a major concern. The TBN was nice and strong at 7.6, so add 5K miles. 22K sample on 6.13 was done through Oil Analyzers Inc, everything else is through Blackstone.

 

[dnewton3]

Typical boring Dmax UOA. Nothing ever changes and that a good thing! Your significant driving pattern change really did little to alter wear. A tiny shift, but until you would get several UOAs you can't even really know. Macro data shows that this is completely normal and your engine is totally fine. I leave my oil in my Dmax for 3-year cycles (as well as my Kubota and Scag). Never an issue with any contamination or degradation of the lube or filter. Probably can go further than 3 years, but the rust on the outside of the filter made me a tad nervous this last time. But upon dissection of the filter, it was totally fine inside and could have easily gone longer. 5 years might be "iffy", but 3 years is totally in sight in terms of the calendar. So with your new lower mileage trips, you may hit a calendar limit before a mileage limit. Nothing wrong with experimenting, but you might as well try to maximize the ROI given that you're running Amsoil. You'd better be careful; you might wear that engine out by the turn of the next century