Dodge Durango 3.6L - HPL CK-4 5w-20 - 16,232 miles on oil - 190,400 miles total

[wwillson]

This sample from the Durango has been in service for almost 14 months and 16,232 miles. The oil is HPL 5w-20 HDEO. As I stated in the previous UOA post, my son and DIL own the Durango and drive about 80% in town and 20% highway. Many more short trips than how I used the vehicle. There was about 1 quart oil consumption in the first approximately 15,000 miles. Oil consumption is unusual for this engine, unless it has a lot of cold starts. It now has a lot of cold starts, to which I attribute the increase in oil consumption.

The viscosity, TBN, and oxidation are trending almost the same as the previous oil change, which surprises me. I expected so see more detrimental effects of short tripping, but I see none. We might also expect more wear metals because of the high number of cold start, but that isn't happening.

Overall I think the results are outstanding given the large number of cold starts and short tripping especially during the cold winter months.

Previous UOA: https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/t...-474-miles-on-oil-184-710-miles-total.387900/

Google Docs spreadsheet here for entire UOA history

Sample Information
Sample Date	March 15, 2022	September 5, 2022	April 19, 2023	June 13, 2023	October 28, 2023	January 1, 2024	January 9, 2024	September 22, 2024	February 22, 2025
Machine Age miles	141,500	147,000	152,000	158,700	168,000	173,300	174,236	184,710	190,400
Oil Age miles	1,500	7,000	12,000	18,700	28,000	33,300	50	10,474	16,232
Makeup oil quarts						0.75		0	0.75
Filter Age miles	1,500	2,000	5,000	6,700	5,000	5,000	50	10,474	3,868
Oil Changed	yes	no	no	no	no	yes	no	no	no
Filter Changed	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	yes	no
Brand	HPL	HPL	HPL	HPL	HPL	HPL	HPL	HPL	HPL
Viscosity	5w-20 HDEO	5w-20 HDEO	5w-20 HDEO	5w-20 HDEO	5w-20 HDEO	5w-20 HDEO	5w-20 HDEO	5w-20 HDEO	5w-20 HDEO
	new formula
Wear Metals							(ppm/1k)
Iron	6	9	15	17	23	33	4(0)	19(1.4)	22(0.52)
Chromium	<1	<1	<1	<1	1	2	0	1	1
Nickel	<1	0	0	<1	<1	<1	0	<1	0
Titanium	<1	<1	0	<1	<1	<1	0	<1	<1
Silver	0	<1	0	0	0	0	0	<1	<1
Aluminum	2	4	1	5	8	12	7	10	9
Lead	1	0	0	0	3	<1	<1	0	1
Copper	31	65	72	69	64	65	8	54	49
Tin	<1	0	0	0	<1	<1	<1	0	<1
Vanandium	0	<1	0	<1	<1	<1	<1	<1	0
Cadmium	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Additives
Boron	2	2	0	0	1	16	18	4	>1
Barium	0	0	0	4	1	0	0	0	2
Molybdenum	492	548	600	590	494	573	579	581	594
Manganese	<1	<1	<1	<1	<1	2	<1	1	1
Magnesium	1091	981	1158	1059	998	1131	1008	974	1114
Calcium	2431	2458	2767	2645	2340	2637	2532	2545	2782
Phosphorus	1094	1024	1095	1041	855	1089	1144	910	1081
Zinc	1176	1271	1411	1271	1129	1404	1284	1194	1460
Contaminants
Silicon	12	13	18	17	20	22	13	20	17
Sodium	0	3	5	4	16	19	4	14	17
Potassium	0	2	2	3	4	3	<1	3	2
Fuel %	<1.0	<1.0	<1.0	<1.0	<1.0	<1.0	<1.0	<1.0	<1.0
Glycol	NEG	NEG	NEG	NEG	NEG	NEG	NEG	NEG	NEG
Soot%	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1
Fluid Condition
TBN	16.8	10.8	9.28	8.11	6	7.76	15.03	8.94	7.16
Viscosity	9.4	10	10.4	11.6	12.6	13.2	10.4	10.4	11.9
Oxidation	0 (39.7)	12(51.7)	14.3(54.0)	21(60.7)	24.4(64.1)	27.1(66.8)	0(39.5)	15.5(55)	19.7(59.2)

 

[spasm3]

Impressive! Looks like it could easily go 20-25.

EDIT: looked at it again. Viscosity did go to 11.9 so maybe not 25k

 

[AZjeff]

What oil did you run in the first 141k miles? Remembering you had to change the oil cooler and capless fuel fill, any other problems in 190k? Impressive for a crappy Durango!!

 

[Racer4]

Very impressive TBN after the time and mileage!

 

[Patrick0525]

On the last filter change, did u cut open the filter? How did it look? It should be clean based on filter changes.

 

[dnewton3]

Soldier on; the oil is in fine shape and the wear rates are well within acceptable ranges.

 

[jetman]

I'd like to see a TAN # before making judgement.

 

[wwillson]

What oil did you run in the first 141k miles?

Started running HPL at 111,000 miles. The usual was 10w-30 HDEO in the summer and 0w-20 or 0w-30 in the winter.

Remembering you had to change the oil cooler and capless fuel fill, any other problems in 190k? Impressive for a crappy Durango!!

I changed the plugs (third set) and injectors when I did the oil cooler. The dealer did the first oil cooler under warranty and changed the plugs then. Radiator and A/C condenser have both been replaced, but not much more than that. Tires even lasted to 90k plus, but that's the fault of the guy driving.

On the last filter change, did u cut open the filter? How did it look? It should be clean based on filter changes.

Yes, click on the link for the previous UOA above.

 

[D1dad]

Those engines are very easy on oil. My daughter had a 3.6 and I changed it every 10k with mostly pennzoil and a super tech filter. Never used oil and it was still newish looking.

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

0.52 ppm Fe/1k @ 190k miles. Just wow. Sure, this oil thickens some with use; all of them do. For this oil, we know it’s not caused by something bad. I’d swap one quart out for a fresh one every 7.5k or so to keep the viscosity down and TBN & additives up, and go til iron wear starts to show a statistically significant shift, which would probably be once total iron is around 100.

Either way, @wwillson, the current method of top-up and UOA is obviously working very well for your kids!!

 

[DirectRejection]

Keep trying to chew up this motor oil, @wwillson .

Good luck with that !

 

[OilStainedNapkin]

Well done. Thank you for sharing

 

[Patrick0525]

Am I correct to assume in the Feb 22 2025 data point, 0.75 make oil was added, mixed and then the oil was sampled?

 

[OilStainedNapkin]

@wwillson, why do you suspect cold starts increase consumption?

 

[wwillson]

@wwillson, why do you suspect cold starts increase consumption?

My observations have shown that when it has a lot of short trips, the oil consumption will go up. The first 100k miles were probably 70% trips < 10 miles and I would regularly have to add some top-off oil. Maybe at the rate of one quart every 10k miles. When I would do a lot of long trips, which was what most of the miles were between 100k and 175k, it consumed almost no oil. Now that it's back to short tripping, the consumption is around one quart every 10k like clockwork.