Duramax Delvac 1 High Iron - Concerned!

[mydura]

2003 Duramax 6.6L 62K Miles and 14K miles on Delvac 1 and Amsoil filter. I've used Delvac 1 and Amsoil filters since changing factory fill at 2K Miles. I've just been changing oil when the oil change notification system tells me to. All numbers look great except I'm concerned about what appears to me to be high high iron readings. Blackstone reports my baby's iron at 48 ppm. Earlier UOC's from Blackstone were 31 ppm on a 10.2K mile OIC and 34 ppm on the first used oil analysis with 10.4K mile OIC.

I'm new and not a used oil analysis guru or anything but the other used oil analysis I see on Duramax's with Delvac 1 appear to have nothing near this high in iron results. Can someone help me put my mind to rest? How high can iron be without meaning your engine is really wearing rapidly?

The rest of my used oil analysis looks like this:

AL 3
Chromium 2
Iron 48
Copper 7
Lead 9
Tin 3
Molyb 2
Nickel 1
Mang 0
Silver 0
Titanium 0
Potassium 4
Boron 41
Silicaon 11
Sodium3
Calcium 2436
Magnesium 487
Phosphorus 1184
Zinc 1402
Barium 0

Sub Viscosity @ 210 65.1
Flashpoint 420
Fuel Antifreeze 0
Water 0
Insolubles 0.5
TBN 6.6

All previous used oil analysis numbers on other two samples mentioned above had very similar numbers on all except iron.

 

[LateArrivalforLSU]

The first thing that came to mind was a high silicon reading which meant a possible air intake leak. Your silicon levels look fine.

You might want to holler at Terry Dyson at Dyson Analysis.

 

[Rand]

Thats not too far off the [email protected]

at the same iron rate would be 46ppm@14k

Insolubles at .5 seems to be the limiting factor

 

[TeeDub]

If you compare the wear rates in terms of ppm of Fe/1000 miles, the three samples you mentioned are very close.

48/14 = 3.4 ppm/1000 miles
31/10.2 = 3.1 ppm/1000 miles
34/10.4 = 3.3 ppm/1000 miles

Those are basically the same, given the normal test to test variation inherent in oil analysis.

One thing that is noticable here is that your 5w-40 has sheared down to a 30wt (65 SUS) over this service interval, even though the FP is high and fuel dilution is low. I'd be interested in knowing the EOT (end of test), viscosities of your last two oil samples? Given that you run this truck hard, a 15w40 full synthetic (Amsoil or Redline would be my two candidates), might give you better protection than running the 5w-40.

TD

 

[mydura]

Thanks for the input, guys! My EOT SUS viscosity for the previous tests were 74.1 on the 10.2k mile run and 73 on the 10.4k mile run. That appears to be quite a difference from the 65.1 I just got on this 14k mile run.

I understand iron levels have traditionally been thought of as a wear indicator for the valve train and recently there's some speculation about rust with syn oils. Just how bad is 3.4 ppm per 1000 miles? Also, does the presence of higher levels of iron in the oil cause additional harm (abrasion or other) to the engine?

I have sent off for a Dyson analysis. Thanks again!

 

[TeeDub]

mydura,

Viscosities of 73-74 SUS are very close to the baseline viscosity of Delvac 1 (14.8 centistokes(Cst), I believe). A viscosity of 65 SUS is more like 11.5 Cst-12.0 Cst - so that sample has thinned quite a bit. The Flash Point and fuel dilution of this sample are both fine and diesel fuel rarely causes significant oil thinning, as opposed to gasoline.

There are no serious Fe wear related issues with any of your samples, in fact the numbers are very consistent. That indicates the numbers you are seeing are completely normal for your particular engine and driving conditions.

The main thing to watch for if the oil gets too thin is increased bearing and ring/cylinder wear. This is caused by a failure to maintain full film or "hydro-dynamic" lubrication in these regions of the engine. So I'd compare the rates of lead/tin/nickel and chromium wear to your previous analyses on a ppm/1000 mile basis. If the last analysis shows these rates are trending upwards with OCI's >> 10,000 miles, I'd limit your service intervals based on that data....

Ted

 

[calbrewin]

Here is a link to a 2003 Duramax UOA history with various oils I found here on BITOG. Your Iron wear metals are considerably higher, even taking in consideration the extended miles of your samples. His Iron wear was single digit even at 6-7,000 miles.

Duramax UOA history

 

[mydura]

Thanks for the input TeeDub! Should I be able to get 300K miles without major overhaul at this rate?

Calbrewin, thank you for the nice find on the 2003 Duramax used oil analysis you provided. He does have some nice used oil analysis there. I guess its hard to go wrong with bypass filtration and 10 quarts of expensive synthetics every 4K-7K miles. Mine might look better but, probably not as good as his if I did the same thing.

 

[Cujet]

""Thanks for the input TeeDub! Should I be able to get 300K miles without major overhaul at this rate?""

Yes, and then some. What so many people do not see is the incredible condition engines are in that are run on synthetic oils. UOA is just one method of measurement. It will indicate a problem if used correctly.

There are so many other factors that come into play with regard to engine life.

I have seen conventional oils with stellar UOA results out of a sludged up beater car. Just where did all the wear iron go? Most likely it is sitting in the lifter gallery and cylinder heads in this example.

Ring sticking (a big problem in some diesels) is a big factor in early retirement of some engines. Synthetics can reduce or eliminate this problem. Keep in mind that turbocharger life is also increased with synthetics.

Chris

 

[Steve S]

Although I can't disagree that clean engines are nice but sludge is all the crud thar precipitates from the oil ,in real life applications sludge becomes a problem when it gets thick enough to block the inlet screen of the oil pump and the oil return passages . Sludge builds up in the quiet areas of oil flow. Turbos are killed by "overfueling " which greatly overheats the exhaust gas. Also shutting down the engine when the exhaust temps are too high does a real good job coking the oil. PAO oils don't have a much higher coking point when compared to how hot the turbo can get. Also most all the oil companies advertise that their oil has achieved engine life of +1 million miles "Rotella,Delo and Mobil petro oils for example.