Mobil Delvac1300 Super 15w40, Kubota V2203, 107 hrs

[jetman]

Originally Posted by BlakeB
Did you go with standard size bearings? Did you take any pics of the old bearings?

Yes std.. Cap half on left, Upper rod half on right.

 

[jetman]

This is about the oil in the Kubota V2203 diesel engine that powers the PowerTech 17.5kw generator in our 96 Prevost Liberty motorhome. It has 13,096 hrs on the hobbs. 2 yrs ago when it had 12,868 hrs, I sent an oil sample to a lab for analysis. The results indicated severe bearing wear, high amounts of lead and copper. So I changed the rod bearings, and 1 yr and 100 hrs later the results were excellent. Wear was normal.

Recently, I sent in an oil sample from the Kubota to Blackstone Lab for analysis. The oil, Mobil Delvac 1300 Super 15w40, is 2 yrs old, w/222 hrs. The oil filter is a 2 yr old Fram XG3593A. It has been 2 yrs and 222 hrs since I replaced the rod bearings, and put this oil, and oil filter in place.

Got the results and they are excellent again. Blackstone Lab comments: DON: An impressive first report for this Kubota. This oil was in place far longer than the ~85-hour run universal averages for the V2203 are based on, yet metals are within just a ppm or two of universal averages. That means this engine doesn't produce much metal during each hour of operation, a sign that internal parts are getting along very well together. The viscosity tested a hair below the 15W/40 range, but a marginally thin viscosity won't bother anything and clearly this engine didn't mind. The TBN of 7.4 is strong, since 1.0 or less is low. Feel free to run 275 hours.

Rumor in diesel engine circles is that it's normal for rod bearings to need replacing when a diesel engine reaches half life, which looks to me to be at about 13,000 hrs for this wonderfull engine.

The genny hasn't given us any problem(s) in the almost 7 yrs that we've owned it.

The Kubota doesn't consume any oil so no makeup oil was added. I did change the oil and filter(needlessly) when I took the sample this time.

In the future I plan to do an oil and filter change and send in a sample for analysis every 3 yrs or 300 hrs, whichever comes first.

I use 3 different labs for analysis of my vehicles lubricants and coolants: OAI-Oil Analyzers Inc, JG Lubricant Services, & Blackstone Labs.

Below are pics of the 3 UOA reports from the 3 different labs that I use. The 1st is from May of 2018, which shows the high lead and copper. The 2nd is the excellent June of 2019 report that was done 100+ hrs after the first. And last is the June of 2020 w/220+ hrs on the oil and filter.

 

[tundraotto]

Wow - Impressive engine, impressive maintenance and impressive reports on the oil. I don't think that can really be improved upon in any way!!!! Congrats!

 

[jetman]

Here's the latest "good" used oil analysis (UOA) report for our 1995 17.5 kw PowerTech generator w/Kubota V2203 engine with 13,300 hrs on it now. It's been trouble free in the 7+ yrs that we've owned it. This generator is in our 1996 Prevost XL 40' motorhome.

This UOA report is about Shell Rotella T3 15w40 w/200 hrs on it. The filter was a Fram Ultra XG3593A.

Back in May 2018 and 440 hrs ago I sent in a sample of oil for analysis. The results indicated high lead and copper. This indicated to me it was time for rod bearings, not uncommon when a diesel engine reaches half life. I changed them and this is the 3rd excellent UOA report since I changed the rod bearings.

We replenished the oil w/Shell Rotella T4 15w40 and filter a Fram Ultra XG3593A.

 

[jetman]

Here's the latest "good" report for the diesel Kubota V2203 that powers the PowerTech 17.5kw generator in our motorhome. Engine had 13,522 hrs at time of sample. Oil had 224 hrs. Filter was Fram Ultra XG3593A. Air filter was last changed 1000 hrs ago in 2015.
What say you?

 

[dnewton3]

A few things come to mind here ...
- the last few UOAs show excellent wear trending; clearly running and wearing nicely
- the oil choices haven't really mattered much; they all do fine
- those that would say UOAs have no real value, don't see what you obviously found out; UOAs can predict undesirable wear trends and if you understand the nature and history of the engine series, you can predict a failure in its infancy and not wait until it becomes catastophic. While UOAs won't catch all failure modes, it certainly paid dividends for you in this case!