UOA on Tacoma V6- Amsoil 5w30

[TooManyWheels]

The consensus seems to be that copper on this engine will always run a little high, supposedly due to the oil cooler which leeches copper.

But by this mileage, the copper on mine was down to 32 (Schaeffer's 10-30 blend, 6K OCIs, high percentage of city driving) .

There is a link on the BITOG homepage called "Viscosity Chart" which will help you interpret. 12.16 is a high 30.

[ May 20, 2004, 01:10 PM: Message edited by: TooManyWheels ]

 

[2003TRD]

I dont think it has an oil cooler on it. Forgive my ignorance if it does. where would I see it? I dont have the tow package, but anyway it think the tow package only gives you a transmission cooler.

 

[2003TRD]

how many miles on yours now? and what is the copper down to?

 

[TooManyWheels]

The oil cooler is about the size and shape of an additional oil filter, mounted on the block on the same side as the actual filter, but farther back.

I am nearing 19K, which will be my next change interval. My last two UOAs were at 14.3 and 8.3K, and copper was at 32 both times, down from 78 when sampled at one thousand miles.

 

[Pablo]

Which Amsoil 5W-30? And when/where did you buy?

I'm not sure if the V6 has an oil cooler, either. The V8 does.

Yes Cu seems high, but this OCI started before 10K, so that must be taken into consideration.

 

[2003TRD]

Pab, I bought it online with my preferred customer discount, Not sure where it shipped from this time (they just opened a warehouse in columbus Ohio)

The Oil is there full synthetitic not the new series 2000. Just cant justify the extra $ for that if I am doing my changes every 6 months regardless of miles (probably be between 6k and 10K miles per change).

 

[2003TRD]

other than the oil cooler, where does the copper come from in the engine? I also run a bottle of techron fuel inj cleaner once per oil change.

 

[Pablo]

ASL 5W-30. I suspected it by the additive numbers. My questions were directed at trying to detect the vintage of the oil. It seems like the little older formula but it didn't thicken a little as from the formula of the year or so ago.

Anyhow - Cu can come from coatings, from antiseize, from sleeve alloys and bushing materials, etc. Sn is zero and Pb is low, so I doubt it's from these wear type items.....it does point to the oil cooler. I say, just watch it come down.

 

[2003TRD]

Vehicle- 2003 Tacoma 3.4 V6
Miles on unit 15600
Miles on Oil 6000
Driving conditions 50/50 highway/city
Time on Oil Oil amsoil 5w30
Filter Amsoil SDF

Iron 12
Lead 3
Copper 78
alum 4
silicon 18
Boron 34
Sodium 11
Ca 2059
Phos 1085
Zinc 1365
All others wear metals were 0

Fuel Visc100 12.16
TBN 5.75

Performed by oil analyzers

So Everything looks good except the copper which is from normal break-in, correct?


also is there somewhere I can read up to figure out the grade of oil by vis #?

Thanks
Howard


One more thing, will there be any problem running this for at least 8K miles? I just changed it and took a 2K mile trip, hauling 2 motorcycles, that will add to my total miles at my 6 month change mark.

 

[2003TRD]

yep slick, the mag is 756, Ca is 2095, zinc is 1365, phos is 1085.

I was reading through some of the other posts on here with the same engines and as you guys have stated its probably just break-in wear (as alot of them had high copper)

Thanks for the replies guys! appreciate it.

 

[TooSlick]

I'd agree with pablo.....

If this was wear of bronze bushings, bearings or thrust washers, you'd see some tin as well. If it was bearing wear, you'd also see some lead. This looks like chemical leaching that will dissipate over time.

This oil is in excellent shape - if you changed the filter @ six months and topped off the crankcase, you should be able to go 10,000 total miles on this batch of oil ....This is the additive chemistry that Amsoil has been using for almost two years now. There should also be 600-700 ppm of magnesium, although you didn't post that....The baseline viscosity is approx 11.7 Cst for the 5w-30, so that's essentially unchanged, given the accuracy of the test.

Tooslick
www.lubedealer.com/Dixie_Synthetics