Red Line 5w-40 VW TDI (ALH) 18,300 MILES

[hannaco]

This was meant to be posted a while back. The report was found under a stack of paperwork the other day.
Total miles on motor at this point is 128300. A quart of makeup oil was added just after the 15,000 mile sample was taken.

This is going to be UGLY no matter what I do. without the separator dots, it is very hard to read, with the dots it is just hard to read. What ever happened to the "code" option for entering tables?

Date 10/04 . 12/04 . .1/05 .. 3/05
Miles 5000 . 10000 . .15050 .. 18300
Al . . . 3 . . . . 7 . . . . 2 . . . . 7
Ba . . . 0 . . . . 0 . . . . 0 . . . . 5
B. . . . 5 . . . . 8 . . . . 1 . . . . 3
Cd . . . 0 . . . . 0 . . . . 0 . . . . 0
Ca . . . - . . . . - . . .4177 . . . 1984
Cr . . . 1 . . . . 2 . . . . 1 . . . . 3
Cu . . . 5 . . . . 4 . . . . 3 . . . . 16
Fe . . .20 . . . 32 . . . . 20 . . . 59
Pb . . . 2 . . . . 5 . . . . 3 . . . . 10
Mg . . .90 . . . 83 . . . . 31 . . . 63
Mo . . 688 . . 716 . . . 191 . . . 548
Ni . . . . 1 . . . 1 . . . . 0 . . . . 5
P. . . . - . . . . - . . . 652 . . . 1141
K . . . . 0 . . . . 0 . . . 3 . . . . . 8
Si. . . . 8 . . . . 8 . . . 3 . . . . . 8
Na . . .19 . . . 17 . . . 13 . . . . 20
Sn . . . .0 . . . . 1 . . . 0 . . . . 4
Zn . .1537 . . .1402 . .742 . . . 1464

st . . . 86 . . . 116 . . 129 . . . 130
OXI . . 28 . . . .28 . . . 32 . . . 38
NIT . . 44 . . . .43 . . . 28 . . . 29
SUL . . 30 . . . .33 . . . 34 . . . 32
A . . . . N . . . . N . . . N . . . N
W. . . . N . . . . N . . . N . . . N
F . . . . N . . . . N . . . N . . . N
V100 . 14.7 . . 14.9 . 14.7 . .14.3
TBN . . 10.0 . . 9.8 . 10.0 . . 6.5

The intent was to change at the 20k mile point, but decided to run some Auto-Rx for the last part. So, I took a last sample at 18.3K miles.

As of today, Red Line 5W-40 has been used for the past 156,000 miles with out any issues.

 

[LargeCarManX2]

The Redline 5w40 looks like it will go 20K. Outstanding Report/low iron, Oxid is starting to climb...but the TBN is great,so you have a great combo there!

 

[buster]

Originally Posted By: LargeCarManX2
The Redline 5w40 looks like it will go 20K. Outstanding Report/low iron, Oxid is starting to climb...but the TBN is great,so you have a great combo there!


Very impressive. Viscosity is perfect and the TBN is strong. One of the best 5w-40 oils out there IMO.

 

[Pablo]

Why is Ca cut in half? What's with the Mo level? Are those typos?

What year is the engine? It seems the PD's are much harder on the oil, especially those with questionable EGR's.

The Ni and the Pb should be watched, the sudden spike at the end signals something. But otherwise wear is pretty good.

 

[buster]

Originally Posted By: Pablo
Why is Ca cut in half? What's with the Mo level? Are those typos?

What year is the engine? It seems the PD's are much harder on the oil, especially those with questionable EGR's.

The Ni and the Pb should be watched, the sudden spike at the end signals something. But otherwise wear is pretty good.


The oil was in use for 18,000 miles. Ca, a detergent, will be lower from where it started which is over 3,000ppm for RL I believe.

 

[Pablo]

Originally Posted By: buster

The oil was in use for 18,000 miles. Ca, a detergent, will be lower from where it started which is over 3,000ppm for RL I believe.


I highly doubt it went from 4177 . to . 1984 in 3300 miles. Looks like lab error, with a such a TBN, TAN would be nice though.

Mo has to be lab error.

 

[hannaco]

No, the Mo is correct. Red Line has lots and lots of Moly. Some folks have been known to put a quart of Red Line in their motor just to get the Moly.
I'll try and find the virgin oil sample. It was posted either here or over at the tdiclub.com.
Lab error is always a possibility, regardless of lab.
The VW TDI ALH motor was in service from 1998 until the PD was introduced. This one is from 1998.

 

[Pablo]

Originally Posted By: hannaco
No, the Mo is correct. Red Line has lots and lots of Moly. Some folks have been known to put a quart of Red Line in their motor just to get the Moly.
I'll try and find the virgin oil sample. It was posted either here or over at the tdiclub.com.
Lab error is always a possibility, regardless of lab.
The VW TDI ALH motor was in service from 1998 until the PD was introduced. This one is from 1998.


I'm not saying Redline shouldn't or doesn't have lots of Mo. But:

From 716 . to . 191 . to. 548 PPM is almost bizarre. Either a typo or lab error.

Thanks - your engine looks like it is staying very clean.

 

[hannaco]

You are quite correct. I fat fingered it.
I have now been exposed to the world as a bad typer. Oh, the shame of it all.

 

[Pablo]

All is forgiven my son.

Now what is the real number?

 

[hannaco]

Thank you father for your forgiveness.

It should have been 691, not 191.

 

[buster]

Is D1 still the preferred oil for the TDI? RL and Amsoil DEO seem like other good options. A friend of mine was asking me about an oil for this car.