Is 7600 miles on a 5.9 really too many?

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Hello guys, well I recently recieved my newest report from Blackstone and would love some feed back.



Miles on truck.........47726
Miles on oil............7598
Oil......................Delvac 1300 15W-40
Make up oil...............0

Parameter.......Universal Average .... UOA Results
Aluminum.......................3.....................4
Chromium.......................2.....................2
Iron..............................23.................28
Copper...........................4...................4
Lead.............................2...................2
Tin...............................1..................2
Molybdenum....................28.....................44
Nickel............................0..................0
Manganese......................0.....................1
Silver............................0..................2
Titanium........................0....................0
Potassium.......................3....................17
Boron...........................81...................43
Silicon...........................7..................4
Sodium..........................4....................4
Calcuim.......................2758...................1652
Magnesium....................239.....................737
Phosphorous..................1081....................1028
Zinc...........................1272..................1325
Barium..........................1....................0

SUS vis at 210 F............69 to 79.................76.3
cSt at 100 C................12.7-15.3................14.59
Flashpoint....................>390...................440
Fuel.......................... Antifreeze......................0%....................0
Water........................ Insolubles.....................
Thanks in advance for you help, Shawn
 
Blackstone said wear was a little high, but expected for how long I ran the oil, they also said Potassium increased ever so slightly but without the significant presence of Sodium they dont think its Antifreeze. It may have something to do with the SCR system, whatever that is??? No fuel or moisture and the Soot level was normal. Only the potassium level kept it from being a perfect report.
 
Here is my last analysis for comparison, Potassium was pretty high then as well, any ideas on what may be causing it and how concerned should I be?

Miles on truck.........39300
Miles on oil............7053
Oil......................Delo 400 15W-40 CH-4
Make up oil...............0

Parameter.......Universal Average .... UOA Results
Aluminum.......................3.....................3
Chromium.......................2.....................1
Iron..............................23.................37
Copper...........................4...................8
Lead.............................2...................2
Tin...............................1..................2
Molybdenum....................28.....................5
Nickel............................0..................0
Manganese......................0.....................1
Silver............................0..................3
Titanium........................0....................0
Potassium.......................3....................15
Boron...........................81...................5
Silicon...........................7..................5
Sodium..........................4....................3
Calcuim.......................2758...................3239
Magnesium....................239.....................32
Phosphorous..................1081....................1256
Zinc...........................1272..................1438
Barium..........................1....................0

SUS vis at 210 F............69 to 79.................77.4
cSt at 100 C................12.7-15.3................14.88
Flashpoint....................>390...................415
Fuel.......................... Antifreeze......................0%....................0
Water........................ Insolubles.....................<0.8...................0.3
 
Couple of questions/comments.

What is the "universal average" based upon for the 5.9 ISB for mileage? If it's 6k miles, and you're at 7.5k miles, I'd say this is a decent report.

Also, this load at least has less Fe than the previous UOA you included, so how can Blackstone offer a comment on this UOA, but not the last one that had MORE Fe and Cu?

Check the Potassium issue; other than that, wear looks perfectly fine.

Get a TBN next time so you know how much life is potentially left.

I don't know that TDT will make this look much, if any, better. It's quite likely that Delvac 1300 could go 10k miles; why the un-neccessary expense of TDT? It's not like the wear metals are going to magicially drop much lower. How much lower do you think the Pb, Cu or Al can get anyway? Perhaps the Fe might come down, but it would have to come down proportionally equal to the expense to make it worth while. (IOW - if the TDT costs 3x more money, the Fe would have to drop to 3x lower levels for the same OCI duration, or be able to run out an OCI 3x longer, to make the ROI decent).

Synthetics are not the magic bullet to slay all concerns ...
 
What year truck? Look like what I would expect for a 3rd gen common rail?

For what its worth, I believe the referenced "SCR" (I want to say this is the later emission stuff) is only applicable to the later 6.7L Cummins, not the 5.9L.
 
Truck is a 2004.5, so yes CR.

Still not sure what would cause the high potassium and how to check it. Not sure of universal average for mileage, the book calls for change every 7500 miles on the extreme cycle.

Synthetics arent really something I am looking at trying now, especially since I bought 12 Gallons of Delo/Delvac for around $6 per gallon late last year, so my oil changes are real cheap. The manual also says that the OCI doesnt change when using synthetics. Seems like a waste of money to me.

TBN next time for sure!

Thanks again guys!
 
Well, it's not like warranty is an issue being that old, so that is something less to consider.

In a nutshell, if you intend to extend OCIs then synthetics make sense. If not, dinos will protect every bit as well for a lot less money.
 
Originally Posted By: deeter16317
What year truck? Look like what I would expect for a 3rd gen common rail?

For what its worth, I believe the referenced "SCR" (I want to say this is the later emission stuff) is only applicable to the later 6.7L Cummins, not the 5.9L.


Technically SCR is Selective Catalytic Reduction which the Dodge Cummins engines do not have.
 
Originally Posted By: dnewton3
I don't know that TDT will make this look much, if any, better. It's quite likely that Delvac 1300 could go 10k miles; why the un-neccessary expense of TDT? It's not like the wear metals are going to magicially drop much lower. How much lower do you think the Pb, Cu or Al can get anyway? Perhaps the Fe might come down, but it would have to come down proportionally equal to the expense to make it worth while. (IOW - if the TDT costs 3x more money, the Fe would have to drop to 3x lower levels for the same OCI duration, or be able to run out an OCI 3x longer, to make the ROI decent).

Synthetics are not the magic bullet to slay all concerns ...


I certainly see your point most of the time with synthetics. But take the reductio ad absurdem: If a synthetic change costs $0.03 and a mineral $0.01, is the lower wear worth it?
Proportionately lower wear may be worth it and then some by a large margin if it postpones a rebuild till after the lifetime of the vehicle or death of the owner.

The difference between a mineral and synthetic change may be a trifling sum to some owners and significant money to others.


Charlie
 
So any thoughts on the potassium and where it could be coming from?

By the looks of this test I am considering shortening my run time, any thoughts on backing down to 6500 miles for the next change?
 
If you're not using/going through a lot of coolant with no obvious leaks, I wouldn't be really concerned about the potassium, especially since Blackstone shows zero coolant contamination. What do you use your truck for? My experience with the 5.9 Cummins is they will usually last longer than the pickup they're installed in, unless they're abused badly, bombed/used in tractor pulls, or have severe injector problems. That said, I've never worked the ones I've had ('02 & '06) extremely hard, & I've generally stuck to 5K OCIs with either 15W40 dino or occasionally 5W40 synthetic (Valvoline PBX and Rotella).
 
Thanks Bullwinkle, I occasionally tow a skidsteer, or a mini excavator. Nothing really heavy at all. I do have an Edge programmer but I rarely use the power as I tend to try to get mileage more than anything. I also dont believe in long idle times.

Thankfully I see no fuel in my oil nor do I ever make oil, I will shorten OCI this time and see how the Delo holds up and looks after 6K.
 
Quote:
Still not sure what would cause the high potassium and how to check it. Not sure of universal average for mileage, the book calls for change every 7500 miles on the extreme cycle.


You have a 6 month OCI. It can be as low as 7500 in severe service and up to 15k in normal service. Both are 6months.

Your service is more normal than you think.
 
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