WalMart ST 15w40...2yrs 9 months in my Cummins

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If I don't list it it's zero.

Aluminum 1
Iron 3
Copperr 2
Lead 1
Molybdenum 1
Boron 1
Silicon 3
Calcium 2971
Magnesum 12
Phos 971
Zinc 1145

SUS viscosity @ 210F-74.1

CST @ 100C 14.03

Flash 420

Fuel .05

Insolubles .01

TBN 12.3


This is from my 1962 Peterbilt with a NT280B Cummins(855 cu in).

I have not had time or fuel money to take it out. I do start it and let it run an hr or so a month.

A few trips around the block is all lately. Maybe 150 miles max this last year.
This oil was put in Easter of 09. So Easter 2012 will be 3 yrs.

Blackstone commented about it being a well sealed engine due to Emission laws. In 1962 Diesels had no emission laws. It has a road draft tube.



Cummins and Peterbilt are pretty good about keeping records.On 2-28 2012 the engine will have it's 50th birthday. On 3-13-2012 the truck will have it's 50th birthday.
 
Looks good to me ... especially for the short trips and length of time in the engine. Cummins makes outstanding diesels.

Can you post a picture of the truck? Petebilts from that era are good looking trucks!
 
I'm a bit unclear on the mileage; are you saying you put 150 miles on it in addition to the estimate of 1 hour idle per month, or that is your total including the idle time? Regardless, there is very little accumulation of time on this oil.

The wear cannot really be looked at from an accumulated point of view, because the total is so low that the initialization of the oil is still predominant. Many years ago, Ford and Connoco did an SAE study which showed that wear actually spikes a bit right after an oil change; fresh add pack reactions and such. What I'm saying is that we cannot really tell how much of this is wear due to mechanical running, and how much is wear from chemical reactions because the exposure is so great relative to the total time. In effect, it's inconclusive.

With TBN that high, we can say you certainly are not going to have to worry about acid build up in the near future. Is this (presumably) CI-4+ stock?

That being said, what we can glean from this is that running the rig helps keep the moisture out; the engine doesn't have any major contaminant intrusion, and that long periods of sitting dormant don't hurt the lube. Helps those of us (including myself) who do let oil sit in the crankcase for 2-3 years breath a little easier.

For your purposes, I'd say the ST is doing quite well, and there is no reason to do anyting different, nor swap brands. You're getting the most out of your situtation that you can, and maximizinig your ROI.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: dnewton3
I'm a bit unclear on the mileage; are you saying you put 150 miles on it in addition to the estimate of 1 hour idle per month, or that is your total including the idle time? Regardless, there is very little accumulation of time on this oil.

The wear cannot really be looked at from an accumulated point of view, because the total is so low that the initialization of the oil is still predominant. Many years ago, Ford and Connoco did an SAE study which showed that wear actually spikes a bit right after an oil change; fresh add pack reactions and such. What I'm saying is that we cannot really tell how much of this is wear due to mechanical running, and how much is wear from chemical reactions because the exposure is so great relative to the total time. In effect, it's inconclusive.

With TBN that high, we can say you certainly are not going to have to worry about acid build up in the near future. Is this (presumably) CI-4+ stock?

That being said, what we can glean from this is that running the rig helps keep the moisture out; the engine doesn't have any major contaminant intrusion, and that long periods of sitting dormant don't hurt the lube. Helps those of us (including myself) who do let oil sit in the crankcase for 2-3 years breath a little easier.

For your purposes, I'd say the ST is doing quite well, and there is no reason to do anyting different, nor swap brands. You're getting the most out of your situtation that you can, and maximizinig your ROI.
My main concern is coolant in the oil. Diesels had problems with Liner Cavatation back when this truck was built. Plus there are Rubber O-Rings that seal the press in liners to the block.

It's been so long I have forgotten exactly how many miles/hrs are on this oil. I have driven the truck to the truck stop, a few car shows etc but not much lately.

I have tried and tried but I can't find any body with any maintenance history on the truck. From the amount of grease that was on the engine I don't think that the heads have ever been off.



The engine, axles, frame, hood and 1 fender are original. The cab and LF fender have been replaced. This leaves me to believe that it has fairly low milage for it's age.

When it was built the speed limit for trucks in Ca was 45 mph. The truck would do about 50 mph. It was originally mostly driven in the city so this was ok.

Owner #2 used it to haul Borax from the desert to Long Beach, Ca. The story is that he made 1 trip @ 50 mph and replaced the transmissions to get more road speed. He added an overdrive trans to replace the direct drive trans it had and also changed the Auxillary trans to one with a PTO cover to run a PTO and with a faster Overdrive.

The few bits of info I have gatererd were from old timers that said this truck was the fastest truck on the route after this and it had a reputation for "Blowing ones doors off".

It got layed on it's side which damaged the cab and LF fender sometime in the late 70's. So it got parked.

Owner #3 rode in it as a kid in the early 70's. He found it in the back of a lot in Los Angelas, bought it and replaced the Cab and fender but didn't do anything else to it.

I bought it in 05.

The UOA is my way of watching for coolant getting in the oil. So far it's ok. This also kills the "Or 3 months" thing with oil changes. Maybe we should only go with miles/hrs and not time?

I used to change the oil every Easter. Looks like that was a waste and since it holds 12 gallons of oil very expensive too.

Access to the oil filter (Wix 51900) is a major job. I'm assuming that the filter did not get changed as often as it should have. I'm considering replacing that filter due to it's age.

Not too worried about the Luberfiner 750 since that is just a Bypass filter.
 
I'm suprised there isn't more Fe from corrosion.

At this rate of use and oil 'degredation' you'll never have to change the oil.
 
Great Truck!! Looks as good to me as the new ones, my shop is next door to Rush/Peterbuilt and Peterbuilts IMO have the best looking trucks out there.

I've never seen a "double stick" don't even know what it does. That would probably kill most truck drivers today:)

What kind of coolant are running in it and although the oil looks great are sure it has enough zinc for that beast?
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: 3311
Great Truck!! Looks as good to me as the new ones, my shop is next door to Rush/Peterbuilt and Peterbuilts IMO have the best looking trucks out there.

I've never seen a "double stick" don't even know what it does. That would probably kill most truck drivers today:)

What kind of coolant are running in it and although the oil looks great are sure it has enough zinc for that beast?
The 2 stick was what they had before air shifted splitters came out and ya most guys today wouldn't have a clue how to drive one.

It has Chevron Low Silicated coolant with the Diesel addative and I keep track of it with test strips. It's beginning to look dark but passes the strip test fine.

Cummins has used Roller Cam followers since forever and this one has them too so higher ZDDP is not necessary.

Shoot what amount of addatives did they have in SAE30 back in 62 anyway? SAE30 is recomended for over 32F but I feel that 15w40 is a better choice.
 
Cool, it should be good for at least another 50 years.:) I would definitely keep an eye on that coolant like you are doing if your worried about the liners.

Any luck finding an old owner/driver if your looking for info?
 
Originally Posted By: 3311


Any luck finding an old owner/driver if your looking for info?
Not yet. Also been looking for a pic of it. I'm posative this guy has a pic of it. But they are not in any order. He has something like 500k pics. he says I'm welcome to go look.

http://www.stanholtzman.com/

I have had a couple of leads. It originally hauled Paint for standard Brands paint in Torrance,Ca and may have been driven by an Oriental gentleman with a beanie cap. I was told that they had a Red and a Green Pete, Mine was the Green one. Owner #2 was a black fellow that has passed away.
 
This is how it looked when new but green with a white stripe.

http://www.stanholtzman.com/store/cart.php?target=product&product_id=1392&category_id=82

http://www.stanholtzman.com/store/cart.php?target=product&product_id=1292&category_id=82

Notice the Crescent by the grill and with a Diamond painted on the grill shutters. This is a KW but mine had a White diamond on the shutters like this.
http://www.stanholtzman.com/store/cart.php?target=product&product_id=3679&category_id=78




This is how it was painted when last worked. Green and white like this KW.

http://www.stanholtzman.com/store/cart.php?target=product&product_id=2485&category_id=78

I feel that if I saw a pic I'd recognize it.
 
Cool stuff! Always great to see those old machines in pristine condition. Good luck finding out more info and keep us posted!
 
Chris, I was thinking about your quest to find info/pics of your truck last night on my long commute home. I would maybe contact the family of the driver who passed away, if you know his name, explain that your looking for picks him and his old company truck which you now own in order to document its history and you may hit pay dirt. Just a thought, good luck.
Don
 
Originally Posted By: 3311
Chris, I was thinking about your quest to find info/pics of your truck last night on my long commute home. I would maybe contact the family of the driver who passed away, if you know his name, explain that your looking for picks him and his old company truck which you now own in order to document its history and you may hit pay dirt. Just a thought, good luck.
Don
I don't have that info unfortunatly.
 
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