Rotella T5 10W-30, 10746mi, 06 Duramax

[DNVDMAX]

Old sample that was finally tested. This included pulling our cargo trailer from Savannah, GA to Alaska with a couple of tourist stops through the southwest. She got warm, 232F, EGT stayed around 1350F, on I-5's long grades. No slowing down! Tare weight was 11,630 lbs. I will stay with 5w-40 from here on out.

Code:


MI/HR on Oil 10,746 21,466 13,893

MI/HR on Unit 127,455 106,671 85,205

Sample Date 08/10/14 01/13/14 03/05/12

Oil Rotella T5 Rotella T6 5w-40 Rotella T6 5w-40

10w-30

Make Up Oil Added 0 qts .5 qts (Filter) 0 qts



ALUMINUM 4 6 6

CHROMIUM
IRON 49 24 34

COPPER 3 4 14

LEAD 2 1 0

TIN 2 2 3

MOLYBDENUM 3 67 62

NICKEL
MANGANESE Not Tested Not Tested 1

SILVER
TITANIUM
POTASSIUM
BORON 15 23 38

SILICON 11 6 8

SODIUM 5 10 4

CALCIUM 2517 860 970

MAGNESIUM 50 1171 1258

PHOSPHORUS 1091 1070 1098

ZINC 1254 1312 1309

BARIUM




SUS Viscosity @ 210°F Not Tested Not Tested 77.3

cSt Viscosity @ 100°C 12.7 15.0 14.84

Flashpoint in °F Not Tested Not Tested 420

Fuel %
Antifreeze % No No 0.0

Water %
Insolubles % 0.5 0.3 0.1

TBN 6.1 7.2 8.3

 

[jmaster]

21,000 miles on t6 is not too bad at all. i'm guessing long hauls on that run? next to no moly in the t5, interesting..

is mobil 1 turbo diesel truck what you put back in you truck?

 

[dnewton3]

Not bad, but wear rates a tad high for a Dmax. Nothing to freak out about, as they are not grossly outside normality. Review the normalcy article for specifics.

Next time you might consider a conventional stock rather than the group IIIs. I have seen better wear from my TP 10w-30 and so have others.

Also, it's uncommon for them to get that warm. Typically when they do they are experiencing warm temps due to reduced flow in the rad stack. Consider taking it down for a weekend, pulling the stack apart and cleaning the cooling for better airflow. I say this because my temps were never over 215F under similar conditions.

Also curious what your trans temps were ???

 

[DNVDMAX]

M1 TDT did go in after the T5.

Trans temps were hovering around 180F. I have not got around to pulling the stack yet but I'm sure it's time. My main problem was that I was running 70/30 coolant that had been in the truck since my last tour in Alaska. Half way up through Cali I stopped at Wally World and bought a fish tank air hose and four gallons of distilled water. I dumped two gallon of bottled water to catch the two gallons of coolant I siphoned out of the engine. Then replaced with two gallons of water. Temp from there on stayed at 209F peak. EGT stayed the same. Trans dropped a little to 168F.

 

[kschachn]

Originally Posted By: DNVDMAX
Trans temps were hovering around 180F. I have not got around to pulling the stack yet but I'm sure it's time. My main problem was that I was running 70/30 coolant that had been in the truck since my last tour in Alaska.


Why would you do that? High coolant concentrations retard heat transfer (as I think you noticed) and gain no improvement in freezing point.

 

[DNVDMAX]

Originally Posted By: kschachn
Originally Posted By: DNVDMAX
Trans temps were hovering around 180F. I have not got around to pulling the stack yet but I'm sure it's time. My main problem was that I was running 70/30 coolant that had been in the truck since my last tour in Alaska.


Why would you do that? High coolant concentrations retard heat transfer (as I think you noticed) and gain no improvement in freezing point.


I was just lazy and didn't correct the concentration while in the south and didn't really pull anything heavy on any serious grades. In Alaska, 60% to 65% is ideal. 50% is safe to -34F while 70% has you covered to -84F. We did experience -56F last time in Alaska so I didn't skimp on the coolant.

 

[kschachn]

Originally Posted By: DNVDMAX
I was just lazy and didn't correct the concentration while in the south and didn't really pull anything heavy on any serious grades. In Alaska, 60% to 65% is ideal. 50% is safe to -34F while 70% has you covered to -84F. We did experience -56F last time in Alaska so I didn't skimp on the coolant.


Yeah, 60-65% is the optimum for maximum FP depression. After that you really start to degrade heat transfer.

The graph is for ethylene glycol but the curve is representative:

 

[dnewton3]

Well that coolant issue explains why the heat was greater than typically seen!

Overall, your Dmax is not in any danger, but it is fair to say it's a bit higher in terms of wear rates than the average. However, it is not statistically outside "normal" generally, so no fears.

I don't see that T5 was anything to get excited about.
I would ask that you, at some point in the future, consider TP dino 10w-30; that is what I run. I have seen fantastic performance from conventional base stocks, despite the fears most folks have of it. If you are willing to experiment, then why not try it at some point in the future?