Oil Analysis

[Kennedy]

If you treat it with respect and don't run big power, 10k service intervals are no problem. Just watch the level. If you run it hard it will soot up, but from the looks of it yours is doing well.

[LanduytG]

Looks real good and you should have good luck with it.

I just got my analysis back and had 10300 on the oil. The biggest thing I was looking for was silicon levels because this was the first sample running a foam air filter for the whole sample period. With stock paper I was seeing 12-22ppm silicon and the time it was 12 was when the foam filter was installed part way through the sample period. Now silicon levels are 7ppm which tells me foam is way better than paper any day of the week. Driving conditions have been the same for the last 40K miles. Foam for me and I know JK feels the same way.



Greg

[Idle_Chatter]

Yep, in spite of all the "experimental" evidence that OEM paper is better than oiled foam, I've been an oiled foam man since nearly day one and I've always had excellent silicon numbers. My REAL WORLD results have been great with oiled foam and it's the way to go for me, too.

[David Proske]

This blackstone report is from a 2003 GMC duramax with 45,000 miles on the truck. This OCI run was 5,000 miles. I wanted to see how well the AFE Pro Guard air filter was doing. I had previously been using the "blue" AFE filter and felt uncomfortable with it as I drive in dusty new construction areas. I also did a LOT of ideling in this run...to the tune of 18 hours one day.

aluminum 2
chromium 0
iron 7
copper 3
lead 5
tin 1
moly 25
nickel 0
manganese 0
silver 0
titanium 0
potassium 0
boron 1
silicon 5
sodium 2
calcium 3100
magnesium 9
phosphorus 1218
zinc 1381
barium 0

sus viscosity @210 F 81.0
flashpoint 420

Looks like the air filter did its job. Blackstone sugggested going to 6,500 miles oci.

My last oil sample with the blue AFE 4 ply filter showed a silicon reading of 13ppm with a 5,000 mile run.

[More Power]

Excellent oil analysis!

Yes, the 7-ply element is doing its job well. Low teens for silicon with the 4-ply would be somewhat comparable to a stock paper air filter.

Jim

[jbplock]

Looks Good Dave!!

I wish my Dmax was seeing copper levels like yours.. last UOA at 47k (7.5k on the oil) was 10ppm.. Some have suggested the Oil Cooler is the source of the copper. Other levels including SI are similar to yours using the AC paper filter and D1 or M1 T&SUV ...

03 Duramax Silverado UOA History

[img]smile.gif[/img]

[David Proske]

My first UOA was at 6K miles, I had a copper reading of 33 back then. It has since gone down.

[mattb5150]

Hey Guys,

I have a 2002 Dmax with 98,5XX miles on it. I recently switched from Delo 15W40 to Mobil1 TSUV at 85000. I did this after a VW TDI guru who changed my timing belt(on the VW) suggested that I be running syn. in both the Dmax and the TDI. I sampled the last batch of Delo and the analysis came back fine. I recently sampled the Mobil 1 to check for soot% after 12k miles on the oil. Got the analysis the other day and the copper is at 289 ppm, the Delo @ 85k had 6ppm. I am using Oil Analyzers for my testing and they suggest it may be high from lube oil cooler, but say oil is suitable for continued use.

I also may not have sampled correctly this time. With the Delo I was dumping it and randomly took the sample from the stream coming out of my Fumoto valve. This time I was keeping the Mobil 1 so I merely opened the Fumoto and let it pour into the sample bottle. I know that I probably should have dumped a few quarts into a clean bottle and then poured some into the sample bottle and then poured the rest back in the motor. Could this be the reason the copper is so high? The motor has less than 1,500 miles on it until the warranty is up so I want to make sure it's okay, should I resample the correct way?

[RdTxTd]

FWIW, My numbers from Blackstone at 10,535 miles on totally stock 05 LLY, Shell Rotella T 15W-40 changed at 2,300, 5,250, and 10,535...

ALUMINUM 2
CHROMIUM 1
IRON 19
COPPER 18
LEAD 3
TIN 4
MOLYBDENUM 2
NICKEL 0
MANGANESE 0
SILVER 1
TITANIUM 0
POTASSIUM 1
BORON 0
SILICON 14
SODIUM 0
CALCIUM 3015
MAGNESIUM 16
PHOSPHORUS 916
ZINC 966
BARIUM 1

Dave

[Inspector]

Chevysrus:
I think that you will find doing a searh that there isn't an air filter out there that is better than the stock AC filter for our Dmaxes.
Check it out. I hope that I'm not opening that can of worms again.
Denny

[canadave]

Don't worry about copper in the first few oil samples. It is a common reaction with additives in the oil and the oil cooler. We run 65 trucks and sample every service, copper levels go way down after first 50,000 miles. We use Cat oil analysis and that is thier diagnosis.

[mattb5150]

What about my truck with 98,000 miles!

Matt

[Jim Brzozowski]

My latest at 70,000 miles Rotella 5w-40
FE-4
CR-0
PB-8
CU-5
SN-0
AL-3
NI-0
MN-0
SI-2
B-0
NA-4
MG-0
CA-0
BA-0
P-0
ZN-0
MO-0

Anyone see anything out of line?
Visc100 was 14.4
Soot was 0.2
No water, fuel,glycol, etc.

[LanduytG]

It took 50K miles for my 04.5 to settle down on the copper level. All samples were taken at 10K miles. It got as high as 999 ppm at 13k miles. I has steadly dropped and the last oil analysis at 50K miles was 45ppm. So now we will see how long we can keep it in. When it hit 999 ppm we had avlube do a ferrography (sp) just to double check to make sure we really didn't have any copper in chunks floating around.

Greg

[Jim Brzozowski]

999 ppm CU?? Wow, makes you wonder if someone didn't take his own can of copper never-sieze to work that day and put it on all the fasteners while assembling the engine.

[TNeustadt]

Anyone have info on oil analysis locations, phone #'s..?
Preferably near Knoxville,TN

[TNeustadt]

In Knoxville...(865)524-3563 Talk to Arthur Woods
Took sample from truck and with a simple 3 minute test....Hey! Fuel in oil positive! They talked to service dept and truck is back at dealer again. Good thing, because viscocity was down to 5W. Stay tuned....

[DmaxMaverick]

Your dealer has the ability to do the same thing. Problem is, having the ability doesn't mean they'll do it. They should still have to do the sample test to get support from GM. The'll be looking over it with a magnifying glass now, since they've already replaced the injectors once.

[jsmiracle]

I recently received a UOA Report that indicates that a spike in Copper (Cu) levels and a significant rise in lead (Pb) levels. I have searched TDP forums and it seems to show that the rise in levels could be due to bearing or gasket material as well as lube oil cooler materials.

I also called Oil Analyzers, Inc. and they seemed to not be alarmed. Should I be? The analyst on the phone said that a couple of filter changes ought to bring the levels back to normal. Anyone have any prior experience with this? Thanks.

Copper 13 -> 248
Lead 7 -> 20

Thanks again,
Jim M.

[Kennedy]

Have you made any changes recently? What oil are you using? Silicon level?