This is the first oil report I have ever done. From what I see it seems good? Can anyone ellaborate?

My main concern was the 1 year oil change interval of the Rotella T6 5w40.

 

The real analysis comes from establishing your own vehicle trends.

A decade ago on another forum I did a spreadsheet analysis that started with the 7.3L and moved onto the 6.0L. Members would send me their reports and I would put them into a running spreadsheet so everyone had their own trends and could see how others did. I reconfigured the data, graphed it, entered the comments, and everyone's data was kept confidential. It worked really well with the 7.3L as many people ran extended oil changes, something you can't do with the oil shearing ability of the 6.0L as it breaks down the viscosity modifiers and you end up with the base grade viscosity.

Anyway, I don't see any major issue with yours. The iron can go up if there were shorter then universal driving runs or heavier then universal operation. Some people will just have a little higher iron content.

I'm attaching the last 6.0L pdf I did with that work. Between the two motor options and my off the forum workload I was just not able to keep up with it years ago. But it's worth looking through so you may get a faster learning curve about analysis.

 

Excellent post Jack!

Brian, as mentioned in the comments on the UOA report silicon is a bit high. This could be from a slight amount of contaminants getting past the air filter or from some silicon gasket type material if you had some work done. Usually like to see it under 20 ppm. But overal the truck looks good.

 

Your oil viscosity held up pretty well on this sample. As Jack mentioned 6.0L's will shear the oil viscosity down since it runs higher ICP. Yours was just at the bottom end of a 5W-40. The range for this viscosity is 12.5-16.

 

Thanks. In hindsight I wished I kept up doing that as I think it would have been an excellent long term tool. With the 7.3L database as people had issues like a turbo failure you could see a problem starting to happen based on the higher metals content in the sample one or two oil changes prior. And with the 7.3L we could look at a lot more options, such as air filters along with the normal different types of oils, filters, etc.

I agree the silicon could be dirt or RTV, depending on any work. Early mileage high silicon I believe can be a combination of RTV and left over casting sand, some that will always be in a new casting.

I was B001 in the 6.0L database and you can see the reduction in metals, silicon, etc as miles progressed. With the notes all of us provided you can see in the fuel contamination values how idling contributes to oil dilution. I also thought it was important to do the parts per miles calculations in the spreadsheet. Blackstone only looked at the amounts in the sample and noted miles, but taking a sample at 2500, 5000, 7500 miles alters the analysis and you really need to consider the miles.

And you need to understand that short mileage changes contain a relative higher percentage of wear products. Some of the contaminants are retained on the inner block surfaces during draining, and of course we also retain old oil in the HPOP reservoir and system, along with other passageways. Short mileage samples skew the numbers higher.

 

Here is a link to the explanation of some of the parameters on a used oil analysis report by Polaris labs. The only thing lacking on the Blackstone report is the Oxidation and Nitration values. Oxidation is a direct reflection of an oils serviceability - if you plan to run extended oil drain intervals it's a valuable piece of information.

Frequently Asked Questions | POLARIS Laboratories®

Here's the backside of a Schaffer's UOA report that explains the values nicely.

 

Nice work Jack, thanks for posting. I've found with my truck the shear starts at 4000 miles with 5-40, the first indication is a drop in idle oil pressure of about 2 psi and by 5000 mi it drops another 2 psi. I confirmed this with visc numbers in samples. T-6 was the worst and barely made it 3500 miles. 15w40 starts to shear at about the same time but the oil pressure is higher to start with so by 5000 it is holding the same pressure as fresh 5w40. If I could find it I would run straight 40wt, not sure how the hpop would like it though in cooler weather.

 

The factory fill was the one constant with the 6.0L with a number of us varying the sampling point so I could plot out the viscosity change, and that's on page 37 of the PDFs.

I've always thought about running a straight weight oil, but my preference would be a synthetic in the 30 or 40 range. If it was stable then I think the 6.0L could run extended oil changes. There were some in the 7.3L side that really pushed out the changes to 50k miles and more as long as the abrasive contaminates were able to be filtered out and the liquid contaminates and oil breakdown kept in check. Amsoil used to have a straight 30 syn that I ran in my 7.3L but I don't remember it still being available. I pulled it early as my 7.3L did not care for it.

Yep, Blackstone didn't report everything I would have liked and with the extended oil changes they just kept saying good to go with higher and higher metals loadings.

 

Thanks for all the reviews and info guys. I really appreciate it. It makes me feel good to know my engine appears healthy and my annual oil change plan seems like it will be ok as I do not put many miles on the truck.

As for the silicone, this is the first oil change since my oil cooler replacement. Maybe the silicone is from the rtv that gets applied to the back of the hpop cover when I opened it up to confirm the stc fitting was upgraded. Also maybe some is from the old dorman gasket material that was in the hpop reservoir?

I guess we will find out more next year. Unless I do oil changes at 3,000 miles. Thoughts?

 

I believe it's the RTV, as I've seen that result before. But double checking the intake side that all the clamps and mating surfaces would be worth the trouble just to be safe. I wouldn't be inclined to do a 3k oil change.

With the small yearly mileage, is some of that short distance runs?

 

There are some local errands done.

I try to use it when I am working weekends as there is a lot less traffic. That trip is 40 miles each way.

Otherwise it is towing my rv for family trips and those could be anywhere between 80 to hundreds of miles.

 

OK, that explains your higher iron level then BS universal standards.

The problem with BS's numbers is it's loaded with a large database of Enthusiasts who like me most of the time run light, not as these trucks we designed for.

I started to add a row in my database for the type of use these trucks were seeing as that alters the wear products, specifically iron. Only some respondents gave me the way the vehicles were used, and I didn't press hard as I was just happy that people were willing to share the reports with me.

But if you look at respondents B19, B25, and B39 in the PDFs you will see their truck use involved more towing, and if you look at their iron levels they are elevated higher. So while your value of 24 may be a little higher then universal averages, considering your use which also includes short runs, the iron in my opinion is very good.

This is why a database where you can view other people's experiences can be useful.

 

X2......

I've seen the silicon numbers elevate on my own vehicles after engine work and the UOA reports on vehicles I tracked when I worked for Schaeffer's Oil.

Keep in mind. The BS universal averages are only on vehicles they provide oil analysis services for. It's not from Navistar or Ford or on all 6.0L's. So it could be 5 or 5,000 vehicles.

 

Thanks for the info. The results are really becoming clear.