Engine overhauled- Oil change question!

a few years back I started working as an IC for a small carrier and "broke in" the exact same motor on a fresh rebuild when starting there. I was told to change the oil after the first 6000 or 8000. Can't remember which. But it wasn't synthetic. I'm not sure I'd go 18000 even with synthetic the first time but then I probably wouldn't have gone synthetic in the first place. In any case, do as the shop that did the rebuild tells you to for warranty reasons if nothing else.

 

Yeah, I am generally fond of synthetics, but on a fresh engine or rebuild, I would have just loaded it with a conventional oil and changed it early, like under 10,000 miles. There are wear metals and other stuff from the overhaul or rebuild that need to be gotten out of there. As for the other recommendation, start running your oil changes out until the oil samples say change it, unless you really understand how the data on a oil sample plays out in the real world, I would not follow that advise. Oil sample reading is as much an art as it is a science. You have to know how the different numbers can mean different things when viewed in combination. Oil sample results are good indicators of various things, but they are NOT the sole reasoning to developing an oil change regimen. They are just a tool to help one get a better picture.

i have run a LOT of oil samples on detroit 60's. I generally find mine have done well at the 20,000 - 25,000 mile max on a synthetic blend. I have not seen that paying a premium for a full synthetic on these engines is worth the cost. The Detroit manual on the 60 engine states 25,000 miles for the '04, so I would start using that as a starting point for further oil changes. My current one is a 2000, and the manual states 15,000 miles for that one, but I have had great results changing it between 20K and 25K. More than that, and the oll samples start showing number combinations that I am not comfortable with. I can get a very high quality synthetic blend for a cheaper price per gallon than the regular conventional stuff on the shelf at the truck stop. But I would have no problem running a regular Delvac, Delo, or Rotella in the Detroit either. Synthetics are great stuff, but mostly in the transmission and differentials. Not every engine does all that much better on a synthetic than a blend or conventional. There is a lot of marketing hype and radio talk show stuff that gets thrown around.

It may make you feel better inside, but there is really no need to do oil changes any sooner than the OEM recommends, unless you are getting some really low mpg or other situation that is terribly hard on the oil. You would see that in your oil samples. You could easily double what you have been doing and sleep well at night. Personally, I would forget the Lucas. I have seen test results on samples of Lucas that have been run by oil sample labs. It is nothing but around a 150w base oil. No additives, no nothing. It is just an oil thickener like the old STP oil treatment crap of days gone by. I could never get my head around the entire idea of what is unstable about modern engine oils that they need to be stabilized by Forrest Lucas. But to each his own. If you want to spend money on that stuff, go for it. My opinion means doodley, but Lucas might have been a good thing "back in the day", but modern oils are more than up to the task.

 

By 18000 miles that oil will so full of wear metals from the break in period I'd be worried about causing unneeded wear .. Most guys I know do first oil change 5to8000 and sample it for fuel and antifreeze.. If you run 18000 miles and injectors are leaking you would've caused a lot of extra wear and engine would still most likely make it to end of warranty but not the full 800k to a millon k it would've had problems been caught early

 

Yeah, this is one of many reasons I have always changed oil early on a new engine or rebuild. Wear metals and catching something that is wrong right out of the gate.

As an example, my 2013 pickup. Just like all of my stuff, I changed all fluids early. When I did the differentials on my pickup, the factory had filled the rear diff two pints too low. The transfer case fluid looked like something out of my septic tank, and there was enough wear metals on it to make me think someone had stuck my cat's tail in a light socket. So even a factory fresh vehicle should be scrutinized. For a overhaul or rebuild, this is just as critical, if not more so, to get the oil changed out early. Something like what Magoo suggested... 5000-8000 miles and run a sample.

 

I'd also recommend a bypass oil filter. I'm running the FS2500.

 

I am too! Great product.

 

As mentioned by a few others, you wouldn't believe the amount of pigtailed metals on the drain plug on that motor at the time. No way I'd go 18,000 miles regardless of oil on a fresh rebuild.

 

Got my first sample back from the lab they use. Don't know how to read it but it came with a green check mark.
http://www.thetruckersreport.com/tr.../257731-greenhorn-landstar-chronicles-15.html

 

I would go with another lab or different analysis program with the one you are using. A good sample should also test for TBN level. That is almost critical for a good oil analysis result. TBN is what controls acids that build up in an engine from combustion. A typical CJ-4 oil starts out at around 10 TBN, some a shade more. How fast that TBN is depleted can give you a broader picture of the oil condition. The lab shows the oil is ok, and based on what they show on the report, they are correct. For me, they didn't show enough by not showing the TBN. And watch the viscosity. A 15w40 starts out at 14.5. A 10w30 starts out at 12.5. Your report shows 13.6. The viscosity improvers seem to be taking a beating in the engine. Your engine might not have a preference for Delvac, though it is a great oil. Engines are like women, and each one has its own particular quirks. Watch the viscosity next go around and see how it looks. Once viscosity on a report gets to 12.8, you are dropping out of viscosity and you have reached the limits of the oil.