Cummins ISX Viscosity issue

Discussion in 'Ask An Owner Operator' started by superhill56, Jul 19, 2019.

  1. superhill56

    superhill56 Light Load Member

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    i have an 06 ISX and I have a continuous issue with oil pressure. The main issue being my oil viscosity over time won’t hold the pressure. I have to change oil filters between changes. My oil temp gets up to between 220-230 when running with a 30,000 lb load. Any idea what causes my oil to break down so quickly?

    Thanks guys!
     
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  3. bavarian

    bavarian Heavy Load Member

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    Cheap oil? Did you try to switch brands or synthetic oil?
    Since it's a 2006, how many hours are on the engine? Might be due for a rebuild.
     
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  4. Long FLD

    Long FLD Road Train Member

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    Have you tried running a gallon of Lucas to thicken it up a little?
     
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  5. Espressolane

    Espressolane Road Train Member

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    Run an oil analysis. See what’s in it.
     
  6. Tug Toy

    Tug Toy Road Train Member

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    ISX doesn’t run much oil pressure to begin with. 38 lbs is max when warm. Warm idle is spec to be 18 lbs I think?

    What pressures are you running?

    The oil cooler thermostat doesn’t even begin to open till 233 degrees.

    Temps seem normal to what I seen on the ISX’s I’ve run.
     
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  7. superhill56

    superhill56 Light Load Member

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    I run Delvac 15w-40. Have 876,500 miles on it. Running warm right now at 220 oil temp I’m getting about 30lbs of oil pressure, it will drop to about 27/28 when I get halfway through an oil change, I will change the filter and that filter will get me to the oil change. I run 2 gallons of Lucas in it. And I have gotten an oil analysis twice and both times there is nothing in the oil just low viscosity. It’s a head scratcher for me.
     
  8. uncleal13

    uncleal13 Road Train Member

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    How many miles do you go between oil changes?
     
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  9. superhill56

    superhill56 Light Load Member

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    I can only get 10k. The last one I got 12k before my nerves got bad looking at my gauge.
     
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  10. tnevin225

    tnevin225 Road Train Member

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    Oil viscosity doesn't break down, oil gets dirty. Like Expressolane said do an oil sample and you will know what it truly going on. Send it to a good lab like Blackstone or Polaris and show us what it says and we can be a lot more help from there.
     
  11. tnevin225

    tnevin225 Road Train Member

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    Sorry I missed your other reply about oil change and sampling. The problem with lucas is it doesn't have any base in it, so you are diluting the good oil your putting in so it not as effective. What is the viscosity and what are your Base numbers?
     
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  12. uncleal13

    uncleal13 Road Train Member

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    Wasn’t there an issue with oil filters plugging prematurely? Or was that on newer engines?
     
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