oil sample?

It's not new oil, the soot percentage and wear metal numbers indicate that it's got some mileage on it. Do they know what oil this is in the sump? I know the Delvac doesn't come with that much moly in it, (anti-wear additive). The TBN is really good if this oil has the mileage on it I think it might, I would guess, based on the wear numbers, (the iron number), that this oil has around 25k to 30k on it....but that is a really good looking UOA. (imho) I would really like to know how many miles this sample oil had on it at the time of testing....

I think it's going to look great on the dyno, post the info on that when you get it.

 

Sounds like you're considering buying this truck. If it was me I'd find out what oil this was and the mileage on it, and send a sample out to Blackstone....just to double check the numbers from your first sample with a different lab. (a small price to pay if you're buying the truck) When I would use Speedco the soot% would always be high, even though I was running a double capacity by-pass setup. When I started sending my samples to Blackstone the soot numbers came down to where they should be and the only thing I can figure is that the machine that Speedco uses isn't really adequate/accurate for testing for soot....

There should be maintenance records indicating when the oil was last changed, and what oil was used and is in the sump now....

 

I was reading the Donaldson site and found out some useful info. According to Donaldson most dirt is introduced into an engine through improper servicing techniques. They are really big on clean hands, not touching the clean side of the new filter, being careful not to dislodge any dirt while servicing, and servicing in a clean, wind free environment. Also, there is a device on the filter called a vacuator valve, it's a little rubber boot that limits air flow into the filter in one direction only and allows dirt and crud to be released from the bottom of the filter. If it's missing or damaged the air filter won't breathe right, (there will be excessive turbulence), and the filter will plug prematurely from sucking dirt into it through the hole in the housing, (mine are externally cowl mounted with the valve on the bottom of the housing.) It's a small part and doesn't cost much, but Donaldson is pretty clear that it needs to be undamaged and on the filter, in order for the filter to work properly.

http://www.donaldson.com/en/engine/support/datalibrary/061238.pdf

 

Since when does one sample tell you anything.... The purpose of sampling is to spot trends in the various wear elements.
Call Butler CAT and talk with Kyle ( their Technical Advisor) He'll give you good answers and direction you should take.

 

Call Cat and ask them about a Cummins?

Great advice, anyway....

Universal averages. I based what I saw on universal averages. He doesn't have a series of UOA's, he's looking at a used truck at a dealership, he sampled the oil, and he's asking for an opinion. That UOA is a good UOA, the iron is in line with the aluminum, the wear numbers as they relate to each other in this sample suggest to me that the oil has 20k to 30k, (I'm thinking closer to 20 than 30, as the soot at 30k should be up around 2.5-3.5% or so..and that really depends on limited idle time, as idling will soot up the oil. I made an educated guess, but it would be nice to know what the mileage interval was at the time of sampling) something miles on it, the silicon is low, the soot% is low, there is no fuel in it, no coolant, or water, the base number is showing plenty of additive left....I would expect this engine to perform well on the dyno, as I'm not seeing anything really elevated, or suggesting combustion problems....

It's got 550k on the odo and it has an apu, so probably not idled much...

What do you want him to do, tell the dealer to drive it around for 50k and submit a series of UOA's?

It looks like he's doing a pre-purchase UOA and a dyno test. (and with that being said I would have concerns if they couldn't provide a detailed maintenance history)

I'd like to see the dyno results, please post them when you get em.

 

trees, about the oil sample i dont really know on how many miles is and brand, i understand that oil labs are better but i cannot wait another week for results. I bought a vacuum pump and bottles to do it myself. for cummins dyno in Cummins - Atlanta you have to wait for 3 weeks on a waiting list, so i took it to another dealership in Atlanta area. What happen is they did test it on a dyno and i was there watching n talking to the guy. He said 375 hp on the wheels, all data from the dyno is fairly good. He could not print any report. Ive got the ECM report and went over it, all info there suggest that truck is in good shape. Overall they found few problems - hole into the flex pipe after the turbo, leaking air bags and loosed strap on one of the tanks. I will get them fixed and eventualy buy the truck.

 

I did another oil sample on my current company truck just to see the deferences:

The picture is from
Prostar 09 Cummins ISX 450 10spd manual, no APU.
865 000 miles, 24200 hours total, 6824 hours Idle, 4092 gal Idle fuel.

oil: Shell Rottela T 15W40 on 10 000 miles after oil change.
the same speedco i did the other oil sample.


Ps: just for the record the truck i am trying to buy is
Prostar 09 Cummins ISX435 Ultrashift with APU
544 000 miles, 12 357 hours total, 1606 hours Idle, 1107 gal Idle fuel!

 

Your company truck UOA looks good too, except for the soot%. Idling soots up the oil and shortens it's service life.

Based on these two UOA's I'd say that both motors are comparable in terms of wear rates, now keep in mind, this is a really small snapshot that we're looking at, a single UOA from each, but the wear rates look to be very similar, that is, if I'm right about the mileage figure on the other truck concerning the mileage on that oil. (I guessed that oil is mid 20's, possibly high 20' mileage on it), Comparing the two suggests to me that, that's the approx mileage on the oil. You can see the effect idling has on the soot%, the one with the apu looks to be idled a lot less on it's current change interval than your company truck which I'm guessing gets idled pretty regular.

Anyway...

They need to provide some maintenance information if you're going to buy it. Insist on getting the records, otherwise you're buying with a lot of unknowns...but I don't see anything in the UOA that's alarming. Take it for a good long test drive, with a trailer, and carefully watch all the gauges. If it pulls strong, sounds great, doesn't overheat, doesn't have any major oil leaks, doesn't have a bunch of blue or white smoke pouring out of it....then it's probably good to go. But get those maintenance records and go over them carefully, and good luck.