My '08 F-450

[SeaPig]

Good Morning all,
I would like to hear opinions on this latest Oil Report. (Please, for gosh sakes do not chime with the Spartan option). Matt and the guys have done tremendous work, but I cannot Spartan’ize until the warrenty is over ).
Do you think there are options to keep the upper from wearing so much? I went from Rotella to Valvoline for this last change.
I will shoot to BITOG also.
Thank you for any advice in this matter.
Also, please no pi$$ing contests on oil
~Mike~

[dieselkane]

I hate to say it, but maybe something is wearing out prematurely?

[SANDSAILOR]

Try adding z-max on your next oil change, I know it sounds gimiky but the stuff really works. I use it every oil change and have been for years and all of my engines have made it over 200k with no problems and I'm at 106K on my 6.4 now. Its the same stuff they used to use in the older prop plane engines for extra lubrication. Also try useing the rotella sythetic 5w40 next time and maybe getting a amsoil or a fs2500 bypass filter. Not to brand bash but from what I hear the amsoil single filter kit works better and the replacment filters are cheaper. You may want to have the dealer look for wear on your pushrods or rocker arms too.

[SeaPig]

Thank you for the advice. It is appreciated. I will try out the additive and maybe go back down to the 5000 mile change again. It is rather disturbing to have excessive wear on a Diesel with so few miles on it.
~Mike~

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Last edited by SeaPig : 10-27-2009 at 03:51 AM.

[SeaPig]

Originally Posted by dieselkane

I hate to say it, but maybe something is wearing out prematurely?

Boy what a drag that is. On a vehicle that I pay $94.00 a month less on than my Mortgage payment.
~Mike~

[geabis]

the Fe isn't out of line from other reports that i have seen on the 6.4. and ive seen OA on 6.4 with over 200k and have near 100 ppm Fe on every single OA. the Al is a little odd. but the fuel is taking its toll and i would change out at 5K. the vis is thinning too but in most cases this is due to shear and not dilution and its not as big of a problem as it looks as these motors are designed to run with 30 weight under the right conditions and i have seen OA with the 30 weights and they don't seem to shear, thin and breakdown as much as the 40 weight.

[SeaPig]

Originally Posted by geabis

the Fe isn't out of line from other reports that i have seen on the 6.4. and ive seen OA on 6.4 with over 200k and have near 100 ppm Fe on every single OA. the Al is a little odd. but the fuel is taking its toll and i would change out at 5K. the vis is thinning too but in most cases this is due to shear and not dilution and its not as big of a problem as it looks as these motors are designed to run with 30 weight under the right conditions and i have seen OA with the 30 weights and they don't seem to shear, thin and breakdown as much as the 40 weight.

Hey geabis!!!!
Thank you very much for posting this. It does a heart good because I honestly have been quite worried about this motor. My next change will be at 3000 just to try and see if there is a significant difference. I will go back to my 5000 mile changes after that. Good advice. Do you by chance suggest any kind of additive that would be good for this motor?
~Mike~

[geabis]

Originally Posted by SeaPig

Hey geabis!!!!
Thank you very much for posting this. It does a heart good because I honestly have been quite worried about this motor. My next change will be at 3000 just to try and see if there is a significant difference. I will go back to my 5000 mile changes after that. Good advice. Do you by chance suggest any kind of additive that would be good for this motor?
~Mike~

I've been toying with the idea that the iron is from upper cylinder wear caused by the ULSD and the elimination of the regen on the modified motors. I've heard a lot of over the road truckers complaining about the same problems with their analysis (all have had to run ULSD and do not regen on the older motors). maybe try a upper cylinder fuel additive (used for cold flow and lube for your injectors. but the residue from combustion would do the compression rings good. lots of companies make it motorcraft, amsoil, etc) for 5k and see if the numbers come down.


and since i see you have no powerup tuning i theorize that the Al may be some piston ring grove wear. possibly induced by the washing down of the combustion chamber while in regen. THIS IS JUST A THEORY AND NEEDS TO BE PROVED OR DIS PROVED, NOT A FACT. but the amount of Al in your OA isn't to worry about it is a little high but not alarming. and any one that wants to add to the theory please post your thoughts. i would love to work out where the elements are coming from and more importantly why there is high FE and Al in these OA's

[geabis]

Mike,

am i correct in assuming that your OA represents the 1 factory oil analysis and then 3 on rotella? or is there a valvoline in there? if its in there the additive packages are very close and i cant tell the difference.

[SeaPig]

I have only done Blackstone OA's and they have all been on Rotella at the 5000 mile mark except for this last one. I have not had a factory OA done on the rig yet.
Frankly, I put Valvoline in the truck this last time for no other reason than I found it at NAPA for $9.95 a gallon.
Something that you mentioned though has me thinking. Two months ago I did a trip to Colorado and back, (about 3000 miles total, almost all highway at 65-75 MPH, no towing).
Anyway, about 1000 into the trip the truck started going into regen about every 100-150 miles. It has never done that in the past. It always went 500-600 between regens, even with mixed driving.
I think what I am trying to get at with all of this excessive writing is that what you are saying is right on the money. Cylinder wash IS probably the culprit here. How sad is that? Darn truck.
I will take your advice and go for the "Fuel" lube on each fill up. It will be a good "Back Yard Mechanic” test for us to see if I can in fact I get an improvement on the next OA.
This thread has been very interesting to me and as always around here, I am learning a ton of stuff.
Thanks again
~Mike~