Royal Purple 5w30---7,600 miles---06 Nissan Titan

[ltslimjim]

Well, I got my buddy interested in getting a UOA. Please note that this OCI included running a full quart low for half of the interval due, in part, to an oil filter change with no top off.

Image link:

http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/2149/38383263.png

Code:
OIL Royal Purple 5w30

MILES IN USE 7,600

MILES ON UNIT 109,136

SAMPLE TAKEN 05/08/2011



ALUMINUM 7

CHROMIUM 2

IRON 17

COPPER 21

LEAD 14

TIN 8

MOLYBDENUM 133

NICKEL 0

MANGANESE 1

SILVER 0

TITANIUM 0

POTASSIUM 4

BORON 10

SILICON 9

SODIUM 15

CALCIUM 1932

MAGNESIUM 1149

PHOSPHORUS 753

ZINC 831

BARIUM 0



SUS VIS 210ºF 56.0

cSt @ 100ºC 9.07

FLASHPOINT ºF 385

FUEL%
ANTIFREEZE% 0

WATER% 0

INSOLUBLES% 0.4

TBN 2.1


Previous runs were with Valvoline SynPower for most of the vehicle's life until 1-2 years ago, this probably being the 2nd run or 3rd run with Royal Purple for this report. He used to run only 3,750 miles on Valvoline SynPower and was wanting to run 7,500 on Royal Purple. I believe being low an entire quart for a few thousand miles in his app, which includes hauling heavy loads, could contribute to the apparent elevated wear. Thoughts?

Custom exhaust, CAI, programmer, E-85 used habitually so noted.

 

[Artem]

Idk about the quart low causing THAT much wear.


It must have just been the RP "mirco polishing" everything a little TOO much. haha.

 

[addyguy]

Not great results for a 'premium' synthetic run for less that 10k.

Sure, running a quart low would have stressed the oil somewhat, but as long as the oil level was near the 'add' line, it is still withing acceptable limits.

I'm wondering if the regular use of E-85 is to blame? One thing that is said is that with regular use of E-85, OCI's should be shortened - maybe he shouldn't be going past 5k?

 

[OVERKILL]

TBN is pretty low for that kind of mileage...... 2.1?? No TAN data?

Is he going to do another UOA on the next fill so that he can start trending?

 

[ltslimjim]

@Artem, not sure yet.

@addguy, I believe he isn't using as much E-85 lately. He used to drive the vehicle harder and got the best performance using E-85 in combination with the programmer. I wonder if a quart low and driving hard was enough of a combination to increase wear rate? Also, he typically uses the Royal Purple filters as well, this filter was an STP for the last half of the OCI, after removing a Mighty Auto Parts filter that he wasn't sure of it's quality(got it from a friend that sells Mighty Auto Parts).

@OVERK1LL, I do hope he gets another UOA for trending comparison and this interval will be at proper oil level with a RP filter. AFAIK he has used the typical API-SL spec'd street(non-racing) RP oils. Also, IIRC there may have been a time when this vehicle was ran a quart low on oil mistakenly as well, back when SynPower was used, but it doesn't necessarily explain higher wear in this run on RP. This engine has a 6.5 quart fill and that'd be about 16% low on oil missing a quart. Okay for average driver, but someone that punches to WOT a lot with moderate mods?

 

[pzev]

Quart low isn't that big a deal....as long as its still near the add-line on the dipstick, he should be fine. The biggest worry about running low on oil is starvation when going around sustained G corners, but he's in a truck, so no worries there.

 

[FZ1]

I keep my oil topped up to the full line,even if I'm only adding 2 ounces. I want my oil fresh and full.

 

[PandaBear]

That's some moderate copper and lead.

 

[Brons2]

The VK56DE likes a thicker oil. Try M1 0w40 instead. It has some good UOA's on here in the Titan, but you have to go way, way back to find them.

 

[ltslimjim]

^Well, the user wants to stick with Royal Purple. He'll probably follow B_S's advice and get another UOA w/o TBN after 5k miles. If he goes away from 5w-30, would another RP work? ...and if the story is true about the new line of oils coming out from RP, I wonder if this will make a diff? He probably will stay with RP, at least for the time being. Would an oil filter, like the STP, allow for higher ppm in a UOA compared to a RP filter? Or is the micron too small and the UOA is looking for only a particular size?

Lastly, if going to a thicker weight reduces fuel economy, I doubt he'll move that way unless wear was severe. High numbers don't necessarily mean something terrible, at least I don't believe so. Still a newbie at understanding what all the UOA means myself.

 

[coachditka]

PP and PU have produced the bet UOA's for Nissan Titan's. I am running PU 5w30 with a M1 or RP filter at 10k changes in my Titan. This one is not horrible, but there are much better ones on this engine out there.

 

[merdog]

E-85 has a tendency to break down oil a little faster. And since you live in a warmer climate you might want to go to a little thicker oil, 5w40 and try shorter changes to see if this gets the iron wear under control. Also since you are running E-85 you might think of changing your spark plugs to one hotter. Give you a better burn and ignition with the 85. Post the next oc..

 

[Chris142]

This engine holds 7+ qts of oil. It still had at least 6 qts in it @ the Add oil mark.

 

[ltslimjim]

Originally Posted By: Chris142
This engine holds 7+ qts of oil. It still had at least 6 qts in it @ the Add oil mark.


Really? That's cool. So, 1/2-1 quart of oil is left over at oil changes?

Originally Posted By: merdog
E-85 has a tendency to break down oil a little faster. And since you live in a warmer climate you might want to go to a little thicker oil, 5w40 and try shorter changes to see if this gets the iron wear under control. Also since you are running E-85 you might think of changing your spark plugs to one hotter. Give you a better burn and ignition with the 85. Post the next oc..


Great idea suggesting the use of better plugs due to higher temp using E-85. The truck just got new plugs as of yesterday, my friend called me u, but they were the basic NGK. Not the iridium, but possibly platinum entry plugs? I'll check back. He's been reading the report I posted here to see you all's feedback.

Originally Posted By: coachditka
PP and PU have produced the bet UOA's for Nissan Titan's. I am running PU 5w30 with a M1 or RP filter at 10k changes in my Titan. This one is not horrible, but there are much better ones on this engine out there.


If RP fails to come through in subsequent UOAs, this may be another option.

 

[steve20]

I'm going aginast popular opinion and saying IMO running the quart low under severe service contributed to at least half of the excess wear metals in the UOA

 

[ltslimjim]

Originally Posted By: steve20
I'm going aginast popular opinion and saying IMO running the quart low under severe service contributed to at least half of the excess wear metals in the UOA


^Well, we'll definitely see within the next 4-5 months if it starts trending, post 5k mile UOA to come. Also, I don't believe he'll be using e-85 as much.

 

[Jim Allen]

Yeah, a fairly marginal showing for RP but likely endemic to the combination of circumstances more than any lack of quality in the oil. Could be an OCI around 8K is the upper limit for this vehicle in it's particular circumstances... no matter the oil. If it beats up a full synthetic this badly, think what it would have done to an ordinary mineral oil.

I see Blackstone did the UOA. One think that's been npoticed about them in particular is that their TBN numbers always seem to read a little lower than other labs, or the factory spec. Since noting that, I am not so shocked to see a TBN number a point or so lower. That's why they list TBN 1 as the point to dump the oil.

IMO, the wear number are not outta line considering the power-adders and the likely spirited driving that ensues. When looked at in context, this is not a bad UOA at all and the owner safely got double the OCI he was looking for.

 

[dparm]

Being that low on oil technically would increase the wear particles in the UOA, but not necessarily increase wear in the motor. Being a quart low means you now have X% less oil to "dilute" the wear particles with.

 

[ltslimjim]

^Ah, that would be very interesting in of itself to be all it is. That's probably a best case-scenario. Trying to wrap my brain around it.