Amsoil 0-30 Dodge Dakota 4.7 6122miles

[jeremiah2360]

Had dealer clean throttle body. Paid extra to have it removed and bench cleaned. Thought I`d send in a sample to make sure. Plus I wanted to see how the 0-30 was holding up this winter with 180 t-stat and extended warm ups etc...Oil is still in vehicle.

First column ATM 10-30 9987miles(17874 total), Second S2k 0-30 6122miles(23996 total).

Iron 19--16
Chromium 3--3
Lead 1--0
Copper 14--8
Tin 0--0
Alum 5--5
Nickel 0--0
Silver 0--0
Silicon 7--5
Boron 24--31
Sodium 9--4
Mag 718--830
Calcium 1978--2053
Barium 0--0
Phos 957--1088
Zinc 1270--1373
Molybdenum 6---2
Titanium 0--0
Vanadium 0--0
Potassium 0--0
Fuel Vis@100C 13.49--12.32
Water 0--0
Glycol 0--0
TBN 4.19--5.03
Oxid 25--25
Nitr 23--24

Just noticed they had it down as TRO 20-50, hope this didn`t affect how they tested it?

What do you think, did the tech remove the throttle body or just spray it in place? The TBN does look kinda weak?

How many more miles should I run this batch?

Please any comments welcome, thanks.

 

[jeremiah2360]

OOPS, forgot to mention one quart make up on sample, sample taken through dip stick. Funny thing, the last two oil changes required a quart make up almost immediately, then stays right on mark.

 

[Al]

Sure looks like you can go to at least 10K miles. I'm sure the Amsoil guys will have something to say. Hard to tell if the cleaning helped-who knows.

 

[jeremiah2360]

The cleaning is ok if they did what they said they were going to do. If they didn`t I was worried that the oil would be contminated by the solvents which I hear can really degrade the TBN. That gave me a great exuse to sample it

 

[jeremiah2360]

As yuse can see I forgeted the spoll chucker to uze.

 

[TooSlick]

If you change the filter and top off the crankcase, that will bump the TBN up to about 6.0. You can use a lower limit of 2.0 with the test method Oil Analyzers employs. So you'll be good for another 4000-5000 miles.

Oxidation/nitration are high from the combination of fuel/water contamination and cold weather. With these "gas guzzling" domestic V-8 engines, it is probably worthwhile to consider a bypass filter kit. The bypass filter will remove insolubles from the oil and will keep the total solids level < 0.2% indefinitely. In addition, it's a quick and dirty way to increase the sump capacity by 1.0-1.5 qts, which significantly reduces the thermal and oxidative stress on the oil. With that setup you could test and change filters every 12k miles. I think it would turn out to be more cost effective,if you amortize the cost of the kit over the 10-12 year life of the vehicle, and factor in the value of your labor to perform oil/filter changes....

If you have a V-8 engine that gets 12-20 mpg and only has a 5-7 quart sump, it's very difficult to run even the best synthetics longer than 10k-12k miles. The limiting factor in these applications is always fuel/moisture/NOx contamination and the thickening that occurs as a result ....

 

[jeremiah2360]

TooSlick,

It looks like 10k oil changes for me here as I am not seriously considering a by-pass set up. It would be nice to get a solid worry free 12-14k so I could just do two changes a year. Maybe the Series 3000 could accommodate that? Otherwise I`ll probably run the ATM 10-30 every 10k, testing once a year for peace of mind.

 

[Spector]

If you run the 0W out to the same mileage as the 10W it appears that the wear rates would be about the same.

 

[TooSlick]

I believe the Series 3000, 5w-30 will give you the longest drain intervals in this application. You should be able to safely extend drains out to 15,000 miles or one year, with a filter change halfway through. I'd make sure you burn 87 or 89 octane fuel in cold weather, as it will burn hotter and combust more completely than premium, thus reducing oil contamination ....

This appears to be an excellent engine and is shows a nice consistent, low wear pattern ....

Tooslick
Dixie Synthetics

 

[Patman]

quote:

---

I'd make sure you burn 87 or 89 octane fuel in cold weather, as it will burn hotter and combust more completely than premium, thus reducing oil contamination ....

---

This is a good piece of advice. My LT1 needs at least 91 octane in the summer to avoid knock retard, since it's got 10.5 to 1 compression and a rather agressive spark advance curve. I actually need to run 94 octane in the hottest months of summer.

However, once the weather gets colder out, I begin to put in 89 octane, and in the extreme cold I step down to 87 octane. Since we've been getting our share of sub 0F weather lately, I know for sure I don't need the extra octane for two reasons. One, the engine's appetite for octane is lower when the outside temps are colder, as there is less chance of knock retard (I have verified this with a scan tool in my car) Also, with colder weather and sloppy roads, the amount of times I'm able to go full throttle is much lower, and knock retard shows up only in the higher gears (when the engine is under more load) and only under full throttle. I'd be a fool to be going WOT at 80mph+ when the roads are messy.

 

[Motorbike]

These 4.7's have excellent rod angularity but they have the ring package setting up high much like the LS1 does and have probably the worlds only current anodized piston ring lands for durability .

The reason I post is it will prove interesting to see if these ring packs are able to control oil consumption over the course of time and higher mileage .

Did this engine consume any oil during this interval ?

 

[jeremiah2360]

Thanks for the comments guys, love this site!

Motorbike, see my addendum to my post regarding oil consumption. I am familiar with the piston ring issue. Too bad they made a bullet proof motor with a possible weak spot like this. Oh well, maybe it will hold up. I`ll keep an eye on it for sure, so far so good.

TooSlick, starting May 1st I`ll throw the series 3000 in and run it for six months(roughly 13k). If it holds up then and the following six months(again 13k,this time winter)I`ll be very happy. A Bi-annual OCI is my goal.(as well as sticking to one oil finally

)

 

[SSlube]

jeremiah2360,

I'm assuming you were using the SDF-42 oil filter for this UOA.

If you aren't already using them, consider upgrading to the SDF-15 or even the SDF-26 (provided their are no clearence issues) I have a 2000 4.7 Dakota and I use the longer SDF-15 filter. On my next oil change, I'm going to try the SDF-26s. You'll add some more oil to the crankcase and increase your filter area with the bigger filters.

Here is a link that has lots of tips for 4.7 Dakota maintenance: www.geocities.com/dak2nv


Bill,

 

[jeremiah2360]

Bill,(or anyone else) are the by-pass valves in the bigger filters set at the same pressure?(i think thats the right question) Yes I do use the SDF-42. I am also familiar with that link you provided, excellent site. I appreciate the thought too, thank you

ps: I`m also using the S&B air filter.

 

[TooSlick]

Bill,

I wouldn't go too crazy with the total "wet" filter mass, unless you do a random load and vibration, secondary component analysis of the filter mount and cantilevered filter - and understand the safety factors it was designed to. It is entirely possible to cause a low cycle, fatigue failure of the filter mount from hanging too much mass off it.

The SDF-15 will probably be okay, but I'd avoid the huge SDF-26....A filled SDF-26 probably has four times the mass of a filled SDF-42. In the immortal words of JL Lewis, "there's a whole lotta shakin' goin'on"

To understand random loads and vibration, take a full qt of milk by the handle and shake it back and forth with your arm partially extended. Now repeat this with a full gallon of milk.

 

[JohnBrowning]

The 4.7 V8 is the best engine DC has built to date! I can not say enough about this engine. This engine was a decideing factor in my purchase of my 2001 Dak.

This engine generates Toyota like wear numbers with M1 10W30! This engine is a not hard to get trophy UOA numbers with. Lube control and any good synthetic 5W30 through 15W50 will give great results. All of the wear numbers are low for it. If you look at the UOA of this engine the iron stands out. The iron stands out not because it is unusaly high but because all the other numbers are so low. THis has to be the most refined domesticly produced V8. TO date I do not know of anyone with consumption issues or piston slap.

I think that this engine design and the 3.7 based on it are both going to show excellent UOA as we see more and more of them!

 

[Robbie Alexander]

If it were me, I'd just drain, then refill with same.
Next fill since you know its good here, pull a sample at 4k or 5k. Maybe do what TooSlick said about the filter issue and change there (that's what I usually like to do, every 5-8K).
Then compare the next OCI with this one, as long as they are on par, shoot out to 8K or so , sample then drain and repeat going out to 10-15K depending on UOA's and filter changes.

 

[SSlube]

I will definately keep your thoughts about the SDF-26 in mind Tooslick. I know some one who has been using the SDF-26 on his 4.7 Dakota and he hasn't had any problems yet.

TooSlick,

If I remotely mounted the SDF-26 so it was a vertical mount, I shouldn't incur any "stress" problems.

My next product to install in my Dakota is the BMK-11 bypass system. I plan on putting the return line on the oil filler cap with a hose (on the bottom of the swivel mount) to extend the drain feed past the pcv valve.

 

[wulimaster]

Did you notice any difference in fuel economy with the change to S2000?

 

[jeremiah2360]

Wuli, with this cold I`ve been warming up the truck longer, not to mention reformulated gas. Plus the truck runs richer in the cold too so my mileage has actually dropped 1-2 mpgs. Really can`t answer your question because this is my first run of 0-30 and I got the truck new halfway through last winter. Nothing to base an answer on, sorry.