2007 Duramax 8.8k 5w-40 shell Rotella

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Here is the oil sample on my 2007 bone stock Duramax LBZ. It goes to show that a good synthetic 5w-40 can perform as good as a 15w-40 in extreme heat "115 degeees" pulling a 15,000lb trailer. I am using Shell T6 5w-40 synthetic. I plan to take to OCI out to the fuel filter change interval.

Shell Rotella T 5W/40 (Syn) 8,827 miles on oil

Code:
ALUMINUM 1

CHROMIUM 0

IRON 9

COPPER 2

LEAD 1

TIN 0

MOLYBDENUM 68

NICKEL 0

SILVER 0

TITANIUM 0

POTASSIUM 0

BORON 41

SILICON 9

SODIUM 9

CALCIUM 853

MAGNESIUM 1259

PHOSPHORUS 1124

ZINC 1282

BARIUM 0

SUS Viscosity @ 210F 75.1

cSt Viscosity @ 100C 14.28

Flash point in F 425

Fuel %
Antifreeze % 0.0

Water % 0.0

Insolubles % 0.1

TBN 9.0


{Mod note; 104,463 total miles on vehicle}
 
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Very low wear metals and exceptionally high TBN after almost 9k miles. If all numbers are correct, you can run Shell Rotella T6 5W40 to 20k miles in this truck easily.
 
That's an exceptional report. I agree, it's ready for more miles! What is the percentage of highway miles (towing or not) versus stop and go city or short hops? I think long hours in a hot towing environment is better for oil than short hops.
 
Great UOA. I find it weird how the Duramax has the smallest oil sump of the big three, and seems to be the easiest on the oil.

Kevin
 
I sell farm machinery so alot of the miles are on dirt roads. I would estimate 60% is hiway miles 20% in stop and go Phoenix traffic and 20% on dusty farm roads. Thanks for your imput on the report I had Blackstone labs do the analysis.
 
Thanks Bill in Utah
This was my 2nd post I appreciate the help in cleaning it up a little
 
Glad to see the 5w-40 Shell holds up so well in the Duramax, I tried it for three consectitive runs in my 6.0 Powerstroke with sub-par results.
 
Dmax's are easy on Any oil. This is a very typical UOA for these engine. Very well built mills!!

Powerstroke HEUI injection is very hard on oil. The cummins and Dmax use a complete different setup which make them easy on oil. 5K OCI with MC filters only on the 6.0
 
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I don't have any problems going 7,500 mi. OCI with premium oil (Deere Plus 50 10w-30), I was not able to with the Rotella.

The ironic part of the story is that the Rotella (5w-40) cost is double that of the Plus 50.

Great report to the OP.
 
great report.

Can go WAY past that mileage; I'd think 25k miles would be in line given the low wear and excellent TBN, presuming your circumstances of operation on consistently producing numbers like this.
 
Im not saying EOCI can't be done it's just not ideal for the already POS injectors on the 6leaker 7500 isn't to bad for a quality Product but i surely wouldn't push past that with any quality syn in a 6.0.

I have customers that think because they bring me amsoil that they can go 10+K miles. Every one of these customers have had numerous injector failures. It's not always the quality of the product with these trucks but maintance habits more then anything.

I doing a rebuild currently for a customer that the oil temps got so hot the Stand pipe melted. Needs a complete rebuild from top to bottom with a new turbo. The oil cooler became compeltely plugged...I mean SOLID. Guys not even finished paying it off and is putting 12k into the truck. 2006 with 108k on it. This has nothing to do with the filter or oil just the 6.0 issues in general. Get an oil temp and coolant temp guage and monitor the 2 closely
 
Im shooting for 25,000 miles with same truck same oil with an amsoil oil filter! My prior 9,000 mile run of rotella dino 15w40 was nothing short of spectacular!
 
Originally Posted By: Smokefan1977
Im not saying EOCI can't be done it's just not ideal for the already POS injectors on the 6leaker 7500 isn't to bad for a quality Product but i surely wouldn't push past that with any quality syn in a 6.0.

I have customers that think because they bring me amsoil that they can go 10+K miles. Every one of these customers have had numerous injector failures. It's not always the quality of the product with these trucks but maintance habits more then anything.

I doing a rebuild currently for a customer that the oil temps got so hot the Stand pipe melted. Needs a complete rebuild from top to bottom with a new turbo. The oil cooler became compeltely plugged...I mean SOLID. Guys not even finished paying it off and is putting 12k into the truck. 2006 with 108k on it. This has nothing to do with the filter or oil just the 6.0 issues in general. Get an oil temp and coolant temp guage and monitor the 2 closely
A Coolant filter would have solved that problem so it never would have happened. But lets not get off topic here. Good uoa.
 
Originally Posted By: motor_oil_madman
Originally Posted By: Smokefan1977
Im not saying EOCI can't be done it's just not ideal for the already POS injectors on the 6leaker 7500 isn't to bad for a quality Product but i surely wouldn't push past that with any quality syn in a 6.0.

I have customers that think because they bring me amsoil that they can go 10+K miles. Every one of these customers have had numerous injector failures. It's not always the quality of the product with these trucks but maintance habits more then anything.

I doing a rebuild currently for a customer that the oil temps got so hot the Stand pipe melted. Needs a complete rebuild from top to bottom with a new turbo. The oil cooler became compeltely plugged...I mean SOLID. Guys not even finished paying it off and is putting 12k into the truck. 2006 with 108k on it. This has nothing to do with the filter or oil just the 6.0 issues in general. Get an oil temp and coolant temp guage and monitor the 2 closely
A Coolant filter would have solved that problem so it never would have happened. But lets not get off topic here. Good uoa.


So very true, madman. My neighbor has gone through two turbo's because the oil got too hot and didn't cool the turbo well enough. The first time, the dealership only replaced the turbo center section under warranty. This time, his warranty was expired; so we went deep for the root cause. Upon teardown, his oil/coolant heat exchanger was nearly completely plugged. After some internet searching and lots of reading and understanding how the oil and coolant systems are routed on a 6.0L PSD, it's abundantly clear. MOST of the 6.0L problems are associated with this one fault; a blocked coolant/oil heat exchanger. EGR overheating, cooked turbo bearings, coolant spilling from the degas bottle; they all stem from this one problem. Upon his top-side rebuild (turbo, EGR cooler, etc) he also added a coolant bypass kit this time. He has only 75k miles (approximate) on his rig. Sad to think that a $100 investment 5 year ago could have saved him all this grief and thousands of dollars of rework.
 
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This vehicle had one of Bob Rileys ( Diesel Site ) coolant filters installed. I assure you they do help but it's not a cureall for the issue. The rebuild will include a Bulletprood Diesel EGR coller and BPD Oil Cooler.

Many of these truck expierence 3+ EGR cooler Failures in 100K miles. I have found most dealers don't replace the oil lines nor even flush them and this comes around to Failure of the new coolers pretty quickly. This was indeed the case with this engine. Unfortunately this engine as we all know is poorly designed and it would cost the dealer and warranty a ton to fix them properly. Customer wasn't to happy to have 2 EGR/oil coolers and 1 set of head gaskets done in 100K to find out at 108K is no longer covered. It was still less expensive to fix it right then take a bath on the 6.0 to get a 6.7.....In his case 6.7 cummins. Ford lost him as a customer.

madman it looks your well on your way to educating yourself on the 6.0 and facing the issues headon. I have seen a few roll over 400,000 miles with few issues. Taken care of and knowing the issues these engines can be just as good as anyother
 
So a guy could make a Ford 6.0 reliable?? I see a ton of real nice used low-mile 6.0's in the lots around here sitting for months and months and just are not selling well. Some great deals to be had but I can't take myself to pull the trigger on a used one with that questionable motor. Some of these are showroom clean and I have been tempted.
 
They can be made into reliable engines. If left stock and properly maintained they are generally pretty reliable.

Best thing you can do to them is delete the EGR cooler. Change the ford gold coolant out for some EC-1 rated coolant and install a coolant filter.

Oil temperature and coolant temperature gauges are also a must have.

I think if Ford would have not used the gold coolant and instead used EC-1 type coolant like international there would have been a lot less issues.

But anyway back on the topic of oil. The powerstrokes seem to like 10W30 verses 15W40 or 5W40.

Nice UOA BTW!
 
Originally Posted By: CDX825
They can be made into reliable engines. If left stock and properly maintained they are generally pretty reliable.

Best thing you can do to them is delete the EGR cooler. Change the ford gold coolant out for some EC-1 rated coolant and install a coolant filter.

Oil temperature and coolant temperature gauges are also a must have.

I think if Ford would have not used the gold coolant and instead used EC-1 type coolant like international there would have been a lot less issues.

But anyway back on the topic of oil. The powerstrokes seem to like 10W30 verses 15W40 or 5W40.

Nice UOA BTW!


We NEVER use Gold in them. EC-1 only

Blaze, if caught before major problems they can be made reliable for not to expensive. If purchasing used I always suggest getting an Oasis report. if the truck has had major problems likely it will continue to do so. The nice thing is people are scared of them and they can be had for a very reasonable price. I buy and sell 03-04's all the time at auction. Most have injector issues and i delete the EGR, replace with a factory oil cooler kit and flush the heck out of it.Turn it ans sell them
 
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I might be interested in buying a 6.0 if the price was right. Where have you been looking Blaze ?
 
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