1.2 million miles on the ol' girl. Numbers are starting to go up all of a sudden.
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2007 Caterpillar C15 - Delvac 15w40
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Somtimes I sampled without changing it. I have a Fumoto valve on it, so it's pretty easy to take a sample. The 12 quarts came from a leaking oil line to the compressor. It usually only uses a gallon in between OCI's and takes 15,000 before I have to pour it in. I shoot for a 25,000 OCI.
The silicon numbers went up along with iron after a defective Donaldson air filter was installed. I switched back to a Baldwin filter but the iron is staying high along with lead. I'm hoping it's just a bit of leftover trouble from the air filter. The oil pressure is still 62 lbs at 1400 rpm like it always has been.
As for an in-frame, I'll just part it out and retire before I do that. The truck is in good mechanical shape otherwise, but still only worth $15k no matter if I spend $30k on the motor at the House of Yellow.
The silicon numbers went up along with iron after a defective Donaldson air filter was installed. I switched back to a Baldwin filter but the iron is staying high along with lead. I'm hoping it's just a bit of leftover trouble from the air filter. The oil pressure is still 62 lbs at 1400 rpm like it always has been.
As for an in-frame, I'll just part it out and retire before I do that. The truck is in good mechanical shape otherwise, but still only worth $15k no matter if I spend $30k on the motor at the House of Yellow.
That defective filter may have "dusted" the engine. If the wear trends continue, might be time to implement next plans as you mentioned.
Forgive my (on semis) uneducated question, but would dusting an engine normally cause accelerated ring wear, and resulting high iron, aluminum (& chromium) readings, more than lead? If it was mine, I would likely keep driving it, as long as oil consumption and bearing noise didn't suddenly get a lot worse.
Somewhere it got dirt in it. I believe this motor has steel pistons, so there wouldn't be any aluminum wear though you'd think the chromium would go up.
Maybe it wasn't the air filter at all. I just put it as the number one suspect because I switched brands out of the blue and that oil sample had dirt in it. Maybe it was a contaminated oil filter.
Regardless, that's the plan—drive it until it drops. I'm just going to sample a little more often so I don't get caught out on the road with a bad motor.
Maybe it wasn't the air filter at all. I just put it as the number one suspect because I switched brands out of the blue and that oil sample had dirt in it. Maybe it was a contaminated oil filter.
Regardless, that's the plan—drive it until it drops. I'm just going to sample a little more often so I don't get caught out on the road with a bad motor.
dnewton3
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I recommend a sample around 10k miles, then again at 20k miles, then again at 30k miles, if the extensions seem warranted. Since you have a Fumoto, this will be easy to achieve.
Pb isn't high enough to be worthy of panic, but it's just cautionary and a reason to pay closer attention. If the wear increases, you've got your answer. If it drops down again, it likely was a particle streak.
Patience and diligence are the keys to success here.
Pb isn't high enough to be worthy of panic, but it's just cautionary and a reason to pay closer attention. If the wear increases, you've got your answer. If it drops down again, it likely was a particle streak.
Patience and diligence are the keys to success here.
Originally Posted by dnewton3
I recommend a sample around 10k miles, then again at 20k miles, then again at 30k miles, if the extensions seem warranted. Since you have a Fumoto, this will be easy to achieve.
Pb isn't high enough to be worthy of panic, but it's just cautionary and a reason to pay closer attention. If the wear increases, you've got your answer. If it drops down again, it likely was a particle streak.
Patience and diligence are the keys to success here.
I just spent some time reading your article on "what is normal"—great info there!
One thing is apparent—I really need to be more diligent in maintaining a consistent sample interval in order for the data to be more useful. Sometimes that's a bit hard to do as this truck (and me in turn) run long hours when out on the road. Combine that with the lack of "blue boxes" at truck stops to send the sample off (it's hard to drive up to the post office in a 70 foot long vehicle). For example, the last sample was pulled on 7/31. It probably rode around on my dash for another two weeks before I saw a mail box at a truck stop in Amarillo and remembered to actually drop it in the mail. I got the report back on 8/31 and in that time, 11,763 miles passed. That's a lot of miles going by if something needed attention.
I am a bit relieved though, after looking through other samples and seeing that those numbers really aren't too terrible.
I recommend a sample around 10k miles, then again at 20k miles, then again at 30k miles, if the extensions seem warranted. Since you have a Fumoto, this will be easy to achieve.
Pb isn't high enough to be worthy of panic, but it's just cautionary and a reason to pay closer attention. If the wear increases, you've got your answer. If it drops down again, it likely was a particle streak.
Patience and diligence are the keys to success here.
I just spent some time reading your article on "what is normal"—great info there!
One thing is apparent—I really need to be more diligent in maintaining a consistent sample interval in order for the data to be more useful. Sometimes that's a bit hard to do as this truck (and me in turn) run long hours when out on the road. Combine that with the lack of "blue boxes" at truck stops to send the sample off (it's hard to drive up to the post office in a 70 foot long vehicle). For example, the last sample was pulled on 7/31. It probably rode around on my dash for another two weeks before I saw a mail box at a truck stop in Amarillo and remembered to actually drop it in the mail. I got the report back on 8/31 and in that time, 11,763 miles passed. That's a lot of miles going by if something needed attention.
I am a bit relieved though, after looking through other samples and seeing that those numbers really aren't too terrible.
Barcode, I would start using Cat dealers for analyses. In your case, I wouldn't worry about using the same lab for consistency. I'd be pulling into a "House of yellow" (as you and many others say) to buy a sample kit to fill and drop on the spot. They have very quick turnaround time to help you keep a close watch on the engine for the near future. A Cat lab would be more knowledgeable and helpful in assessing your results, too.
I don't think you're looking at trouble yet, but then I haven't had experience with a failing engine, either. Like dnewton3 said, maybe sample a little more to track it closer for now.
I had two 2005 C15s and I don't recall the viscosity dropping below 14 cSt on my reports. I'm wondering if you have an injector or multiple injectors going bad. I know Blackstone's results don't show fuel, but the viscosity just seems way too low to not have some fuel in it.
I don't think you're looking at trouble yet, but then I haven't had experience with a failing engine, either. Like dnewton3 said, maybe sample a little more to track it closer for now.
I had two 2005 C15s and I don't recall the viscosity dropping below 14 cSt on my reports. I'm wondering if you have an injector or multiple injectors going bad. I know Blackstone's results don't show fuel, but the viscosity just seems way too low to not have some fuel in it.
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