Shibaura 3 Cyl, Shell RTS 5W-40, 200 hours

[marco246]

This is a Shibaura 3-cylinder diesel engine powering a generator. The brand of the genset is Alaska Diesel. Engine displacement is 0.716 L providing 10 HP and 6KW. The genset backs up an off-grid power system of solar panels and a micro hydrogenerator. All filters--air, oil, and fuel--are Wix. The generator has 5000 hours total on it, all run at 1800 rpm. I always change the oil, oil filter, and fuel filter every 200 hours, and the coolant and air filter every 1000 hours. Fuel is HSD with additives: HPPF Killem and PS White. Analysis by Blackstone. Displayed below are data from the most recent oil change at 5000 hours and from a change at 3200 hours. The oil run from 4800 to 5000 hours was Shell RTS 5W-40/CH-4. This was the only run of Shell ever--I had the old stock on hand and wanted to use it up. Heretofore I had always used Chevron Delo 400 15W-40. The oil in use between 3000 and 3200 hours was rated CI-4, but not Plus.

Properties Shell@5000 hrs Chevron @3200 hrs
02/06/07 08/01/04
ALUMINUM 5 3
CHROMIUM 1 0
IRON 56 12
COPPER 7 1
LEAD 1 0
TIN 0 0
MOLYBDENUM 0 0
NICKEL 0 0
MANGANESE 0 0
SILVER 0 0
TITANIUM 0 0
POTASSIUM 1 2
BORON 0 0
SILICON 13 3
SODIUM 16 8
CALCIUM 4160 2968
MAGNESIUM 10 5
PHOSPHORUS 1094 1025
ZINC 1348 1247
BARIUM 0 0

SUS Vis @210F=98.1
Flashpoint in F=420
Fuel % = Antifreeze % = ?
Water % = 0.0
Insolubles % = 0.5

BLACKSTONE COMMENTS:

Note the significant jump in iron and copper. We also found higher levels of silicon and sodium. None of these findings is really a major concern at this point, though wear and silicon could be related if silicon is from abrasive dirt. Sodium could be from antifreeze, though at this level it's hard to say for sure. The TBN read at 9.5, which is a strong reading and shows the oil has a lot of active additive left. The high viscosity could have been due to an oil additive or may show the oil is breaking down. The cSt at 100 degrees C was 19.9. Check back next oil change.

MY COMMENTS: Uh, oh. I'm not pleased with the results of this analysis. Believe I should have changed the air filter sooner, and that accounts for the silicon and some increased wear. Just glad the lead is still low, so apparently the bearings did not take a beating. Not sure about the sodium. There's no water in the sample, so probably coolant is NOT getting into the oil. I have had to add some coolant, but because of leaky hose. Suppose it's possible the hose as well as a gasket was leaking. I added nothing to the oil, so the thickening is disappointing. Guess it's just not up to task. I replaced it with newer RTS (CI-4 plus); I'm not sure whether to run it for 200 hours or to change it sooner and get another snapshot of how the engine's doing.

I welcome your observations and comments.

Cheers, Mark

 

[BigBadf350]

high top end metals and silicon = red flag it ate some dirt.

you may want to keep an eye on the head gasket too. if you still get high sodium, you may want to presure test the system?

 

[marco246]

BB,

Yeah, and for all I know it has done this (eaten dirt)at some point between 200 and 1000 hours on the life of the air filter for 5 cycles now. Clearly I ought to get the oil sampled somewhere between those two data points. Also I am concerned about the apparent breakdown of the Shell RTS. The cSt of the Chevron Delo run between 3000 and 3200 hours was (@100 C) 14.94, showing no shearing nor thickening. The Rotella synthetic, on the other hand, has thickened to a 50-weight oil.

On going over the maintenance log I keep on this engine, I found I added a can of Prestone Stop Leak at the 4400 hour oil change. That took care of the leak occurring at the junction of a radiator hose and the engine. An odd way to fix such a leak, but you'd have to be a more able contortionist than I to tighten or replace the clamp. So there have been two oil changes between this oil sample and when the Stop Leak was added.

One other factoid I forgot to mention: the sump holds 3 quarts, not bad for a 700 cc engine.

 

[unDummy]

200hrs is a reasonable time interval for a synthetic in a diesel especially when considering the sump:engine size.

Lose the air filter way earlier then 1000hrs. Change it out in 400hr-600hr intervals.

Other options are to adapt better oil filtration or a larger air filter swiped from a vehicle in the junkyard.

What PNs are used for the filters?

 

[marco246]

unDummy--

PN means part number? If so, they are oil: 51516; fuel: 33386; and air: 42146. I use a bigger oil filter than OEM. I'll take your advice and change the air filter much sooner than in the past.

Cheers, Mark

 

[unDummy]

Interesting air filter? how much did it cost? If there was room and mechanical aptitude, I would pull a filter box off a car at the salvage yard, adapt it, and just use a panel filter. I personally hate small engine air filters.
A prefilter or filter sock might also help.

The 51516 is bigger then OEM. Thats good. Anything to add oil capacity, oil cooling, and filter media will only help in the long run.
I would consider another filter brand for a run. Give the Pureoone (PL25230 - Jeep 2006 CRD diesel Liberty) or (PL20195). I'd wager that insolubles might drop a little with the Pureone media.
Since Fe is high, I'd consider some filter magnets if there is room. Filtermag, free recycled crash harddrive magnet, or blown speaker magnets, stuck to the filter,(if there is room) should catch some of the Fe that the filter is letting by.

I would also cut open the fuel filter. With constant fuel additives, and such a small engine, maybe you can run it to 400hrs+. If the used fuel filter looks bad, then stick with the 200hr interval. Depending on the fuel source, and with only a 10 micron rating, I don't see why that fuel filter couldn't last 2-3 times as long. I've seen similarly sized filters run 30k miles(750hrs) in an engine 4 times as big. Other options are wix 33393/33138/33382..... I'm surprised that I don't see any
Depending on the oil temps, and that this is the 1st time(?) that you used a synthetic, there might've also been some cleaning which skewed the PPM/%'s a little making the oil look worse. With the TBN so high, I don't see that the oil itself was beat up.

 

[marco246]

unDummy,

The air filter is cylindrical, 7 1/2" long and 3 1/4" in diameter. It looks like a well-made filter. Cost at Napa is about $50, but I get it from Filter 1 for half that. Think I'll just change it at 600 hours and analyze the oil then.

Filter magnets? I always thought that was so much ju-ju. But you seem serious. I may try it.

Inasmuch as I had a good result with a Wix (actually a Napa Gold) at 3200 hours, I think I'll just stick with it.

Re: the fuel filter. You are right, in that the dealer recommends changing at 400 hours, twice what the OM calls for. He also recommends changing oil and filter at 200 hours vice the 100 the OM calls for, as long as one uses high quality oil and filters. I adopted one recommendation (the oil) but not the other, just to simplify record keeping. Also, early on I was fetching diesel fuel in 5-gallon jerry cans and pouring it into a 55-gallon drum where I had no way to easily sample the fuel in the drum. So a frequent fuel filter change seemed the right thing to do. A couple of years ago I bought a 275-gallon tank and now have a jobber come out a couple of times a year and fill the tank from his truck. I pull a sample every couple of weeks and check for bugs and water. Real easy now to keep it clean. So, you are right, I ought to, and will, run the fuel filter to 400 hours. By the way, the genset uses only 0.4 gallons per hour, but I also have a John Deere tractor I refuel from the same tank.

This was the first use of a synthetic oil in the engine. The engine will shut itself off if the coolant temperature gets too high or the oil level falls too low. I don't have any guages to tell me what the coolant and oil temps are.

Thanks again for your advice.

Cheers, Mark

Yes, th