06 Dodge 5.9L CTD w/7,405 on Rotella T 15w40 CJ-4

[calbrewin]

2 Frantz filters, went full 7,405 miles w/o change or needing any make-up oil. Most numbers seem ok except Potassium. Silicon on the VOA for this oil was 4 ppm, so my air filter must be doing its job. TBN strong @ 8.2, PC is clean. Can a fuel additive cause the high Potassium?

Thanks for any input, Tom.

 

[1040 WreckerMan]

The 6BTA shows another good UOA! No problems with that picture at all. Certainly a fuel additive could cause the potassium to go up, if the fuel additive contained any. I don't think that it's coolant because the sodium is low. It would just be a batch of oil that was slightly off at blending/storage/transport. Every once in a while I'll get a UOA with "high" potassium, I don't worry unless I see the elevated numbers for two consecutive UOA's or a increasing trend.

Since the TBN is lower on CJ-4 oils the 8.2 is great. You could run this oil much longer without worry if you wanted. If you keep up this same OCI that engine will last a million miles.

 

[LateArrivalforLSU]

Another good CJ4 UOA with a high TBN retention. Maybe the marketing release from Shell regarding the new CJ4 formulation was correct?

Keep on trucking. Plenty of life left in the oil. How much do you tow?

 

[unDummy]

ULSD fuel at work. TBN won't even be an issue for normal OCI's.

Bypass filters working well.

Engine should last forever.

What are your oil, filter, & TP planned change intervals?

How are the Frantz's plumbed?
Single feed single orifice parallelled, double parallel, or series?

 

[calbrewin]

Quote:

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Another good CJ4 UOA with a high TBN retention. Maybe the marketing release from Shell regarding the new CJ4 formulation was correct?

Keep on trucking. Plenty of life left in the oil. How much do you tow?

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Travel Trailer when loaded is around 6500 lbs. Around 1200 miles of this oil run was pulling the trailer, including a couple of runs over the Siskiyou summit from CA to Oregon. Trying to pull my trailer over this summit w/my '04 1/2 ton at 30 mph and around 4000 rpm was the reason I got the Diesel. What a difference!

 

[calbrewin]

Quote:

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ULSD fuel at work. TBN won't even be an issue for normal OCI's.

Bypass filters working well.

Engine should last forever.

What are your oil, filter, & TP planned change intervals?

How are the Frantz's plumbed?
Single feed single orifice parallelled, double parallel, or series?

---

I will continue to use the Rotella T CJ-4, and Purolator Premium Plus filter. Very inexpensive filter, $1.99-$2.99, and oil, $8.99 gal @ Pep Boys. I will sample w/o changing @ 5,000 mi to see if Potassium level drops. I will only change the Purolator when I change the oil, as the Frantz appears to be keeping the oil pretty clean.

I think I will change the TP at 5,000 when I sample the oil. The long filter change interval(7405 mi) was a test for comparison of particle counts at different change intervals.

When I 1st installed the 2 Frantz filters, I tried them in series, but after a short while, the oil flow slowed to a trickle, and with the amount of oil needing to be cleaned, I went parallel. Single feed, "T" ing to both Frantz inlets, Both Frantz outlets coming to a "T", and then single line back to the engine. Both Frantz units have their own 1/16" orifice added to the inlet side, and still had good flow even at 7400 mile interval.
Tom

 

[unDummy]

Wow, you're feeding 2 orifices. Thats a lot of oil bypassing. You should consider 2 smaller orifices in the .040 range.

 

[calbrewin]

Quote:

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Wow, you're feeding 2 orifices. Thats a lot of oil bypassing. You should consider 2 smaller orifices in the .040 range.

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This is the recommended set-up from the Frantz people. 1 Frantz should filter well enough for an 8 qt sump(more w/ frequent element changes) or 2 in parallel for sumps up to 20 qts. The 1/16" orifice on the inlets (sold by Frantz) is their recommended size for efficient bypassing w/o dropping oil pressure. With the 2 filters, I am using 14 qts of oil.

 

[Harley Anderson]

Looking good with your current setup. I wouldn't worry about your potassium, mine as consiberbly dropped from 15ppm at 20k on down to 2ppm at my last uoa at 40k. I agree the cj-4 rotella has definatly proved itself. The particle count produced great #s too.

 

[Jim Allen]

Kudos! Just goes to show that you can get good results from everyday, relatively inexpensive products. The only thing that could make it better would be to hear you bought the oil at Wally World!

 

[calbrewin]

Early on, I considered synthetic, but my engine loves this oil. Since I am using bypass filtration, I went with a Purolator PP, as it is on the recommended list of filters for this engine, and very inexpensive. $1.99-$2.99. I figure the Dual Frantz filters will keep oil clean, and the full flow filter to stop any large particles which may come its way. As long as the FF filter alowws for max flow to the bearings, and piston cooling jets, I think it is a good combination. I am discontinuing my use of Redline Diesel Fuel Catalyst, and 85+ until at least my next UOA to see if it is a contributing factor to the potassium levels.

Tom.

 

[jmac]

I'm curious what was the oil used in the prior report with 5050 miles?

 

[calbrewin]

Quote:

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I'm curious what was the oil used in the prior report with 5050 miles?

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That was 15w40 Delo 400 CI-4+. The 1st UOA was the factory fill, the 2nd sample (I took w/3900 on oil) was Delo 400 and was lost in the mail. Then the 5050 mile sample of Delo 400, then the Rotella w/ 7405 miles. That UOA with 5050 miles was posted earlier, here is the link:

Delo UOA on 06 Cummins

Tom

 

[Gary Allan]

I wonder about the potassium. My next door neighbor just got his results back and B-S flagged the potassium on his too. His was about the same as yours over the same mileage. He doesn't have any bypass filtration yet. He's going to go to the dealer to get the coolant suspect noted on the warranty record. He's almost out of his DC warranty and doesn't want to rely on the Cummins warranty for some reason.

I'll post his tomorrow.

Edit: He didn't use any additives, of any type, during this OCI. This is his first UOA.