2001 F350 7.3l PSD Delo 400 15w40 3,324 miles

[1040 WreckerMan]

Equipment Make: Ford
Equipment Model: SuperDuty 7.3L
Oil Use Interval: 3,324 Miles
Makeup Oil: None
Oil Type: Delo 400 15w40
Miles on Unit: 57,813

Aluminum 2/2/2/1
Chromium 1/0/1/2
Iron 12/7/9/11
Copper 8/2/3/3
Lead 30/4/3/2
Tin 2/2/0/1
Moly 231/206/52/3
Nickel 0/0/0/1
Manganese 0/0/0/0
Silver 0/0/0/0
Titanium 0/0/0/0
Potassium 3/1/0/0
Boron 130/122/21/18
Silicon 10/8/18/5
Sodium 5/1/2/7
Calcium 3076/3531/3094/2470
Magnesium 10/7/10/70
Phosphorus 1535/1337/1172/1007
Zinc 1478/1592/1393/1129
Barium 0/0/0/0

Viscosity SUS @210dF
Should be 69-82
Tested 71.6

Flashpoint
Should be >405
Tested 430

Fuel Dilution
Should be Tested
No Antifreeze

Insolubles 0.3

BlackStone Comments: You mentioned that while this oil was in use your F350 was "heavily loaded." This most likely explains the increase in lead we found. Lead comes from the bearings and you can see the hard work put extra stress on the lower end of your 7.3L. It's a good idea to use short oil runs when you're working your engine extra hard, as the excess wear metals are abrasive. All other wear looks good so we doubt the increased lead signals a mechanical problem developing. It should improve next time. No harmful contaminants were found. Check back for another look.

Left column is current UOA and the next column right is the previous run of Delo 400. During this OCI I installed a new intercooler and new high pressure oil pumps. I believe I'm having a lube oil pressure issue at high RPM and high load. I think when the engine is running 2700 RPM or more the HPOP is starving the engine for oil, however I have not had a chance to prove that theory yet. Other than the lead the UOA looks pretty good.

 

[Pablo]

I can’t say much about the oil. The lead does look scary high for such a short interval. 0.3 Insolubles in 3.3K seems a bit high.

Have others had success with these HP oil pumps? The purpose is faster/better oil flow to the turbo?

 

[Griz95]

I believe the HP oil pump only feeds the injectors in a PSD. 1040WreckerMan do you monitor the oil pressure with an aftermarket oil pressure gage? If so, did you notice any changes at high rpms?

 

[Steve S]

Too much high rpm operation ,The international in the trucks rev limit lower.

 

[flynavydiesel]

The HPOP on a 7.3L feeds the HEUI Injectors.

 

[1040 WreckerMan]

Yes, the HPOP feeds the injectors on the truck just like internationals T444E, DT466E, DT530E and CATs, 3126, C7, etc. The truck has a lube oil pump that lubes the engine and supplies oil to the HPOP.

Yep, many other people have had success with the same oil pump setup I have and no one has had quite the same problem I'm having with the oiling system so I'm in uncharted waters to some degree.

I have an aftermarket oil PSI gauge. At idle I have 0-5PSI and at load I have a constant 35-40 PSI. I know I'm having an oil pressure issue, I just can't tell yet where the problem is. I have a few things I started looking at today.

RPM has nothing to do with this problem. The truck has been operated the same way with the same oil and similar loads all of its life. The problem only showed up after the HPOP replacement. Navistar governed the engine at 2600 RPM, I run mine on a hard pull 2800-2950 RPM. 200-300 RPM will not cause a huge jump in lead like that. Also, since all my previous UOAs show lower lead I don't think it's RPM related. Before the HPOP upgrade I ran the truck harder, 2800-3400RPM all the time and had much lower lead. This is definitely a lack of oil issue.

The high soot is due to the fueling tables. I have significantly turned up the fuel rate on the engine. Not only peak fuel rate but it fuels a lot more lower in the RPM range to help get power sooner which helps with the loads I put on the truck. After I try a few things to fix my lube oil problem I'm going to take another sample and see what the lead does.

 

[Griz95]

Where is your oil pressure sending unit mounted? On the HPOP oil reservoir or on the aft oil filter header assy? Was the oil pressures different after you installed the new HPOP? If so, what were they before the install? Just curious...how do you plan to fix the main lube problem? Good Luck

Griz95

 

[jmac]

Wrecker man, I'm sure you know or have been told that when the HPOP has low resevior there is a valve of some sort that allows oil straight from you low pressure pump to the hpop res. bypassing the filter. sounds like you may be in bypass all the time, is this along the lines of what you are looking at?
have you looked in the resevior to see what the level is ?

 

[1040 WreckerMan]

My oil pressure sending unit is mounted in the accessory port located on the oil cooler on the top of the filter adapter. This port sees filtered oil as far as I can tell.

Their is a anti-drain back valve that keep the lifter galleries full of oil when the truck is shut off. During a cold start this valve allows unfiltered oil directly from the lube pump. The total volume of oil is unchanged so the pressure should be unchanged. The only thing I think this would affect is the fact the HPOPs would be seeing unfiltered oil all the time.

I'm thinking either the low pressure pump is defective, or more likely their is a pressure relief valve that is stuck open. I have seen the relief valve stuck on several gas engines and a number of diesels, however there symptoms were a bit different. I may have to pull the oil cooler to get to the valves, I'm not sure yet.

I can look in the reservoir and see oil close to the top when the engine is off, but that doesn't matter except for starting purposes.

 

[Griz95]

Quote:

---

I'm thinking either the low pressure pump is defective, or more likely their is a pressure relief valve that is stuck open. I have seen the relief valve stuck on several gas engines and a number of diesels, however there symptoms were a bit different. I may have to pull the oil cooler to get to the valves, I'm not sure yet.

---

I would have to agree...it is more likely a stuck pressure relief valve than the lube oil pump because otherwise why are you still getting oil to the HPOP to run the injectors? If this valve is the same as in a 1995 PSD, then it is built into the aft oil cooler housing assembly. You would have to remove at least the aft cooler assembly to get to it. The bypass valve is easy to see when the oil filter is removed but the relief valve is internal.

Griz 95

 

[1040 WreckerMan]

Well, after running around with a bunch of temporary oil pressure gauges tapped into every port I could get at I can't get it to have a pressure issue. It still has a problem I think, but I never saw less than 20PSI anywhere. That may have to due with the viscosity increase from changed the oil. It may also be due to the fact that during the test I wasn't towing anything, so the oil temp never got very warm.

I have another oil cooler coming. When I get the cooler I'll rebuild it and put all new valves in and swap cooler with the one on the truck and see what happens.

 

[Griz95]

Interesting...please let us know what you find out. I assumed your oil pressure changed after you installed the new HPOP?

Griz95

 

[1040 WreckerMan]

Well, I installed the aftermarket oil pressure gauge at the same time as the twin HPOPs, so I don't know what the lube oil pressure did before this. I can only assume that the problem was not present before since the lead in the UOAs was low.

I'm hoping that there was just some debris that caused the valve to get stuck open. I did have the engine opened up for a week or more while I was working on it.

 

[Griz95]

Do you know if the oil cooler assembly on your PSD is the same as the older PSD? If so, I have new aft header assy sitting in my garage. I was going to replace it one of these days just haven't got around to it yet

Griz95

 

[Steve S]

What is happening with the engine ,1040?