AMSOIL SSO 11k miles Dodge Durango 4.7L V8

[Bobage24]

This is an oil Analysis from Blackstone, which I received today. This was my first run with SSO, after switching from Chevron Supreme oil. I also used an AMSOIL oil filter. I immediately noticed a much smoother idle and an increase in fuel mileage after the switch. The Durango has 106,000 miles on it's clock.

Many of these miles (at least 3k miles) were accumulated off road in the Nevada Desert with a full load of camping equipment, family of 5, a dog, and a cargo rack full of gold prospecting equipment.

I am using a K&N filter, which I had just cleaned after the oil change, so I am probably going to try an AMSOIL air filter with the next oil change and perform another oil analysis at 11k miles. Seems the K&N allowed a lot of dirt into the engine. I had to add one quart of oil at 10k miles.

 

[Johnny]

1. Registered in May and made your first post today.

2. You are correct, get rid of the K&N and use the Amsoil EaA filter.

3. I would say for the first use of a synthetic and the mileage used, this report looks great. The next one should look better.

How long does it take you to put on 11K?

 

[SteveSRT8]

Gosh, that's a lot of dirt getting past that K&N.

 

[demarpaint]

That is a lot of dirt and I would get that filter out of there too. But he did mention off road in the Nevada Desert, and I would think even the best filter would be put thorough the paces in those conditions.

 

[cven]

Looks good to my untrained eye. It thickened up a little much for the mileage.

Silicon was 22/11,000 miles unit-avg was 9/5,000 miles (18/10,000 miles). Now add in the off-roading you did and the fact that it could be an oil additive, I don't see what the problem is with the filter.

If you decide to keep the filter I would follow k/n directions and oil it more often in dusty conditions and get a pre-filter for it if you do a lot of mudd'n.


The paper filters for some cars are getting so expensive but they do have their advantages...ease of use and perhaps slightly better filtering.

 

[tig1]

Silicon looks to be about average, but with the wear metals and oil thickening I wouldn't go past 10,000 miles with this oil. TBN and flash still look good.

 

[buster]

Agree with the above comments. Only thickened 9%, still acceptable. Ditch the K&N.

 

[JoeFromPA]

Keep the K&N on my vote. This was a newly cleaned K&N (which means it was at it's lowest filtering capability) and it was spot on for silicon accumulation per 1k miles according to the universal averages. And that includes 3k miles in incredibly dirty-air conditions.

In my mind, that means the K&N was doing great. If this was a Purolator Air filter, everyone would probably be saying "looks about right for the conditions".

Just leave the K&N in for 25k between filter washes.

Additionally, I could be wrong but I bet your Durango had at least 1-2 quarts of leftover chevron in it. IIRC, Durango's don't do full drains as well as some cars due to the design. I don't know why, just remember reading that.

My point being: do the same with the Amsoil SSO, leave the same K&N air filter on there, and run it for 15k next time with confidence. Looks great!

Joe

 

[Bobage24]

I will repeat this run again using the K&N, but this time under normal driving conditions. The K&N seen excessive amounts of dust, so considering the conditions, it appears it did a good job of filtering.

 

[Bobage24]

Another thing I should have added to the first post was on many days during out trip we would let the Durango sit and idle for 30 to 60 minutes at a time since our kids would usually fall asleep on the ride to our destination so we would roll down the windows and leave the AC on during the summer heat. We would then just prospect for an hour or so next to the Durango. Our engine was put through harsh conditions, so considering the conditions, it seems the analysis looks good. I am happy with the results and can't wait to have another run under normal conditions.

 

[JoeFromPA]

That extended idling time is normally brutal when it happens alot (no mileage accumulation and alot of fuel accumulation in the oil on alot of engines). Good thing to know. SSO seems like it did great. Copper is the only metal at all "out of line" and even that was very minor.

 

[Bobage24]

I believe the excessive idling actually caused my Rack and Pinion to need replacing after our trip. I guess I should have used a quality synthetic in the steering system as well, but I didn't even think about it at the time. Oh well, it has synthetic in there now.

 

[JohnBrowning]

Personely that chromium is to darn high even for 11,000 miles. This is a premium synthetic and I expect better wear control of the valve train. Silicone might be high but how much silicone in in SSO normaly? The oil thickened as well but most of the rest of it looks good to me. The 4.7 always have a tad more iron then I like but that is normal for this engine!

In case that silicone is not from the oil check or replace the air filter and make sure the lid is seated properly. I owned a 4.7L Dakota and they have nice filters with lots of flow I believe over 1150 CFM. The OEM filters used to be really good and I think the Fram ones used to be really good when I owned my Dakota.

I am still not impresed with AMsoils SSO 0W30 I would try the S3K HD 5W30 it is in every way a better oil!

 

[Bobage24]

Thank you for the welcome, this is a great site for any and all oil info.

1. I have been here a lot longer as a guest reading all information I could regarding AMSOIL before I decided to give it a try. I decided to register when I realized I couldn't search the forum without being a member.

2. I am going to clean this K&N filter and run it for another 11k miles with SSO and see what it looks like. Then I want to run it a third time with an AMSOIL filter and see what it looks like. I might even consider using a few other filters too, unless the AMSOIL filter does a good job.

3. It takes me about 5 or 6 months to put 11k miles on the oil, but I start a new job soon that will have my traveling a little more I bet it will be another 4 or 5 months before I add another 11k miles.

Originally Posted By: Johnny
1. Registered in May and made your first post today.

2. You are correct, get rid of the K&N and use the Amsoil EaA filter.

3. I would say for the first use of a synthetic and the mileage used, this report looks great. The next one should look better.

How long does it take you to put on 11K?

 

[Bobage24]

I am wondering if the Chromium was so high due to the excessive idling, and perhaps not as much oil was getting to the top of the engine to lubricate the valve train? I guess we will know more after the next UOA, which will be much easier on the engine.

Originally Posted By: JohnBrowning
Personely that chromium is to darn high even for 11,000 miles. This is a premium synthetic and I expect better wear control of the valve train. Silicone might be high but how much silicone in in SSO normaly? The oil thickened as well but most of the rest of it looks good to me. The 4.7 always have a tad more iron then I like but that is normal for this engine!

In case that silicone is not from the oil check or replace the air filter and make sure the lid is seated properly. I owned a 4.7L Dakota and they have nice filters with lots of flow I believe over 1150 CFM. The OEM filters used to be really good and I think the Fram ones used to be really good when I owned my Dakota.

I am still not impresed with AMsoils SSO 0W30 I would try the S3K HD 5W30 it is in every way a better oil!

 

[Bobage24]

That is a valid point, and one that I feel needs further study. Instead of just writing the K&N off, I am going to run it again in "normal" conditions and see how well it does. To say the amount of dust this filter had to deal with was an extreme amount would be an understatement. In addition, I should have added more oil to the filter as someone else pointed out in this thread. I wasn't aware K&N suggested adding more oil in dusty conditions.

Originally Posted By: demarpaint
That is a lot of dirt and I would get that filter out of there too. But he did mention off road in the Nevada Desert, and I would think even the best filter would be put thorough the paces in those conditions.

 

[sparkplug]

This makes me want to run SSO in my Jeep this winter!!

 

[JoeFromPA]

Chromium was twice the universal average with +120% more miles on the oil than the universal average....and this is somehow indicative of Amsoil failing. John Browning - It's not that you try to like SSO 0w30, it's that you don't give it a chance to be liked.

 

[Pablo]

JB responded? Best just to put him on ignore. The man doesn't know as much as it seems. And he knows nothing of Amsoil. I'll just leave it at that.

As for this analysis. It's a first run, it was a first extended OCI, it was severely tested. Need to see a trend, but the oil didn't fail.

 

[Ben99GT]

So I guess the lesson here is: if you can't discredit what a man says, discredit the man.