The lead trend is starting to make me worry that this engine isn't long for this world. We bought this one in 2011 with 129K miles on it and silicon has never read low, although Blackstone down plays it because metals are usually looking good. We did some towing on the 6.29.15 sample which helped explain/excuse why the lead spiked higher, but did no towing at all on this last interval.
I've replaced the air intake box on this one as it tends to trip the MAF, so I was assuming some dirt really WAS getting into the intake system. The MAF tripped twice on this last oil interval. I even had the rest of the air intake tubing off and hit it with some silicon spray in case there was some pinhole that I couldn't see, but silicon wasn't down very much on this sample. With the engine wear and mileage on the oil, would it be worth replacing the factory air system all together in favor of something like an after market system from SLP/K&N/etc? We were planning on trying to keep this one for maybe a couple more years, wife really wants a new Jeep...
Make/Model: GM 5.3L V-8
Vehicle: 2004 Chevy Tahoe
Code:
OIL Ams SS Ams SS Ams SS Ams SS Ams SS Ams OE
MILES IN USE 10,045 9,037 9,246 8,124 6,069 3,165
MILES ON UNIT 205,764 195,719 186,682 177,436 175,381 169,312
SAMPLE TAKEN 7/15/16 12/14/15 6/29/15 11/30/14 10/23/14 6/23/14
MAKE UP OIL 0 0 0 0 0 0
ALUMINUM 4 3 4 3 2 2
CHROMIUM 1 0 0 0 0 0
IRON 15 11 12 9 7 3
COPPER 11 12 10 12 10 6
LEAD 22 13 30 7 6 2
TIN 0 0 5 0 0 0
MOLYBDENUM 130 143 160 144 139 68
NICKEL 1 2 1 0 1 0
MANGANESE 0 1 0 0 0 0
SILVER 0 0 0 0 0 0
TITANIUM 0 0 0 0 0 0
POTASSIUM 2 4 4 0 0 0
BORON 42 36 61 45 53 105
SILICON 30 35 28 31 25 14
SODIUM 11 10 9 9 8 3
CALCIUM 2928 3570 3461 3247 3475 1944
MAGNESIUM 13 17 14 12 15 8
PHOSPHORUS 558 655 627 702 658 658
ZINC 628 773 800 801 767 747
BARIUM 0 0 0 0 0 0
SUS @ 210F 68.8 66.0 62.6 64.6 63.8 58.7
Visc @ 100C 12.64 11.88 10.94 11.51 11.29 9.86
Flashpoint 400 410 420 430 435 410
Fuel %
Antifreeze % 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Water % 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Insolubles % 0.5 0.3 0.2 0.4 0.3 0.1
TBN 2.2 3.3 3.3 3.1 3.4 2.4
Blackstone Inc Comments:
Lead is back up in this report. It's possible that this is another harmless event like a particle streak, or maybe we are actually seeing some excess bearing wear. It's hard to be sure because the rest of the wear metals are in great shape for the interval, and lead dropped back down in the last report. That's not typically the trend we see when there's excess bearing wear, so for now, as long as oil pressure is okay and you aren't hearing any unusual noises, we wouldn't worry too much. The thick viscosity is okay and the TBN was strong as 2.2, but use 10K miles or less.
I've replaced the air intake box on this one as it tends to trip the MAF, so I was assuming some dirt really WAS getting into the intake system. The MAF tripped twice on this last oil interval. I even had the rest of the air intake tubing off and hit it with some silicon spray in case there was some pinhole that I couldn't see, but silicon wasn't down very much on this sample. With the engine wear and mileage on the oil, would it be worth replacing the factory air system all together in favor of something like an after market system from SLP/K&N/etc? We were planning on trying to keep this one for maybe a couple more years, wife really wants a new Jeep...
Make/Model: GM 5.3L V-8
Vehicle: 2004 Chevy Tahoe
Code:
OIL Ams SS Ams SS Ams SS Ams SS Ams SS Ams OE
MILES IN USE 10,045 9,037 9,246 8,124 6,069 3,165
MILES ON UNIT 205,764 195,719 186,682 177,436 175,381 169,312
SAMPLE TAKEN 7/15/16 12/14/15 6/29/15 11/30/14 10/23/14 6/23/14
MAKE UP OIL 0 0 0 0 0 0
ALUMINUM 4 3 4 3 2 2
CHROMIUM 1 0 0 0 0 0
IRON 15 11 12 9 7 3
COPPER 11 12 10 12 10 6
LEAD 22 13 30 7 6 2
TIN 0 0 5 0 0 0
MOLYBDENUM 130 143 160 144 139 68
NICKEL 1 2 1 0 1 0
MANGANESE 0 1 0 0 0 0
SILVER 0 0 0 0 0 0
TITANIUM 0 0 0 0 0 0
POTASSIUM 2 4 4 0 0 0
BORON 42 36 61 45 53 105
SILICON 30 35 28 31 25 14
SODIUM 11 10 9 9 8 3
CALCIUM 2928 3570 3461 3247 3475 1944
MAGNESIUM 13 17 14 12 15 8
PHOSPHORUS 558 655 627 702 658 658
ZINC 628 773 800 801 767 747
BARIUM 0 0 0 0 0 0
SUS @ 210F 68.8 66.0 62.6 64.6 63.8 58.7
Visc @ 100C 12.64 11.88 10.94 11.51 11.29 9.86
Flashpoint 400 410 420 430 435 410
Fuel %
Antifreeze % 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Water % 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Insolubles % 0.5 0.3 0.2 0.4 0.3 0.1
TBN 2.2 3.3 3.3 3.1 3.4 2.4
Blackstone Inc Comments:
Lead is back up in this report. It's possible that this is another harmless event like a particle streak, or maybe we are actually seeing some excess bearing wear. It's hard to be sure because the rest of the wear metals are in great shape for the interval, and lead dropped back down in the last report. That's not typically the trend we see when there's excess bearing wear, so for now, as long as oil pressure is okay and you aren't hearing any unusual noises, we wouldn't worry too much. The thick viscosity is okay and the TBN was strong as 2.2, but use 10K miles or less.