2008 Dodge Grand Caravan 4.0 10w30 Amsoil SS 8k miles

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Jan 28, 2018
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Missouri
This is my mother's van at the time the sample was taken I made note of how extremely hot the oil was after her short trip into town, a much hotter sensation than that of my diesel when I sample the oil at around190-198 degrees. This sample was taken however before we noticed the radiator had a leak although it never overheated or lost all coolant and a new radiator has been installed. Any insight as for why the engine is running so hot? Nothing shows overheating on the gauges but as was said before the oil was insanely hot upon taking the sample and with only 80k miles on it and it's usually only driven 30 mile round trips per day for work.

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If he drops the OCI interval anymore than there is absolutely no reason to buy SS. Might be better served on Castrol or Pennzoil Synthetic for less coin.
 
Maybe there's a non OE thermostat in there with a higher opening temp???

When was the last time you changed the t-stat? Anytime I've done a "major" service on the coolant, like a water pump or radiator, it's a good time to put in a new stat'.

Either that oil was ran too long or you indeed have an engine temp issue. Since oil helps cool the engine, have you tried flushing the engine to clear out any sludge that might be restricting oil flow in some of the smaller orifices/gallery's?? Have you checked the oil pressure to make sure you don't have a blockage on the pick up??

On a cool engine, open up the radiator fill cap and run the engine to operating temp to confirm the t-stat opening temp and water pump are working properly. If you have (have access to) an OBD2 plug that in and pay attention to temps throughout the process. Be prepared to wash off any spill over from the cap. And don't rev the engine, you don't want to reach boiling point (212f) and risk warping anything...but you shouldn't, all your doing is a quick and dirty check of your temp gauge and cooling system.
 
Originally Posted by BigShug681
Oil only has around 8k miles on it

That was probably 2~4k miles too long. The oil didn't oxidize on it's own and your engine is wearing abnormally as a result of it (oxidizing).

Based on this UOA your insolubles are low so we can probably rule out a filtration problem, likewise a moisture issue since your water/fuel dilution was unremarkable. The way I see it, you have 2 choices..a) address a heat issue that is causing oil degradation (oxidative and thermal breakdown) or b) run shorter oci's - try running the same oil @4k oci and have it tested. Remember, just because you can run an extended drain interval, doesn't mean you should. It's apparent (to me at least) your car is not a good candidate (at least in it's current state) for extended drain intervals (not all vehicles are btw).

That's my 2 pennies...but you do you.🤔
 
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I plan on changing the oil this coming weekend, I'm still trying to figure out if the engine has a coolant cooled oil cooler.
 
This appears to be the Max Duty SS Diesel 10w30, as opposed to the SS 10w30 ATM gasser oil?

I'm surprised their 10w30 diesel oil has moly in it.
 
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