2016 Titan XD Cummins, Schaeffers 9000 5W-40

Joined
Feb 23, 2009
Messages
12
Location
Phoenix, AZ
This is the first oil sample I have ever run for this truck and I'm not sure what to make of it. Blackstone says the copper is a little high but that it can be wear metals from being young. While just shy is of 30k miles is young, I would think most wear metals would gone by those miles. I do believe the other wear metals looked good though. I posted this result on a titan group and some other members posted their results as a comparison. No one else had copper levels as high as mine, they were in the 5-7 range. Also, an amsoil rep (they always chime in) pointed out that my viscosity was pretty low at @100°C. The schaeffer website shows it should be 13.50 - 15.00, mine was 13.06. Is this something to worry about with this oil? This was the first run of schaeffers in this engine and this interval covered the summer months in AZ (well over 100 everyday) along with about 2k miles of heavy towing.
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Nice 1st post for joining over 10 years ago! I have a soft spot for these XD Diesels. I wasn't impressed with the overall specs when released but after spending some time behind the wheel, loved the overall package.

Did you put Schaeffers back in? I don't know much about these but I'm guessing the Copper will trend down.
 
I don't have any data on these, so my comments are only supposition.

Typically Cu is very reactive (sensitive) to certain additives in some oils; that may simply be a chelation issue for the Cu that should calm over time.

The Fe apparently runs high for this engine series; even the UA is up there around 7ppm/1k miles.

What triggers the OCI? Is there an IOLM, or just a set value?
 
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Originally Posted by panthermike
Nice 1st post for joining over 10 years ago! I have a soft spot for these XD Diesels. I wasn't impressed with the overall specs when released but after spending some time behind the wheel, loved the overall package.

Did you put Schaeffers back in? I don't know much about these but I'm guessing the Copper will trend down.

Yea I joined a long time ago and several vehicles ago, just kinda lurked once in a while. The XD is a lot nicer and much more capable than most people realize. It doesn't have the specs of the big 3 brands but it wasn't meant to either. The specs are okay and it tows very well but mine is deleted and it is a whole different beast from stock, liking it so far. It's a shame they already stopped producing the diesel but if it doesn't sell, I can't blame them. I did put schaeffers back in so I'll have to see what this interval looks like.
 
Originally Posted by dnewton3
I don't have any data on these, so my comments are only supposition.

Typically Cu is very reactive (sensitive) to certain additives in some oils; that may simply be a chelation issue for the Cu that should calm over time.

The Fe apparently runs high for this engine series; even the UA is up there around 7ppm/1k miles.

What triggers the OCI? Is there an IOLM, or just a set value?

From what I have read, copper levels can be elevated due to certain oil add packs that react with oil coolers. Hopefully this is the case and over time my levels will go down. This was the first fill with schaeffers in this engine so I'm wondering if that had an affect or not. There have been a few of these engines that had main bearing failures (overheating) and crankshafts breaking so I'm hoping my copper isn't from the bearings but I have no idea what they are made of. The bearing and crankshaft issues have so far been limited to a little less than 3% of the cummins ISVs produced, at least from what I can obtain from titan pages. The internet doesn't lie right? The OCI is actually 10k miles from Nissan but I would never go that far without a bypass filter while emissions are still intact. Stock, these engines are really hard on oil from what I can gather on various titan groups. For example, T6 has shown to be robust in various applications but the ISV shears it down at 5k miles and produces bad results on T6. There are a few titans running around with 30-40k OCIs, deleted with a bypass filter. With schaeffers having good reviews and a good bit of towing, I decided on 6500 ish.
 
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I doubt the Copper is coming from the bearings because no Lead is showing in the wear metals.
Like dnewton says, it could be chelation.
 
Stick with 6500 OCI for now; just to take another variable out of the equation.
Track the Cu and Fe; see how they settle with time.
Report back with more UOAs, please. I'm curious about this engine design and want to follow along.
 
Got my latest UOA. Copper is showing the same as last time. Last report stated it could be from the oil cooler, but it didn't go down on this interval. Used the same schaeffer 5w40 oil but went further at 7,876 miles. This interval included really heavy towing for about 3k miles in both the desert heat and extreme cold as I moved across country with my trailer. The last few months of this interval also included almost daily exposure to negative temps with extended warm up times (idling). I would say this was a hard run given the conditions. Yes there was an interval between the last one shown up top in this thread and the current one that was not tested. The truck wasn't really driven that year so I didn't test. Other Titan Cummins owners are reporting 1-3 ppm in their copper ratings. Unfortunately, blackstones test for fuel dilution is useless but I would assume there is fuel dilution due to the extended idle times and cold weather.
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The Fe has come down nicely. The Cu is obviously still something of merit to watch closely.
I know it's expensive, but perhaps UOA a little more often; every 7k miles or so with the OCIs. Try to get more info on the Cu from your particular engine.
 
I'm back with more test results, although this time I sent off a sample to Blackstone and Oil Analyzers so the two can be compared. My copper came down and the engine runs **** smooth. There are some people on my other car pages/groups that swear the copper is from my bearings and that crankshaft breakage is imminent (somewhat common on these engines). There are even claims that there is no copper tubing used in the oil cooler on this engine but I can't verify that. However, the other wear metals look good right? Truck currently has 58k miles and has been deleted for 30k miles or so. Here are the results.
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