LLY Duramax with Amsoil

Joined
Nov 20, 2019
Messages
4
Location
Georgia
15k on oil. Large spike in copper. Do I change the filter and top off or full oil change

144,374 (5192) 149,786 (10631) 154750 (15950)
Iron 10 14 27
Aluminum 2 1. 2
Copper 3 12 308
Lead 0 1 6
Tin 1 0 1
Cadmium 0 0 0
Silver 0 0 0
Vanadium 0 0 0
Silicon 5 6 9
Sodium 3 6 6
Potassium 1 0 3
Titanium 0 0 0
Molybdenum 0 0 0
Antimony 0 0 0
Manganese 0 0 0
Lithium 0 0 0
Boron 47 29 21
Magnesium 814 740 789
Calcium 1361 1247 1306
Barium 0 0 0
Phosphorus 1134 1103 1125
Zinc 1280 1207 1186
 
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Originally Posted by Danno
I'd be changing oil and filter. Try to find out where that copper is leaching from. A cooler failing?

745 hrs run time on the oil I know amsoil has always acted a little funny with the oil cooler. No coolant in the oil
 
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Originally Posted by rideahorse
Why would you want to change the oil with 15,000 miles on it. Oh wait . You are the one paying for the overhaul not Amsoil.


+1 . Think 15,000 miles is long enough and maybe too long honestly.Takes some pretty strict operation to even go longer than the factory MM.
 
Originally Posted by Jmpage388
Originally Posted by Danno
I'd be changing oil and filter. Try to find out where that copper is leaching from. A cooler failing?

745 hrs run time on the oil I know amsoil has always acted a little funny with the oil cooler. No coolant in the oil

If it was my vehicle, I'd run shorter OCI at max 10,000 miles, with a mainstream oil such as Delvac or Rotella 15W-40.
Nothing to act funny that way. The high copper is concerning imo.
 
Is this the first run with Amsoil??? If so, this Cu spike is a harmless reaction; a chelation of Cu due to the amines in Amsoil (if I understand the chemistry correctly). The only downside to this effect is that it will completely mask any true Cu indicator from other problems; if you do get a bearing going bad, you'll never know it with such high Cu spikes. The spike will subside over several OCIs; the Cu will normalize to the amines and the chelation will stop, or at least drop dramatically.

The Pb is a tad high, but nothing worth panicking over. Pb can hop up/down every once in a while, so just see what happens in the next UOA. Only if the Pb continued to escalate over three successive UOAs would I be concerned; I doubt that's the case here. I had a spike in Pb in my LBZ Dmax once; it came right back down on the next UOA.

The other wear metals are perfectly in line with normal wear rates; nothing to worry about.
 
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Originally Posted by dnewton3
Is this the first run with Amsoil??? If so, this Cu spike is a harmless reaction; a chelation of Cu due to the amines in Amsoil (if I understand the chemistry correctly). The only downside to this effect is that it will completely mask any true Cu indicator from other problems; if you do get a bearing going bad, you'll never know it with such high Cu spikes. The spike will subside over several OCIs; the Cu will normalize to the amines and the chelation will stop, or at least drop dramatically.

The Pb is a tad high, but nothing worth panicking over. Pb can hop up/down every once in a while, so just see what happens in the next UOA. Only if the Pb continued to escalate over three successive UOAs would I be concerned; I doubt that's the case here. I had a spike in Pb in my LBZ Dmax once; it came right back down on the next UOA.

The other wear metals are perfectly in line with normal wear rates; nothing to worry about.

Yes first run with amsoil.
 
Well there you have it; Cu spike due to the reaction of using the Amsoil.

NOTE: do NOT construe this to mean using Amsoil is bad; that's not at all what I'm stating. The Cu chelation is a side effect of the oil's chemistry, and it's not unique to that brand; other oils have exhibited that same effect at times.

Until the Cu reaction subsides and returns to "normal" (statistically speaking), you'll have to ignore the Cu readings and rely on Pb for indicators of bearing issues.
 
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