Amsoil SS 5w30, 11.9K, 04 Chevy Tahoe

[TXHunter]

The 8K run on this oil was submitted to Oil Analyzers Inc, while the 11.9K run was with Blackstone. I'm really surprised at the different values for Lead & Silicon between the two in such a short span between samples (although lead did this between 9-10K on the previous fill as well). I'll probably stick with Blackstone for the next sample at the 8K interval as they suggested. Blackstone is showing the universal average for lead in this engine is 8, how concerned should I be with 59 at probably double the interval?

Make/Model: GM 5.3L V-8
Vehicle: 2004 Chevy Tahoe

Code:


OIL Ams SS 5w30 Ams SS 5w30 Ams SS 5w30 Ams SS 5W30 Ams SS 5w30 Ams SS 5w30 Unknown 5w30

MILES IN USE 11,843 8,231 10,040 9,245 7,002 5,086 3,097

MILES ON UNIT 153,570 149,958 141,600 131,560 129,317 127,401 122,315

SAMPLE TAKEN 8/4/13 5/5/13 9/3/12 11/13/11 9/13/11 7/30/11 4/25/11

MAKE UP OIL 0 .25 0 0 0 0 0



ALUMINUM 5 3 4 3 3 3 3

CHROMIUM 1 0 1 1 0 0 1

IRON 25 15 18 16 11 12 19

COPPER 20 16 21 18 16 14 16

LEAD 59 13 48 16 10 7 14

TIN 1 0 5 0 1 2 0

MOLYBDENUM 143 134 140 149 130 146 18

NICKEL 1 0 1 1 0 0 1

MANGANESE 1 0 1 1 1 1 1

SILVER 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

TITANIUM 0 0 0 1 1 1 6

POTASSIUM 3 3 5 0 2 4 0

BORON 50 62 48 52 65 104 8

SILICON 40 26 38 46 38 33 30

SODIUM 18 14 26 67 61 57 212

CALCIUM 3404 3258 3252 3588 3270 3332 1694

MAGNESIUM 15 14 14 15 14 15 12

PHOSPHORUS 640 637 535 733 750 756 667

ZINC 726 715 616 840 932 958 806

BARIUM 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

CADMIUM 0

VANADIUM 0

ANTIMONY 0

LITHIUM 0



SUS @ 210F 65.3 62.1 62.3 59.1 61.4 57.3

Visc @ 100C 11.68 11.0 10.82 10.86 9.96 10.62 9.45

Flashpoint 440 435 435 435 415 390

Fuel %
Antifreeze % 0.0 ? ? 0.0 0.0 0.0

Water % 0.0
Insolubles % 0.3 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.4

TBN 1.1 3.36 1.9

Soot %
Oxidation 54

Nitration 15


Blackstone Inc Comments: (11.9K)
We mentioned last time that your bearings might not like longer oil runs, and we're starting to really think that might be the case. Lead increased quite a bit, and 59 ppm is a lot of bearing wear. Iron increased too, but that metal will track with miles on the oil. Not so with lead. The other metals look great. Silicon is still hanging around, but it's staying steady and probably isn't responsible for the extra lead since it's been there all along. The TBN was pretty low at 1.1, and the viscosity is a bit on the thick side. Try 8,000 miles next time to get lead under control.

Oil Analyzers Inc Comments: (8K)
Base number is moderately low. Abrasives (silicon/dirt) are at a minor level. Boron is slightly low for this lubricant. Oil is suitable for continued use. Re-sample in 3,500 miles or 65 hours.

 

[brandini]

OAI = Dyson labs

I'd do a dual sample next time and see if you get similar differences.

What filter?

 

[FZ1]

Looks like you just need to change the oil every 9,000.

 

[btanchors]

dhellman12,

Can you describe the type of driving and the environment in which you operated this vehicle? I am also running the signature series...and am a bit surprised at the TBN retention in your oil runs, unless the type of service is causing it.

 

[TXHunter]

What filter? Amsoil Ea Oil filter, Wix air filter

Can you describe the type of driving and the environment in which you operated this vehicle?
Mostly city driving. Wife's tahoe to cart around the kids & get groceries, sees more idling time.
From this run I captured the following data:
Miles 11,843.3
Fuel 883.7
MPG 13.4
Avg Speed (MPH) 31

 

[Clevy]

That's disappointing to be honest. A premium product like the sso should be able to last longer than 8000 miles.
I understand the duty cycle is at the bare minimum severe however I expected amsoil to show better than this.
I'd be temped to run a conventional and follow the oil life monitor and test that vs amsoil.
If the conventional costs half as much as amsoil and is viable at 5000 miles I'd just switch over to conventional.
Costs less per mile,and more frequent changes might be the way to go here.

 

[fdcg27]

Judging from the UOAs you've done, 9K seems like the sweet spot for this oil and engine.
Lead increases at a higher rate than miles on your longer drains.
Don't know why, and a UOA is a blunt tool with which to determine wear, but I'd stick with 9K and maybe try a different oil, like PP, PU, M1 or Edge.
There is a member who reported greatly reduced lead levels in his UOAs with gold-bottle (real) Edge over M1, so oil choice relative to engine may matter.

 

[TXHunter]

Last piece of info, oil was in service for right at 11 months. 9.10.12 to 8.4.13.

Got to agree that I'm a bit disappointed in the oil myself. I drained and filled with SSO once more before getting the results back. Depending on how this run goes I may be trying something else next time.

 

[lubedude13]

No single oil is best for every vehicle.

 

[Clevy]

Originally Posted By: dhellman12
Last piece of info, oil was in service for right at 11 months. 9.10.12 to 8.4.13.

Got to agree that I'm a bit disappointed in the oil myself. I drained and filled with SSO once more before getting the results back. Depending on how this run goes I may be trying something else next time.



At least you've got enough sense to test the oil prior to extending drains rather than just believing the advertising.
Could you imagine what a 20000 mile run would look like with just top ups.
I've always been an Amsoil fan and I used it for years blindly believing that using it will lead to my engines lasting a million miles. However cost became a real issue.
2 quarts of Amsoil here off the shelf will cost 40 bucks. I can get a jug of syn on rollback and a filter for less than what 2 quarts of Amsoil cost. Even preferred customer pricing can't beat wal-mart and truth be told PP all ways comes back with great wear numbers and many posted uoa show the oil still serviceable with 7000-8000 miles on it already.
If I'm paying double I need to go double miles. Include the uoa required to establish oil condition into the already extra the consumer is paying and I've truly gotta ask where is the value.
I can use a quality syn at Walmart rollback prices,buy a top tier filter,run the oil 7500 miles and truly sleep easy knowing even if the oil was nearly spent its no biggie because its changed out.
Or I can spend double on the oil itself,then I need a few uoa at 25 bucks a pop(almost what it costs to change the oil itself when rollback purchased)to establish how long I can truly let the oil go. Then hope Amsoil lasts twice as long or more in service so I can re-coup the extra expenses incurred acquiring the data required to safely run extended drains.
I've always been an Amsoil advocate. I've got their filters on my Harley and like 60 quarts in various grades but lately I'm finding it difficult to see the value using Amsoil at the current pricing.
I certainly believe the oil is of great quality,but what if all I need is good quality oil?
If their advertised drain interval wasn't so long then I don't think I'd be as disappointed as I am. An oil touted to be so good it lasts darn near forever,proves to be only as good at what's on the shelf beside it,at 5 bucks a quart more.

 

[Clevy]

Originally Posted By: dhellman12
Last piece of info, oil was in service for right at 11 months. 9.10.12 to 8.4.13.

Got to agree that I'm a bit disappointed in the oil myself. I drained and filled with SSO once more before getting the results back. Depending on how this run goes I may be trying something else next time.



If you can find ultra I'd love to see how well it does as compared to Amsoil. If it shows to be as good as,or better,for slightly less,and an API stamp that would certainly prevent me from ever looking at Amsoil again.

 

[demarpaint]

I agree Clevy. I wonder how the 0W30 would have done?

 

[Pablo]

Where is the silicon coming from?

 

[FZ1]

It's NOT the oil! It's the WEAR SIGNATURE of the ENGINE! Any quality oil,like the Amsoil the op ran,is likley to produce similar results.

 

[Challenger71]

Quoted for truth. This is exactly the answer and is not debatable.

Originally Posted By: FZ1
It's NOT the oil! It's the WEAR SIGNATURE of the ENGINE! Any quality oil,like the Amsoil the op ran,is likley to produce similar results.

 

[DragRace]

Originally Posted By: FZ1
It's NOT the oil! It's the WEAR SIGNATURE of the ENGINE! Any quality oil,like the Amsoil the op ran,is likley to produce similar results.

x2

 

[MolaKule]

5.3L engines shed lead and copper for a long time.


My TrailBlazer has been doing this for 78,000 miles.


There have been various theories proposed from an initial capsule of additives, to startup wear. The oil pump location, front of engine, is further away from the sump which means the pump takes a while to pressurize the lubrication system.

Interesting thing is, the oil pressure in my engine goes up to 45 psi in 1-2 seconds upon startup.

 

[Petersubaru]

Originally Posted By: Challenger71
Quoted for truth. This is exactly the answer and is not debatable.

Originally Posted By: FZ1
It's NOT the oil! It's the WEAR SIGNATURE of the ENGINE! Any quality oil,like the Amsoil the op ran,is likley to produce similar results.
..isn't near 900 gallons of gas used in this run a lot...I tend to think that between 250-400 gals of gas would be used during each oil change..because my driving and weather conditions widely vary, I tend to base my oil changes on Gallons used...if you are interested, this article has something to say about it.@ http://www.agcoauto.com/content/news/p2_articleid/291

 

[DandR]

I have ran into the same concern (SSO Amsoil 0-30 signature series) I have a Impala 3.4 2002 with 177000 kms now, and when oil was replaced between 159-160000 (we bought it with this KMS on it) this is a similar situation as the person(s) of this thread, please read my story.

"Comments"
Check air induction system (Filter housing air intake etc) for source of abrasive (Dirt)
Abrasives are at Servere levels:
Suggest Monitoring oil pressure closely between samples:
Bearing is at a s significant level: base number is serverly low.
sodium is at a minor level: sodium soures: coolant (Antifreeze) lube additive of supplement and/or environmental contaminant.

Iron 206 Potassium 5
Chromium 6 Titanium 0
Nickel 2 Molybdenuim 45
Aluminium 26 Antimony 4
Copper 74 Maganese 14
Lead 170 Lithium 0
Tin 13 Boron 37
Cadimium 0 Magnesium 15
Silver 0 Calcium 1955
Vanadium 0 Barium 0
Silicon 156 Phosphorous 406
Sodium 92 Zinc 586

 

[KCJeep]

Originally Posted By: DandR
I have ran into the same concern (SSO Amsoil 0-30 signature series) I have a Impala 3.4 2002 with 177000 kms now, and when oil was replaced between 159-160000 (we bought it with this KMS on it) this is a similar situation as the person(s) of this thread, please read my story.

"Comments"
Check air induction system (Filter housing air intake etc) for source of abrasive (Dirt)
Abrasives are at Servere levels:
Suggest Monitoring oil pressure closely between samples:
Bearing is at a s significant level: base number is serverly low.
sodium is at a minor level: sodium soures: coolant (Antifreeze) lube additive of supplement and/or environmental contaminant.

Iron 206 Potassium 5
Chromium 6 Titanium 0
Nickel 2 Molybdenuim 45
Aluminium 26 Antimony 4
Copper 74 Maganese 14
Lead 170 Lithium 0
Tin 13 Boron 37
Cadimium 0 Magnesium 15
Silver 0 Calcium 1955
Vanadium 0 Barium 0
Silicon 156 Phosphorous 406
Sodium 92 Zinc 586


Oh my word that thing was chewing itself up! Hope you got the contamination corrected.