4th UOA, 07 Yukon Denali w/6.2L, 8600 mile, Mobil Delvac 1 ESP 5w30

[donjetman]

Sorry for this novel, and the title of this thread is incorrect, this oil has 10,200 miles on it.

Here are my latest used oil analysis reports. I do UOA because I find it interesting and educational. I hope you do too. I've been doing UOA on various vehicles and fluids(oil, atf, coolant) for 10+ yrs.

This time I sent a sample to both Blackstone Labs and Oil Analyzers Inc. Each sample was from the same load of oil out of my 07 6.2 Denali.

This was the first time that I've sent a sample for this vehicle to Blackstone Labs.

This is the fourth time I've sent a sample for this vehicle to OAI.
On the OAI report:
Oil samples 1 & 2 were about Mobil Delvac 1 ESP 5w40.
and samples 3 & 4 were about Mobil Delvac 1 ESP 5w30.

As you may recall? I had a plactic heater hose t-fitting break half way thru oil load #3. That is why the results were less than good. I replaced both t-fittings with the metal Gruven units. Lesson learned, if your engine gets hot, change the oil immediately. Don't run it for another 4k miles.

I believe the slightly elevated IRON in the latest results was from "rust" that may have been inside the steel 1 gal tank I added to my oil system at the start of this run.

My Yukon holds 11 qts of oil now. A yr ago, because of boredom from the CCP flu lockdown, I added an oil cooler, and a 1 gal steel external oil tank. The bypass filter system, with large 1 qt filter, has been in place since late 2018.

Here's some info on the oil, filters and vehicle:
Mobil Delvac 1 ESP 5w30 - 11 qts
Fram XG10575 full flow filter
Amsoil EaBP90 bypass filter
Vehicle total mileage - 167,440
Total hrs on vehicle since new - 5040
Total hrs on this oil - 222
Total miles on this oil - 10,240
Total time on oil - 1 year
Fuel used - 608 gals
Avg mpg - 16.8
Avg gal/hr - 2.738
Avg mph - 46
OLM - 13% remaining

There was NOT any make-up oil added. It does use any.

The catch can caught 2 oz during this 10k mile run.

6,000 of these miles was hwy driving at speed limits up to 80 mph in the western US on premium unleaded.
4,200 of these miles was local rural driving on a mix of regular unleaded and E85, or E20.
No towing.

I changed the oil to Costco Kirkland 5w30. I think I'll run premium unleaded only this time. We'll see how this oil holds up.

What say you?

 

[HD_LS]

Great details. Thanks for posting that. I've saved your results sheets to use for future comparisons to any oil analysis that I have done.

 

[wsteele]

Thanks for posting Don. Very interesting indeed.

We used to use oil analysis when I was racing (SCCA). I haven't used it since those days and never with my street cars/truck. Maybe time to start using it, given my intention of keeping what I have for as long as possible.

It has been so long, when I first looked at the results, it dawned on me I had forgotten everything about what each item might mean. The editorial by the labs was really helpful to get me refocused and starting to comprehend.

It is funny, I just decided with my next change, I will be going to Kirkland Full Syn 5W30 and Wix filters (or the Napa equiv). For most of its life I used Valvoline full syn 5W30 and Wix.

I have been using my local dealer for oil changes for quite a few years as they charge less than it will cost me to do it myself (loss leader on their part), but I think staying closer to the truck is a good idea going forward. I think I will start using oil analysis as well.

Again, thanks for the reminder, very thought provoking.

 

[avalonandl]

You have an 11 qt sump. No wonder your oil is so good. My Denali is a 6 qt. system. I use 5-30 Dexos 2 and AC oil filters. I change my oil at 5000 miles because I am convinced the previous owners were not great about OC given that it had OE plugs at 134k miles when I bought it.

 

[donjetman]

IMO, No more than "1000 miles per qt of oil sump capacity" is a good rule of thumb for these all aluminum 6.2s when a premium synthetic oil is used.

 

[iamdub]

I'm intrigued at how the different weight of what I presume to be otherwise identical oils showed more iron, aluminum and tin along with less zinc, phosphorous and molybdenum. Also, I like OAI's report format more.

 

[donjetman]

It is funny, I just decided with my next change, I will be going to Kirkland Full Syn 5W30

It is 2Dexos approved

Here's the PQIA assessment and test results for Kirkland 5w30
https://pqia.org/kirkland-full-synthetic-sae-5w-30-motor-oil/

I've read on an "oil forum" that it's the same as Walmart SuperTech synthetic and Amazonbasics synthetic.

 

[wsteele]

It is 2Dexos approved

Here's the PQIA assessment and test results for Kirkland 5w30
https://pqia.org/kirkland-full-synthetic-sae-5w-30-motor-oil/

I've read on an "oil forum" that it's the same as Walmart SuperTech synthetic and Amazonbasics synthetic.

I saw it at Costco one day (about the time I started mulling resuming my own changes). I saw the 2Dexos on the label and have had good luck with a few other Costco "Kirkland" products, although I tend to steer away from store labels.

I then checked out a couple of YouTube videos where guys who are semi credible test things and it came through their tests with pretty high marks, so thought I would give it a try.

 

[donjetman]

I'm intrigued at how the different weight of what I presume to be otherwise identical oils showed more iron, aluminum and tin along with less zinc, phosphorous and molybdenum. Also, I like OAI's report format more.

I like the 5w40 results and formulation better than the 5w30.

There are differences in the two Mobil Delvac 1 ESP oils. Here's "virgin" results that I found:

5w30 & 5w40

Aluminum 8 2
Chromium 0 0
Iron 1 0
Copper 0 0
Lead 0 1
Tin 1 0
Molybdenum 0 50
Nickel 0 0
Manganese 0 0
Silver 0 0
Titanium 0 0
Potassium 0 1
Boron 78 134
Silicon 4 4
Sodium 3 9
Calcium 1170 1126
Magnesium 845 973
Phosphorus 756 1159
Zinc 819 1343
Barium 0 0
TBN = 11 10.2

 

[wsteele]

It is 2Dexos approved

Here's the PQIA assessment and test results for Kirkland 5w30
https://pqia.org/kirkland-full-synthetic-sae-5w-30-motor-oil/

I've read on an "oil forum" that it's the same as Walmart SuperTech synthetic and Amazonbasics synthetic.

Comparing the numbers published on their site, I could see Walmart's SuperTech High Mileage Synthetic 5W30 being the same oil as the Kirkland 5W30. While not identical, they sure look like they could be "in the margin of error" from 2 tests. The Amazon basics seems pretty far apart to the other two.