Extending Oil Drain Intervals: What is your experience?


Pulled so hard it cracked the block I see.
I think somebody let water freeze in it.

I had 'em weld that up in 2003.

The weld leaks because they suck at TIG. I think it's antifreeze puddles have killed two dogs and an owl so far.

Extended oil intervals though, (so Mike doesn't go on a deletion spree again 😁) I only run that tractor maybe 2-3 hours a year. So I went ten years without changing it. It was black and thick and I had to scrape sludge out of the filter can. Damn thing had no thermostat.
 
I think somebody let water freeze in it.

I had 'em weld that up in 2003.

The weld leaks because they suck at TIG. I think it's antifreeze puddles have killed two dogs and an owl so far.

Extended oil intervals though, (so Mike doesn't go on a deletion spree again 😁) I only run that tractor maybe 2-3 hours a year. So I went ten years without changing it. It was black and thick and I had to scrape sludge out of the filter can. Damn thing had no thermostat.
Must’ve been water because no 2n in the history of the world has ever pulled hard enough to break a rod.
 
Must’ve been water because no 2n in the history of the world has ever pulled hard enough to break a rod.
Anyway the oil got full of sludge because of overcooling. It doesn't run hot enough to evaporate moisture and condensation.

They ran them with 160° thermostats or no thermostat at all, because glycol hadn't been invented yet.

They ran straight water in the summer and alcohol in the winter. The alcohol would evaporate above 160°.

So they overcooled and sludge built up in the oil.

I put a 190° thermostat in it.

Diesel trucks also overcool when idling. So I'd assume they'd also build up sludge when idling overnight in cold weather. But I've never heard of it happening. :dunno:

You probably won't get any sludge in an oil sample because it stays in the engine when you drop the oil.
 
There's been fleets trying the regular oil sample bs for years and gained nothing. They've done the extended oil change stuff for years to cut costs, wear out bushings and bearings and pass the buck to the end user who buys the truck. Nothing more nothing less.

A 1 or 2 truck operation gains nothing by doing either one of those ideas.

First, how do you gain nothing by doing oil analysis? If you can catch coolant in your oil, or fuel dilution, before it gets to be a big problem, can you see no benefit there?

As for fleets extending oil drains, that is not what we are talking about here. Fleets extend simply to save money, with no addition of bypass filtration. Doing it that way, you are obviously destroying an engine with no regard to how the truck performs at high mileage.
 
He probably deleted a whole bunch of ironpony's trollish posts, and one of yours was in reply to it or something. The message was probably intended for IP.

No, I deleted continual stuff regarding Kevin Rutherford, which this thread has nothing to do with, and it continued again after deleting it all. Since everyone is concerned and needs to know, that is what is up and I will post this publicly for a few minutes.
 
Anyway the oil got full of sludge because of overcooling. It doesn't run hot enough to evaporate moisture and condensation.

They ran them with 160° thermostats or no thermostat at all, because glycol hadn't been invented yet.

They ran straight water in the summer and alcohol in the winter. The alcohol would evaporate above 160°.

So they overcooled and sludge built up in the oil.

I put a 190° thermostat in it.

Diesel trucks also overcool when idling. So I'd assume they'd also build up sludge when idling overnight in cold weather. But I've never heard of it happening. :dunno:

You probably won't get any sludge in an oil sample because it stays in the engine when you drop the oil.
The spinner type bypass filters “sling” the contaminates out of the oil and you are left with a sludge you have to clean out of the canister. The problem may be the 2n doesn’t hold enough oil to keep the sludge suspended in the oil so it eventually becomes all sludge.
 
As for fleets extending oil drains, that is not what we are talking about here. Fleets extend simply to save money, with no addition of bypass filtration. Doing it that way, you are obviously destroying an engine with no regard to how the truck performs at high mileage.
Big fleets are all part of the ATA (Anti Trucking Association). They lobby government for things that hurt their competitors. Small fleets and independents.

Who buys their used equipment? Small fleets and O/O's.

Extended oil drains without bypass filtration is to them, probably just another way to screw over the competition while saving a few bucks in the process.
 
Well for starters, can you explain EXACTLY what you do when you find supposedly High coolant ppm numbers in your oil sample? Whats your very first step?

On the other thought, I agree 100% about the fleets. Point is, doing extended oil changes on an older engine just because you run a bypass filter guarantees nothing.

Identify what is causing the coolant intrusion, and fix it.
 
Extended oil drains without bypass filtration is to them, probably just another way to screw over the competition while saving a few bucks in the process.

If you are operating a piece of machinery for 400k miles and dumping it, with a guaranteed value at the end of that 400k, why would you do additional work to it that gains you nothing, and only costs you money? Really has nothing to do with the point of the thread, but common sense tells me to bypass the maintenance that I won't benefit in any way by doing.
 
The spinner type bypass filters “sling” the contaminates out of the oil and you are left with a sludge you have to clean out of the canister. The problem may be the 2n doesn’t hold enough oil to keep the sludge suspended in the oil so it eventually becomes all sludge.
It's a regular type of paper element filter.
Capacity 4 qts
 
If you are operating a piece of machinery for 400k miles and dumping it, with a guaranteed value at the end of that 400k, why would you do additional work to it that gains you nothing, and only costs you money? Really has nothing to do with the point of the thread, but common sense tells me to bypass the maintenance that I won't benefit in any way by doing.
I'd see it as dishonest to sell a piece of equipment without telling the buyer you ignored the maintenance schedule.
 

Back
Top