01/11/2023
When diesel owners hear about the FS-2500 and its ability to extend oil drain intervals dramatically, some are, understandably shocked that anyone in their right mind would even consider going 80,000 to 120,000 miles or a full year without changing their oil. I say “understandably” because without seeing for oneself just how and why this is possible, that does sound ridiculous.
Filtration Solutions Worldwide has been in business extending oil changes dramatically and completely stopping wear in diesel engines for 27 years and extending oil changes to this extent would not be possible without our unique bypass filter design.
Let’s consider in detail a real-world example of an extended oil change made possible by the FS-2500 and show that it is not only possible to safely extend oil change intervals dramatically, but that it is also one of the smartest business decisions that you can make.
First, how do you determine that it is safe to extend your oil change interval? In your spare time do you study Lubrication Engineering? Do you just take the word of a filter salesman? Of course not! What we suggest that our customers do is to take a virgin or NEW sample of whatever oil they use straight of the bottle, drum or tank and send it in to a reputable oil sample lab for analysis. The sample report of your virgin oil is the “STANDARD” that all future “used” samples will be compared to. I think that you would agree that this sample is as good as your oil can get, oil that has never been in an engine.
The first sample shown here is a virgin sample of Shell Rotella® T6 5W40 synthetic diesel engine oil. This is an example of how the FS-2500 will filter the oil so well that the service life can be extended. Comparable results can be achieved with any synthetic oil that you are using. Of course, results like this can also be had using petroleum-based oils as well and we will show a virgin vs. used oil comparison soon.
This virgin sample shows everything that is important about the oil, the viscosity of the oil, the virgin base number or TBN of the oil and the additive package in the oil.
VISCOSITY- As you can see, the viscosity of the oil straight out of the bottle is 13.7 cSt 100°C. The “go no go” range for viscosity to be considered “in spec” for a 40w oil is 12.5 cSt 100°C to 16.29 cSt 100°. Any reading between these numbers is GOOD. As you can see, straight of the bottle the viscosity is 13.7 cSt 100°.
TBN TBN or Total Base Number is basically a measurement of the active detergents and dispersants in the oil at the time of the sample, the virgin TBN is 9.5.
ADDITIVE PACKAGE- Chemical compounds that improve the lubricating performance of the base oil. Oil manufacturers will take a base oil and add specific additives at specific amounts to produce their preferred “recipe” for their brand oil. All things being equal, more additives are better than less additives. On an oil sample report, additives are measured in ppm or parts per million. For this oil, the additives are:
Magnesium: 942 ppm
Calcium: 607 ppm
Barium: ˂1
Phosphorus: 1149 ppm
Zinc: 1286 ppm
Molybdenum: 68 ppm
Boron: 45 ppm
The second oil sample is from one of our customers using the FS-2500 in 379 Peterbilt with a CAT C15 engine. This sample report has six samples on it with time on oil from 361,000 miles to 477,842 miles. This may be more miles than you would ever put on your oil, but this is a fitting example of what is capable using the FS-2500! Oil that looks perfect at over 400,000 miles will look great at 80,000 to 100,000 miles, right? Let’s compare this virgin sample to the used oil sample using the FS-2500.
VISCOSITY- Viscosity is one of the most important properties of diesel lubricating oil and it is one that deteriorates with use. Probably the two biggest factors that affect oil viscosity in a diesel engine are soot and heat/oxidation. The viscosity reading of the virgin oil sample of Shell Rotella® T6 5w40 straight out of the bottle is 13.7 cSt 100C, as you can see on the used sample report viscosity varied from 13.4 to 14.2 over the 116,755 miles represented in this 6-sample period with the last sample at 477,842 miles being exactly the same as the viscosity was before the oil ever went in the engine 13.7! So, when someone says “You can’t extend your oil drains like that because your viscosity will breakdown and ruin your engine!”, we can show that is not the case. If you have a bypass filter that is as efficient as the FS-2500 is, the soot and contaminants that would negatively affect the viscosity can be removed or control to the point that viscosity will remain at or very close to virgin level, allowing you to safely and responsibly extend your oil drain intervals to a level that you are comfortable with.
SOOT- Soot is probably the single biggest problem for a diesel that can be measured by oil analysis. Soot is particularly problematic because it is very small when created, between 0.2-0.5 microns in size which is too small for any full flow engine filter to every catch and hold. Soot is carbon based, so if it is not removed from the engine and controlled as the engine operates, due to heat, time and pressure like diamonds it becomes very hard and abrasive. Soot, if allowed to load in the oil, will agglomerate or stick together and become larger. This process will deplete the additive package and thicken the oil causing viscosity to rise out of spec from the virgin oil specific weight. The additives in the oil (all of them but especially the dispersant additives calcium and magnesium) will bind to insolubles in the oil, in diesel engines this is primarily soot. As the dispersant additives become depleted, the soot particles agglomerate and form sludge, as mentioned above increase viscosity and increase engine wear. It goes without saying that if you cannot control/remove soot, you cannot safely and responsibly increase oil change intervals. As you can see, the soot levels in this series of oil samples are extremely low, in fact, no soot reading is more than 0.3% (it is common to see soot levels of 2.0% to 4.0% at normal oil drain mileage on most diesel engines). So, when someone says “That’s crazy, you can’t extend your oil drains like that because the soot would be so high it would ruin your engine!”, we can show that is not the case. When you have a bypass filter that is as efficient at the FS-2500 is, can accomplish things that were impossible previously.
ADDITIVES- The additives in the oil are what make the oil a good lubricant. Each additive chemical has a specific job, but they also have tasks that they all share in, namely binding to insolubles as mentioned above in diesel engines insolubles are primarily soot. It goes without saying that if the additive package stays at or near the same levels that they were “before” the oil ever goes into an engine at extended drain, that would be the best of all possible outcomes. The virgin additive package in Shell Rotella T® T6 5w40 is Magnesium 942 ppm, Calcium 607 ppm, Phosphorous 1,149 ppm, Zinc 1,286 ppm, Molybdenum 68 ppm and Boron 45 ppm.
As you can, all the additives in this oil are at or very close to the virgin levels 477,842 miles. Removing soot and other contaminants at the efficiencies that the FS-2500 does will keep the additive package from depleting allow you to extend your oil change intervals not only dramatically, but safely and responsibly. Even if there is no way you would ever go over 400,000 miles on your oil, you can have confidence that at whatever your oil change goals are, your oil will be virtually the same as virgin when you get there. So, when someone says, “You can’t extend your oil drains like that because the additives in the oil will be gone, and you will blow up your engine!” We can show that the FS-2500 will keep your additives at or near virgin levels at extended drains. Let’s face it, if the oil sample is the same as virgin at 80,000 miles or more why throw it away?
BASE NUMBER/TBN- TBN or Total Base Number is basically a measurement of the active detergents and dispersants in the oil at the time of the sample. The virgin TBN is 9.5 and 2.0 to 3.0 is considered the level at which the oil should be changed. Without the FS-2500, this number drops quickly during the oil change interval. As you service the filter and add make up oil during the drain interval, the TBN will fluctuate, as you can see the TBN ranged from 5.8 to 7.4 between 361,000 miles and 477,842 miles, this is normal; but it never got close to 2.0 or 3.0.
This oil was eventually changed at 763,000 miles, not because the oil “had” to be changed, but because the oil pan gasket failed and to repair it the oil had to be changed. The last sample we have is at 733,000 miles with the viscosity at 14.5, soot at 0.4%, oxidation at 0.14 and TBN at 5.7; all excellent numbers. This is just one example of the FS-2500’s ability to clean the oil to the extent that it the service life of the oil can be extended dramatically saving the end user time and money. We have thousands more examples with all types of oil. We will post more examples using petroleum-based oils next.
Please let us know it you have any questions.
