Long time coming but finally got everything together.
Sample #1 M1 5w50 (I posted earlier on the forum)
Sample #2 RL 5w50
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Let’s get right to the numbers. M1 performed well, but iron wear rate with the Red Line was much lower yet. This is the big one on this platform. They tend to shed a lot of it so getting the rate this low is virtually unheard of. Especially on an engine pushing 15 PSI boost in a 6500lb brick. Subtracting the background 2 PPM iron found in the virgin sample left the rate at 2.89 PPM/ per 1000 miles. 62% lower than the universal average for all oils in the platform! Talk about having your cake and eating it. Adding more power and still seeing less wear!
Copper. This is one that can be sticky with these trucks. Absent any spikes in aluminum or tin we can assume leeching from the oil cooler, which is all it is here. Completely harmless. Typically, doing what I have done (changing oil chemistries back and forth) can make it worse. The copper passivates and then a different chemistry like the esters in Red Line will effectively strip that copper oxide layer and restart the process. I spoke to Lake Speed Jr. about this a little while back and he is working on some testing which hopefully will give us more information on the science behind the leeching. It’s not something that has been studied enough.
Viscosity. As expected, Red Line simply doesn’t shear and held up great. Which in big part contributed to the low wear rate. Think I’ve been pounding the table on viscosity enough now!
Finally, I didn’t want to make it all about E85 because this oil would work equally well with gasoline. But it’s impossible to ignore the impact of this fuel on the oil. Or more accurately, the lack of impact. It’s common to for people to say that if you run E85 you should change oil twice as often. The thinking would be that since you burn a lot more fuel than with straight gasoline, the opportunity for dilution is higher. This is flawed thinking because alcohol is so light, it’s gone before it ever really takes hold in the oil. Left behind is just water which is also quickly evaporated. Thus as expected, and as I’ve seen in the past on other vehicles, dilution was below detection limits. So basically nothing. Oil was clean in color, free of any smell and my catch can has been staying pretty much empty. I don’t have to baby sit it like I used to.
Thanks in big part to the clean fuel, TBN retention was also stellar, this oil has a LOT of life left! Good thing I didn’t change it! 4k would likely be no problem.
Some final thoughts/ operational notes:
I have a ton of fun with this truck and do WOT on-ramp pulls once or twice every time I take it out. That said, I’m sensible. I don’t run it hard until up to temp. I minimize idling, and don’t short trip it. My average speed for this interval was 43 MPH. Probably double what a city slicker would see. Anyway, my point is that these are easy things anyone can do to get better results with any product.
The worst test results I’ve seen with these Hemis are always short tripped, idled, or run hard with high oil temps. All scenarios which are made much worse when you use these sub-par factory spec oils that simply don’t have the MOFT and polarity to protect in anything less than ideal conditions.
Very pleased to say I have found my oil. I will probably turn the truck loose for awhile and NOT sample every change as I have done basically since I bought it. I had a lot of fun watching the progress but I sort of knew this would be where I would end up!
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