Everyone should change the differential fluids sooner rather than later

[SwampNut]

Auto correct and I didn't double check it ?? plus I was in the company of some good bourbon too. ?

Damn Siri and autocorrect. Seriously, when has anyone ever wanted to tell someone to go duck themselves?

Mmmm...bourbon.

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[SwampNut]

A couple years ago, I found out that my neighbor had NO IDEA that you should change diff oil at all, ever. He had just over 140k on his truck at that time, bought new. Never changed the oil. No issues, no noise. I suggested we send the oil in for analysis both for fun, and to learn about potential upcoming issues with it. The result is kind of shockingly "bad but not a big deal."

 

[SwampNut]

Some other interesting stuff from their newsletters.


How does hard towing affect engine wear?

https://www.blackstone-labs.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Gas-Diesel-2011-03-01-On-Towing.pdf

The Moment of Truth As soon as we got back I had the engine oil changed, along with any other gearboxes I hadn’t already changed out earlier. A day later my emailed report arrived. To my amazement and delight, engine wear hadn’t changed at all! Not a bit! The extra 1 ppm iron that turned up is from the longer oil change (6,672 miles vs. only 5,175 miles for the pre-trip sample). Iron tends to accumulate with more miles on the oil.

I was wrong in my assumption that towing and mountain driving would cause excessive wear. In large part I think this can be chalked up to the engine type. Perhaps it would have turned out differently had I been using old oil; the metals could have conceivably accumulated to levels that would have made the oil abrasive, which will cause excessive wear. But with clean oil, I didn’t find any change at all. Taco-Ma did us right.





And what happens to oil that sits in an old locomotive for 50 years unused?

This Baldwin locomotive has been sitting on display in a park in Albuquerque, New Mexico for more than fifty years. Between the lawn sprinklers, vandals, and the elements, it's been through a lot. The restorers were concerned water might have made its way into the oil and caused damage to the bearings and journal boxes. But a small amount of water was found in only one instance. The oil was very thick -- off the charts for normal oil -- and 4.0% solid material was present. Note the additive package (calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc and barium) -- a far cry from the oils we see today. To learn more about the restoration of the Santa Fe 2926 and see this locomotive, visit www.nmslrhs.org

 

[Blade1668]

Some other interesting stuff from their newsletters.


How does hard towing affect engine wear?

https://www.blackstone-labs.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Gas-Diesel-2011-03-01-On-Towing.pdf

The Moment of Truth As soon as we got back I had the engine oil changed, along with any other gearboxes I hadn’t already changed out earlier. A day later my emailed report arrived. To my amazement and delight, engine wear hadn’t changed at all! Not a bit! The extra 1 ppm iron that turned up is from the longer oil change (6,672 miles vs. only 5,175 miles for the pre-trip sample). Iron tends to accumulate with more miles on the oil.

I was wrong in my assumption that towing and mountain driving would cause excessive wear. In large part I think this can be chalked up to the engine type. Perhaps it would have turned out differently had I been using old oil; the metals could have conceivably accumulated to levels that would have made the oil abrasive, which will cause excessive wear. But with clean oil, I didn’t find any change at all. Taco-Ma did us right.





And what happens to oil that sits in an old locomotive for 50 years unused?

This Baldwin locomotive has been sitting on display in a park in Albuquerque, New Mexico for more than fifty years. Between the lawn sprinklers, vandals, and the elements, it's been through a lot. The restorers were concerned water might have made its way into the oil and caused damage to the bearings and journal boxes. But a small amount of water was found in only one instance. The oil was very thick -- off the charts for normal oil -- and 4.0% solid material was present. Note the additive package (calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc and barium) -- a far cry from the oils we see today. To learn more about the restoration of the Santa Fe 2926 and see this locomotive, visit www.nmslrhs.org

A M35A1 I drove in Germany back in 89 had 5 oil samples pulled by me in about a year of being the driver of it all came back good but no one knew how long it had been running the same oil (multi-fuel engine) I know that it had to have been contaminated being it never needed any oil to top it off during that time. The guy who was the driver of it when he got to the unit had been there for 8 years already. About a year after I left Support Plt. to a line company a oil sample came back needing to replace filters and oil, then all the seals failed and had to have a new engine. When I started driving it I said the oil needed changed it acted more like gear oil than engine oil it was so thick it would not drip off dipstick without being ran up to temperature first. Last time I seen that truck was in Camp Doha, Kuwait in 1998, I thought it was funny to see it again after 10 years. It was easy for me to recognize it due to I had to paint it by hand and fill in a few bullet holes with paint. I don't know the story on them.

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