For those who don't know, Dodge and Cummins specifically states that the 5.9L CTD engine can go 15,000 miles between oil changes on schedule A. For the record, I've only towed 1,000 miles out of the 12,700 miles on my truck. I didn't really think much about the 15k oil change until someone mentioned that this is not a good thing. I decided to get the oil change immediately (at 12,700 miles) and get an oil analysis done on it. This is what came back, for anyone who is curious :

 

So it's stiil good? Is that what that says?

 

looks like your white blood cell count is a little low.... can you come back in 2 weeks for a re-check?




im sorry, i wish i knew what all that ment

 

Looks pretty good for that many miles. Did you pay for the TBN test? The TBN indicates how the additives are holding up.

 

How about fuel dilution percentage (the lower part of the report)?

 

I'm by no means an expert, but it would seem that 12,700 mile on break in oil is not a good thing, according to the report.

If you look at my numbers compared to the universal average, they are a bit high. The biggest values are iron, copper, and silicon which is due to the break in of the engine. This is why they said that going 12k+ miles on the break in oil is not a good idea. They suggested 6700 miles for my next oil change.

I think it would be interesting to see how these numbers look after my engine has been broken in.

As for the bottom values, the image isn't showing up for some reason. Let me fix that.

 

Also, here's a break down on where the elements come from :

Aluminum: Pistons, bearings, cases (heads & blocks).
Chromium: Rings, a trace element in steel.
Iron: Cylinders, rotating shafts, the valve train, and any steel part sharing the oil.
Copper : Brass or bronze parts, copper bushings, bearings, oil coolers, also an additive in some gasoline engine oils.
Lead: Bearings.
Tin : Bearings, bronze parts, piston coatings.
Molybdenum: Anti-wear additive, coating on some new rings
(washes off as break-in occurs).
Nickel : Trace element in steel.
Manganese: Trace element, additive in gasoline.
Silver: Trace element.
Titanium: Trace element.
Potassium: Antifreeze inhibitor, additive in some oil types.
Boron: Detergent/dispersant additive, antifreeze inhibitors.
Silicon : Airborne dirt, sealers, gaskets, antifreeze inhibitors.
Sodium: Antifreeze inhibitors, additive in some gasoline engine oils.
Calcium : Detergent/dispersant additive.
Magnesium: Detergent/dispersant additive.
Phosphorus: Anti-wear additive.
Zinc : Anti-wear additive.
Barium: Detergent/dispersant additive.

 

I ran Amsoil 30k miles once towing (HEAVILY). I changed the filter every 10k miles. I wish I could find the analysis.