Clean Oil Case Study

Signifcant savings on equipment

down-time and service intervals

The Situation Construction machinery is built to withstand the harshest o conditions. To avoid down-time, these machines

should be maintained in the best way possible. One o our customers experienced a ailure on a machine which

could be tracked back to bad maintenance. The machine did not have any service records and was in a very poor

shape. I no action was taken immediately, the rest o the machine park with 20 articulated dump trucks and 7

excavators would be susceptible to similar ailures, resulting in tremendous amounts in cost.

The Challenge 

In order to mend the overheating problems in the hydraulic system o the vehicles at this customer, a hydraulic

equipment dealer had advised to change the hydraulic oil rom 10W40 to 15W40. In response, the customer had

changed the oil to 15W40 on the hydraulics o all machines. Moreover equipment engines and hydraulics were

running standard SAE50 in transmissions, drive trains and nale drives.

With between 9.000 and 14.000 operating hours on the machines, rst oil tests showed that 63 samples were out

o specication. To save the equipment, all compartments were re-sampled ater 250 service hours. Meanwhile,

one machine broke down and led to a $25k repair cost. 

The Solution Because the problem was so severe, Donaldson took immediate action to analyse the situation. Upon

recommendation, the customer decided to purchase the Donaldson particle and water test kit (X009329) and

started a ull test program on all fuids, excluding engine oil which was sent to the equipment dealer. Test kit

results showed that the dierential and nal drive fuids were reaching their particle count limits beore the

recommended oil change intervals. Thereore, nal drive oils were monitored and replaced as soon as the

contamination limits were reached. The drive train oil, SAE-50, is stored in a tank which is equipped with

Donaldson P568666 cans and P570248 superabsorbent technology to ensure clean and dry storage.

Sampling with the basic test kit plus using Dexsil TBN and TAN test kits allowed tracking the acidity and alkalinity

o the fuids. This analysis allowed the customer to reuse the fuid, extend the oil service intervals and resulted in

cost-savings. The engine oil is now changed every 250 hours.

 

Donaldson Europe b.v.b.a.

Interleuvenlaan 1

3001 Leuven

Belgium

Engine-europe@donaldson.com

www.donaldson.com

North America 800-374-1374

Mexico +52-449-910-6150

Latin Am. & Carib. +52-449-910-6150

Brazil +55-11-2119-1604

South Arica +27-11-997-6000

South East Asia 65-6311-7373

Greater China 852-2405-8388

Japan 81-42-540-4112

Australia 61-02-4350-2033

India +91-124-2290060

Donaldson Delivers

Clean. Protect. Polish. ™

Field ResultsThe dealer’s recommendation is to change out engines at 14.000 hours on the articulated trucks. The

customer ran three engines to 20.000 hours and pulled them down to nd no major damage or ailures, they

also ran transmissions and nal drives passing 16.000 hours and still having good oil samples which indicate

they will go to at least 20.000 hours.

Example: An articulated dump truck uses:

• 160 liters o engine oil every 1.000hours > 3 euro p/l. = 500 euro

• 330 liters o hydraulics oil every 1.000 hours > 3 euro p/l. = 1.000 euro

• 304 liters drive train oil > 3 euro p/l = 925 euro

The engine oil is sold as waste. The hydraulic oil is cleaned and reused as drive train oil. With the on-site oil

sampling you get the answers to take the right decisions on your component rebuilds.

In 18 months the customer has gone up rom poor maintenance to preventative and predictive maintenance

realizing savings not only with down-time reduction and planned maintenance but with extended component

lie and the reduction o stock o spare parts.

Conclusion: The customer believes it is a must to have on-site in-house oil sampling and put in place

all the necessary contamination control tools needed, lter the new fuid beore it goes into the

machine and oil sample points. Good quality oil handling equipment will save a lot o money and cut

down-time.

The Portable Fluid Analysis KitFluid analysis is a snapshot o what is happening inside your equipment. It tells you the condition o the

lubricant and identies component wear and contamination in virtually any application. The Portable Fluid

Analysis Kit (Part No. X009329) allows you to conduct immediate on-site particulate analysis in as little as ten

minutes.

Benefts

• Identiy opportunities or optimizing ltration perormance

• When improvements are made, use it to monitor the

• cleanliness status o the system.

• Saely extend drain intervals

• Minimize downtime by identiying minor problems

• beore they become major ailures

• Extend equipment lie

• Great alternative to expensive, portable electronic devices

The Donaldson Portable Fluid Analysis Kit includes enough supplies

or 100 fuid samples. All items are securely packaged and well-

protected with laser-etched oam in a sturdy carrying case.

ISO 22/21/18

Typical

cleanliness o

delivered fuids

ISO 18/16/13

Target rating or

heavy gear/ 

engine oils

 

ISO 14/13/11

Target rating or

diesel uel

ISO 16/14/11

 

Target rating

or hydraulic/ 

transmission oils

Common Industry ISO Cleanliness Ratings