Long term oil changes with low engine hours, harmful?

[UncleDan]

I work at a data center and on site we have eight 16 cylinder Caterpillar diesel generators. Right now their's a big pissing contest going on with Caterpillar about how long the oil change cycles on these engines should be. We run all 8 engines once per month for one hour as allowed by the EPA, but other than that they are on standby in the event of a power hit, which rarely happens here.

Is two years between oil changes too long even though these engine run super low hours? Caterpillar is telling us it's fine, but my boss wants the oil changes to be more frequent, say twice a year. I understand oil breaks down over time, and gets acidic. The concern is that it could also break down seals and then we'd have a real problem. It's a mission critical data center and we can't have that kind of thing happen here.

I am just wondering if anyone here has good knowledge of this. I personally think two years is a stretch even with the low amount of hours we put on these engines. And I also think it makes a difference that we don't run them constantly. Just a short one hour run, then back to sitting there for another month.

Caterpillar is pushing for the two years but I'm pretty sure that's because they don't want to pay the cost of hazardous waste disposal so frequently for 8 engines. I also have no idea why this argument got sparked all of a sudden. I just work here. :coolman:

 

[ThinkTwice]

Contact the oil manufacturer and get their take on it.

 

[GTSpartan]

Get the oil tested. There are many companies out there that do it. That will give you a good idea of the condition of the oil.

As long as it doesn't get contaminated, it should last a very long time. There is industrial equipment out there that goes a lot longer than that between lubrication changes. They monitor the oil condition and just change filters.

 

[itSSlow98]

If caterpillar says it's fine and your using their recommended oil I'll trust it. They aren't in the business they are in because they are stupid. The amount of research they put into those machines has to be insane.

I'd venture to say the fuel needs to be addressed far before the oil.

 

[YJSONLY]

To me I would at least change them 1 time a year. Twice is to much IMO. I work on small standby units 60kw and below.

 

[PSUCOBRA96]

oil manufacturer should be the one to tell you.

 

[2000gt4.6]

Get the oil tested. There are many companies out there that do it. That will give you a good idea of the condition of the oil.

As long as it doesn't get contaminated, it should last a very long time. There is industrial equipment out there that goes a lot longer than that between lubrication changes. They monitor the oil condition and just change filters.

+1. Should do this anyway to check for metal particles etc.

 

[zporta]

unleashthebeast always told me 1 year

and that is with a quality oil

 

[GTSpartan]

unleashthebeast always told me 1 year

and that is with a quality oil

Cars and industrial equipment requirements are typically very different.

FYI, there are diesel trucks running around with 50,000+ miles on the same oil believe it or not. They have fancy oil filtration systems on them, and only top off with new oil what they lose during the filter changes.

 

[KurtDog]

Do you contract out the maintenance on these generators? If so let the company you are paying to maintain them worry about it.

If you do it in house, I would think you would want someone who knows what they are doing handling it.

 

[UncleDan]

Do you contract out the maintenance on these generators? If so let the company you are paying to maintain them worry about it.

Yes, but the politics involved are ridiculous. And yes they do oil testing which I mentioned. The answer I got was that they didn't trust the results :bored:

 

[ford fanatic]

If caterpillar says it's fine and your using their recommended oil I'll trust it. They aren't in the business they are in because they are stupid. The amount of research they put into those machines has to be insane.
I'd venture to say the fuel needs to be addressed far before the oil.

This.

 

[wht93gted]

Yes, but the politics involved is ridiculous. And yes they do oil testing which I mentioned. The answer I got was that they didn't trust the results :bored:

Sounds like a typical scenario where the people in charge have made up their minds and that's that.

I know it doesn't directly relate, but on our boat we have turbo Cat 3208's and run oil changes around 100 hours. I think the book even says 250 is the interval. But we do it every 100 or once a season, whichever comes first.

My friend is a diesel mechanic for the county, they barely even change oil on the heavy equipment. They usually change filters and replace what's lost during that.

 

[UncleDan]

Sounds like a typical scenario where the people in charge have made up their minds and that's that.

That is exactly what it is. I'm just curious about the whole two year interval though because that does seem a bit too long.

 

[James Snover]

This! What kind of oil are we talking about? I bet it's something more up-market than good old automotive 30-weight from Wal-Mart. I would imagine it has been developed specifically for this type of application and that it costs a whole lot more per qt.

If caterpillar says it's fine and your using their recommended oil I'll trust it. They aren't in the business they are in because they are stupid. The amount of research they put into those machines has to be insane.

I'd venture to say the fuel needs to be addressed far before the oil.

 

[oldmodman]

Get the oil tested. There are many companies out there that do it. That will give you a good idea of the condition of the oil.

As long as it doesn't get contaminated, it should last a very long time. There is industrial equipment out there that goes a lot longer than that between lubrication changes. They monitor the oil condition and just change filters.

This^

Get the oil tested.

But first a question. Does the engine have an oil temperature gauge on it?

If it does, and the engine is run long enough on each test start to reach 212 degrees and hold it for thirty minutes the engine will be able to burn all the moisture and bypass volatiles out of the oil and it should be good for two years. But if the engine is just idling and is not under enough load to generate the heat required then the oil should be changed more often. The water and acids that will now build up in the oil can corrode internal engine parts and sludge can build up too.

 

[canadianbullitt]

If caterpillar says it's fine and your using their recommended oil I'll trust it. They aren't in the business they are in because they are stupid. The amount of research they put into those machines has to be insane.

I'd venture to say the fuel needs to be addressed far before the oil.

This almost sounds like common sense to me.

 

[KurtDog]

Yes, but the politics involved are ridiculous. And yes they do oil testing which I mentioned. The answer I got was that they didn't trust the results :bored:

I guess you should be asking the people who don't trust the results of these tests where they got their engineering degrees and masters in fluid dynamics from.

I feel your pain. There is always someone who knows more than everyone else.

My advice is to stay out of the discussion unless you are somehow responsible for it. When one or more of the generators fails, you don't want your name anywhere near it.