There has been an industry-wide push over the last few years to extend oil drain intervals on fleet equipment. This industry demand is an effort to reduce downtime, reduce waste oil generation, and cut maintenance costs. Extended oil drain intervals can offer huge benefits for department of transportation fleets, providing that the extended program is structured to ensure that engine life is not compromised. The oil manufacturers have responded to this demand by developing new oils with improved additive packages to extend oil drain intervals. Many manufacturers advertise their new oil in many of the fleet maintenance magazines, with claims of extending oil drain intervals up to 40,000 mi (64,360 km). However, the question must be asked whether the use of these new oils in a "pour-in-and-go" program is the best approach to achieving satisfactory extended oil drain intervals. This paper describes an approach to achieving effective and safe extended lube oil drain intervals. This approach has achieved extended equipment life with reductions in downtime, maintenance man-hours, waste oil generation, and costs. This approach utilizes ultra fine by-pass lube oil filters, an effective technology in use for over 20 years, along with a comprehensive monitoring process for tracking of wear and oil condition and detection of potential problems. This paper also addresses problems and hurdles encountered when extended oil drain programs are explored.
The Texas Department of Transportation(TxDOT) operates a large fleet of on-road andoff-road equipment. Consequently, fleetmaintenance procedures (spec...
The concept of preventive maintenance is very important in the effective management and deployment ofvehicle fleets. The Texas Department of Transport...
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