Recent content by Titan

ALL automotive engine oil gets thinner the hotter it gets. ALL automotive oil is THICK at cold startup, and the colder the temp, the thicker the oil. The "0w" rating means the oil will be able to be pumped at temperatures as low as about minus 30 degrees F, whereas the "10w" oil will be able to...

The round shapes are the insets for the Valves. If you know which valves are larger and smaller, you'll know the orientation. The horizontal line should be the pin axis. All that said, rings don't stay stationary...they rotate as the engine runs. So it seems that the orientation is to...

It's more complicated than that. There are Pour Point Depressants as well as Viscosity Index Improvers as well as inherent differences in the base oil itself. A combination of these things yields the "multi-viscosity" label of the various oil products.

I realize the near-impossibility of discerning "the best oil" from a few used oil samples. And yet, I often find myself looking at the used oil analysis section. Maybe that's like bar-hopping: most people realize it provides nearly impossible odds to discern "the best life partner", but find...

It's not information as much as it is hearsay...pun intended. If I thought you'd listen (again, pun intended), I'd tally all the anecdotes that are directly opposite of yours...that ESP runs more quietly then Pennzoil Platinum. Your "observation" is the only one I can recall that would put a...

0w-30 ESP kinematic viscosity is 12.2 cSt/100°C. Pennzoil Ultra Platinum 5w-30 is 10.3 cSt/100C. What characteristic(s) do you think contributes to Pennzoil being "noticeably quieter"? I'm assuming that's at least a significant basis in your mind for stating the ESP is over rated, although I've...

Thanks for the clarification...I see what I did. I mis-read the Date sampled/Date received as the dates the oil was in service. So I thought the first two intervals were in December/January and the last interval was in May/June.

Is it cold in December/January compared to May-June where you live? If so, perhaps ambient temperature being warmest in the last sample is THE MAIN REASON for less fuel dilution.

You are assuming 0w30 uses "more VII"...depending upon the base oil, this would be false. In addition, some oils use pour point depressants to achieve a lower winter value. I have bought Mobil 1 ESP 0w30 at the same or lower prices than the run-of-the-mill 5w30 at the same store.

In the introduction, this phrase told me all I need to know: "...BITOG swayed me toward the Mobil 1 ESP 0w30, though both my current vehicles call for 5w30."

The molybdenum values seem to jump up and down with no reason. On other posted series of UOA's, sometimes I have seen values being affected by previous oil affecting the subsequent values (due to the volume of the previous oil never completely draining out). But these values don't follow a...

...and there is Mobil 1 ESP 0w30 that is thicker than most 5w30's at operating temperature, and I haven't seen any reliable reports of the ESP 0w30 shearing such that it would be considered "more than" most 5w30's.

As I said, the manual recommendation is base on CAFE requirements. Ambient temps can affect recommended viscosity choices...if not for CAFE... and those alternatives could be included in the manual. However, CAFE language doesn't mean a passenger car operated in usual fashion will be damaged by...

It's well-known fact often mentioned in the used oil analysis section, where those with experience notice slightly higher concentrations of some measured values specifically due to the PREVIOUS oil used. Molybdenum is a good example: an oil with NO molybdenum in a virgin sample will show a...

CAFE. Look it up. Has NOTHING to do with ambient temperature.