'06 Mazda 6, M1 0w20, 11,173 miles, 9 months

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The Mazda 6 is a 4-cyl (sump 4.? qts - will look up tomorrow in my manual). Zero make-up oil - oil was still at full mark. Dipstick sample (20-30 minutes to acquire - hopefully no dust). Very gently driven about 98% of its miles (wife with kids in tow). Eight mile round trips to elementary school, and lots of 1-4 mile errands & occassional 30-70 mile hiway trips. On a typical day the car doesn't have much time to cool down - homemaker wife has places to go, things to do.

To some degree this UOA is moot (the sodium issue nothwithstanding). I've already decided to go to a higher visc oil. As stated in previous posts, this car has a more masculine/quality sound from a visc approaching a w30 than the screaming banshee sound (at slightly sub-WOT and WOT) with the 0w20.

I have a hard time believing this Wisk filter (from Amsoil) is getting loaded in 11k. (but ?)

Concerning the sodium - after sending the sample off I was chking the coolant level on both of my vechicles (pre-summer travel) - and I noticed the Mazda 6 was well below the "low" level in the reserve tank. I can't say for sure if/when I chked it last (since buying it last summer) - so I'm not sure what's up. But will monitor closely starting now.

TBN at 1.6 at 11k. I didn't expect this result. Could the "elevated" sodium be affecting this?

Meanwhile, since I'm departing from the xxw20 class, all xxw30 options are now on the table. I called my local Schaeffer rep last week (before the UOA results came in - I was also in the process of acquiring some Neutra 131 for my Sienna) - described my Mazda app to him (1 yr OCI/~12k miles) - asked him if 9000 5w30 would handle this (btw, he's old and wise in the ways of lubricity - operates a fairly significant oil distribution ctr - full warehouse operation). He stated that, indeed 7000 5w30 would be fully up to the task - he stated that his OCI is 1 year and about he same miles as mine - and 7000 5w30 has proven itself for him - "good TBN retention" etc. (In the past he has also pushed (marketed) 7000 instead of 9000 - except in "extreme cold apps").

While taking dipstick sample, I drained a full qt and replaced with Mobil 5000 10w40. I was wanting to test difference in acoustics with the increased visc. Very pleased with the results as stated above. I'm comfortable leaving this present fill in (given the refresh with the 5000) till I can find time for OC (and decide on next oil).

Thanks for any input!
 
Like crinkles said, you've exhausted everything that oil had to give. The severe service is really showing here, but the oil did its job. I'd definetly keep an eye on the coolant situation, as its a bit of an odd one - Mazda's aren't usually known for having coolant leaking issues.

As for 30-weight options, Schaeffer oils are excellent, but if you are going to go the full year/12k on a fill, I'd go with the 9000 5W-30. The 7000 series will probably hanlde it, like the rep said, but seeing THIS report, I'd want the added security of the full-syn version. That's just me.....
 
The mazda 6i loves Xw20 weight oils. You just picked the wrong one for Iron. If you want long drains, I'd suggest RP 5w20 or schaeffers 5w20. Here was my report with RP on my 2006 Mazda 6i ATX.

m6i092007zr52.png

By badtlc at 2009-06-22
 
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Held up well considering the fuel/Na. The oil reached it's limit.
 
Try M1 5-30EP. It has held up well for me in my 07 Focus with the 2,0 Duratech. I did a UOA last Sept 08 at 9200 miles and it looked great.
iron 11
alum 2
chrom 1
copper 3
tbn 3.3
I now have 9600 on this oil run on M11 5-30 and will be changing it soon and replaced with M1 5-30 EP. Plan to go at least 12,000 miles then. I think the 30wt oil is definitly a better way to go than 20wt.
 
Originally Posted By: addyguy
Warranty, warranty, warranty....


What Warranty? Both ericthepig and my cars are out of warranty.
 
Previous owner apparently did 3k OCIs on Pennz. YB 5w20. Engine had 47+k when I bought it. Looking down the fill hole you can see quite of bit of the valve area. Mirror finish from what I could see - so props to YB !
 
I think your car is a good candidate for 5w-30 Castrol Edge or M1 EP.

1) 5w-30 because of ACEA A5, which is the extended drain spec. No 5w-20 meets ACEA A5.
2) Castrol Edge or M1 EP because they guarantee 15k miles/1 year intervals

For my Mazda 6i, I just use PP 5w-30 and change every 7500 miles and do not even bother with an UOA.
 
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SilverGGA - very much agree. With your recommendation, and you have a good OCI method on your Mazda.

I used M1 EP 10w30 in my mother's '98 Taurus (full 1 year, close to 10k miles) and had a stunningly good UOA - I think the iron was 9ppm (didn't do a TBN though).

But I have a running intrigue thing going with Schaeffer - so I'm leaning that way (but have a while to brood - plan to OC sometime between late July to end of August).
 
I'd stick w/the mobil. You had a good run;you just ran it too far. I'd run the EP in 0-20 or 5-20.
 
M1 0w20 has been drained (close to 12k miles).

M1 EP (3.4qt w20 and 1qt w30) was going to be my next fill. I think it would outperform 0w20 just a bit and make a good 1 yr oil.

But, several things were giving me brooding problems. This last run (at the 9mo mark) had insoluables and wear metals that were moving up the chart. I think EP could bring the metals down, but the insol. (?) I have a good OEM airfilter that's in tight so not sure what's up there.

My wife is about to make several medium long trips here at mid-summer. So the thought of an (almost) worn out oil being pushed like this in this engine gave me nerve problems. And therein lies the problem - this app is a tough one on oil - and as 1 year approaches, there's not much peace of mind buffer left for surprise trips.

Plus, EP quarts total to (close to) $40.

Thus, I've decided on Schaeffers (about $20).

And that's what I was going to drop in last nite, then I ran into a mess that you can read about in the Filter forum if you're so inclined. Long story short - I drained the oil, then found out I needed a cart. filter wrench (my intro to cart. filters) - went to AZ & AA - couldn't find it - had to leave old filter on (though did drain it thru the cart. filter drain hole - which I didn't know existed) - went to Wally and got the cheapest dino 5w20 I could find - they only had two qts MC blend and 3 qts ST dino. (Didn't want to drop my Sch. in there with old filter.)

Last nite was a mess - but good came out of it - I have determined that I am probably done with M1 in this 4-cyl. As I've mentioned in prev. threads - M1 was smooth and quiet in my Sienna (except at WOT) - but it made this Mazda 6 sound like a Yugo. Adding 10w40 to the 0w20 helped, but still had the sound. Well, 2 qts MC and 2.2 ST (both 5w20) is the ticket - this car sounds excellent! Like it's probably supposed to sound. It's not an issue of being totally quiet, it's an issue of the sound its making not sounding cheap - and now it's got ZoomZoom sound. Not in my mind (mind you) - it's very obvious. I don't want to say "never" but M1 is likely done in my 6.

Schaeffer 7000 5w20 will go in after this "flush" run of dino. Plan to do sub 10k runs on Sch. (but might get a wild hair and push Sch. on out there just once for the sake of science).
 
Well,what were you expecting? You ran it too far. Stop the self flagellation at 10k.
 
The kids start elem. school tomorrow - so tonite the Mazda 6 got a fill of Schaeffers 5w20 - will likely push at least 10k OCIs. Report back near the end of the school year.

(I've procured at least 30k mi. worth of Schaeffers (at 10 to 12k OCI) - may it not fail me).
 
I'm using Schaeffer's 7k 5W-20 in police cruisers for 8-10k oci's + 150-180 hrs of idle time-I'm sure it will serve you well.

REDDOG
 
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