07 saturn vue 3.5 v6 uoa amsoil XL 5w-20, 7500

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Shorthorn

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Got my first UOA on my Honda powered 07 Saturn Vue, 3.5L V6. Motor has 90k miles. OCI at 7500. No makeup oil added.

Pretty worried about the high metal levels.... What do u all think?

Alum - 8
Chrom - 2
Iron - 24
Copper - 1
Lead - 0
Tin - 2
Moly - 55
Nickle - 0
Magnes - 3
Silver - 0
Titani - 0
Pottas - 3
Boron - 69
Silicon- 17
Sodium - 7
Calcium - 2233
Magnese - 11
Phospho - 664
Zinc - 776
Barium - 0

Sus Visc 210° - 49.7
Cst Visc 100° - 7.18
Flashpoint - 370
% fuel - Antifreeze % - 0
Water % - 0
Insolubles % - 0.4
TBN - 1.8

Any thoughts... Recommendations?
 
Levels are not at a dangerous level, but they do seem high for a Honda. I would switch to a good OTC 0w20 oil like PP 0w20, M1 0w20, or even QSUD. All great synthetic oils available for little $$ at Walmart in the 5 quart jugs. What filter are you using?
 
Id do another run and see how it looks. 1 uoa isnt enough to see how it tracks.

Was this your first run with the amsoil?
 
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Thanks for the input so far... I have ben using the Amsoil in this car for almost 3 years... Always with a purolator pure one filter.

I do plan to do another analysis at 7500 again.

Gregk24, u recommend a different oil, are those better than the amsoil?

A thought... It has been a brutal winter here... Could the extremely cold starts and long idle times perhaps push the metals up?
 
Wear metals aren't that bad, but the oil has sheared quite a bit and the flash point is pretty low. Do you do a lot of short-trips? Does the car get fully warmed up on occasion? Was this a long OCI in terms of time?

The cold weather sure wasn't helpful this year, but I'd try a 6 month/5,000 mile OCI and retest (or sample at that point to see if a change is needed) if you want to see if it's a continuing problem.
 
Good info here as I have the 2008 version of this engine in my Pilot. It is now on its 2nd (and probably permanent moving forward) OCI using M1 0w20 for the wife's short trips/frequent starts routine. Short enough that I take it out on the highway on the weekends to warm it up fully and charge up the battery as it drops a little bit during the week.
 
Metals are fine for 7500 miles of what was likely a bunch of short trips over a brutal winter. IMO, keep doing what you're doing with any synthetic you like. Keep it topped off if when you get half a quart low.
 
Originally Posted By: Shorthorn
Thanks for the input so far... I have ben using the Amsoil in this car for almost 3 years... Always with a purolator pure one filter.

I do plan to do another analysis at 7500 again.

Gregk24, u recommend a different oil, are those better than the amsoil?

A thought... It has been a brutal winter here... Could the extremely cold starts and long idle times perhaps push the metals up?


Only reason I recommend a different oil is because there are great OTC synthetic oils available that protect just as well as Amsoil or even better at a better price. Also the Purolators have been tearing media lately, wonder if thats why there are "high" insoles on your report. If I were you I would use a 0w20 synthetic like PP, M1, TGMO and a Wix/Fram TG/Fram Ultra and go by the owners manual for recommended OCI.
 
Great info guys.. I am learing alot!

I did just hear about the purolator Pure ones with media failures... Not what I want to hear.

Not alot of short trips, wife drives the car about 20 min. each way to work..

Really concerned about OCI.. As I have always changed it per the "Change oil light"... This usually comes on between 7 and 8k miles in this car, so I figured with a oil (that they claim) is good for 10k OCI's... I am not sure I am getting the value I had hoped for.

In terms of time, I always end up changing the oil in this car once in the spring and once in the fall, so 6 month intervals by time.

I think I am going to plan to change the oil again at 5k or 7.5k and get another UOA done to see what it is really doing.

Thanks again guys... Appreciate all the comments and help thus far, keep it coming!
 
I think your metals aren't that high for a Saturn engine. Others will say that there are other oils that protect as good or better with NO Proof to back claims. Every engine wears differently and no oil is best for every engine.
I've personally had UOA on a 08' accord with amsoil xl at 11,800 miles still have life left and pretty low wear metals.

Keep doing what you're doing or go with Amsoil OE if you like Amsoil!!

Also......I'd go with a different filter to see if insolubles drop. I personally like wix filters but have sold a good many fram ultras too. A wix will be fine for 7500-10k intervals
 
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Lubedude... Not sure if it matters but this is not a Saturn engine... This is a 3.5L Honda V6.. Not sure what differences it makes.

I am probably gonna pull another sample at 5k and see what it looks like... My gut feel is I am wasting money on Amsoil, but we will see.
 
The Honda 3.5L V/6 is notoriously hard on oil. I would not do 7500 OCIs on this engine if I were you. 5k miles MAX on a winter run and 6k miles MAX on a summer run would be what I would do.
 
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