10.3k miles Valvoline 5W-20 Adv Full Syn (API SP) - 2019 Mustang GT

[TiGeo]

Thank you for that. It was helpful.

Your UOA's further illustrate an important concept:

Given a reasonable oil change interval, there is no meaningful difference in wear or long term outcome
of an engine as long as an oil that meets the required specs is used.

Oil brand, price, etc doesn't matter at all.

I think you have to be a bit more careful with your bold comment above w/r to this. UOA wear metal rates don't necessarily correlate to actual measureable engine wear (measured with engine apart with instruments) and UOA wear metals aren't showing deposit build up, gummed up rings, etc. all which could be variable depending on oil used, OCI, driving habits, etc.

 

[Bill7]

I think you have to be a bit more careful with your bold comment above w/r to this. UOA wear metal rates don't necessarily correlate to actual measureable engine wear (measured with engine apart with instruments) and UOA wear metals aren't showing deposit build up, gummed up rings, etc. all which could be variable depending on oil used, OCI, driving habits, etc.

True. You make a good point.

Just to clarify my comment: I mentioned "a reasonable oil change interval", which in my case means 5,000 mile max.

For my own use case, I prefer to only use full synthetic group III oils that have a Dexos 1 Gen 3 approval (this spec places strict limits on sludge/varnish deposits). For a 5,000 mile OCI, using any oil which meets that spec should produce identical results over the long term.

I think the biggest cause of gummed up piston rings would be doing extended oil changes on the cheap bulk oil that most dealerships
and quick lube places use.

 

[RevvCats]

I think the biggest cause of gummed up piston rings would be doing extended oil changes on the cheap bulk oil that most dealerships
and quick lube places use.

I didn’t get keen on oxidation testing until recently, but I’ve switched my testing over to the kits through Amsoil and have oxidation data on Castrol Edge which after 8.6k miles turned out to be not oxidized at all. Baseline VOA value of 8 up to 15.

That would be an interesting test, see how much of a difference there is between off the shelf oil which from everything I’ve observed has been outstanding to the bulk mystery barrel that I’m sure just barely meets the spec.

 

[Bill7]

I didn’t get keen on oxidation testing until recently, but I’ve switched my testing over to the kits through Amsoil and have oxidation data on Castrol Edge which after 8.6k miles turned out to be not oxidized at all. Baseline VOA value of 8 up to 15.

That would be an interesting test, see how much of a difference there is between off the shelf oil which from everything I’ve observed has been outstanding to the bulk mystery barrel that I’m sure just barely meets the spec.

I think the cheap bulk oil that dealerships use combined with oil life monitor intervals contributes to the stuck piston ring problems that many cars are having, where they consume a quart of oil every 1,000 miles.

Dexos 1 Gen 3 has a Noack volatility number of <= 12.5 (where lower is better), and it has limits for sludge/varnish deposits.
So a simplified approach could be to only use oil that has that approval or one of the Euro approvals.

 

[AEHaas]

"It’d also be nice to find a lab willing to do HTHS viscosity testing to really see if there’s been sheering damage but that’s not easy to find."

This is where I get my HTHS measured:
Savant Labs & Institute of Materials, Inc.
4800 James Savage Road
Midland, MI 48642
Phone: 989.496.2301 / 989.496.2307

'Not cheap though, around $200 or more for a single test if I remember correctly.

Ali