2006 Mustang GT, M1 5W20 4,800mi, unusual??

[theedge67]

Element Tested Universal Average

ALUMINUM 4 4
CHROMIUM 2 1
IRON 29 14
COPPER 28 5
LEAD 0 1
TIN 3 0
MOLYBDENUM 96 56
NICKEL 1 1
MANGANESE 3 1
SILVER 0 0
TITANIUM 0 0
POTASSIUM 3 1
BORON 47 57
SILICON 15 15
SODIUM 8 8
CALCIUM 2539 2160
MAGNESIUM 24 144
PHOSPHORUS 657 722
ZINC 811 870
BARIUM 0 2

Sus Viscosity @210 52 Should be 46-59
Flashpoint 395F Should be >355
Fuel Antifreeze 0.0
Water 0.0
Insolubles 0.2 Should be
Engine has 39,800 miles on it, oil has 4,800 miles with Amsoil Filter.

Comments: Steve, we wound above average iron and copper in the first sample from your Mustang. Iron comes from steel parts sharing the oil, such as the cylinders, while copper shows excess wear at a brass/bronze part, such as a bushing. We see no obvious reason for the excess wear. Universal averages are based on an oil run of ~4,500 miles so the oil hasn't been run too long but because of the metals we suggest changing it now. No harmful contaminants found. The TBN showed some active additive remaining with a reading of 3.6. Check back for another look.

Keep in mind, I pointed this out to Blackstone: There are 2 different versions of the 4.6L engine. The old version is a 2 Valve Iron Block. The new one is 3V, Variable Cam Timing, AL block. The 05+ Mustangs have the new version, while the Crown Vics and Trucks still use the old version. Blackstone was unaware of this and was still using the old engine as a baseline. I'm hoping the extra copper is normal in this 3V engine, but I'm still worried about the iron.

 

[Al]

Cr + Iron = upper cyl wear. Your silicon is a bit high. You are getting some dirt ingestion. Perhaps change the filter, check the duct between filter box and the intake.

Mobil does give higher irons. Perhaps try another oil. Certainly not out of control though.

 

[theedge67]

I just checked the air filter, it looks brand new. I changed it about 10,000 miles ago. Purolator paper panel filter. The rubber seal looks good too. I don't see anything wrong with the intake tube either.

 

[buster]

Could be dirt getting through or just M1's higher Fe.

 

[theedge67]

I changed oil 2 days ago, and put in M1 5W30. I'm hoping a higher viscosity might help. With summer coming up I'm not worried about the thicker weight. I know the VCT is sensitive to oil pressure/viscosity changes, but it seems to run just fine so far. We'll see next sample I guess, in about 5,000 miles.

 

[LAGA]

I have a 05 Mustang GT that I sent the sample in last week. When it comes back I will post my results. I ran M1 5w-20 and just switched to Amsoil 0w-20.

 

[Cujet]

My results may not apply to you, but my 4.6L F150 gets the best wear numbers with M1 10-30 with a bit of ZDDP additive. I was using 1/2 bottle of Valvoline Synpower additive.

I now have nearly 200K on a very abused truck.

The engine is just fine, with no wear related problems. The camshafts look great, and a bore scope in the cylinders a while back revealed hone marks still very visible all the way to the top of the bore!

Chris

 

[unDummy]

Looks bad. Something isn't right. I would not run it to 5k until you find the issue.
Consider 3k OCIs until the problem is solved.

The oil doesn't even look tired but wear is excessive. TBN, visc, fuel, water, antifreeze, insolubles, flashpoint... ALL are excellent. Oil wasn't the problem here!

Could 15ppm Si sandblast the engine?
Any mods?
What air filter?
Previous oil & maintenance history?
Driving style?

Stepping up the oil weight is a smart move. If the numbers don't improve, use a different oil filter.

 

[buster]

I emailed someone from Mobil's Signum Oil analysis department about M1 and high Fe. I used this example.

Quote:

---

Thanks for the explanation. The reported 29 ppm of iron is satisfactory.
You seem to be very concerned about these numbers, I just wanted to point
out that 14ppm = 0.0014% while 29 ppm is 0.0029%. These are both very
small numbers and there can be nearly that much variation between
laboratories and retests. The difference of 15 ppm is insignificant and
does not indicate excessive wear, nor does the oil need to be changed based
on the iron results. We just see that your are drawing incorrect
conclusions.

Technical Support Engineer (WJF)

---

 

[bxd20]

Some may call me misinformed, or "old school", but I'm gonna say it: your oil is too thin. At least it is:
1. for your engine, and/or
2. in your climate, and/or
3. for the way you drive.

What's the point of the 5W-20 besides it meeting Ford's desire to unify oil recommendations and improve fuel economy?

A 0w30 protects better: flows better at startup and protects better during hard driving.

I would move to a synthetic 0w30 immediately, and even consider M1 0W-40 for the summer months.

Remember: Ford made wide-sweeping recommended viscosity changes a few years ago, while not changing a thing on the engines. So engine longevity is not their primary goal.

 

[theedge67]

Quote:

---

Looks bad. Something isn't right. I would not run it to 5k until you find the issue.
Consider 3k OCIs until the problem is solved.

The oil doesn't even look tired but wear is excessive. TBN, visc, fuel, water, antifreeze, insolubles, flashpoint... ALL are excellent. Oil wasn't the problem here!

Could 15ppm Si sandblast the engine?
Any mods?
What air filter?
Previous oil & maintenance history?
Driving style?

---

No engine mods yet,
purolator paper panel filter still looks new w/ 10K miles
Always used synthetic, longest OCI was 11K with Amsoil TSO 0-30 about 15K miles ago. Other than that it has been M1 for 5K miles.

The Si is right at the normal reading according to the Universal Averages.

Car is not driven hard, except once in a while I do get on it. I wonder if this thin oil is just not enough protection for when I do take it up to the redline? Either way, I put in 5-30 this time and we'll see.

 

[unDummy]

And we wonder why the Ford GT(40) gets 5w50 with the pressured 5.4??

 

[98LSC32V]

The Ford GT and Shelby GT 500 use 5w-50 because their valvetrain is specially designed for that thick of an oil, it's very different than the valvetrain in a 2006 Mustang GT 4.6 3V motor which is designed for 5w-20 or 5w30.

 

[buster]

Amsoil, Havoline and Redline (for real hard driving) "might" show better results.

 

[theedge67]

Quote:

---

I emailed someone from Mobil's Signum Oil analysis department about M1 and high Fe. I used this example.

Quote:

---

Thanks for the explanation. The reported 29 ppm of iron is satisfactory.
You seem to be very concerned about these numbers, I just wanted to point
out that 14ppm = 0.0014% while 29 ppm is 0.0029%. These are both very
small numbers and there can be nearly that much variation between
laboratories and retests. The difference of 15 ppm is insignificant and
does not indicate excessive wear, nor does the oil need to be changed based
on the iron results. We just see that your are drawing incorrect
conclusions.

Technical Support Engineer (WJF)

---

---

I wonder what they think about the copper, since it is almost 6 times the normal?? 23ppm is quite different than 15ppm, especially when it should be in the 5ppm range.

 

[JohnnyO]

My Ford 4.0 SOHC showed much lower iron with Pennzoil Platinum than it did with Mobil 1. I'd say try that next time.

 

[theedge67]

Blackstone sent me an amended report since they incorrectly listed my engine. They still did not get it right though, even after spending 10 minutes on the phone with a tech explaining the differences between the new 24 Valve Mustang engines and the old 16 and 32 Valve 4.6L's. They listed it as a 32V DOHC...totally wrong again. Anyway, at least the averages are closer on this one....

Element/value/average

ALUMINUM 4 2
CHROMIUM 2 1
IRON 29 15
COPPER 28 24
LEAD 0 0
TIN 3 0
MOLYBDENUM 96 53
NICKEL 1 0
MANGANESE 3 2
SILVER 0 0
TITANIUM 0 0
POTASSIUM 3 1
BORON 47 71
SILICON 15 17
SODIUM 8 24
CALCIUM 2539 2508
MAGNESIUM 24 19
PHOSPHORUS 657 657
ZINC 811 793
BARIUM 0 4

STEVE: This is an amended report with the correct averages for your engine. The only difference
(that we see) between this type of engine and the regular 4.6L is at copper. We suspect Ford needed
to use more brass/bronze bushings due to the fact that both the block and heads are aluminum, and
since copper is the main alloy in both brass and bronze, that explains the high copper in the averages.
Averages are based on a ~4,200 miles oil use interval. Iron was a little high here, but not up in the
problem level. The TBN was okay at 3.6. Try 5,500 miles next oil.

 

[LAGA]

#@$%!. I am going to call Blackstone right now. These averages are not the ones listed for my Mustang GT either. I think the guys at Blacstone are smoking crack. I also sent in a sample from my Ram 1500 5.9 gasser, and they sent me a report for a Cummings diesel. I sent in a sample for my daughters Saturn, which is due ant day, I hope they get that one right!

 

[theedge67]

Yeah, I saw your analysis, and they still used the old numbers for the regular 2V 4.6. I mean, I can understand initial confusion when there are 3 different variants of the same 4.6L engine...but after I called and corrected them? They should have had changed yours because I told them about the problem a few days before you got your report. And they DEFINITELY should have gotten mine right...#@$%! Blackstone?!?

 

[LAGA]

I e-mailed they just now. Lets see what they have to say. I still plan on doing a sort OCI to check the numbers again. Can anybody tell me what is the minimum millage to run to get a accurate and reliable result?