2007 Mazda 3 Valvetrain Photos - PP for 70k Miles

[Bokiaia]

2007 Mazda 3 2.3L with 180k miles.
Ran Pennzoil Platinum 5w-20 under my ownership from 109k January 2018. No additional additives.
OCI of 5k miles. Burns about 1 quart (a dipstick's worth) in 5k miles since first owned.
Commute is about 60% highway, 15 miles.
I switched to PP 5w-30 to try to slow the burning at 170k, but it has not made much difference. Just put in VRP 5w-30 at 185k and excited to see if it makes things better!

Pictures are from a valve cover gasket change because of leaky spark plug tube seals at 170k miles.

 

[ndarkside93]

2007 Mazda 3 2.3L with 180k miles.
Ran Pennzoil Platinum 5w-20 under my ownership from 109k January 2018. No additional additives.
OCI of 5k miles. Burns about 1 quart (a dipstick's worth) in 5k miles since first owned.
Commute is about 60% highway, 15 miles.
I switched to PP 5w-30 to try to slow the burning at 170k, but it has not made much difference. Just put in VRP 5w-30 at 185k and excited to see if it makes things better!

Pictures are from a valve cover gasket change because of leaky spark plug tube seals at 170k miles.
View attachment 260804

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View attachment 260806

Excited to see the difference. In the main VRP post I showed my
Valvetrain on a 13 Honda Civic with 256k miles after 4 OCIs of VRP so it does work as expected. Can’t wait to see your results.

 

[CharlieJ]

Thanks for sharing the photos! Interesting how there is varnish on the intake cam side of the engine, must run a lot cooler on that side.

 

[OVERKILL]

2007 Mazda 3 2.3L with 180k miles.
Ran Pennzoil Platinum 5w-20 under my ownership from 109k January 2018. No additional additives.
OCI of 5k miles. Burns about 1 quart (a dipstick's worth) in 5k miles since first owned.
Commute is about 60% highway, 15 miles.
I switched to PP 5w-30 to try to slow the burning at 170k, but it has not made much difference. Just put in VRP 5w-30 at 185k and excited to see if it makes things better!

Pictures are from a valve cover gasket change because of leaky spark plug tube seals at 170k miles.
View attachment 260804

View attachment 260805

View attachment 260806

That's some pretty good varnish there, will be interesting to see if R&P is able to remove it.

 

[LouC]

Main thing is the cam lobes look like new!

 

[loneryder]

2007 Mazda 3 2.3L with 180k miles.
Ran Pennzoil Platinum 5w-20 under my ownership from 109k January 2018. No additional additives.
OCI of 5k miles. Burns about 1 quart (a dipstick's worth) in 5k miles since first owned.
Commute is about 60% highway, 15 miles.
I switched to PP 5w-30 to try to slow the burning at 170k, but it has not made much difference. Just put in VRP 5w-30 at 185k and excited to see if it makes things better!

Pictures are from a valve cover gasket change because of leaky spark plug tube seals at 170k miles.
View attachment 260804

View attachment 260805

View attachment 260806

I would expect to see it cleaner with those oci's.

 

[OVERKILL]

Main thing is the cam lobes look like new!

Well, it's not a Honda, lol

 

[ndarkside93]

I would expect to see it cleaner with those oci's.

You cannot be sure of the intervals and oils used by the first owner over the first 109k miles. PP will likely prevent new varnish and deposited with those intervals but if they were already made they likely weren’t going to be removed.

 

[Bokiaia]

I would expect to see it cleaner with those oci's.

I expected the same and was a little shocked to see the amount of varnish present.
I wonder if it has anything to do with the 1 other owner the car had.

Excited to see the difference. In the main VRP post I showed my
Valvetrain on a 13 Honda Civic with 256k miles after 4 OCIs of VRP so it does work as expected. Can’t wait to see your results.

That looks fantastic. I've been following the VRP thread closely but figured this is more a PP thread with how many miles I've acquired using the oil. Wish you had some before photos!

 

[ndarkside93]

Well, it's not a Honda, lol

I had to chuckle.

 

[doublebase]

Thanks for sharing the photos! Interesting how there is varnish on the intake cam side of the engine, must run a lot cooler on that side.

I was thinking the exact same thing, I figured the exhaust cam side would have much more varnish than that intake side, especially in that spot where it’s so clean…the heat from that exhaust manifold you’d think would rise right up into that area and cause varnish buildup. I wonder if he cleaned that area or something? Interesting though.

 

[Bokiaia]

I wonder if he cleaned that area or something?

I only cleaned the mating surface of the valve cover and spark tube seals. Did not touch anything else other than maybe wiping away some dirt that fell in. Didn't even check valve clearances.

 

[ARB1977]

Looks great

 

[tig1]

That's some pretty good varnish there, will be interesting to see if R&P is able to remove it.

I agree. My 2007 Ford Fusion has 327K (miles) and still looks much much better at 10 K OCIs.

 

[Bokiaia]

I agree. My 2007 Ford Fusion has 327K (miles) and still looks much much better at 10 K OCIs.

Wow that is clean.
Would idling a lot possibly cause varnish? I almost never idle vehicles for anything longer than a traffic light stop.