2008.5 Mazdaspeed 3 MS3 New 3100 miles. help plz

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Long story short....

I got the car with 69 miles and changed the OEM oil at 678 miles.

This fill was conventional Valvoline 5w/30.

besides some short trips I commute 45 miles each way mostly suburbs / highway so the car does get properly warmed, I am averaging 26.1 mpg over the 3100 miles so for the most part I'm easy on the car but I do get spirited some times....

This sample was taken after driving 45 miles from work and the car idled for 3-5 minutes before changing the oil / taking the sample.

I am worried about this UOA... I plan on doing another UOA in a month and a half or so @ 3k miles.... Any suggestions?? Could I really have an issue with Anti-freeze with such low miles? What else could have caused this?

should I switch to a Synth?... any suggestions for a new oil to try? Currently I have Dino Pennzoil 5w/30 with an OEM filter ...

MS3oil.jpg
 
Originally Posted By: Pablo
I would not worry excessively. The engine is still breaking in. Just do a couple short runs (maybe 1500 mile or so), then go 2-3K and take another sample.


+1
 
Originally Posted By: Pablo
I would not worry excessively. The engine is still breaking in. Just do a couple short runs (maybe 1500 mile or so), then go 2-3K and take another sample.


Stick with oils with that don't use sodium additives like YB. So your sodium and potassium should start to normalize. If they don't then you might have some coolant issues.
 
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Valvoline is now using Na in both it's conventional and synthetic oils. Nothing to worry about.
 
Additive numbers are WAY off. Might want to get the lab to re-test. Valvoline has more Calcuim and Zinc for sure.

Beyond that, break-in.
 
Originally Posted By: addyguy
Additive numbers are WAY off. Might want to get the lab to re-test. Valvoline has more Calcuim and Zinc for sure.

Beyond that, break-in.


Good point. I didn't even look at the P and Zn numbers.
 
Originally Posted By: amati63
Go synthetic for sure, 0W40 or 5W40 on a turbo is ideal.


I would stick with a synthetic 5W/30 or 0W/30 for warranty issues. The owners manual calls for 5W/30 API SL oil. If you had trouble and were running a 40 weight then Mazda could deny your claim. Also, don't let the armchair lawyers tell you that you can run any oil you want and quote The Magnusson Moss Act as their authority. Most of those people do not understand the actual provisions of the federal statute or subsequent case law and rely upon the internet for legal advice. I have 42,000 miles on my 2008 Speed 3 and have run M1 5W/30, Amsoil ASL and most recently GC 0W/30 with no issues. I let the engine idle for 60 seconds after a hard run before shutting it down. Your wear metals are right in line with almost all other UOAs that I have seen on the 2.3 DISI with similar mileage. Fuel dilution can be an issue if you make a lot of short trips and the oil cannot come to operating temperatures for a decent period of time. Many owners like Pennzoil Platinum 5W/30 to combat that. It seems to hold up well to fuel dilution and it has a good additive pack that can easily go 5,000 miles in our cars. I changed my FF at 1,500 miles and then went 3,000 miles for a couple of fills and eventually worked my way up to 5,000 miles now that my engine is well seasoned. On the Mazdaspeed forums there have been a few people with "smoking turbos" and many have switched to a 40 weight oil, which seems to help, but most of them have long since said goodbye to their warranties and many also have a full turbo-back exhaust with no cats. The reduction in backpressure seems to be a factor, although nobody has made a real determination. If you are worried about a 30 weight being too "thin" then don't, or GC is a great choice because it is "thick" for a 30 weight. Good luck to you, they are fun cars. I changed out the transmission fluid to Redline MT 90 at 30,000 miles with great success. These cars respond well to a cold air intake. The Mazdaspeed unit will not void your warranty.
 
The engine is too new to make any assumptions. IMO you changed out the factory blend 5w30 oil too soon and put in a Dino-not the best moves in my opinion. I run Pennzoil Platinum 5w30 in my CX7 and the UOAs settled down at about 12,000 miles using a 6,000 mile oil change. You are not required to use Synthetic oil but, I would go for a good blend like MC 5w30 as a minimum. JMO Ed
 
I tempted fate and did not change out the factory fill until 5000 miles. I run Mobil 1 5W-30 with a 5000 mile OCI and my UOAs are fine. You don't have anything to worry about; these engines take a while to break in.
 
Agree, these take a while to break in, but Na/K being high? Don't think I've seen that on many (if any) 2.3 MZR DISI UOA's? Good comments Brettasaurus. I've actually got my MS CAI for sale if anyone is interested. Went to a short ram intake thinking the CAI was giving me a problem, turns out it was user error. Doh...
 
Having a Speed 6 myself Id say your UOA came back pretty good compared to others. Like has been pointed out these engines fuel dilute, but not as bad as others. Ive seen enough trending between mine and others that I dont know if there is any protection to be gained by a thicker oil (I personally have been running 40wt since 7K). Like has been said already Penz Plat and Castrol GC are good 30wt candidates. MCompnacts use of M1 5w30 hasnt inpressed me much, but the car hasnt blown up yet either so Im at a loss to offer any meaningful critisism. If you want to be unique try the Valvoline HM Syn 5w30. Valvaoline still says its ACEA A3, so its HTHS #s are up there with GC, M10w40, etc.
 
I ran Pennzoil Platinum 5w-30 in my 2007 Mazdaspeed 3. I did one UOA on an OCI of Mobil 1 and was given the recommendation to switch to Pennzoil Platinum. At that point I got more comfortable with the UOA results that I saw on this forum and didn't pay for another UOA. I think you just have to realize that the MS3 doesn't yield the same level of "good" UOA results that many cars do as it seems to be "hard" on oil. I chose to simply run a quality oil, go with 5k OCIs and put my head in the sand.
 
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