96 Civic 5w20 Castrol GTX Ultraclean UOA

[researcher]

Hey everyone. So I got the latest UOA back from using GTX Ultraclean 5w20. This is the 96 project civic, 1.6L vtec engine. Obviously no wear issues and it's a good oil, but again I felt for this engine was too thin. Call it my "butt dyno".

I have since switched over to the new Magnatec D1G2, 5w30. The engine feels better with the magnatec, might be because the engine was designed for 5w30 and the vtec uses the oil to lock the lobes for the higher lift. Could be that the thinner stuff wasn't engaging the vtec correctly. Anything is possible. But the magnatec makes the civic feel like it has more power, probably because I went to a 5w30..

But here's the UOA, it's a good oil, don't think I'm saying it isn't. It might not be the oil that would work for me but could work for lots of other engines out there!

 

[danez_yoda]

Looks like you change the oil very frequently. You chould run the cheapest oil avaialbe and not have. A worry in the world at that oci rate

 

[SR5]

Hey Researcher,

Thanks for the UOA !

Looks great, 2 ppm iron wear in 2345 miles means you have broken the mythical < 1 ppm Fe per 1K mile barrier. It's a short OCI, but others have observed more Iron to miles early in a run, which decreases with distance. So you did it the hard way and passed. Equal credit to Honda who know how to make an engine.

That TBN of 6.8 is very strong, I've seen a few lesser oils have a starting TBN around this level. You could double your OCI without concern. If you wanted too.

Lots of Moly (80 ppm) and Boron (158 ppm) with a healthy ILSAC level of zinc (804 ppm).

I picked up some UltraClean GTX 15W-40 (SN & A3/B3) in Oz recently at $15 for 5L, great price for a semi-synthetic (which UltraClean is), I look forward to giving it a run in my car. I'll probably go 6k miles.

 

[researcher]

hey SR5! I never realized I had passed that mythical barrier! I do recall hearing about that. Yeah it's like these Honda engines are only caring if they have oil! That's it. I do agree it's wearing well even if I thought the Ultraclean 5w20 was a little "thin".

I could go longer on the interval, you're absolutely correct (to you danez_yoda, too) but I change it based on every 6 months. It was a habit I picked up from Toyota, either months/mileage. So if it's close to 6 months it gets changed. But you're right SR5, with a tbn like this is could go much further.

Oz definitely has a different Ultraclean than we have up here. I think you'll be really happy with that version! I can't wait to see how this Magnatec compares to the Ultraclean... stay tuned!

 

[ENGINEER60]

NEVER go to thinner oil than it came with.
I don't know why this is so hard to understand.
A 5w-30 is a much thicker oil than 5w-20

 

[researcher]

thanks engineer60. I did it because the civic's of that era had a problem with piston slap. Now maybe the oil had nothing to do with the cylinder walls/piston ring interface. But when the engine was rebuilt 5w20 was an option, so took it. Do I regret it? Not really because there is hardly any wear as a result of the thinner oil.

But with how I felt lately after returning to 5w30, of course I'm kicking myself!

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: ENGINEER60
NEVER go to thinner oil than it came with.
I don't know why this is so hard to understand.
A 5w-30 is a much thicker oil than 5w-20


Not really.

Castrol GTX 5w-20
Has the following specs:
100C Visc: 9.1cSt
HTHS @ 150: 2.6cP

Castrol GTX 5w-30
Has the following specs:
100C Visc: 10.5cSt
HTHS @ 150: 2.9cP

Castrol Edge C3 5w-30
Has the following specs:
100C Visc: 12.1cSt
HTHS @ 150: 3.5cP

There is, as you can see, a significantly bigger visc difference between your typical GF-5 5w-30 and a Euro 5w-30 than there is between 5w-20 and that same GF-5 5w-30.

 

[researcher]

Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
Originally Posted By: ENGINEER60
NEVER go to thinner oil than it came with.
I don't know why this is so hard to understand.
A 5w-30 is a much thicker oil than 5w-20


Not really.

Castrol GTX 5w-20
Has the following specs:
100C Visc: 9.1cSt
HTHS @ 150: 2.6cP

Castrol GTX 5w-30
Has the following specs:
100C Visc: 10.5cSt
HTHS @ 150: 2.9cP

Castrol Edge C3 5w-30
Has the following specs:
100C Visc: 12.1cSt
HTHS @ 150: 3.5cP

There is, as you can see, a significantly bigger visc difference between your typical GF-5 5w-30 and a Euro 5w-30 than there is between 5w-20 and that same GF-5 5w-30.


overkill, you definitely wrote what I was thinking when I switched over to the magnatec 5w30 from the 5w20 GTX Ultraclean that this UOA shows. I wanted something thicker but not overly thick.

Thanks for posting this! It shows proof that just because it says 5w30 on the bottle doesn't mean it's all the same viscosity!

 

[OVERKILL]

You are quite welcome

 

[SR5]

Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
There is, as you can see, a significantly bigger visc difference between your typical GF-5 5w-30 and a Euro 5w-30 than there is between 5w-20 and that same GF-5 5w-30.


Yes I agree, people get all caught up on grades, but they are coarse and wide. Best to look at the actual viscosity data for that particular oil.

Same with the W winter ratings, better to look at the actual CCS data.

The Penrite 10W40 I'm using now is at the lower end of the 40 grade and the upper end of the 10W grade, it's almost a 15W30 in disguise.

 

[KCJeep]

The GTX 5w30 lists the 2.9 HTHS as a minimum, knowing Castrol and given their penchant for thick for grade oils and the low VI of the GTX 5w30, the HTHS is likely about 3.1.

I do like the GTX UltraClean very much, it's the new PYB it's so loaded with additives.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: KCJeep
The GTX 5w30 lists the 2.9 HTHS as a minimum, knowing Castrol and given their penchant for thick for grade oils and the low VI of the GTX 5w30, the HTHS is likely about 3.1.

I do like the GTX UltraClean very much, it's the new PYB it's so loaded with additives.


It could be. M1 5w-30 was 3.0 the last time I checked, all of the GF-5 5w-30's tend to hover around that 3.0 mark from what I've seen.