96 Integra SE, Amsoil TSO 0w-30, ~6k miles

[BrianEM]

My Car: 1996 Acura Integra SE, B18B non-VTEC motor with about 121,400 miles on the odo at the time of the change

The Oil: Amsoil TSO 0w30 was changed after ~6000 miles/~6 months in the engine, with no make-up oil added in that time, and was used with an Amsoil EaO oil filter

Location/Driving: Philadelphia, PA suburbs during summer, winter, and holidays; Gettysburg, PA during the school year. Mostly highway driving during school year, mostly city driving when outside Philly, with occasional periods of very spirited driving throughout the year.

Relevant Mods: AEM cold-air intake with the bypass valve and AEM/K&N filter. I haven't changed/cleaned the air filter since I bought it almost 2 years ago (I know I know...I'm looking into doing something about that filter)


Iron------------11
Chromium--------1
Lead------------3
Copper----------6
Tin-------------0
Aluminum--------6
Nickel----------0
Silver----------0
Silicon---------37
Boron-----------14
Sodium----------0
Magnesium-------26
Calcium---------3651
Barium----------0
Phosphorous-----806
Zinc------------1001
Molybdenum------2
Titanium--------0
Vanadium--------0
Potassium-------0

Fuel (%)-------- VIS @ 40C-------NA
VIS @ 100C------11.27
Water (%)-------0
Soot/Solids (%)-NA
Coolant---------No

TBN-------------3.78
Oxid------------19.0
Nitr------------15.0

So what do you all think? My brother told me that my silicon numbers are ridiculously high and that I need a new air filter, so I am working on doing that, but does anyone also know whether the bypass valves for cold-air intakes have been known to let a lot of ____ in?

Thanks in advance,
--Brian

 

[ThirdeYe]

Looks good and yes the silicon looks very high. In my last UOA I had just 5ppm of Silicon, using my Napa Gold/Wix filter. Works great in our Integras. I'd highly recommend one of those. I wasn't happy with the K&N I had in it.

 

[Gary Allan]

All things considered, I would have expected higher metals. That is, with better air filtration I think that this would be one boring UOA. The mileage appears short ..but your around town driving would probably be better measured with an hour meter or fuel usage.

Is this one of those CAI that the filter resides in the wheel well ..and the "bypass" feature is used if the filter gets soaked or submerged..as in a safety feature?

Put back the OEM setup and be happy (yes, I'm one of those geezers that insists on giving advice that no one wants to hear - I too learned everything the hard way

).

 

[SSDude]

Overall, a good UOA. Please listen to your brother and change your air filter.

 

[BrianEM]

Thanks for the responses guys.

Gary, you are correct as to what kind of intake it is and where the filter and bypass valve are. I sold my stock intake setup, and I would kind of prefer to keep my CAI in there for a couple of reasons (not really relevant here anyway).

I did look into getting an Amsoil EAA air filter but the smallest diameter they have is a 3" inlet, and my intake tubing is a 2.5", so I might just go with an AEM dry-flow or just clean and carefully re-oil my K&N.

How much longer do you think I could have gone on this oil, safely? Or would the high silicon numbers indicate that I should change it about this often?

 

[ConfederateTyrant]

Was this the first run on Amsoil? I ask because the first time can lead to some cleaning which could bring the TBN down. If you can bring down the silicon levels, then the wear would be in great shape.

I think you could manage a full year, as the oil is not gone, just a little contaminated with dirt. If the TBN is down due to cleaning, then it should hold up better next time. I would recommend giving the XL 5w-30 a try if you want to stick with 6 month/7,500 mile intervals, or give the ASL 5w-30 a try for a full year of driving (sample if you get to 12,000 miles before the year comes up).

 

[Seth]

Is this SM or SL?

 

[ThirdeYe]

In a normally functioning Integra it would have no problem going 7.5k (as per the manual's recommendation for normal service), as that recommendation is made for Dino, synthetic will definitely handle it.

 

[BrianEM]

ConfederateTyrant, this was my third consecutive fill of the 0w30 TSO, before that was one fill of Amsoil ATM 10w30 and before that was 10w40 (I think) Castrol Syntec...in case that helps any.

Thanks again for the replies!

 

[ConfederateTyrant]

BrianEM,
Sounds like it's had plenty of time to do any cleaning. Sometimes the TBN has been known to drop rapidly then level off for an extended period of time before further depleting.

Even though the silicon is higher, the wear isn't horrible. Post back with another UOA to see if cleaning/replacing the filter helped out the wear/silicon numbers. If it checks out ok, I think you could extend your oil changes as I stated above.