97 Plymouth Breeze 2.0L 91.5k - 8500 mi OCI on M1 5w-30

[JHZR2]

This is a UOA report on my mother's 97 plymouth breeze. It sees almost entirely 5 block commutes multiple times a day, as she is a teacher and lugs around a lot of books, etc.

This UOA period, there was quite a bit more highway driving, as my father was using the car when it was cheaper to get 32 MPG on regular gas than 36 MPG on diesel.

Even when getting the 5 block comutes, the car was taken on weekends occasionally for 150-200 mile trips, which contrlled moisture.

The car used a bit more than 1qt over this OCI. Admittedly, the oil was checked when it was a quart down already, it wasnt a gradual loss. So, Id venture to guess that these numbers can be as much as 25% low (1 qt in a 4.2qt sump). All the same, not bad at all. M1 5w-30 and this engine are good together... makes me think twice about if I want to try PP instead for the economy ($1.61 on sale) and interesting chemistry.

code:

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Sample Date 04/10/04 01/09/05 12/01/05 Current

Time on Unit 69259 74568 83044 91596

Time on Oil 5000 5309 8476 8552

Time on Fltr 5000 5309 8476 8552

Oil Maint. changed changed changed changed

Filter Maint. changed changed changed changed



CONTAMINATION



There is no indication of any contamination in the component.



Sample Date 04/10/04 01/09/05 12/01/05 Current

Silicon 23 93 7.9 6.8

Potassium 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

Sodium 3.9 5.8 3.8 10

Fuel (%)
Glycol (%)
Water (%)
Soot (%) 0 0 0 0

Sulfation 90 --- 63 57

Nitration --- --- 65 100

WEAR



All component wear rates are normal.



Sample Date 04/10/04 01/09/05 12/01/05 Current

Iron 16 27 8.1 21

Nickel 1.3 0.6 0.9 0.4

Chromium 0.5 0.7 0.2 0.1

Titanium 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.0

Copper 1.7 6.3 3.5 1.5

Aluminum 6.7 6.7 3.9 6.4

Tin 0.3 0.0 0.0 1.0

Lead 1.2 0.2 0.7 0.7

Silver 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

OIL CONDITION



Oil Type: 4.2 QTS of MOBIL MOBIL1 FORMULA SAE5W30

The condition of the oil is acceptable for the time in service.



Sample Date 04/10/04 01/09/05 12/01/05 Current

Boron 176 133 53 39

Barium 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

Calcium 2889 2633 1469 2055

Magnesium 22 23 8.2 15

Molybdenum 79 77 129 72

Sodium 3.9 5.8 3.8 10

Phosphorus 848 801 609 699

Sulfur 2242 2249 3960 2661

Zinc 952 929 629 763

Visc@40°C --- --- --- ---

Visc@100°C 11.00 10.9 10.4 10.9 10.9

Oxidation --- --- 70 75

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JMH

P.S. Sorry for everything not lining up as it should. The code formatting doesnt work as well as it ought to, I guess...

[ June 26, 2006, 07:56 AM: Message edited by: JHZR2 ]

 

[Al]

Interesting to see the wide variations in iron.

 

[JHZR2]

well the first time when we had the 27 spike, we were in the engine to replace spark plug tube seals... and had used some RTV, etc. The Si sppiked, and I suppose that is part of the reason the iron spiked.

This second time about a quart was lost, so there was a dilution factor, that was the fault of my parents not checking the level enough. Since Al, Cu and Pb are low, it seems like no major damage was done, and given all the cold starts that the car gets, its levels are somewhat to be expected, I guess...

I have a feeling that if consumption is kept in check, by topping up properly with time, and the car is driven as usual, that the Fe levels will go back down.

We also didnt add LC as normally as we did in the prior UOA, FWIW.

JMH

 

[JHZR2]

the older UOA didnt get posted here... but is in an archive:
http://theoildrop.server101.com/cgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=002255#000000

in the old days, 16-21 ppm Fe was obtained at 4500-5000 miles (cleaning going on??!?).

given the cold starts and use in the same manner through the coldest parts of the winter, it makes sense that the fe numbers are where they are, I suppose.

All things considered, I think M1 does great - more or less nobody has so many completely cold starts (4-6/day), and such a short trip.

Now we just need to figure out why its dripping out

Might be ARX time!

JMH

 

[bulwnkl]

Isn't this the one you replaced the head gasket on? How long ago was that (Did the Fe drop coincide with that replacement?)?

 

[JHZR2]

the headgasket replacement was long before we changed to syn and started doing UOA.

The only thing weve done in the engine is replace the spark plug tube gasket seals, when we did a tuneup and found a bit of oil in two of them. However to do this we pulled the valve cover gasket, and then put the new seals in with a bit of RTV per the instructions.

JMH

 

[jorton]

Which brand and class oil filter do you prefer?

 

[ms21043]

Had one of these cars, same year and engine. I bought it new in 97 and sold it to a neighbor a while back. When I had it the only thing major I had to do was the head gasket @ about 90k because it leaked oil externally. Other than that no problems.

The car has 180k+ on it now, runs well and still has ALL the original parts on it except usual wear items. Besides it being a slug it was an ok car.