Amsoil 0-30SSO 6992mi 00 RAV4

[pair of Blazers]

well this turned out better than I thought it would. only reason I dumped it was b/c it was really black. I topped off about a month ago w AMS 5/30, its all I had sitting around.
its now filled w/5/30 ASL. just bought 4gal of ACD some power foam and engine flush for the spring.

 

[addyguy]

Consistently high silicon and lead. Sounds like poor air filtration is 'tearing up' the inside of your engine. Not seriously, but gradually.

 

[pair of Blazers]

the air filter was changed when I topped it off and it was pretty bad.
oh and here is a quick shot of the cap underside,stick and drain plug while they were out.

 

[FZ1]

Severe service. 6k max.

 

[Spector]

IMO that is a great UOA. As to the lead and silicon, not bad really. I have had a few engines with triple those numbers consistently and they never died from "wear". Blackstone is just full of *** when they say these numbers will eventually shorten the life of this engine. It will outlive the rest of the vehicle.

Now after 10 more UOA and the numbers actually increase significantly in the trend then maybe a concern, but relatively constant numbers, don't mean a thing. Stop wasting your money on UOA and just keep driving.

 

[addyguy]

Honestly, I'd try a thicker oil for a couple of runs to see if it changes anything - something like M1 0W-40. I've read here that bearing wear can be an indication of too thin an oil being used. Might want to do a 7-8k run of AFL 5W-40 (if you like Amsoil) to see how it does.

 

[Kaboomba]

Numero Uno Reason for bearings to wear quickly (outside of oil starvation while running): city driving involving lots of startup&shutdown, exacerbated if you have a lead foot (no pun intended).

Startup is the hardest service that bearings ever see because the oil film which lubricates by preventing metal-to-metal contact has not yet formed. You have "mini-starvation" every time you start the engine.

The trick may be to use a slightly thicker, stickier oil (not a 40, if it's not spec'd in your manual). This could mean using a 5W instead of 0W. In my case, I made a mix of 80/20 0W-30/10W-30 and have been very happy with the results.

If you want to be totally anal, get a pre-luber to pressurize the oil before the engine starts!

 

[Carzzz]

The oil wasn't as "black" as i thought on the dipstick!

 

[pair of Blazers]

Carzzz-
my bad on the pic of the stick. that was after I wiped it and the drain plug off. I have been very happy w/how clean they have been since putting this car on an Amsoil diet. it was much darker than I'm use to seeing from this engine and this was the second fill of SSO.
Kabooma-
went back to ASL 5/30 w/current fill and going to ACD 10/30 next time out. however I might do either an Ams flush or a short ARx run in the spring. I have both on hand but I'm leaning toward the flush.
Addguy-
I do have some Rotella 15/40 and LC20 I keep for the moded 91 Blazer(summer only toy).
as for the lead and silicon. I know the AF was really bad as stated before and has been changed. we'll see if that changes any neat time out. I also see no need to do TBN based on how it has been going.
thoughts, comments always welcome.

 

[Gary Allan]

Not much to latch on to here for "cures". I don't buy the B-S city driving thing with the Pb (probably no one else does either). You can try a higher visc if you want to, but I don't see it being anything to really worry about. The visc slid about .5cSt ..the TBN is strong ...flash point acceptable, if not preferred. Insolubles seem to be up on this engine. That can just be the difference of your indicated mileage and the real amount of fuel passing through the engine. This may constitute an intermediate filter change. I might seek an oversize filter, if available.

 

[pair of Blazers]

I have to say that the FF is one royal PIA to change on that car. going to see if a wix 51516 will fit in there too.

 

[pair of Blazers]