Amsoil 5-20, 7666 miles, 2004 Acura TL

[H20024.6L]

I’ve been away from the board for quite awhile, but I’ve recently come back to catch up. I recently read a post from an Acura TL owner looking for an UOA showing the infamous Acura fuel dilution problem. The poster said he was looking to see how the oil performed. The post triggered my memory as one of my old Blackstone/Dyson reports did show fuel dilution, and happily the oil performed well.

The lab was Blackstone and the analysis was by Terry Dyson. Terry’s analysis pointed to fuel dilution which was alarming to me, but the good news was the oil performed well.

I’ve only used Amsoil 5-20 in this TL since it was new. The history up to this test was to only run the oil for 3500 miles for the first two changes and then to 7000 for subsequent changes. I've been told I could run this oil to 10,000 miles, but I have chosen to maintain a conservative approach and change at 7000-7500. I do use LC at 2 oz per 2000 miles, and I also use FP in the TL. I pay no attention to the MID and change the oil based on mileage as my driving pattern has not changed, and is 80% city, 20% highway. In addition, the trans has been drained a refilled 3 times or every other oil change with Amsoil ATF. My filters started with Wix, to Pure 1, then Mobil 1, and back to Wix as of late.

These are a compilation of my tests up to December of 2005. I do still own the TL and continue to use Amsoil 5-20.

The test dated 12/29/2005 with 7,666 miles is the test that had fuel dilution. The other tests are submitted for everyones information and debate. Happy New Year to everyone...

Miles on Oil: 7,666 / 6,545 / 3,450 / 3,300
Total Miles: 24,500 / 16,834 / 10,289 / 3,300
Date: 12/29/2005 / 7/9/2005 / 3/21/2005 / 11/2/2004
Oil: Amsoil 5-20 / Amsoil 5-20 / Amsoil 5-20 / Factory 5-20
Filter: Pure 1 / Wix / Wix / Factory
Lab: Blackstone / Blackstone / Blackstone / Blackstone

Miles on Oil: 7,666 / 6,545 / 3,450 / 3,300
Aluminum: 2 / 2 / 2 / 6
Chromium: 0 / 1 / 1 / 1
Iron: 7 / 6 / 6 / 25
Copper: 20 / 27 / 27 / 148
Lead: 1 / 1 / 1 / 7
Tin: 3 / 0 / 0 / 0
Molybdenum: 1 / 3 / 5 / 276
Nickel: 0 / 0 / 0 / 0
Manganese: 1 / 0 / 1 / 3
Silver: 0 / 0 / 0 / 1
Titanium: 0 / 0 / 0 / 0
Potassium: 3 / 0 / 0 / 4
Boron: 1 / 2 / 2 / 36
Silicon: 15 / 12 / 15 / 78
Sodium: 3 / 2 / 2 / 9
Calcium: 2196 / 2732 / 2848 / 1804
Magnesium: 17 / 17 / 24 / 5
Phosphorus: 599 / 643 / 689 / 805
Zinc: 734 / 756 / 781 / 918
Barium: 0 / 0 / 0 / 4

SUS Visc@210: 52.9 / 52.2 / 52.6 / 51
Flashpoint: 365 / 410 / 415 / 400
Insolubles: 0.3 / 0.4 / 0.3 / 0.5
Fuel 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5

TBN: 3.3 / 4.9 / 5.5 / 3.2

LC: Yes / Yes (2) / No / No
FP: Yes / Yes / Yes / No

 

[LargeCarManX2]

Everything looks very NORMAL. 7.5K is a good OCI for this engine. I sure would like to see just Amsoil 5-20 straight with an Eao filter for the 7.5K period.

 

[TeeDub]

Needless to say, you should be running 10,000 mile, O/F change intervals with this engine/oil combo.

Oh yeah - I'd lose the LC20...

 

[buster]

Great report, great oil and nice car.

 

[buster]

I don't see where LC helped any here.

 

[Jim 5]

Very nice wearing engine. Nice low copper for a honda v6!

I think you've found your oil for this engine, and could push this oil further.

Any problems with the Amsoil ATF in your transmission? I've been using the honda Z1 at 27k miles intervals in my wife's 03 3.2TL.

 

[H20024.6L]

Jim 5; I've not had any issues with the Amsoil ATF. I've drained and refilled 3 times and another is due next month. The first drain/refill was at 19k. Perhaps I'll send a sample to Terry for his thoughts when I drain the next time. I have enough Amsoil ATF for one more drain/refill and then I will switch to Speciality Formulations mixture. Good luck.