Amsoil 5W-30 (not XL) VW

[Steve_RI]

I just received an analysis from Dyson Analysis (Terry).

Vehicle: VW Passat 1.8 turbo
miles on car: 21,000
miles on oil when analyzed: 5,200
oil: Amsoil 5W-30 (the 25,000 mile drain version)
Driving Conditions: It's been very hot and humid with the AC on constantly. I ran it a little harder than normal, but the car does get a lot of highway miles averaging 70-90 mph. Also, with summer my wife does hit some traffic on the way home, so the car does idle for extended periods occasionally. The car is not modified, but I do use the ITG performance air filter (oiled foam similar to amsoil’s) I also use the OEM oil filter made by Mann

Results ppm or % / comments:

copper 5 low,good
Iron 10 low,good
Chrome 0 low, good
lead 4 low,good
aluminum 3 low,good
silicon 12 average,still some bonding agents
leaching, being new.
moly 0 low, not used as additive in this oil.
sodium 1 low, good
magnesium 381 additive,normal
tin 0 low, good
zinc 1090 add, normal
potassium 0 coolant add, there ain't any,good
phosphorus 848 add,normal
calcium 2100 add, normal
water neg neg,trace,pos; neg is good
fuel neg as above
glycol neg as above
soot 0 only applicable to diesels,but
would show solids in a gas engine.
oxidation 55 scale 0 to 199 average
divide by 2 to roughly compare to other labs tests
nitration 143 elevated, we need to see trend
for this engine and oil combo if you keep using it,notes on scale above
apply.
sulfur 0 not real important to gas engine. use for trend comparison
TBN 7 starts at 12 so your engine is
depleting this, like nitration needs to be monitored.
Vis 12.6 thickened to 40w barely,limit
is 12.5 for 30 w. Amsoil is not holding up, I can't see extended drains
with this oil.

 

[Al]

Excellent numbers. I wonder how the 10W version would compare??

 

[MolaKule]

I think trending will show what this engine does, but I would not recommend a 5W30, even Amsoil HDD, for any vehicle with a turbo. I would go with a 10W30 Synth, such as ATM, which was originally blended for Turbo applications. The performance does not warrant the price.

While the wear metals are low, there is way too much oxidation of the oil for my comfort zone.
The oil should be changed, in my view to a synth 10W30 or a dino blend with Moly.

 

[Steve_RI]

I did change the oil after the sample was taken. I have enough for another oil change, but I'm sticking to the recommneded 5,000 mile drain interval for now and trying something different at that point.

 

[Spector]

"I can't see extended drains with this oil"

Does this mean change it NOW, which is what you did or it is good until 7500 miles.????

Wear numbers are good but it appears that opinion on oil is that it is not holding up due to nitration, oxidation and TBN. So, question is, at what mileage does the oil stop protecting in a satisfatory manner. Oil has protected fine for 5200 miles ( I think we can agree on that) what we don't know is for how much longer ???

Is that a reasonable assumption or statement!

 

[jason07-1zzfe]

Is it just me or is that the lowest Zn, P, and Ca I've ever seen from Amsoil...?

 

[Terry]

Guys, Steve is a customer and I have given him more info than is printed here for public viewing. I advised him change it. NOX was out of control and contributing to increased Oxidation and thickening, thats why the TBN is depleted making the adds work too hard. His brand choice is his own.

 

[dbrowne1]

I just had some Mobil 1 5W-30 analyzed by Terry. I have the same engine in a Jetta, but mine is heavily modified (chip, intake, exhaust, other mods as well), runs 2x as much boost, and gets the **** driven out of it.

I'd say a 5W30 is just fine for this application based on my numbers:

http://theoildrop.server101.com/cgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=000069

 

[msparks]

I'd be interested to see how the series 2000 0w30 performs in this application.

I would believe that the better additive package combined with the higher ester content would hold up better

 

[Steve_RI]

dbrowne1, yea, your analysis on the M1 5W-30 was favorable. That's why I kind of expected my Amsoil results to look as good (even with an extra 1,000 on the oil). I look forward to your 0W-40 analysis in the future in the 1.8T.

 

[sprintman]

Steve_RI
The 0W40 TS is a far superior oil to the 5W30. Used it in my turbo for a while but D1 5W40 reduced oil consumption when I changed over.

 

[TooSlick]

I'd also recommend the Amsoil 0w-30 in this application ...I ran some for a full year (16,000 miles) in a 1997, 2.0L Jetta GL and the TBN was still 8.1, with oxidation/nitration @ 37%/41% respectively. The filter (SDF-34) was changed at 10k miles and 1/2 qt of makeup oil was added at that time. Viscosity was 12.7 centistokes, so it had thickened by approx 10%.

This was primarily high speed driving in a hot climate - Palmdale, CA in the Mohave desert.

Ted

 

[Lance]

You ran Amsoil series 2000 0W30 in the Mohave desert, and it held up? That's like the ULTIMATE test!

 

[Steve_RI]

I figured I bump this up since I just had another analysis performed.

 

[TooSlick]

Steve,

The high nitration and low TBN seem to be consistent with this 1.8L turbo. Another engine to watch closely if you are running change intervals > 5000 miles. I'd say it's on a par with the Toyota V-6 in terms of oil degradation rates ....In this case you have a high power density and a small sump. As I recall, some of the earlier models only held 3.7 quarts of oil ...

 

[Steve_RI]

There's been a lot of confusion as to the oil capacity with the newer VW engines for some reason. Dealers have been over filling quite a bit...

...if the dealer can't get it right?? The capacity on this 2002 170hp version is 3.9 quarts.

 

[metroplex]

Isn't it spelled Mojave?

So is the ASL a good choice for running 12k to 15k miles?

 

[buster]

quote:

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So is the ASL a good choice for running 12k to 15k miles?

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It all depends my friend. I'd pick an oil, Amsoil or Mobil 1 and sample around 8k to get a good feel of where your at. It's too hard to say because of so many variables. If you look at the link someone posted above, they used M1 and there numbers were better then Amsoil's for the same car. So it really all depends on your engine and how you drive. Would you consider changing the oil every 10k miles? Personally, i'd play it safe and do that. Why abuse your engine if you don't have to. Extended drains are good for truck drivers and even people like myself that average 25-30k miles per year, but pushing any oil to 20+ is risky.