Amsoil SS 5w30 UOA with E85 and methanol

[dnewton3]

Honestly, given the extreme use of the vehicle and fuels used, I think this UOA is very, very good. Admittedly 2.2k miles isn't a long OCI, but the Fe is only 5ppm; that's a hair over 2ppm/1k miles. That's not a bad wear rate by any means, and given the short OCI and usage, I think this is excellent wear. The other metals are really low. There's no contamination.

Why are you all recommending thicker lubes when this one did a great job? Once again, I make the general observation that you all focus too much on what's in the bottle and not what matters. Lubricants are about wear control. The wear in this UOA shows everything is very good, and given the nature of the car's experiences, it's darn good.

Thicker lubes might survive a bit longer in use in this extreme application ... OK - but this is a race car, and thicker lubes also comsume more power. Power is everything in a race car. So why run a thicker lube and lose power when the current lube is doing great? Honestly I think some of you like to make recommendations just to be different, and ignore what the data and application are telling you.

03marin - Rather than switching lube brands or grades, why not run the same lube out on your next OCI out to 3k miles? See how that plays out. Then maybe 4k miles? Let the data tell you when to OCI. The wear rates are well within a normal range, and given how hard you're working the engine, this is outstanding performance from the lube you're using.

Singular UOAs aren't able to tell you which oil is "better" than another. But what you can discern from this UOA is that wear is admirable, especially given the service factor consideration.

 

[subzerospeed]

So I just talked to Dave at Redline, and he recommended their 5w30, so I guess I'm going to give that a try. He also said that I might be cooling the oil too much actually, lol. I didn't think I would be able to do that here in Southern California. Who knew?

I use redline Euro 5w30, which according to redline meets the requirements for GF-6A/SP in LSPI conditions.

I run a S280 on stock fuel system on my fiesta, but i dont really have lspi concerns as i dont hit full boost till 3500, well beyond lspi conditions.

What turbo you running? Aux fuel?

 

[03marin]

Honestly, given the extreme use of the vehicle and fuels used, I think this UOA is very, very good. Admittedly 2.2k miles isn't a long OCI, but the Fe is only 5ppm; that's a hair over 2ppm/1k miles. That's not a bad wear rate by any means, and given the short OCI and usage, I think this is excellent wear. The other metals are really low. There's no contamination.

Why are you all recommending thicker lubes when this one did a great job? Once again, I make the general observation that you all focus too much on what's in the bottle and not what matters. Lubricants are about wear control. The wear in this UOA shows everything is very good, and given the nature of the car's experiences, it's darn good.

Thicker lubes might survive a bit longer in use in this extreme application ... OK - but this is a race car, and thicker lubes also comsume more power. Power is everything in a race car. So why run a thicker lube and lose power when the current lube is doing great? Honestly I think some of you like to make recommendations just to be different, and ignore what the data and application are telling you.

03marin - Rather than switching lube brands or grades, why not run the same lube out on your next OCI out to 3k miles? See how that plays out. Then maybe 4k miles? Let the data tell you when to OCI. The wear rates are well within a normal range, and given how hard you're working the engine, this is outstanding performance from the lube you're using.

Singular UOAs aren't able to tell you which oil is "better" than another. But what you can discern from this UOA is that wear is admirable, especially given the service factor consideration.

I don't have any problem continuing to use the Amsoil SS 5w30 if it can hack it. My only concern with it is, I need it to go 3k miles in street conditions (street conditions are 80% of track conditions tbh), and the other thing is (and what was the cause of this early oil change) was that during my last mountain run, at the top, the oil pressure bottomed out to 6psi, I shut the car down, waited 5 minutes, started the car back up, and all was fine, oil pressure back up to 27 psi at idle. When I talked to Amsoil about this, they said it was because of the methanol, and that the Amsoil SS wasnt playing well with the methanol (even tho I didn't see any fuel dilution in the UOA). This car has an oil control system on it, which prevents the oil from sloshing in the oil pan so I don't think it was the oil pump sucking in air. TBH, I'm not really sure as to why the oil pressure dropped like it did (its actually the second time it's dropped like that). Even Amsoil said that the SS is not what they would recommend for my usage, they recommended Zrod, or the Dominator. That's why I came here to BITOG was to get some better insight, opinions and recommendations.

So I'm all ears.

 

[03marin]

I use redline Euro 5w30, which according to redline meets the requirements for GF-6A/SP in LSPI conditions.

I run a S280 on stock fuel system on my fiesta, but i dont really have lspi concerns as i dont hit full boost till 3500, well beyond lspi conditions.

What turbo you running? Aux fuel?

Stock turbo, stock fuel system, except for WMI (on a relatively small nozzle, 325ml) all remote tuned, on a dyno, by Brian at JST.

 

[subzerospeed]

Stock turbo, stock fuel system, except for WMI (on a relatively small nozzle, 325ml) all remote tuned, on a dyno, by Brian at JST.

Right on. So e30 or 40 then?

If your strictly running e30/40, without tanks of 92/93 inbetween, i would only run 3000 miles irregardless of the oil in your sump. E is pretty hard on oil as you are aware of.

 

[03marin]

Right on. So e30 or 40 then?

If your strictly running e30/40, without tanks of 92/93 inbetween, i would only run 3000 miles irregardless of the oil in your sump. E is pretty hard on oil as you are aware of.

It's e40, and your right about the E. I run 2 tanks of 91 (Cali) for every tank of E40. I run meth all the time tho. No matter what, I change oil at 3k miles, I know, I know....."I'm wasting money"......but it makes me feel good, and I can afford it. Lol. For track, I change the oil before and after every track weekend/event.

 

[subzerospeed]

It's e40, and your right about the E. I run 2 tanks of 91 (Cali) for every tank of E40. I run meth all the time tho. No matter what, I change oil at 3k miles, I know, I know....."I'm wasting money"......but it makes me feel good, and I can afford it. Lol. For track, I change the oil before and after every track weekend/event.

Naw 3000 is pretty normal considering the fuel used and how the car is driven. Sure, it might be overkill sometimes, but other times it may not be. Better safe than sorry, if you can afford it its surely cheaper than a new engine right?

 

[03marin]

Naw 3000 is pretty normal considering the fuel used and how the car is driven. Sure, it might be overkill sometimes, but other times it may not be. Better safe than sorry, if you can afford it its surely cheaper than a new engine right?

EXACTLY!!