Amsoil Synthetic and ARX MD

[Rick20]

I thought I would share some information on an Auto-Rx application, not particularly approved by Auto-Rx. I ran a maintenance dose without first cleaning and rinsing, oops.
The car is driven basically 50% highway and 50% city. I would also note that of the 50% city driving, 1 hour per day is stop and go, mostly stop. Driving environmental conditions are very dusty, gritty air. On the weekend my driving is usually short trips of less than 5 miles. I would consider this to be severe driving.

I had run PP for the first 25,000 KM. And have run Amsoil 0W20 to date. The oil analysis numbers on the left are from an extended drain on the Amsoil alone. The numbers on the right are of an extended drain with a 3 fluid ounce maintenance dose installed. I plan on running a couple more extended drains with the maintenance dose installed(approx. 15,000 miles). Then plan on running a longer interval with another UOA.

Canada Rob

Used Oil Analysis 3Fluid ounce Maintenance Dose

Dodge Caliber SXT 2.0 liter Dodge Caliber SXT 2.0 liter
Amsoil Synthetic SAE 0W20 Amsoil Synthetic SAE 0W20
With 3 fluid ounces of Auto-Rx

Full Flow Filter 15 micron Full Flow Filter 15 micron
Unit Time 85440 KM Unit Time 108,815 KM
Lube Time 25,140 KM(15,621 miles) Lube Time 23,375 KM(14,525 miles)

Wear Metals(ppm) Wear Metals(ppm)
Iron 15 Iron 9
Chromium 1 Chromium 0
Nickel 0 Nickel 0
Aluminum 2 Aluminum 1
Copper 2 Copper 0
Lead 0 Lead 0
Tin 1 Tin 1
Cadmium 0 Cadmium 0
Silver 0 Silver 0
Titanium 0 Titanium 0
Vanadium 0 Vanadium 0

Contaminant Metals (ppm) Contaminant Metals (ppm)
Silicon 31 Silicon 34
Sodium 17 Sodium 12
Potassium 2 Potassium 3

Multi Source Metals (ppm) Multi Source Metals (ppm)
Molybdenum 6 Molybdenum 1
Antimony 0 Antimony 0
Manganese 2 Manganese 0
Lithium 0 Lithium 2
Boron 19 Boron 7

Additive Metals (ppm) Additive Metals (ppm)
Magnesium 10 Magnesium 8
Calcium 2996 Calcium 2690
Barium 0 Barium 0
Phosphorus 520 Phosphorus 547
Zinc 635 Zinc 576

Fuel Volume Soot Water
Continued 2.0 liter Dodge Continued 2.0 liter Dodge
Amsoil 0W20 Synthetic Amsoil 0w20 with ARX 3 oz.

Viscosity 100C/ cs 11.4 Viscosity 100C/cs 12.7
TBN 2.38 TBN 7.76
Oxidation 44 Oxidation 29
Nitration 31 Nitration 21

Points of concern: Fairly high levels of Silicon found in both UOA’s. A result of very dusty driving climate.

TBN low in the oil analysis from the run with Amsoil 0W20, run for 15,621 miles. TBN very stout on the run with the maintenance dose installed.

Viscosity higher than desirable in both runs. Higher in the run with the maintenance dose, likely due to cleaning of past deposits now suspended in the oil sample.

Points of improvement:
*Improvement in wear metal counts with ARX installed.
*Substantial reduction in oxidation and nitration with ARX installed.
*TBN remained stout on the run with ARX installed.

 

[Steve S]

What kind of air filter are you running? I really like what A R/X does I am into the Maint dose after the cleaning. Make sure there are no leaks in the vacume lines and the air filter seals peoperly I RTV my airfilters gasket area.

 

[Rick20]

Steve S, Those would be Wix filters. Also have inspected for any cracks or loose clamps, never had found any problems. Even go to the point of sealing the box with water proof grease to make sure air is forced through the filter. The orignial UOA at 5000 KM showed silicon at 15 ppm. I can easily scrap off 1/8 inch of fine dust off the cover within 10,000 KM. When I said dusty environment, I was not kidding.

 

[JMJNet]

It shows that ARX improve the longevity of the oil even with synthetic.

Great report!!!

 

[c3po]

The TBN was 7.76 with the Maintenance Dose, could this oil have been run longer.

Do you know how the oil looked that was drained with the Maintenance Dose of auto-rx.

 

[Rick20]

I agree. Kudos to Canada Rob.

The only thing that remains a mystery to me is the viscosity increase, both pre-ARX and during ARX. Is it possible that the airborne particulates are responsible for the visc. increases? Or is it that the length of the OCI's are the determining factor. In many cases we see shearing of the indexing properties of the oil deteriorate over time. In this case, the exact opposite.

 

[Pablo]

I have some doubts here. Maybe it's the lab, maybe the engine. I don't know.

How many times, exactly have we seen the viscosity of ASM 0W-20 increase statistically significantly? How many times have we seen it go out of grade? How many time have we seen it become SAE 40?

Answer = never

The reports look great and it's cool to see what AutoRx does for TBN. Someone said this engine was very clean to start with.

 

[Rick20]

Could it be the ingestion of very fine dust adding to the visc. reading? Perhaps a particle size(I.R) analysis may be in order.

Kudos to Amsoil Synthetic and Amsoil Synthetic for what I would consider low wear metals over long OCI's though.

 

[Rick20]

Canada Rob, has shared with me some previous UOA on this unit.
An early UOA with Pennsoil on a roughly 5000 mile run showed silicon levels roughly similar, yet no increase in viscosity.
I also looked at a UOA on Amsoil 0W20 over in the UOA section on an EcoTec motor. Those results showed similar viscosity spikes in long run drains. May be the nature of the beast.

 

[c3po]

There was once a test done on Amsoil 5W-30 and after 7000 miles it eventually spiked up to a 5W-40.

I think it is the nature of the oil and the longer you go on drain intervals the viscosity can increase.

 

[StevieC]

I run their ASL 5w30 and I go 6,000 Miles between changes and all my UOA's have come back unchanged. Dunno

 

[Rick20]

The only reason why one would think the OCI has been exhausted pertains to viscosity. And elevated levels of silicon, ingested from the environment. But the history behind thius vehicle suggests that the airborn ingestion is present at its current levels before the viscosity spikes.

StevieC, he is running twice the miles of your OCI. I guess the real question is whether or not the indexing properties get altered somewhere between 6000 miles and 15000 miles. Or was it due to ARX cleansing of past contaminants now suspended in the oil.