Analysis testing long term complete

[Speedy!]

I've been running a test on various motor oils in a 1999 Honda Accord that sees a lot of miles. I was curious if one oil was really better than another.

I tested each oil for right at 10,000 miles using the same oil filter. The drive was the same with about a 50/50 split of city and highway for each sample tested.

The oils tested were:

Castrol GTX 10W30
Castrol Syntec 5W30
Penzoil Platinum 5W30

And now the Mobil 1 5W30

I would run each oil for 10K miles, and run another oil change with the same oil for 10K miles before taking the sample, so this test was conducted over a couple of years and roughly 80,000 miles.

What I found is that all the synthetics were pretty close to each other in performance, but the Penzoil Platinum did seem to edge out the rest by a small margin. For the price it can't be beat, but I'm not telling you guys anything you don't already know.

This latest analysis is from the Mobil 1 5W30.

Vehicle: 1999 Honda Accord 2.3L 4cyl Automatic Trans
Miles on Engine: 174,910
Oil: Mobil1 5W30
Filter: Purolator Pure One
Miles on Oil: 9,604
Time on Oil: 4 months 27 days (all samples have nearly 5 months of time on them)

Black Stone was the lab used for all samples.

Comments:
It's fine that you didn't change the filter this time. We use the insolubles test to determine the effectiveness of oil filtration, and your 0.3% reading is great. We've found that most people don't really need to change the filter every time they change the oil. Wear looks good too. Aluminum and iron have increased slightly over last sample, though lead improved. Overall we'd say this oil is working just fine for you and if you like it, stick with it. You could even push it a little longer if you wanted. The TBN read 3.9, so try 11,000
miles next time. Check back.

Code:


ELEMENTS IN PARTS PER MILLION

Aluminum: 4

Chromium: 1

Iron: 11

Copper: 4

Lead: 10

Tin: 0

Molybdenum: 83

Nickel: 1

Manganese: 0

Silver: 0

Titanium: 0

Potassium: 4

Boron: 105

Silicon: 14

Sodium: 7

Calcium: 3275

Magnesium: 16

Phosphorus: 873

Zinc: 932

Barium: 0



PROPERTIES:

SUS Viscosity @210*F: 66.2

cSt Viscosity @ 100*C: 11.93

Flashpoint in °F: 365

Fuel %: TR

Antifreeze %: 0.0

Water %: 0.0

Insolubles %: 0.3

TBN: 3.9




So I also have a supercharged Toyota 4Runner. It doesn't get driven nearly as much, so I only change the oil and filter in it once a year. This is usually about 2000 to 2500 miles of use on the oil. I tested Castrol GTX 10W30 as well as Penzoil Platinum 5W30 in that vehicle. The Penzoil Platinum was head and shoulders above reducing lead to the same magnitude as it did in the Honda.

 

[440Magnum]

Originally Posted By: Speedy1975
The Penzoil Platinum was head and shoulders above reducing lead to the same magnitude as it did in the Honda.



Or maybe it just made the lead come off in bigger particles that don't show up in a regular UOA.... ;-)

Count me in the group that isn't sure you can reliably use a simple UOA to compare different oils or different engines. I know they're great for trending to see if the engine/oil combo is changing and to look for things like fuel dilution and coolant contamination, but since a UOA only catches a narrow range of wear particle size I just don't know how limited the comparison might be.

 

[Speedy!]

Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
Originally Posted By: Speedy1975
The Penzoil Platinum was head and shoulders above reducing lead to the same magnitude as it did in the Honda.



Or maybe it just made the lead come off in bigger particles that don't show up in a regular UOA.... ;-)

Count me in the group that doesn't think you can reliably use a simple UOA to compare different oils or different engines. All they're good for is trending a given oil/engine combination to see if things are changing in a good way or bad way and to look for things like fuel dilution and coolant contamination.


Well, had I not done the testing myself in two different vehicles I may agree, but the trends show otherwise. Even Blackstone seemed surprised and hinted in BOTH vehicles' notes that the Penzoil Platinum seemed to work very well compared to the other oil(s).

 

[ltslimjim]

Nice silicon numbers too. I wish I could average less than 15 ppm over 10,000. Do you mind, which air filter do you use?

As far as the best oil in your app, it's a toss up really, IMO. Too many variables, weather/driving conditions are just one and are hard to 'accurately' record. If you ran one oil during the winter or summer predominantly try to re-run that SAME oil in the opposite extreme season, and compare the results to that previous OCI. This will be a faster way, IMO, of finding out how 'consistent' you can expect one particular oil to do in your app. Otherwise; aside from helping to decide your personal preference based on what you simply like, it's really not possible to prove one oil superior to another in your app without performing 4-5(at least others say more) UOAs on the same app with using the same oil each time(re-filled with, over several separate OCIs continuously), and logging weather/driving conditions(temps and any obvious[drove in flood or off-roading etc]. Then a blend of how much stop 'n go(city) vs highway(chances for cruise control anyone?).

Typically, this allows for time to monitor trending 'enough', but then the other factor is oil formulation change. Taking that wrench into consideration, you can see how frustrating it 'may' become trying to become dependent on one oil over another based on UOAs. It's fun, but like you mentioned, not really scientific enough.

 

[Speedy!]

Air filter is a Purolator brand filter.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: Doug Hillary

UOAs are a great tool in the Management of any machinery that uses liquid lubricants. Unfortunately, their real value is often misunderstood by those who contribute to BITOG.

Firstly, it is important to realize that you get what you pay for. The most common forms of UOA are limited in their scope. It is a case of if you pay more you get more. So my comments here relate primarily to the “simple” UOAs – the cornerstone of those appearing on BITOG

Secondly, it is easy to assume that by carrying out a UOA you will be able to determine how quickly the engine is wearing out. As well, if you change lubricant Brands you will be able to compare the wear metal uptake results and then make a balanced best lubricant choice to make your engine last longer.

Sadly that logic is seriously flawed.

Single pass (random) UOAs will provide some information regarding wear metals but unless you have a history of your engine’s performance up to around 1 million miles the results are simply that – UOA results! As an example a limit of 150ppm of Iron is a reality – after say 100k it means the lubricant should be changed and all is well. But what is the situation if you have 150ppm of Iron at 5k? Where would you look what would or could you do? So UOAs are really a diagnostic tool – one of many!

The other parts of the UOA Report will be much more valuable to you – it will tell you about the CONDITION of the lubricant and its suitability for further use. This will enable you to get the maximum safe use from the lubricant saving a valuable resource in the process.


http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/used-oil-analysis/

 

[Artem]

Results seem pretty good. Thanks for taking the time to do this experiment over the years.

 

[CaspianM]

All I see is consistent results in all brands that you've posted with this engine. A few ppm higher in one vs. another is not really a flag nor an indication of better oil specially if you reguraly change brand. I do not think labs are that consistent to begin with anyway.

 

[steve20]

Thanks for your contribution Speedy-appreciate you posting it here

Steve