Castrol Edge EP 5w-20, 5299 miles, 16 GMC Sierra 6.2L

[KirkLee]

 

[fantastic]

Very good to see all the UOA lined up. Any reason you're aware of why the wear spiked on the 45k sample?

 

[KirkLee]

Very good to see all the UOA lined up. Any reason you're aware of why the wear spiked on the 45k sample?

Just speculation on my part. I wanted to run both my cars on Pennzoil Ultra Platinum. (Honda 1.5T and Sierra 6.2L). So, I did an analysis on both after running Pennzoil. The Honda didn't seem to care, but the Sierra's wear spiked. So, I went back to running Castrol Edge EP in both cars. Thanks for the question. Just an FYI, the oil filters are Amsoil.

 

[twX]

Any reason you're aware of why the wear spiked on the 45k sample?

It was the longest OCI in terms of time, with only 6k miles in 17 months, so potentially a lot more short tripping. This OCI also included two full winter seasons, which might make a difference depending on climate.

The oil on this OCI ended up the thinnest. PP is a shear-stable oil and the 0W-20 starts out at 8.6 cST. A drop to 6.8 cST would indicate a lot of fuel dilution. I'd estimate around 6% dilution even assuming there was quite a bit of permanent shear as well. The Castrol EP starts out at 8.2 cST and only thinned to 7.2 cST.

The best wear results were on the OCIs where miles were being put on quickly, and where the viscosity held up due to lower fuel dilution.

@KirkLee, you might consider switching to a lab like OAI that can accurately measure fuel dilution. If you're in a cold climate, a block heater would help reduce the fuel dilution when doing short trips.

 

[MalibuRam65]

Just speculation on my part. I wanted to run both my cars on Pennzoil Ultra Platinum. (Honda 1.5T and Sierra 6.2L). So, I did an analysis on both after running Pennzoil. The Honda didn't seem to care, but the Sierra's wear spiked. So, I went back to running Castrol Edge EP in both cars. Thanks for the question. Just an FYI, the oil filters are Amsoil.

Why you use 5w20 instead of 0w20 just curious?

 

[KirkLee]

It was the longest OCI in terms of time, with only 6k miles in 17 months, so potentially a lot more short tripping. This OCI also included two full winter seasons, which might make a difference depending on climate.

The oil on this OCI ended up the thinnest. PP is a shear-stable oil and the 0W-20 starts out at 8.6 cST. A drop to 6.8 cST would indicate a lot of fuel dilution. I'd estimate around 6% dilution even assuming there was quite a bit of permanent shear as well. The Castrol EP starts out at 8.2 cST and only thinned to 7.2 cST.

The best wear results were on the OCIs where miles were being put on quickly, and where the viscosity held up due to lower fuel dilution.

@KirkLee, you might consider switching to a lab like OAI that can accurately measure fuel dilution. If you're in a cold climate, a block heater would help reduce the fuel dilution when doing short trips.

I will gladly check into another lab. I bought 10 kits at O'Reilly's to get better pricing. Only 2 left to use. Thanks

 

[KirkLee]

Why you use 5w20 instead of 0w20 just curious?

Two reasons. Neither probably valid or good enough. 1. I presume 5w oil to be a better starting stock over 0w oil. 2. My truck lives in a garage, so it very rarely starts below 32 degrees.