Castrol Syntec 0w30 (GC), 7136mi, 97 ITR engine

[BrianEM]

My Car: 1996 Acura Integra SE, 1997 B18C JDM ITR motor (totally stock inside) with about 90,000 miles on the engine at the time of the sample.

The Oil: Castrol 0w30 was changed after ~7136 miles/~7 months in the engine, with about 2.5 quarts of make-up oil added during that time, and was used with an Amsoil EaO oil filter.

Relevant Mods: No-name short ram intake with an Amsoil EaA dry air filter and a magnetic engine oil drain plug


So here are the numbers. Numbers in parentheses are from the X-Cess:

Aluminum--------4 (4)
Chromium-------1 (2)
Iron--------------10 (14)
Copper-----------2 (2)
Lead--------------1 (1)
Tin----------------0 (0)
Molybdenum-----3 (5)
Nickel------------0 (0)
Manganese------0 (1)
Silver------------0 (0)
Titanium--------0 (2)
Potassium-------1 (2)
Boron------------3 (6)
Silicon-----------13 (16)
Sodium----------7 (9)
Calcium---------1678 (1410)
Magnesium-----595 (1109)
Phosphorous----883 (838)
Zinc-------------1103 (1129)
Barium----------0 (0)

SUS Visc. @ 210F----64.6 (71.1)
CSt Visc. @ 100C----11.5 (13.23)
Flashpoint in F-------395 (415)
Fuel (%)-------------- Water (%)------------0 (0)
Antifreeze (%)-------0 (0)
Insolubles------------0.4 (0.3)

Some misc. notes (in case they matter):
- oil was put in February 9, 2008, and sampled August 25, 2008
- the car runs for at least 10-15 seconds on cold starts before driving (no more than a minute)
- always babied until the engine is up to temp (no more than 2500-3000rpm), then everyday driving is pretty much always under 3500-4000 rpm
- majority of driving is easy-going
- spirited driving is very spirited
- car sees 8000-8600rpm from time to time (during spirited driving, or just having fun here and there), but not too often. 8600rpm is the engine's stock redline.


Overall I'm very satisfied with how the oil performed. While taking the sample, I did it with the engine at operating temp minus like 20 minutes so it was pretty hard to put the drain plug back on with the HOT HOT oil pouring out slowly as well as the magnet sticking to the drain plug threaded section...so I ended up having to top off with about 2.8 quarts of fresh GC (not such a bad thing though!).

How much longer do you think I could run my current oil? What's in there is about 2.8 quarts of fresh oil and the rest (~1.4 quarts) is the old stuff (plus top-offs over time, of course). I was thinking maybe another 5000 miles?

--Brian


Previous UOAs:
Motul X-Cess 5w40
Amsoil TSO

 

[bmwtechguy]

Hard for me to tell if the oil will go another 5000 without TBN reading. But with 3 fresh quarts, sounds possible. The filter should be able to go that long as well. Seems like above it says the oil was "changed", but towards the bottom you say you just drained some out for the sample and had a hard time getting the plug back in. But the oil was not actually changed at the time of the sample, right?

 

[BrianEM]

That's correct, I took a sample and topped off with fresh oil of the same type. Sorry for the typo...it won't let me edit the post anymore.

 

[Drew99GT]

That's a sweet ride man!

 

[BrianEM]

Thanks dude!

Anybody have any recommendations for how much longer I should run this oil considering how much of the oil is new/old?

 

[ThirdeYe]

Looks pretty good to me! Silicon seems a tad high compared to all of the Analysis' I've had on my Integra, The rest looks really good! I've never had more than 7ppm silicon in my Samples.

 

[Donald]

Get a sample pump and forget about using the drain plug for a sample unless you are changing the oil. They are not that much money. Then you can easily sample other fluids like ATF or diff easily.

 

[BrianEM]

Do you guys think there is anywhere else that those Silicon numbers can come from other than the intake? I'm pretty sure that Amsoil EaA air filter is really [censored] good and I'm almost certain there aren't any leaks in the intake system.

Donald...heh after fumbling with taking the sample this time and having really hot oil get all over my hands, I think I'm going to spring for a sample pump!

 

[TeeDub]

if you've replenished 2/3 of the old GC I see no problem running another 5,000 miles - results are excellent.

 

[ThirdeYe]

It's possible that maybe your PCV valve is slightly loose or not sealed good, there's also the possibility of it coming from one of the other breather hoses connecting your engine to the intake. But really, I don't think the silicon is /that/ bad, not bad enough to indicate an intake leak to me... just something to watch out for.

 

[d00df00d]

Agreed.

 

[BrianEM]

hmm...my PCV valve still makes noise when shaken so it's not likely that it's bad, but it might not be sealed properly. I know it's seated well, but I'm not sure about how well it's sealed.

I'll check it out.

Also, I have the valve cover breather nipple correctly connected to the intake tube as it should be, so there wouldn't be a leak there.