Castrol Syntec 5W-30, 8,700 miles, 2005 Acura TSX

[LodgeDJ]

Normally, I do a 10K oci but I was about to take a trip and changed early. I have been using Castrol Syntec since the first oil change and will most likely always be a fan of the brand. It has done me very right in this vehicle and in a '96 Jeep Cherokee that I had.

I'm now using Castrol Edge in my Acura and in my 2008 Honda Element. Expect an analysis of the oil in the Element after the next change.

 

[paulswagelock]

Viscosity and flashpoint are right at the bottom of their ranges, but the wear numbers all look great. This oil is suited for your engine/habits nicely.

 

[demarpaint]

Looks good to me.

 

[The motor guy]

I'd change it every 8,000. Just because it will go 10,000 this time doesn't mean it will next time. No sense in pushing the oil too long. Your driving could change for this next oil change. Oil is cheap.

 

[pzev]

Looks like you hit the limit. Wear looks great, but the oil looks spent. If you think your driving style will remain the same, then 10k is probably fine again...but there isn't much room left in that OCI with that oil. Still though, good report for 10k!

 

[webfors]

Good report. 10k max. Must be more than just a trace of fuel with that low FP.

 

[SEMI_287]

Looks good!

 

[bepperb]

That's great. 10,000 miles no problem. Had you gone on a long trip you might have burned that fuel off and had an even better UOA.

 

[addyguy]

Disappointed that TBN is so low after 8700 miles, especially on an engine that isn't known to be that hard on oil.

But, oil protected nicely, so that is all that matters. I've always thought Sytec 5W-30 was a great oil for 20-weight applications, as it starts so close to a 20-weight that you get a bit of extra HT/HS protection without using too thick an oil.

 

[LodgeDJ]

Originally Posted By: addyguy
Disappointed that TBN is so low after 8700 miles, especially on an engine that isn't known to be that hard on oil.

But, oil protected nicely, so that is all that matters. I've always thought Sytec 5W-30 was a great oil for 20-weight applications, as it starts so close to a 20-weight that you get a bit of extra HT/HS protection without using too thick an oil.


It's actually a 5W-30 application for this car, according to the owner's manual & engine. I've often wondered if there would be any benefit to using a 5W-20, however, as that's what goes into my Element.

Do you guys think that Castrol Edge will perform better to 10k miles? I've always liked the 10k oci because it's very easy to remember, lol.

 

[addyguy]

Edge will definetly last to 10k better. Sad to say, but it IS quite a bit stronger than regular Syntec.

 

[FZ1]

"Stop right there!"(Patti Russo/Meatloaf.) Tbn is too low to go farther. Forget the bogus uoa clerk advice,save the uoa money and change it at not more than 8k.

 

[gib]

I have nothing to add regarding the oil's performance. The previous posts cover it.

But I do want to say that you might want to edit the image you posted to remove your personal data. While everyone on this site is a fine, upstanding citizen no doubt, you never know when some nefarious googler will come across that image and, before you know it, you're getting creepy phone calls and odd magazine trials. Or, worse yet, odd phone calls and creepy magazine trials.

 

[Artem]

8,700 miles with a 1.7 TBN and they're suggesting up to 12k "without MUCH trouble" ????

I don't know about that...

 

[webfors]

Nice report. Edge will go to 10k, as would this oil.

 

[Artem]

Originally Posted By: FZ1
"Stop right there!"(Patti Russo/Meatloaf.) Tbn is too low to go farther. Forget the bogus uoa clerk advice,save the uoa money and change it at not more than 8k.



I have to agree. 8k seems like a decent interval with plenty of room for safety.

why push it too far? oil is cheap

 

[LodgeDJ]

Originally Posted By: Artem
Originally Posted By: FZ1
"Stop right there!"(Patti Russo/Meatloaf.) Tbn is too low to go farther. Forget the bogus uoa clerk advice,save the uoa money and change it at not more than 8k.



I have to agree. 8k seems like a decent interval with plenty of room for safety.

why push it too far? oil is cheap


I've been thinking about going with shorter oci's because of the mileage on the car and this uoa seems to support that notion. However, I have taken Castrol Syntec to 10k 26 times (subtracting 10k on factory oil & the less than 10k on this last oil, of course) and things are still running right.

I will take Edge to 10k or so, do another uoa and base my decision off the results, I guess.

 

[LodgeDJ]

Originally Posted By: gib
I have nothing to add regarding the oil's performance. The previous posts cover it.

But I do want to say that you might want to edit the image you posted to remove your personal data. While everyone on this site is a fine, upstanding citizen no doubt, you never know when some nefarious googler will come across that image and, before you know it, you're getting creepy phone calls and odd magazine trials. Or, worse yet, odd phone calls and creepy magazine trials.


I find that I do not know how to edit the image. I edited the image on the hosting site but it has not changed here. Any suggestions?

 

[gib]

Originally Posted By: LodgeDJ
However, I have taken Castrol Syntec to 10k 26 times (subtracting 10k on factory oil & the less than 10k on this last oil, of course) and things are still running right.

This is a good point. While I agree with others that the TBN is lower than I'd expect or prefer after 8700 miles, it does not mean the oil is shot. That the engine is still humming along after about a quarter of a million miles doing 10k OCIs speaks to that point. I'd continue with 10k OCIs whether you switch to Edge or not.

 

[gib]

Originally Posted By: LodgeDJ
I find that I do not know how to edit the image. I edited the image on the hosting site but it has not changed here. Any suggestions?

You did it right. Your personal data is now blurred out, so you're fine.

There's a bit of a delay before edits made on photobucket fully "take". It's probably just the time needed for edits to propagate over their network of servers. Also, your browser may have been caching the image. One or both of those was likely the reason why the image didn't seem to change at first.

Also, in the future, don't link to a specific photobucket server (in this case, i64.photobucket.com). The best thing to use is the generic link (img.photobucket.com) which will pull the image from whatever server it decides is best.

EDIT: And as I now look again, I'm seeing your personal info once more. Strange. At this point I'd either wait until server 64 gets its act together or, alternatively, you could always remove the image from your photobucket account, edit it locally on your computer, then re-upload the already edited image to photobucket. That'll surely work.

Anyway, since this is off-topic, I'll take any further communication about this to private message.