Castrol Syntec 5w30 - 5,200 mi - 2007 Pontiac Vibe

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This is my first UOA and I settled on the Castrol Syntec (old formula, not the newer 'reformulated' Edge w/ Syntec) because I got a good deal on it. Unfortunately I purchased a decent amount of it prior to learning about German Castrol so this is all non-German Castrol.

The car was new to me at 70,400 mi and I started with the Syntec at 72,200 mi. My driving is about 60% hwy/40% city with the city being relatively short trips seeing a lot of starting and stopping.

Oil filter is 'stock' Toyota filter (larger capacity that is intended for the 2ZZ engine).

Comments from Blackstone: Just a trace of fuel was the only abnormality in the first report for your Vibe's Toyota engine. This small amount of fuel isn't nearly enough to adversely affect the engine or oil, and was likely caused by something operational. Universal averages for the 1.8L are based on about 5,400 miles on the oil. You ran your oil 5,200 miles, providing a good basis for comparison. With wear reading this low, we see no signs of trouble brewing inside your engine. The TBN of 2.6 had plenty of active additive left. 1.0 is low. A 7,000-mile run should work well for you next time.

Code:
OIL CASTROL SYNTEC 5W30

MILES IN USE 5200 MI

MILES 77400 MI

SAMPLE TAKEN 10/18/11



ALUMINUM 3

CHROMIUM 1

IRON 6

COPPER 3

LEAD 0

TIN 2

MOLYBDENUM 86

NICKEL 1

MANGANESE 0

SILVER 0

TITANIUM 0

POTASSIUM 1

BORON 24

SILICON 13

SODIUM 47

CALCIUM 2768

MAGNESIUM 16

PHOSPHORUS 683

ZINC 833

BARIUM 0



SUS VISC 210 56.9 56-60

CST VISC 100 9.32 9.1-10.5

FLASHPOINT 365 >365

FUEL% TR
ANTIFREEZE% 0 0.0

WATER% 0
INSOLUABLES% 0.5
TBN 2.6

*should be


I'm new at this so any input/suggestions/comments are greatly appreciated!
 
Thanks for your post. Looks like a very good oil for your engine. I'm curious....was this synthetic oil that you used the regular Syntec or the "newer version" of Edge with Syntec Technology? Do you recall if it was API-SM or API-SN?

Thanks again.
 
The OP said this is the SM, Mongo.

I do not know why in the world you would be regretting the purchase of this oil over the "GC" after a UOA like this. I think many will agree with me Syntec 0w30 is not the formula it used to be and may or may not have done any better than this. This is a very good showing and is a good fit for your engine. I would not worry about any UOA's until you switch oils to the SN Syntec 5w30 or whatever.

The insols were higher than usual. This oil may have been doing some cleaning or the filter could not handle the job. I would try a good aftermarket filter especially if you plan to run the oil longer. Bosch D+, M1 EP, P1's are all good choices.

Thanks for posting.
 
^Definitely give a Bosch D+ or Royal Purple oil filter a shot with a 5,000 mile OCI to see if insols lower. M1 etc, also good choices.

Good report otherwise. Silicon is average entry, not bad at all.

TBN is starting to get low, this oil is finished, IMO.

Put a cap of 6,000 miles for this oil in this app unless it's use becomes more 'normal' service.
 
Silicon is a little high and TBN is a little low for synthetic with 5200 miles OCI. For this car and this driving condition, I would not go beyond 6k miles OCI with old formula Castrol Syntec.
 
Thanks for the input you guys. As far as I could tell these results made me pretty happy. I've got two more gallon bottles of this stuff before I make the switch to the newer Edge with Syntec. Glad it seems like a good match.

As far as the filter goes I've got a few more Toyota filters to get through before trying anything else. The curse of purchasing in bulk I suppose..haha.

I'll plan on 6k with these filters and oil and re-evaluate when I run out of one or the other. Thanks again!
 
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