Castrol Syntec GC 0w-30 - 5000mi - 2005 Subaru WRX

[FD777]

Driving details:
Nothing exciting in this interval. I'd estimate 70% city driving and 30% freeway.
Easy on the throttle for the first 10 minutes -
Personal Comments:
Copper is back up, but there were no motorsports events or spirited drives. Any comments are welcome!

Current UOA:
Code:


OIL FILTER: Subaru OEM Toyo Roki - 15208AA100

AIR FILTER: Subaru OEM - 16546AA020



EQUIP.MAKE/MODEL: Subaru 2.0L Turbo OIL TYPE & GRADE: Castrol Syntec GREEN 0W/30 (Gas)

FUEL TYPE: Gasoline (Unleaded) OIL USE INTERVAL: 5000 miles



You ran this 0W/30-grade oil 5,000 miles and we found copper reading at 11 ppm, which might be a sign

of some excess wear though we don't think it's a new problem. It's not too high, yet, but it is something to monitor in

future samples. The rest of the wear metals look good showing normal wear. The oil's TBN was 4.8, indicating lots of

active additive left in this brand and type of oil. Air filtration was adequate and oil filtration (see insolubles) was very

good. No contaminants were present. Check back in 4K to 5K miles for another look at copper.





ELEMENTS IN PARTS PER MILLION (PPM)



OIL TYPE GC Green GC Green GC Green M1 10w-30

MAKE UP OIL (qts) 1.0 0.75 1.5 0.5



MI/HR ON OIL 5000 4000 4,100 4,000 Unit / Universal Averages

MI/HR ON UNIT 35,600 27,000 23,100 15,000 Location

SAMPLE DATE 03/01/08 06/08/07 03/02/07 04/08/06 Averages



ALUMINIUM 2 2 3 2 2 3

CHROMIUM 0 0 0 1 0 1

IRON 6 5 6 4 5 8

COPPER 11 9 12 7 10 5

LEAD 1 1 1 2 1 5

TIN 0 0 0 0 0 1

MOLYBDENUM 2 1 2 67 18 71

NICKEL 2 2 2 0 2 0

MANGANESE 1 1 1 0 1 1

SILVER 0 0 0 0 0 0

TITANIUM 0 0 0 0 0 0

POTASSIUM 1 0 0 0 0 1

BORON 1 0 2 35 9 66

SILICON 10 12 11 9 11 9

SODIUM 2 0 4 4 3 7

CALCIUM 3356 2902 2923 2171 2838 2395

MAGNESIUM 155 154 134 11 114 109

PHOSPHORUS 858 823 785 601 767 722

ZINC 960 1023 928 713 906 861

BARIUM 0 0 0 0 0 0





Values Should Be



cSt Viscosity @ 100ºC 64.2 64.8 64.7 61.4 58-65

SUS Viscosity @ 210ºF 11.38 11.55 11.52 10.60 9.6-11.9

Flashpoint in ºF 410 390 390 370 >385

Fuel %
Antifreeze % 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0

Water % 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Insolubles % 0.2 0.2 0.4 0.3
TBN 4.8 5.9 6.3 4.7

TAN

ISO Code


Previous UOA threads:
06/08/07 Castrol Syntec 0w-30 - 4000 miles
03/02/07 Castrol Syntec 0w-30 - 4100 miles
04/08/06 Mobil1 10w-30 - 4000 miles

 

[Steve S]

Seems the oil can go much longer based on the TBN.

 

[edhackett]

I wouldn't worry too much about the copper in a 2004+ car. I noticed that the copper levels jumped in the 2004 WRX's and in the STI and others with the 2.5L. The oil cooler in my 2003 WRX was as silver color, probably steel. The oil cooler on my 2008 Legacy GT appears to be copper. I'll bet that the slightly elevated copper is coming from the oil cooler. The next time you are under the car check to see if your oil cooler is copper.

The difference between your highest and lowest copper numbers are pretty much within the accuracy of the ICP method as used for oil analysis. The ppm/1000 miles of this UOA is lower than the last.

Your lead numbers are great, showing no bearing problems. Overall, an outstanding UOA.

Ed

 

[glennc]

These are very low wear numbers; seems to me I recall most WRX UOAs having metals a mite high. You must be treating it well.

Interesting to see the M1 having been lower on Iron and most other metals than GC, and earlier in the engine's life, when you normally see higher break-in readings. Seems to me the engine likes the thinner M1 better, perhaps.

I wouldn't worry about a copper reading barely out of the single digits, not for a second. Seems Blackstone is more frequently calling attention to quite low numbers as being "high." I wonder if the SM oils are just so good that their universal averages have become very low, causing them to call out readings that are also still quite low.

Anyway, whatever you are doing seems to be working fine.

 

[FD777]

I'm not frightened by the "high" copper, just wish it was little lower. But I do feel better with everyone's feedback. I'll keep using up my GC stash till it's depleted.

Steve S,
I'm slowly breaking my short OCIs!

edhackett,
Thanks, I'll have to check my oil cooler. I never noticed that trend.

glennc,
Yes, M1 did have the best copper wear. I suspect this may be from my personal driving style. My first track session was with the first GC UOA posted above - 03/02/07 sample date. I've been driving a little more spiritedly since then

I'm NOT belittling M1, it did great.

 

[SubLGT]

Is nickel an additive in GC? Because Subarus usually show zero nickel, and this UOA shows 2 ppm.

 

[bluesubie]

Good report!!

I think Ed's right about the Copper and the oil cooler.

FWIW, my Nickel has been 1 or 0 with GC. Yeah, push your OCI a little. Have faith in the elves!

-Dennis

 

[va3ux]

Copper isn't really "back up". It's perfectly consistent with the previous UOA. This UOA had 25% more miles than the previous one and the copper is up exactly 25%.

 

[FD777]

Originally Posted By: va3ux
Copper isn't really "back up". It's perfectly consistent with the previous UOA. This UOA had 25% more miles than the previous one and the copper is up exactly 25%.

That's true, I forgot about that factor.
But does wear track linearly with miles? (At least within a certain range.)

That aside, I question the "Universal Averages" column. Universal based on a specific amount of miles? Is it normalized?
Sometimes they'll state something like, "Based on a 4750 mile interval."

 

[va3ux]

Originally Posted By: FD777
But does wear track linearly with miles? (At least within a certain range.)


It's not perfectly linear, but "within a range" - yes.

Quote:
That aside, I question the "Universal Averages" column. Universal based on a specific amount of miles? Is it normalized?
Sometimes they'll state something like, "Based on a 4750 mile interval."


I've had the same questions/concerns about the Blackstone averages. I've never used Blackstone but I've looked at plenty of their analysis here on BITOG and I've wondered about the validity of this "average" number and how meaningful it is.