GC 0w30, 6200 miles, 1995 Firebird Formula (LT1)

[Patman]

6200 miles on oil
Oct 11-Mar 13 (5 mos)
99,400 miles on engine
German Castrol Syntec 0w30
K&N oil filter (oversize HP3002)
AC Delco air filter (which was put in at 93k)
Top up oil was 1.25L
Oil capacity is 5L (5.3 qts)
Daily driven
11 quarter mile runs from November
Analysis by Wearcheck Canada
Interpretation from Terry Dyson


Iron 22
Lead 3
Chromium 1
Nickel 0
Titanium 0
Silver 0
Aluminum 5
Copper 2
Tin 1
Silicon 15
Sodium 29
Potassium 1
Boron 1
Barium 0
Moly 5
Magnesium 146
Calcium 2917
Phosphorus 757
Zinc 1081
Sulfur 2766
Manganese 140
Vanadium 0
Fuel 0.0%
Glycol 0
Water 0
Oxidation 66%
Nitration 55%
Sulfation 51%
Viscosity Index 173
Viscosity at 40C 75.1
Viscosity at 100C 12.9
TBN 5.13 (D-4739)


The iron is a bit higher than I was hoping for, but the rest of the metals are awesome, I'm especially impressed with the lead! I used a block heater every single morning (car is parked outside most of the time, but occasionally gets the garage overnight) and at work I have underground parking, which has been mostly in the 40-50F range this winter.

I'm confident my non winter UOAs will show under 15ppm of iron in a 6200 mile (10,000km) interval.

This UOA here was taken from batch number M030426B T/W1240607

I refilled it with more GC and another K&N oil filter and this time used a newer batch of GC, batch number M033246B 2510513 (which I figure might have 0 iron in it, as opposed to the 3.4 in the previous batch I used)

[ July 15, 2004, 10:43 AM: Message edited by: Patman ]

 

[sbc350gearhead]

Man....If I only had 22ppm of iron in 6200 miles.....with -20 temperatures...........I'd be doing the hula dance.

TBN is still excellent as well!!! But it's now a 40......I didn't expect that.

Do you think that LC would help with the oxidation?

That UOA rocks!! I hope the next report on my truck looks that good with GC.........but I have a bad feeling that it won't due to overdosing a fuel additive.

[ March 16, 2004, 07:42 PM: Message edited by: sbc350gearhead ]

 

[buster]

Very nice report. Patman, you have found your Holly Grail.

And note, NO MOLY. Some of the oils that look the weakest (GC, Motorcraft) perform the best.

[ March 16, 2004, 08:19 PM: Message edited by: buster ]

 

[Patman]

I actually don't mind that it's thickened up to 12.9, as I've stated many times in the past that I would actually prefer an oil of around 13cst for my engine, and all along I've had it!

I'm going to do two more 10,000km runs this year, and then next fall I will begin doing 15,000km intervals. I wonder how the viscosity will end up then?

LC might help with the oxidation but I also think this lab shows higher than normal numbers here too. I know LC is good stuff but I don't wish to add anything at all to my oil.

 

[Patman]

I'd just like to add one more thing. The lead wear was only 0.4ppm per 1000 miles! Not bad considering how much this car sees full throttle! Also not bad considering it's not a Toyota engine eh Ted?

 

[Motorbike]

This oil is very consistent and at the price it can be bought at ..... you know the story .

I know how Pat drives this car when it's warmed up ....... your looking at a race oil in disguise here

Very nice Patman , thanks for the post on this 0w oil that appears willing to take on all comers at a moderate price

Geeze , it takes this abuse and still gets better fuel mileage than heavy wt race oils .

Have some newer technology at work here I'd say

 

[novadude]

I bought 5 quarts on the way home tonight.

Does anyone know how to determine the date of packaging from the date codes?

BTW... where is the 29 ppm of sodium coming from?

[ March 16, 2004, 08:59 PM: Message edited by: novadude ]

 

[Alex D]

Congrats Patman !!! You are restoring GCs reputation ... thanks for the PM too!!

 

[Al]

Great report Patmen. Considering the track time too. And a 30 wt. in this engine is more proff that thicker is not always better.

I take it the ramps worked??

 

[Patman]

quote:

---

Originally posted by novadude:

BTW... where is the 29 ppm of sodium coming from?

---

There is an easy answer for that. Road salt. They dump TONS of it down here in the winter.

 

[Patman]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Al:
Great report Patmen. Considering the track time too. And a 30 wt. in this engine is more proff that thicker is not always better.

I take it the ramps worked??

---

The ramps worked awesome Al! Thanks again for sending them to me! (Al was kind enough to ship me some Rhino Ramps)

 

[Last_Z]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Patman:
I'd just like to add one more thing. The lead wear was only 0.4ppm per 1000 miles! Not bad considering how much this car sees full throttle! Also not bad considering it's not a Toyota engine eh Ted?

---

Hey you Polar Bear.....how's the weather up there?
I'm freezing my butt in 85*F weather.

Anyway....this is a pretty good report and with a TBN of 5 you could have gone longer....maybe 20k KM.
Anyway....don't forget JB is the other one bashing GM (which we know is NOT Toyota)
You are aproaching the self-destruction point (100k miles), so you better enjoy while you can!

 

[SSDude]

WOW! This is a great report. The lead numbers are amazing. What was also impressive was the low tin numbers. I was going to use Redline for my road race session but I might change my mind.

 

[Patman]

What amazes me most about this oil is that the second interval with it always shows the lead wear to drop even further than the first. It's as if it takes time for something to take effect before this oil really shows it's true colors. For instance, on my first interval with half the mileage on it (3100) my lead was 3.6ppm, still an awesome number, but yet for me to double the mileage and see only 2.5ppm now, that is awesome! The same thing happened in my sister's car, her first run showed 4.5ppm of lead in 5500 miles, and the second interval of 6900 miles it dropped to only 2.2! Other wear metals also dropped like that too on the second run. I wonder if it'll continue the trend and drop even further for my third full interval?

 

[Doug Hillary]

Hi Patman,

you know of my background with earlier versions of this oil in a number of vehicles

Shortly, it may be worthwhile lifting a valve cover to determine the level of deposits

I think your results are excellent. I must admit this is what I was looking for when I first used this oil in 1996 in a new Explorer V6 SOHC

I later had a problem in a 1.8 VW engine

A great report that to a large degree proves that 3MP's bedding in is likely to occur for a while yet!

It vindicates PSHOLTE's interest!

Regards
Doug

 

[Patman]

I will definitely keep an eye on things to make sure this stuff doesn't run into the same problems that you saw with it a few years ago Doug. I might have the intake manifold off the car next year, to fix the oil leak, so by then I could get a good idea of how it looks inside.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Patman,

Nice report.

Does Wearcheck report on insolubles level? What was it in your case?


Doug,

What kind of problems did you have in that VAG engine running SLX 0w-30? I'm assuming increased deposits, but what drain interval were you running? I'd like to hear more as I'm planning to use this oil in my 1.8T.

 

[Patman]

Wearcheck doesn't report insolubles actually. In fact I think Blackstone is the only one that does this. Other labs show oxidation and nitration instead.

 

[novadude]

Doug... I'd be interested in hearing about the problems you have had. Did this oil sludge you motor??

 

[jason07-1zzfe]

Pretty impressive again. A lot of oil added though. Is that all from your intake leak? That's almost as bad as my car, I'm at about 1qt/4k. I think it's still cleaning up though, it's black after only 1k. Anyway back to your UOA, I'd expect the iron to get even lower once you get some loading on that air filter! It's not bad now even. Remember to leave it be and enjoy!