German Castrol in an '02 Taurus, 5,100 miles

[Mike242GT]

Vehicle is my son-in-law's 2002 Ford Taurus with the 3.0L Vulcan engine. About 5,100 miles on the oil and 23,100 total miles on the vehicle when the sample was collected. Oil was GC 0W-30, in from 8/15/03 until 12/27/03. Probably about 65% hiway, 35% short trips. Vehicle has been in Indiana, so there was some cold weather at the end of this interval. I should note that we did an Auto-Rx treatment before this run using Exxon Superflo 5W-20, and the "rinse" phase was probably way too short (it was less than 500 miles). Oil and air filter are stock Motorcraft; I think the air filter is still original.

code:

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Al 2

Cr 1

Fe 14

Cu 4

Pb 15

Sn 0

Mo 17

Ni 0

Mn 0

Ag 0

Ti 0

K 0

B 0

Si 29

Na 2

Ca 2952

Mg 102

P 672

Zn 920

Ba 0



SUS Viscosity @210F 67.5

Flashpoint 415 F

Fuel
Antifreeze 0.0

Water 0.0

Insolubles 0.3

TBN 3.3

---

Blackstone flagged Pb, Si and Visc, suggested checking air filtration due to the Si.

When my son-in-law was here over Christmas, I changed out this oil and refilled with more GC. I'm thinking that 5-6K is probably about as far as this stuff ought to be run in this engine. I'm thinking I probably should have changed his air filter, too. Comments, insights appreciated.

[ January 06, 2004, 08:33 PM: Message edited by: Mike242GT ]

 

[buster]

Si is definitely hurting this report. I also think we will see GC come back down to earth as more UOA's trickle in. I'd change the air filter and re-test. Iron and Lead are definitely up their.

 

[TooSlick]

Take a look at the "Permatex" material used to form the oil pan gasket - all these Ford engines leach silicon(e) for the first 50,000 miles. If this was dirt, Fe and Cr would be through the roof. The Pb will come down with warmer weather and less fuel contamination.

It's all good ...

 

[JohnBrowning]

Lead is high it is higher then the iron. This is usualy taken as a sign that the oil is too thin.

 

[GSV]

Remember, three of the GC VOAs had 3 to 4 ppm of Iron.

If this lot was similar the iron on the UOA could be 10 or 11 which isn't bad for a fairly new V6.

I'll be draining mine this weekend. approx 5350 miles in the Nissan oil torture machine.

quote:

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Lead is high it is higher then the iron. This is usualy taken as a sign that the oil is too thin.

---

GC is a good deal thicker than the 5w-20 that was in there however.

[ January 06, 2004, 11:45 PM: Message edited by: GSV ]

 

[Green Max]

What can an oil do if too much dirt gets through a bad filter? Even the best oil will show wear, right?

I would change the air filter, then do one more run with GC and compare the results.

 

[Scooby]

Here is a report to compare with. I dont know how to make it line up, but will try my best. It is a 2000 Taurus with the 3.0 Vulcan. Both reports are with Mobil1 5W-30 and WIX filter.

code:

---

Miles on unit 22,928 59,678

Miles on oil 5970 7637

Aluminum 3 2

Chromium 2 1

Iron 13 10

Copper 6 4

Lead 10 7

Tin 3 2

Moly 3 80

Nickel 1 1

Mang 1 1

Silver 0 0

Titanium 0 0

Potassium 0 4

Boron 50 125

Silicon 41 27

Sodium 9 8

Calcium 793 3146

Magnesium 1338 31

Phosphurus 568 851

Zinc 683 1125

Barium 0 0



Viscosity 68

Flashpoint 430

Fuel
Antifreeze 0

Water 0

Insolubles .2



TBN 3.1

---

NOTE: Between these two analysis the air filter housing was found to be "unattached". I changed air filter at around 45k miles for 2nd time and must have not buttoned it up correctly. Engine uses no oil, runs fine.
Used AUTO-RX around 50k.

[ January 07, 2004, 04:36 PM: Message edited by: Scooby ]

 

[JoggingGuy]

Those silicon, lead, and iron numbers are almost the same ratio as the last UOA I did on the Ranger with the same 3.0L vulcan engine. And that's with 62K miles. I wonder where the silicon comes from in these vehicles

And look at Scooby's post. Same ratios