Havoline 5w-20 SM+VSPOT mix, 5.1K, Honda Insight

[Ericm]

EQUIPMENT MAKE / MODEL: Honda Insight, 1.0L 3-cyl
OIL USE INTERVAL: 5,160 Miles
TOTAL MILES: 31,513
OIL TYPE & GRADE: 2.9 qts Mixture of Havoline 5W-20, SM, GF4 (85 oz.) + VSPOT (7.5 oz.)
MAKE-UP OIL ADDED: 0 qts
FILTER: Honda Civic OEM (Oversize) Filtec

code:

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COLUMNS, LEFT TO RIGHT (PPM):

1. This OCI (5160 Miles)

2. Previous (5020 Miles) Honda 0w-20 GF3+GF4 mix

3. Previous (6747 Miles) Mixture: 1.5 qts Amsoil XL7500 5w-20 + 1.0 qt Castrol Syntec 5w-50

4. Universal Averages

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1 2 3 4

-

ALUMINUM 5 5 4 7

CHROMIUM 0 0 1 1

IRON 1 1 5 10

COPPER 4 5 7 12

LEAD 0 0 1 2

TIN 0 1 0 1

MOLYBDENUM 510 542 17 207

NICKEL 0 0 1 0

MANGANESE 0 0 1 0

SILVER 0 0 0 0

TITANIUM 0 0 0 0

POTASSIUM 2 1 0 0

BORON 75 51 10 116

SILICON 9 13 8 12

SODIUM 2 2 2 7

CALCIUM 1623 3906 3724 2210

MAGNESIUM 84 7 18 225

PHOSPHORUS 674 768 764 738

ZINC 826 957 908 882

BARIUM 0 0 0 1



TBN: 3.6 4.6 -

SUS VISCOSITY: 53.7 50.9 60.2

FP: 395 390 410

FUEL:
ANTIFREEZE: 0.0 0.0

WATER: TR 0.0 0.0

INSOLUBLES: 0.2 0.1 0.4

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Blackstone's Comments:
ERIC: You can see the differences in this oil (mixed with VSpot) and the last oil you were using in the slightly different additive packages. We think either one is going to work well for your Honda, which seems determined to make the same wear regardless of miles on the oil or oil brand. That's great, and we see no reason not to run more miles on the next oil change. The trace of moisture is from condensation and not something to worry about. The TBN read 3.6, still active additive remaining (a reading of 1.0 or lower is too low). Looking good! Go back to 6K miles next time.

My Comments:
My hope in mixing the VSPOT (Valvoline Synpower Oil Treatment) was to raise the viscosity to 30 wt in an attempt to reduce aluminum wear. I was also trying to boost the already high moly level of the Havoline 5w-20 oil to match the Honda GF3 oil in hopes that this might be helpful in keeping the iron wear as low as possible.
It appears that the aluminum wear was not reduced by the slight viscosity increase for this run.
I believe this engine has an aluminum block with sleeveless cylinders and roller cam followers which may account for the higher aluminum and low iron wear. This engine also has substantial piston slap noise during warm up.
My current run is Chevron 5w-30, SM for 6K to see if less moly has much effect on iron wear. I may then try GC 0w-30 or M1 0w-40 for 7.5K.
Suggestions and comments welcome.

 

[Al]

Pretty much won't mattter much what you do here. I know everyone gets tired of me repeating myself. But: I think the piston slap will be improved with moly. Soooooooooooooo if you mix a quart of the RedLine with the GC (which has no moly) I think you will have an ideal mix.

I used that mix in my sons Acura and at 8700 miles the results were very good.

 

[Titan]

Depending upon your driving style, if you have lots of short trips, a thinner oil should do better for wear metals, as it will flow quicker during all those starts. Otherwise, it appears the 0-20 was a great performer...higher wear metal number could be a left-over from intial values with Amsoil, or simply a new engine breaking in. COuld you tell any difference in fuel economy between the different viscosities? Remember, GC 0-30 is thicker by far than anything else you've run...from -30 degrees up to operating temps....don't let the "0" fool you into thinking it's thinner when cold than your other oils...especially the 0-20.

 

[Ericm]

quote:

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Originally posted by Al:
Pretty much won't mattter much what you do here. I know everyone gets tired of me repeating myself. But: I think the piston slap will be improved with moly. Soooooooooooooo if you mix a quart of the RedLine with the GC (which has no moly) I think you will have an ideal mix.

I used that mix in my sons Acura and at 8700 miles the results were very good.

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Thanks Al, I wasn't sure if moly helped prevent Aluminum wear, thought it might just be for steel. I'll keep your suggestion in mind.

 

[Ericm]

quote:

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Originally posted by Titan:
Depending upon your driving style, if you have lots of short trips, a thinner oil should do better for wear metals, as it will flow quicker during all those starts. Otherwise, it appears the 0-20 was a great performer...higher wear metal number could be a left-over from intial values with Amsoil, or simply a new engine breaking in. COuld you tell any difference in fuel economy between the different viscosities? Remember, GC 0-30 is thicker by far than anything else you've run...from -30 degrees up to operating temps....don't let the "0" fool you into thinking it's thinner when cold than your other oils...especially the 0-20.

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Titan, I did run a "clean out quart" (idled for 10 minutes and drained) between each oil change to keep each separate OCI as clean as possible. I estimated that the Amsoil / Syntec blend may have started out with a vis of around SUS 67 (~12cst) similar to CG, but I think it sheared down alot after 6700 mi. I did seem to notice a slight increase in mileage near the end of each OCI as, I'm assuming, oil became gradually thinner. The difference between oils seemed slight. BTW, as you state, there is a noticable increase in real time mileage as engine goes from cold to full operating temp.