Idemitsu 0w20 w/ MOLY - 5,495mi - 2014 Mazda 3

[Artem]

Decided to try Idemitsu with Moly to compare to the regular ol' plain jane Idemitsu. Got this oil on sale from Amazon for like $25 shipped, I think. Also decided to extend the interval a bit, to actually give the oil a challenge. An 800 mile trip right at the end helped rack up the miles over the course of two days. Haha. The Oil Life showed 40% remaining using the "flexible" oil life setting, which calculates based on engine operations and conditions. It's a silly comparison obviously, since most of the miles have been in cooler winter Florida temps, vs the 100F summer runs. The occasional 35F-40F (50-65F average) cold starts have been BRUTAL... on my hands while i grip the ice cold steering wheel and shifter. Hahaha. I don't know how you people live up north where its ACTUALLY COLD. Goodness gracious. I want my FL warmth back.

Code

OIL             Idemitsu 0w20 Synthetic      
MILES IN USE    5,495 miles          
MILES on unit   74,368  
SAMPLE TAKEN    11/18/2018
Make up Oil     0

Universal Average based on 6,000 miles

ALUMINUM        2              4 
CHROMIUM        0              0  
IRON            7              11 
COPPER          1              3
LEAD            0              0
TIN             0              0 
MOLYBDENUM      589             144   
NICKEL          0              0  
MANGANESE       0              0  
SILVER          0              0 
TITANIUM        0              2 
POTASSIUM       0              2 
BORON           195            81  
SILICON         9              12  
SODIUM          7              40
CALCIUM         2036           1804
MAGNESIUM       9              291
PHOSPHORUS      696            649
ZINC            764            740
BARIUM          1              0 
 
                            Values Should Be*
SUS VIS 210�F   49.8           46-57
cSt @ 212�F     7.20           6.0-9.7
FLASHPOINT �F   390            >385
Fuel %          <0.5           <2.0
Antifreeze      0.0             0.0
WATER           0.0            <0.1
INSOLUBLES      0.2            <0.6
TBN             4.9            >1.0
TAN             5.9

 

[danez_yoda]

looks like the plain old idemitsu was better. you cant do much better than zero metals. flash point higher and TBN is higher.

 

[PimTac]

Is this the Zepro?

 

[Artem]

Originally Posted by danez_yoda

looks like the plain old idemitsu was better. you cant do much better than zero metals. flash point higher and TBN is higher.

I wouldn't call it a fair comparison though. This current fill has 2,000 more miles on it then the regular Idemitsu before it. Its not an Apples to Apple comparison. Plus like i said, this current sample has lots of Cold starts vs the previous sample which was all summer starts @ 100F

 

[Artem]

Originally Posted by PimTac

Is this the Zepro?

Yes.

 

[HKPolice]

Moly is over hyped, basically no difference.

 

[Artem]

I wouldn't say that. Aluminum is 1-2ppm less even with 2,000 extra miles + cold starts. I'll try to pull the next sample at 3k for a fair comparison between previous samples. It HAS to be better... right?

 

[alarmguy]

Originally Posted by HKPolice

Moly is over hyped, basically no difference.

Agree and it MAY even lead to greater piston and ring deposits.

 

[Artem]

Is there actually any proof to this? Mazda purposely uses Moly infused oil from the factory for these Skyactiv engines in ALL their models. I doubt they would be using it if there was a chance for extra deposits. Their goal is to eliminate engine deposits, especially on the intake valves.

 

[webfors]

Great report, could run it longer.

 

[PimTac]

Originally Posted by alarmguy

Originally Posted by HKPolice

Moly is over hyped, basically no difference.

Agree and it MAY even lead to greater piston and ring deposits.

The key word here is MAY. My guess is that owners who do not change their oil as specified and run well over the mileage limits suffer from buildup on the pistons and rings. This can happen with any oil but maybe moly accentuates the process.

 

[webfors]

Holy moly!

 

[Artem]

Originally Posted by webfors

Great report, could run it longer.

Oh I'm sure I can run the oil life down to 0% left and probably close to 9-10k miles but I'd rather not. This vehicle is MINT and is the Newest in my garage at the moment. I pamper it. Maybe later down the road, once it's retired to beater status, I'll do some extended runs of say... 15-20k miles just for kicks and giggles because I won't care about it much at that point.

 

[Artem]

Originally Posted by webfors

Holy moly!

Now imagine if I dump a bottle of Moly on top of that... hmmmm.

 

[PimTac]

Originally Posted by Artem

Originally Posted by webfors

Holy moly!

Now imagine if I dump a bottle of Moly on top of that... hmmmm.

How much moly is optimal?

 

[Artem]

Who knows. I certainly don't plan on messing with Idimitsu's formula with additives. I like it where it's at.

 

[PimTac]

Originally Posted by Artem

Who knows. I certainly don't plan on messing with Idimitsu's formula with additives. I like it where it's at.

I agree. I've contemplated running this oil in the CX5. It's a very good oil.

 

[littlehulkster]

Originally Posted by Artem

Decided to try Idemitsu with Moly to compare to the regular ol' plain jane Idemitsu. Got this oil on sale from Amazon for like $25 shipped, I think. Also decided to extend the interval a bit, to actually give the oil a challenge. An 800 mile trip right at the end helped rack up the miles over the course of two days. Haha. The Oil Life showed 40% remaining using the "flexible" oil life setting, which calculates based on engine operations and conditions. It's a silly comparison obviously, since most of the miles have been in cooler winter Florida temps, vs the 100F summer runs. The occasional 35F-40F (50-65F average) cold starts have been BRUTAL... on my hands while i grip the ice cold steering wheel and shifter. Hahaha. I don't know how you people live up north where its ACTUALLY COLD. Goodness gracious. I want my FL warmth back.

Looks like both this and the Mazda branded oil (made by Idemitsu, as well) are chock full of Calcium, so Mazda has no worries about LSPI on these engines. I don't know why so many Mazda guys keep insisting it'd be an issue. Everything I've seen shows that it only effects turbocharged engines. I have to wonder if they're not setting themselves up for massive carbon deposit issues in their attempt to escape the non-existent LSPI issues.

 

[Artem]

Who knows. I've only run the high moly Mazda / Idemitsu oil a few times. It's expensive from Mazda and I have no problem running "regular" synthetic in my Skyactiv.

 

[littlehulkster]

Originally Posted by Artem

Who knows. I've only run the high moly Mazda / Idemitsu oil a few times. It's expensive from Mazda and I have no problem running "regular" synthetic in my Skyactiv.

Well, your average SN rated oil has as much calcium as this does. From what I've seen in Valvoline, with it's Na/Ca add packs (which should be the worst for LSPI), there are no issues in the NA Skyactivs either. It's a high compression engine, sure, but it does not seem like LSPI is an issue for it at all.