M1 0w20 AFE vs 0w30 AFE vs 0w40 UOA

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Just thought I'd post the results. First sample was the M1 0w20 AFE, the second sample was the M1 0w40 and the third was M1 0w30 AFE. I did notice about a 1mpg drop going from the 0w20 to the 0w40, but the reduced wear was worth it to me. I tried the 0w30 for curiosity to see how the fuel economy changed compared to wear products. Not sure 1 oil change per oil weight was enough to really see how each oil weight did, but oh well.

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All things being equal and splitting hairs, i would rather the 1mpg with the 'w-20 gain over 20 vs 13 ppm of iron with the 'w-40 (depending what the car was spec'd for). In reality, as you stated, one oci per viscosity doesn't tell you much and if the differences remain consistent, each oil would do a fine job.

Thanks for sharing.
 
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Interesting - the 0W20 AFE seems to have fared well.....but of course it has been reformulated since 2017 and no longer has PAO like it used to.....don't know if that makes a difference in wear though. Of course one should note the under 3K miles on it also - so wear metals would be higher with a longer OCI like the others have.
 
Originally Posted by Snagglefoot
Thanks for the UOA's as they cost money, but the 0w40 has fewer miles on it which is mostly why it showed less iron than 0w20.
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Yes, as Blackstone themselves have stated more than once you cannot distinguish "wear" between two fully formulated motor oils.
 
Can that calcium ~2,400 for the 0w-40 be correct ? I don't know what the calcium would vary that much from the other grades?

Also thanks for the UOA post on this.
 
I may have not been clear, when I said first, second and third I was referring to the dates, not the order of the samples. That would make 0w20 AFE on 7/30/17, 0w40 on 2/1/18, and 0w30 AFE on 9/24/18.

For wear I was looking at the 12ppm iron for 0w20 vs the 13ppm iron for the 0w40 with over double the miles. Is the iron content not what I should be looking at?
 
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You still don't measure wear with a UOA, that's not how it is done. A $35 UOA does not give that kind of information, nor is any ppm variation necessarily tied to the oil. You have no controlled variables in a real-world example like this, there's no way to isolate the one variable of the oil.
 
The iron numbers difference is minuscule. You will see that variation using just one oil. Climate, driving habits, engine load, etc all play into that.

As kschachn mentioned, a UOA is not the tool to measure engine wear.


Interesting test though. Thanks for sharing.
 
Originally Posted by Thetruck454
I may have not been clear, when I said first, second and third I was referring to the dates, not the order of the samples. That would make 0w20 AFE on 7/30/17, 0w40 on 2/1/18, and 0w30 AFE on 9/24/18.

For wear I was looking at the 12ppm iron for 0w20 vs the 13ppm iron for the 0w40 with over double the miles. Is the iron content not what I should be looking at?


If you want to compare oils, you need to run them for the same amount of miles. Your comparison is not an apples to apples as the amount of miles for each oil varied significantly.
 
Originally Posted by Cressida
Can that calcium ~2,400 for the 0w-40 be correct ? I don't know what the calcium would vary that much from the other grades?

Also thanks for the UOA post on this.


Yes, it is correct. Its not a Dexos1 grade, is not resource conserving and is a euro oil.
 
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Originally Posted by volk06
Originally Posted by Thetruck454
I may have not been clear, when I said first, second and third I was referring to the dates, not the order of the samples. That would make 0w20 AFE on 7/30/17, 0w40 on 2/1/18, and 0w30 AFE on 9/24/18. For wear I was looking at the 12ppm iron for 0w20 vs the 13ppm iron for the 0w40 with over double the miles. Is the iron content not what I should be looking at?
If you want to compare oils, you need to run them for the same amount of miles. Your comparison is not an apples to apples as the amount of miles for each oil varied significantly.
Agreed; a controlled test in the real world is not practical from a user standpoint, but narrowing the variables would have produced more consistency. OP - thanks for posting; Blackstone is not cheap.
 
Even when industry first started to use UOA's … they were looking for predictions on planned rebuilding, shut downs, etc … in some cases a spike in certain metals found in a still in spec lubricant
 
Originally Posted by Thetruck454
I may have not been clear, when I said first, second and third I was referring to the dates, not the order of the samples. That would make 0w20 AFE on 7/30/17, 0w40 on 2/1/18, and 0w30 AFE on 9/24/18.

For wear I was looking at the 12ppm iron for 0w20 vs the 13ppm iron for the 0w40 with over double the miles. Is the iron content not what I should be looking at?


You should probably read this article:

https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/used-oil-analysis/
 
UOAs are for the condition of the oil(dirt, fuel, or coolant). You have misunderstood the main purpose for these types of UOAs. I for one don't waste money on UOAs except if I suspected the oil was contaminated, which that hasn't happened to any of my engines in the last 55 years.
 
Sooo....the difference in viscosity when considering mileage on the oil made no statically significant difference in wear...hmmm...more proof the average BITOG member is crazy and it just does not matter which oil you use. For all the theorizing and pontificating that happens here the long and the short of the objective data is use any quality oil of any viscosity and it just doesn't seem to matter making 99% of what's posted here....useless gibberish!
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