Maxlife 5W30 7,150mi 13k on filter 99 Maxima

[sky jumper]

i know we're not supposed to post images but i don't have time to transcribe the data.

after many stellar UOAs I finally got a bad one. blackstone says no coolant in oil but I'm not so sure. what else would be causing the wear? oil was in use over the winter if that means anything.

13k miles on supertech oil filter...

 

[GMFan]

I'd take Blackstone's comments with a pinch of salt. The wear numbers aren't anything to lose sleep over.

Did you happen to use any fuel additives? What oils and weights were run previous?

 

[sky jumper]

the sample at 89k was GC. at 99k it was PP 5W30. the rest are all maxlife 5W30. I think the thick sample at 124k was a mix of 10W40 and 5W30 (5qt bottle leftovers).

the steadily increasing sodium makes me suspect coolant leak. when the engine is hot I can smell coolant but it seem to be coming from the radiator neck/cap.

until last fall I had alway run nissan coolant. but then I had to get an emergency alternator repair at a pep boys, and they removed the lower radiator hose to get at the alt. of course they refilled with prestone green. so I'm now thinking I need to completely flush the system and go back to nissan. but I wonder if the prestone has more sodium in it??? someone on here must know.

 

[chubbs1]

I am pretty sure Valvoline uses a little sodium in their addy package so I would not be extremely worried. thanks for the UOA. I'm trying this stuff next OCI.What Oil Filter were you using?

 

[SLCraig]

Check for a VOA of Maxlife, Valvo products have lots of sodium. I really wouldn't worry.. I also wouldn't worry about using regular coolant in your car either. (speaking from a many Nissan family, myself)

 

[sparkplug]

Originally Posted By: SLCraig
Check for a VOA of Maxlife, Valvo products have lots of sodium. I really wouldn't worry.


X2

 

[CharlieJ]

Originally Posted By: sparkplug
Originally Posted By: SLCraig
Check for a VOA of Maxlife, Valvo products have lots of sodium. I really wouldn't worry.


X2


Yep, here is a screenshot of the PDS for Valvoline Maxlife. Nothing to worry about.

 

[garlicbreadman]

sodium is a valvoline thing.

13k is a lot for a supertech filter, maybe thats why your numbers are slightly higher than the previous

 

[badtlc]

It looks like fuel is becoming an issue. Have you cleaned the injectors or checked the MAF or oxygen sensors? Maybe some of the parts are getting old enough it is time to replace them.

 

[sky jumper]

so did valvoline change the formulation recently then? 3 of the previous samples were maxlife, but this last one has 10x the sodium level.

the only thing I did during this fill was replace the EGR tube and clean the TB, IACV, and intake manifold. but I did not spray any cleaner into the intake. I dug the carbon out with a screw driver (where the EGR & IACV connect). I did this about 1k miles before I pulled the sample.

all the plugs and pistons are nice and clean. O2 sensors replaced a couple years ago. injectors click away like clockwork.

 

[Drew99GT]

Originally Posted By: sky jumper
so did valvoline change the formulation recently then?



They did, within about the last year. Perhaps some harder carbon deposits fell into the intake and cut sucked through the engine causing some extra wear.

It's not bad enough to loose sleep over.

 

[Gary Allan]

Yeah, with a jump of that magnitude, it had better be a formulation change. Anything with 200+ ppm of sodium in it is an ingredient.

Don't change anything in terms of length of OCI or oil. Repeat ..retest. While it's a distinct change, it's a minor one with a change in product fundamentals. It will probably go away on its own.

Give the 4X to 8X better wear protection a fighting chance to prove itself!!!

 

[addyguy]

Why would you say this is a bad results?

Looks great to me!

 

[badtlc]

Originally Posted By: addyguy
Why would you say this is a bad results?

Looks great to me!


it isn't horrible but the trending has already been established. Wear metals elevated slightly and fuel dilution increased. It isn't bad but it is worse than previous samples.

 

[Drew99GT]

Originally Posted By: Gary Allan


Give the 4X to 8X better wear protection a fighting chance to prove itself!!!