Mobil 1 0w30, 4,020mi - 2014 Mazda 3 Skyactiv 2.0L

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Oct 30, 2010
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Location
Florida
Vehicle:
2014 Mazda 3 Hatchback i Touring w/ tech package & 6 speed manual tranny.

Engine:
2.0L Skyactiv DI 4 banger.

Engine oil capacity:
4.5qts

Oil type:
Mobil 1 AFE 0w30 SN formula from Walmart in a 5qt jug.

Oil additives:
None

Gas Additives:
Redline's Fuel System Cleaner in small maintenance doses every few tank fulls (just for the heck of it)

Make up oil added:
None

Oil filter:
Mazda OEM made by Toyo Roki in Japan thumbsup

Air filter:
OEM Mazda filter

USE: city / highway @ 70/30. The car gets driven like a race car even though it's designed to be an ECO car. I constantly bury the GO pedal into the carpet during regular accelerating (even if I don't redline the engine and there's traffic ahead) just to let the engine breath and accelerate QUICKER! The MZ3 has plenty of getup and go but compared to my other more powerful cars, it feels weak so as a result, it gets a beating on a regular basis.

This is why I decided to go with a thicker 0w30 oil viscosity over the OEM 0w20 spec. Being that the engine is DI and gets abused daily, I had concern about the 0w20 staying within spec and maintaining good wear protection because lets face it, 0w20 was designed for fuel economy. I'm just doing what I think is best for the engine and the HARD use it gets.

I refilled with a custom CATERHAM inspired blend of Mobil 1 EP 0w20 & M1 0w40 @ 50/50 ratio to make what I think would be a stronger 0w30 then the AFE juice that Mobil 1 designed for fuel economy... We will see what that looks like in 3,000 miles.

Mazda3UOAafter4020miles_zps3f40d6e6.png
 
If you haven't seen it already, I posted a UOA of my wife's Mazda3 Skyactiv engine on here. I'm sticking with Kendall and Fram TG oil filters in her car. She also drives hard, aggressive and is probably why she likes a stick.
 
looks like normal skyactiv fuel dilution. if you want to address that (no real need to) running premium eliminated the issue for me and improved my MPGs noticeably. You'd probably appreciate the increased HP from running premium, too.
 
I tried Premium fuel for a short while when I first purchased the car but didn't notice any difference in how the engine car, so I decided to use 89 octane (mid grade) as a good middle ground because I don't feel comfortable with 87 octane in an engine that sees high RPMs constantly.

I'll try it again for this next sample and will see what premium fuel looks like after 3,000 miles.
 
Originally Posted By: skyactiv
If you haven't seen it already, I posted a UOA of my wife's Mazda3 Skyactiv engine on here. I'm sticking with Kendall and Fram TG oil filters in her car. She also drives hard, aggressive and is probably why she likes a stick.


Yea that's a good amount of fuel in there...

Although our Skyactiv engines are very similar, the 2014 model has higher compression ratio (13 vs your 12) as well as some other minor differences especially the exhaust manifold and obviously the ECU tuning to match, so it's not a good apples to apples comparison but close enough I guess.

When I bought this DI engine, I was prepared to battle the fuel dilution but it seems like my reports don't really show fuel as much as they show a beat up oil that lost some viscosity.
 
Viscosity definitely took a beating but I was expecting a hit to the flashpoint to match it based on the DI typical fuel dilution. Really curious to see the results of the Caterham blend.
 
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Originally Posted By: Artem

Yea that's a good amount of fuel in there...

Although our Skyactiv engines are very similar, the 2014 model has higher compression ratio (13 vs your 12) as well as some other minor differences especially the exhaust manifold and obviously the ECU tuning to match, so it's not a good apples to apples comparison but close enough I guess.

When I bought this DI engine, I was prepared to battle the fuel dilution but it seems like my reports don't really show fuel as much as they show a beat up oil that lost some viscosity.


It is fuel, not the viscosity taking a beating. You have to look at both viscosity and flash point to get the whole picture. As I said, my viscosity held perfect for 7,500 miles since I had no fuel dilution and the flash point was well above 400 F.
 
Originally Posted By: zuluplus30
Viscosity definitely took a beating but I was expecting a hit to the flashpoint to match it based on the DI typical fuel dilution. Really curious to see the results of the Caterham blend.


I think my abusive driving style is simply burning off any fuel that does make it past the rings.

When the wife drives (she doesn't granny shift either) the engine is good and dandy.

When I drive it, I notice the cooling fans keep on running with the car parked in the garage, even though the engine has been off for several minutes. This tells me that the ECU is trying to cool things off because everything got so HOT from the constant redlining during my drive home.
grin2.gif
there goes the fuel...
 
Originally Posted By: badtlc
Originally Posted By: Artem

Yea that's a good amount of fuel in there...

Although our Skyactiv engines are very similar, the 2014 model has higher compression ratio (13 vs your 12) as well as some other minor differences especially the exhaust manifold and obviously the ECU tuning to match, so it's not a good apples to apples comparison but close enough I guess.

When I bought this DI engine, I was prepared to battle the fuel dilution but it seems like my reports don't really show fuel as much as they show a beat up oil that lost some viscosity.


It is fuel, not the viscosity taking a beating. You have to look at both viscosity and flash point to get the whole picture. As I said, my viscosity held perfect for 7,500 miles since I had no fuel dilution and the flash point was well above 400 F.


I'm pretty sure if I drive the Mazda 3 with my right foot in "ECO Mode" that perhaps the viscosity would remain within spec but it's really hard to do, since I accelerate aggressively all the time and the car still returns great fuel economy! Why change anything?
 
florida is one of those ethanol loving state so if you can try to find a spot with not too much ethanol ,ethanol is hard on a lot of engine component!and with direct injection and ethanol it is even more noticeable if you got a hyunday?og brother you better hope there isn't ethanol in your gas
 
There's no way for me to know the ethanol content of the fuel at the pumps. It can have from 1-10% and that's the most info I have.

There's a gas station that sells ethanol free 89 octane fuel but it's over $0.60 MORE which is crazy.
 
Originally Posted By: Artem

I'm pretty sure if I drive the Mazda 3 with my right foot in "ECO Mode" that perhaps the viscosity would remain within spec but it's really hard to do, since I accelerate aggressively all the time and the car still returns great fuel economy! Why change anything?


I don't drive in ecomode.
 
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