Mobil 1 5w-30 - 02 Honda Civic Si, 5000 miless

[Surprise]

I am still very new at reading UOAs, so I thought that some of you veterenans can help me out.

Test performed by MTM Industrial

10w30 Chevron Supreme --5w30 Mobil 1
Miles on unit: 10170 --15056
Miles on oil: 5072 --4886
Filter: Honda Fram --Honda Fram

Fe - 8 --2
Cr - 1 --0
Al - 8 --5
Cu - 15 --5
Pb - 4 --0
Tin - 0 --0
Si - 40 --15
Na - 10 --11
K - 5 --0

water - Oxidation - 6.3 --10.8
Visc@100- - 13.7 --13.0
Glycol- none --none
Fuel - Nitration - 4.3 --4.9
Sae-
Driving- Four 3 mile trips to work uphill, everyday. 50% highway 80-85 mph for 350 miles, 4000rpm+, Redline at least once a week. Oil ran from 3/2003-7/2003 in 60-85 degree weather.

My only concern is why the oil thickened up so much. I though M1 was tends to be on the thin side? The previous oil also seemed really thick, so maybe it is the lab

Let me know what you think.
Thanks

 

[Patman]

That is strange that it would thicken up, since M1 5w30 doesn't usually do that in just 5k.

Wear numbers are awesome though! 2ppm of iron and 0ppm of lead, holy cow! I just hope it isn't a lab screwup, as the oxidation/nitration numbers seem a bit unbelieveable too. And where are the rest of the numbers? (Zinc, Phos, Moly, Calcium, magnesium, etc)

 

[Bror Jace]

Surprise, nice report. I think the biggest difference between the two oils is the fact that the engine is still very new. That Chevron looks like it is was showing a lot of break-in contaminents.

But your car definitely seems to like Mobil 1.

--- Bror Jace

 

[Al]

I have never seen Mobil thicken to that extent. I am very suspicious of the viscosity. Also wondering about the silicon#. Probably related to the newness of the vehicle. Probably not a totally fair comparison. I would like to see a repeat of the Chevron

One other point..Go with the 10W-30 M1 .Very very few reports on 10W-30.

[ July 07, 2003, 03:47 PM: Message edited by: Al ]

 

[Matt89]

Call me crazy...
What this report says to me is "no discernable difference in wear between a premium conventional oil and top of the line synthetic at short drain intervals". The level of wear metals in both samples are probably within the error tolerance of the test, right?

So if you're going to run short (5 K)drains under more or less average conditions, Mobil1 is overkill...?

 

[Al]

Duuuuuuhhh...I meant to say-very few bad reports with Mobil 1 10W-30

 

[Surprise]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Matt89:

So if you're going to run short (5 K) drains under more or less average conditions, Mobil1 is overkill...?

---

At the moment I have more M1 5w-30 in the car and plan to run it another 5k, after that I will run another 2 5k runs using M1 0w-20. I figure that since Honda recommends the 5w-20 I would compare both weights and use the oil that performed best. I figure that if the 0w-20 wears the same as the 5w-30 I have nothing to lose but might gain a small amount of MPG or HP for free. Once I choose the weight I will push either oil to 10k.

Also note that the 50% highway miles are pretty hard as far as highway go. 4-5 hours of 80-85 mph with the engine doing at least 4000 rpm (almost 4500) through central CA in temps of 90+ with AC.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Patman:
And where are the rest of the numbers?

---

MTM Industrial only reports the listed wear metals and physical properties. This report should have also included a TBN number which I did not receive. I will be calling them to see why they did not report the TBN value.

 

[buster]

quote:

---

Also note that the 50% highway miles are pretty hard as far as highway go. 4-5 hours of 80-85 mph with the engine doing at least 4000 rpm (almost 4500) through central CA in temps of 90+ with AC.

---

Very true, small 4cyl run at higher rpms and are harder on the oil. I average 80mph at 3K rpms and all of my UOA's showed the oil not really able to go beyond probably 10k. But that is good enough for me.

 

[Idrinkmotoroil]

those are really good numbers, the Mobil1 is working excellent in this engine, very low wear #'s, the lead numbers are great. I think its working better than the Chevron as there really isn't any break-in effect at 10,000 miles, well worth the extra cost to go with the Mobil1 IMO. I've got some Mobil1 5w30 to run after my current Castrol 0w-30 interval. Should be interesting to see how it works on my Civic. I just finished running some Redline 5w20, but the numbers aren't as good as your Mobil1 5w30 numbers. thanks for the info.

I wouldnt worry about the visc. numbers, looks like lab error for both oils.

Joey

 

[Bror Jace]

“I think (Mobil 1 is) working better than the Chevron as there really isn't any break-in effect at 10,000 miles …”

I can’t agree with that, Idrink. Each engine (and the way that engine is driven) has its own break-in characteristics and I’m pretty sure I’ve seen some markers well past the 20,000 mile mark, even if it is only slightly elevated silicon from gaskets. I qualify judgments on any UOA where the vehicle hasn’t accumulated 12,000-15,000 miles on the clock. You just can’t be sure when you see slightly elevated lead, iron, etc ... especially when you’re talking about the 5,000 – 10,000 mile period of an engine’s life as we see above.

Plus, look at the fact that surprise is using 5,000 mile drain intervals. This hasn’t given many chances for the earlier break-in contaminants to get flushed out. That Chevron sample looks (to me) to be significantly contaminated, especially that silicon number (40!) which is almost certainly from new gaskets.

I’m going to do the first UOA on oil from my ’03 Sentra Spec-V 2.5L this winter. The car will have only around 6,500 miles on it when the oil (Schaeffer Supreme 7000 5W30) goes in, but it will be the third oil change the car has gotten, the previous two occurring at 1,700 & 4,250 miles. I’ll leave the Schaeffer in for around 4,000 miles or so. Probably change it during the Thanksgiving long weekend and have the test results early in December.

And even after all that, I still don’t expect this will be a UOA for the record books because of the relatively low miles on the motor.

Matt89, I’d agree that using Mobil 1 for less than a 5,000 mile drain intervals is a waste/is overkill. For short durations, something like Chevron, Pennzoil or even Schaeffer’s blends would be a better choice. Great additive packages and base oils which will easily stand up to 3,000 miles or so of hard street use and are more economical to use for short intervals.

--- Bror Jace