Mobil 1 5W-30 EP, 5075 miles, 2003 Lexus ES 300 (Toyota 1MZ-FE)

[X72]

code:

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Model Year 2003

Make Lexus

Model ES300

Add'l Info 1MZ-FE





Oil Type&Grade Mobil 1 EP 5W-30



Add'l Info SM



Sample Date 09/13/2005

Miles on Oil 5075

Miles on Unit 24226

Time on Oil 6 months



Make Up Oil 0 (poss 0.25 qt)



Oil Filter 90915-YZZD1

Air Filter Stock



Testing Lab Blackstone



Aluminum 2

Chromium 0

Iron 7

Copper 1

Lead 0

Tin 0

Molybdenum 70

Nickel 0

Manganese 0

Silver 0

Titanium 0

Potassium 0

Boron 95

Silicon 28

Sodium 5

Calcium 2536

Magnesium 15

Phosphorous 701

Zinc 859

Barium 1



TBN 1.8

SUS Vis @ 210 F 64.2

Flash (F) 355

Fuel % 0.5

Antifreeze % 0

Water % 0

Insolubles % 0.2

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Blackstone Comment: We don't know where the silicon is from, but with wear reading perfectly normal, the silicon is not abrasive dirt. It is silicone compound of some sort. Universal averages show typical wear metals for an oil from this type of engine after about 4805 miles run on oil. Your oil was in use just longer, and we found all wear at around average levels and in corrct balance to show normal mechanical parts inside. No metals from bearing wear were detected. No gas or anti-freeze was found. The TBN was 1.8, getting low. A perfect engine! Try 5,500 miles

My comment: I appreciate comments. I have been lurking for a while; this is my first post. This Lexus (Toyota) is my mom's car. The sample was done during an oil change. I refilled the crankcase with Mobil 1 5W-30 SS.

The car is driven about 80% short trip city driving in Miami, FL. I don't remember if I added make up oil. If I did, it was maybe about 0.25 quarts.

I went ahead and changed the air filter. The air filter was dirty. I did the UOA on the Mobil 1 EP hoping to see if I could get more than the 6 months or 5k miles. I was dreaming of at least 9 months or 7.5k miles or even 1 year or 10k miles.

I think I will stick with the current 5k miles OCI. I may eventually switch to 10W-30 once the warranty expires.

I would appreciate any advice on how to line up the info better. I put it in a spreadsheet and used the Code function.

My dad has an 05 ES 330 that is running with Castrol Syntec Blend and I have an 03 MB E320 with Mobil 1 0W-40. I will post my findings on those vehicles too.
Thanks,
William

[ September 14, 2005, 11:06 PM: Message edited by: 59 Vetteman ]

 

[buster]

Something is going on to have the TBN and Flash Point drop that low with only 5k miles. Not the oils fault here.

I should have a 10,000 mile sample from my brother's V6 3.0 Solara next week. M1 EP.

 

[The Critic]

I think the dirt killed the TBN and Flashpoint.

MW

 

[LubeOiler]

Perhaps a new air filter would help and a dose of LC will take you a little longer but you did right in changing till the TBN & Silicon come around. This is just what I would do if it were my car so enjoy that car the busy roads (gridlock) in Fla. is hard on oil so I think 5-7.5K is a good #.

 

[X72]

Thanks to whoever lined up the data I posted and thanks for your reponses. Buster, I will be watching for your Camry Solara post.

 

[X72]

Thanks for your expertise, TooSlick! I wanted to make a correction. I mistakenly said that the Mobil 1 EP was SM rated just like the Mobil 1 SuperSyn I refilled the crankcase with. My mistake. The oil I tested above is not SM, but SL.

 

[TooSlick]

I think the 10w-30/EP is probably the way to go here....

No one will care/know if you run 10w-30 in place of 5w-30 and the high temp stability is always going to be better with an SAE 10w-30. However, given these operating conditions, I'd say 6k-7k is about as good as you're going to do.

On the plus side, you getting extremely good air filtration and wear is very low. You can only achieve this level of performance with excellent metallurgy and very tight internal tolerances.

 

[buster]

I think Mr. Wan is correct. I believe the Si of 28 is the problem here. My brother ran M1 GF-3 in his 3.0 V6 8k miles and the oil was in much better shape then this. I believe you can hit 10k miles with no problems if you correct the air filtration/dirt issue. Also, make sure your sample isn't contaminated.

 

[Pablo]

Metals are excellent, IMHO. But crap this oil is fading fast. Not really a lean burner, but a hot burner, by design. You may want to do AutoRx at 50K or something.

 

[TooSlick]

If you really had 28 ppm of actual dirt, do you think you'd have 0 ppm of Cr and Ni, 2 ppm of Al and only 7 ppm of iron in 5k miles? It's mainly gasket leaching you see here. In addition, do you see any evidence of salt spray ingestion? No, you do not....

The driving conditions are significantly different from engine to engine, so it's dangerous to make generalizations....In this case, there is lots of idling time that does not show up as mileage, as well as time spent running the car in neutral with the AC going full blast.

 

[buster]

I think it's dirt and not gasket leaching. I've not seen any Toyota's have gasket leaching. My brother ran M1 5w-30 SL for 8k miles in the sludge 3.0 and the oil still had life.

 

[TooSlick]

The rate of gasket/seal leaching is determined by the total number of miles on the engine, as well as how hot it's running. I've seen a similar 3.0L that showed 37 ppm of silicon in 7k miles, with a perfectly normal wear pattern. There were 26k total miles on the engine at the time and it was also used for short trip service.

If you ran this engine mainly on the highway in a cooler climate without all this idling, the lube would hold up much better. The severity of operating conditions will dramatically affect oil life.

 

[buster]

80% short trip driving could be the issue which then I could believe it being gasket leaching as you indicated. I just havnt seen personally any gasket leaching with toyota's but i'm sure it happens. Makes sense then under these condtions. I read it wrong as being 80% highway...my bad.

 

[TooSlick]

These engines degrade the oil very quickly due to high cylinder head temps and accelerated nitration. Short trip driving only makes this process worse, so no surprises with this data.

Silicon(e) is the typical Toyota seal/gasket leaching and will dissipate after another 20k miles. The repeatability on the "ASTM D-92" Flash Point test is only about +/- 14F/8C. In this case it's being lowered by fuel and other volatile combustion byproducts.

You can tell by looking at the add levels - vs. the baseline values - this lube is pretty beat up.

 

[TooSlick]

Besides being stuck in traffic, I'm sure mom does things like start the car, turn on the AC and go back in the house until it cools off. She also probably keeps the car running when she goes in the store to buy something, provided there is someone else with her.

All this extra idling time in the Miami heat adds up to a lot of additional miles that don't show up on the ODO...

TS

 

[X72]

TooSlick, my mom doesn't leave the car unoccupied and idling, but I may have been conservative with the city driving. It is perhaps 90% city driving. It is a lot of short trip city driving with the AC on 100% of the time and lots of idling at traffic signals and when looking for parking in the parking lots.

I just checked the mileage on the car by filling the tank and dividing by miles driven since last fill-up, and it came out to 16 mpg even though the EPA rating is 19 mpg for city driving. And yes, it has been an especially hot summer (which is not good for us when it comes to tropical cyclonic activity). I really appreciate the info on the source of silicon being gasket leaching. I am happy now to stick with the 6 month/5k mile OCI for this car (she drives this car approximately 10,000 miles per year). Thanks to all of you that contributed to this thread as well !!
William

 

[MADMIKE]

All I can say is pity the poor bast$%d who buys into Mobil's 15,000 mile guaranteed OCI b.s. and leaves this oil in for another 10K!!!

 

[TooSlick]

OCI = (80)(16)(5)(186/220)

OCI = 5450 miles

You results seem reasonable, given the operating parameters....

 

[ekpolk]

I would not put too much blame for this result on the design of the 1MZ. A little over a year ago, I posted UOA results from my previous car, a 2003.5 Camry (in the latter half of this model year, V-6 Camrys came with the exact same engine-trans combo as in this car). This MY is, BTW, post-anti-sludge changes. My results, also from a lot of hot, deep south driving, were much better on a similar interval. This engine, maybe all contemporary Toyota engines, really seem to love the 30 wt. M1 oils. Something's going on here.

 

[ebaker]

Couldn't the Si be an anti-foam additive (surfactant)?