Mobil 1 5W-30 EP, 9420 mi,'06 Honda Civic Si

[ocspray]

Used Oil Analysis: 2006 Honda Civic Si (2.0L, I-4 engine)

Mobil 1 oil filter (new at oil change)
Honda OE air filter (new at oil change)
BP Premium fuel exclusively

9420 on oil sample (OCI at 0% on Honda's Mantenance Minder)
19572 total miles / no modifications
Oil in use for 8 months (late winter thru fall - Kansas), mainly highway use

Sampled Oil: Mobil 1 5W-30 EP (SM/GF-4), with 1qt makeup oil

Wear Metals
45: Iron
08: Copper
00: Tin
09: Lead
02: Chrome
00: Nickel
09: Alum
00: Ti
00: Silver

Additive Metals
2376: Calcium
0020: Magnesium
1048: Zinc
0712: Phosphorus
0000: Barium
0108: Molybdynum
0000: Antimony

Contaminant Metals
014: Silicon
016: Sodium
112: Boron
000: Potassium
002: Vanadium

Physical and Other Tests
50.1: V40C
8.70: V100C
2.56: TAN
0260: Flash
0033: Oxidation
0018: NIT
0584: KF
3.80: TBN
1.81: Fuel
0000: Soot
2.62: Glycol
0136: vndx
0030: sulfate byproduct

 

[ocspray]

Obviously, I'd recommend NOT following Honda's MM oil change schedule. At least, not following it if you're using Mobil 1 5W-30 EP for a MM-recommended 9420 miles. I purposely ran the MM right to 0% before the oil change so I could see just how awful a job it does with this particular interval; it sucks.

I'm not sure where the glycol came from, as my coolant level appears to be where it was at purchase 18 months ago. I'll perform a cooling system pressure test, but I doubt it'll show a leak that minor. It's possible Mobil's EP has some glycol in it. If there's a VOA of Mobil 1 EP posted, I'd appreciate a link. I'll be changing the spark plugs shortly, which may help with some of the contaminants.

 

[buster]

Fuel dilution causing elevated Fe/ thinning, but it's technically well within suitable range. I'm sure Terry gave you good advice on what oils to use if you'd like better results.

 

[ocspray]

Terry is guiding me to enlightenment. Mobil 1 boasts a possible 15k service life for their EP oil, but I wouldn't want to read those results given the numbers above.

I switched to RLI 0W-30 PCMO and will post results when they're in. The engine spins a little better on cold startup with the 0W-30, but otherwise, I haven't noted a difference between the RLI and Mobil 1.

 

[addyguy]

Sounds like you made a good choice - RLI handles fuel dilution really well.

I'd like to belive M1 EP is a good product, but it sould have handled this interval better than this.....

A Honda shouldn't still be breaking in at this mileage, should it? That could explai some of the iron.....

 

[ocspray]

I would think most of the break-in wear would've occurred during the first (0-5k miles) and second (5-10k miles) OCIs, but perhaps not.

 

[4esorselrahc]

Interesting about the glycol. I had some reading in mine as well at 0.82(analyzed by Terry recently posted here). No coolant loss either. My fuel was the same as yours, but copper was elevated, not Fe. I had 14993 miles on my vehicle and 5421 miles on the oil PP 5W-20. Changed mine at 30 % on the OLM. The fuel dilution is a challenge to over come.

 

[98LSC32V]

The Boron is not a contaminated metal, it's an additive. Major fuel dilution issues going on here.

 

[JAG]

I wouldn't be happy with the results but I don't know what the cause is without having more UOA results from this (nice) engine. I suspect a decent but non-ideal oil and an engine tune that dilutes the oil with fuel so the combined effect is not so good.

Has the engine been floored up to redline many times in its life? If not, I think that's what you should do (when the oil is at full operating temp). It may help ring sealing.

 

[ocspray]

Although I'm not known as sTreeTRazrX among my friends, I've taken the engine to 8k many times.

I think it's clear that the oil was basically worn out (and/or fuel diluted), but without UOAs over the life of the oil, it's hard to pinpoint when things went awry. If it wasn't so expensive, I'd like to do UOAs over the life of the RLI to better track its abilities, but I'll probably only do one midpoint UOA (under Terry's advisement) to get a feel for the best OCI.

 

[ocspray]

Quote:

---

The Boron is not a contaminated metal, it's an additive. Major fuel dilution issues going on here.

---

Thanks for the info. I put the readings in the categories as defined in the lab report.

 

[pika]

Didn't Terry say to try a Fram air filter for fuel dilution on Hondas? That might help too.
Pika

 

[buster]

M1 doesn't seem to handle fuel dilution well at all.

 

[ocspray]

2nd UOA, using RLI 0W-30

 

[FZ1]

You could just drop it back to 7500 oci and forget the Uoas. Unless you think there is a problem. Looks like blind 6 mos oci's would work.

 

[ocspray]

I think there's a fuel dilution problem, so I'll do at least one more sequential UOA.

 

[FZ1]

Just saw your latest report and it looks much better than the first report. Good luck and thanks for sharing the reports.

 

[Audi Junkie]

I'm waiting to see German Syntec in this application. I've recommended it for RSX-S service. Fueling might have changed on the Si tuning.

 

[ocspray]

It's hard to say what changes Honda made in the various iterations of the K20. DBW, fuel economy, and emissions are all possible reasons for fairly significant changes. No offense to other oils, but since one of RLI's strengths is its resistance to fuel dilution and shearing, I'm going to stick with it for at least a few more UOAs to get a better feel for what's going on.