Mobil 1 5w30 3,700 miles 2001 Subaru Outback

[garthg]

This is my first UOA.

Oil: Mobil 1 5w30 3,700 miles (5,900 km) over 4 months (mid November till now, a cold wet Ottawa Canada winter but less harsh than normal)
Oil Filter: Purolator Premium Plus L14460, changed at every oil change, with magnet on filter
Air Filter: Subaru Canada filter, changed about 10,000 km ago
Vehicle: 2001 Subaru Outback 140,000 miles (225,000 km) with 2.5 L flat 4

This is my wife's car. Lots of very short (2-3 km) drives in cold wet weather during this interval, mixed with a few highway drives each week. No oil life monitor; I've been changing every 6,000 km as per Subaru Canada recommendations. Mobil 1 5w30 used since break in (at around 12,000 km). Vehicle does not use oil between changes. Head gasket replaced under warranty at 100,000 km (external leak of gasket, coolant onto exhaust) -- common to Subarus of that era and subject to a recall in Canada. Since the head gasket repair, I've used, as per Subaru Canada's request, their stop leak compound whenever I've changed the coolant.

Analysis was done by Toromont Caterpillar ($CDN 20 including tax and shipping). Readings for a virgin OA I did of Mobil 1 5w30 at the same time are shown in (brackets)

Iron 9 (1)
Chrome 1 (0)
Moly 92 (93)
Aluminum 5 (0)
Copper 3 (0)
Lead 1 (0)
Tin 2 (2)
Titanium 0 (0)
Nickel 0 (0)
Silver 0 (0)
Silicon 9 (6)
Sodium 10 (7)
Potassium 2 (3)
Zinc 695 (700)
Magnesium 9 (8)
Phosphorus 671 (689)
Barium 0 (0)

Soot UFM # 0 (0)
Sulfur UFM # 25 (18)
Oxidation UFM # 21 (15)
Nitrates UFM # 17 (8)

Viscosity cSt at 100C 9.0 (11.4)
TBN 4.0 (8.5)
TAN 1.3 (0.4)

Antifreeze negligible
Fuel Dilution negligible
Water negligible

I took the car on a high speed 30 minute highway run before doing the sample during oil change.

Comments?

 

[tomcat27]

pretty good readings - especially for the "abuse" it took. those really short trips in cold weather are killer! still had plenty of life remaining, based on the TBN.

 

[bluesubie]

With a good synthetic, I would probably extend my OCI's to Subaru's normal service category in an n/a Outback. Even with Mobil1.

Based on gradually extending your oci's according to your uoa results, of course. Thanks for the VOA.

-Dennis

 

[CATERHAM]

100C vis of 9.0 cSt in only 5,900 kms with no fuel dilution?
That's 21% shear and the 3rd 30wt M1 UOA I've seen in the past couple of days with similar shear!
What's going on with 30wt M1?

 

[CATERHAM]

Forgot to welcome you to BITOG.

Welcome!

Dispite the oil shearing out of grade into the 20wt range the wear numbers are excellent.
Nevertheless I'd consider using another light 5W-30 brand such as Pennzoil Platinum, Castrol Syntec or the new Edge.

 

[garthg]

I appreciate the suggestion. For what it's worth, at least in Canada for that year there was only one service category -- I think Subaru expected that everyone in Canada was under severe service! Based on the UOA results and your suggestion, I think I will stretch my OCI out a bit more this time and do another UOA to compare.

Thanks,

Garth

 

[garthg]

Thanks for the welcome. I'm not sure what to make of the oil shearing either, given that I didn't appear to have any fuel issues and I definitely wasn't hitting high temperatures over the winter.

I appreciate your suggestion about trying some other brands. I'm already considering non-Mobil alternatives for my Honda Fit once I'm finished with the factory fill on it. I've done a bit of price comparison shopping for PP in Canada, and so far it doesn't seem to have any significant price advantage over Mobil 1. Is 5w30 PP likely to be more resistant to shearing than Mobil 1 ?

Regards,

Garth

 

[ARCOgraphite]

M1 0w-40 may be a good choice for spring - fall. This way the oil would shear into 30wt.

 

[CATERHAM]

PP 5W-30 frequently goes on sale at WalMart in a 4.4L jug for about 20 bucks. It's well regarded in this forum and a lot of Corvette owners prefer it to M1 as it does appear to be more shear resistant than the latest M1 5W-30 formulation.

Are you planning on doing a UOA on Honda Fit's FF? Correct me if I'm wrong but I think the Fit's made in Japan in which case the FF oil is likely the Honda brand "Ultra Green 0W-10". It would be interesting to see a OA on this stuff.

Just to let you know another new Ontario member, BigTallV, just posted a UOA of the M1 5W-30. He used a new lab I hadn't heard of called Fluid Life Corp. What I like over Toromont is that they also provide a 40C vis test and therefore a VI measure.

 

[garthg]

Originally Posted By: CATERHAM
PP 5W-30 frequently goes on sale at WalMart in a 4.4L jug for about 20 bucks. It's well regarded in this forum and a lot of Corvette owners prefer it to M1 as it does appear to be more shear resistant than the latest M1 5W-30 formulation.

Are you planning on doing a UOA on Honda Fit's FF? Correct me if I'm wrong but I think the Fit's made in Japan in which case the FF oil is likely the Honda brand "Ultra Green 0W-10". It would be interesting to see a OA on this stuff.

Just to let you know another new Ontario member, BigTallV, just posted a UOA of the M1 5W-30. He used a new lab I hadn't heard of called Fluid Life Corp. What I like over Toromont is that they also provide a 40C vis test and therefore a VI measure.


Caterham,

Thanks for the info re WalMart and PP. I'll have to keep my eyes open for when it goes on sale. I've used Mobil 1 for so many years (since the early 90's) that Pennzoil products haven't been on my radar.

I am planning to do a UOA on my Fit, which is made in Japan, and I'll definitely post the results. Likely not for another few weeks, I'm still only 70% on the Honda maintenance minder but I do have an upcoming 4,000 km road trip so it hopefully will be due for a change soon after my return.

Thanks for the info about BigTallV's posting. I've read it now. The only problem is that each time I go into Princess Auto I buy way more stuff than I ever expected to !

Regards,

Garth

 

[BigTallV]

Originally Posted By: garthg
...Thanks for the info about BigTallV's posting. I've read it now. The only problem is that each time I go into Princess Auto I buy way more stuff than I ever expected to !
...Garth


+1. I simply had to remind myself I was only there for the oil sample kit and nothing else was allowed. So much for the 3 ton aluminum jack. So much for the genset.

 

[pcfxer]

Princess Auto is glorious. I'll say hi next time I'm in the oil section

.

 

[CATERHAM]

yeah, Princess Auto is like that.

The attached link is what I think is in the sump of your new Fit.

www.honda.co.jp/auto-parts/oil/ultragreen/

I suspect the 100C is some like 7cSt but the only way to know for sure it's not a sheared down 20wt is to see the 40C vis. If it's the Ultra Green 0W-10 oil the 40C vis spec should be in the high 20's -low 30's.
So if you're curious, you might have to risk going into Princess Auto to pick up one of their Fluid Life oil test kits!