Mobil1 0w-20, 9884 Miles, 2003 Ford Focus

[ffxfina3]

Hi everybody,

Looks like 9,884 miles with M1 0w-20 isn't a good fit for my 2003 Ford Focus. Iron climbed dramatically higher. So, either my car is starting to wear in a bad way, or this oil isn't a good fit. The oil was in the car for about 9 or 10 months. The oil filter was a Wix. BTW, the previous numbers are from Amsoil 0w-20.

Cheers,
Bryan

Blackstone Comments:
As you run more miles on the oil, most metals should stay about the same. They will increase a little, but not much. The one exception is iron, which increases directly with miles on the oil. That's the reason that iron went up in your Focus. If you're comfortable with iron, you can stick with 10,000 or so miles on the oil. If it makes you nervous, drop back to 7500 miles next time. The TBN read 2.1, getting low but still showing some active additive remaining. Insolubles show good oil filtration and not a lot of oxidation. Check back to monitor iron.

Code:




ELEMENTS IN PARTS PER MILLION:



M1 0w20 Ams 0w-20



MI/HR on Oil: 9,884 6,546

MI/HR on Unit: 79,884 58,065

Sample Date: 5/23/09 9/26/07

Make Up Oil Added: 0 qts 0 qts



My Car Unit* Averages

Aluminum 4 2 3

Chromium 1 0 1

Iron 32 7 20

Copper 3 2 3

Lead 1 0 1

Tin 0 0 0

Molybdenum 82 4 43

Nickel 1 0 1

Manganese 0 0 0

Silver 0 0 0

Titanium 0 0 0

Potassium 2 1 2

Boron 34 6 20

Silicon 13 11 12

Sodium 6 8 7

Calcium 2088 3229 2659

Magnesium 11 9 10

Phosphorus 614 552 583

Zinc 702 643 673

Barium 0 0 0



My Car Values Should Be

SUS Viscosity @210F 52.5 53.5 46-59

cSt Viscosity @100C 8.03 8.34 6.0-10.2

Flashpoint in F 385 405 >385

Fuel % TR
Antifreeze % 0.0 0.0 0.0

Water % 0.0 0.0
Insolubles % 0.3 0.2
TBN 2.1 4.7

 

[addyguy]

Wow. M1 did a LOT worse compared to the ASM. Sad to see.

What did you replace the M1 with?

 

[brian12]

That is a lot of iron.

 

[ffxfina3]

Originally Posted By: addyguy
What did you replace the M1 with?


Replaced with M1 because that is what I had. But I'm thinking I'm probably going to change it at 5K Miles or so, and then go with PP 5w-20 at continued 5K intervals.

-Bryan

 

[tig1]

That's avery good report for the miles on the oil. 1/3rd more miles than the Amsoil. No problems running that oil.

 

[Nickdfresh]

Originally Posted By: addyguy
Wow. M1 did a LOT worse compared to the ASM. Sad to see.

What did you replace the M1 with?


With over 3000 more miles on it...

 

[bepperb]

What mileage were the universal averages for this engine based on?

Without that, it's hard to say if the iron is high or low. All you have to compare it to is one other UOA.

If the universal is 5000 miles, then 32 is actually pretty good.

 

[Billy_D]

You should be fine with a 7500 run. Except for the iron, that was a good UOA for 9884 miles OCI.

 

[ffxfina3]

Originally Posted By: bepperb
If the universal is 5000 miles, then 32 is actually pretty good.


Oops!!!. Thanks bepperb. I just caught an important mistake in the numbers I put up. What I am listing as the Universal Averages is is really the Unit Averages. Here are real Universal Averages. Can an administrator/moderator please edit my post so that it reads Unit Averages? Sorry guys.

Code:


Universal Averages

Aluminum 3

Chromium 1

Iron 12

Copper 4

Lead 1

Tin 1

Molybdenum 65

Nickel 0

Manganese 0

Silver 0

Titanium 0

Potassium 1

Boron 63

Silicon 13

Sodium 14

Calcium 2342

Magnesium 103

Phosphorus 706

Zinc 860

Barium 1

 

[JoeFromPA]

Those oils appear to have both performed admirably and similarly.

Iron spike like that doesn't mean much. The Universal average is 20....based upon what mileage? You are probably seeing about average wear with Iron.

Further, the oil was run longer than AMSOIL but had almost identical viscosity and a relevantly lower TBN.


Remember that low-level dissolved metals in UOAs are not good indicators of engine wear. The oil proved that it held up, though it was at the end of it's life.

 

[ffxfina3]

Originally Posted By: bepperb
What mileage were the universal averages for this engine based on?


Just got off the phone with Blackstone. The Universal averages is based on 5,900 Miles.

-Bryan

 

[ctc]

Originally Posted By: Bryan K. Walton
Originally Posted By: addyguy
What did you replace the M1 with?


Replaced with M1 because that is what I had. But I'm thinking I'm probably going to change it at 5K Miles or so, and then go with PP 5w-20 at continued 5K intervals.

-Bryan


If I were you, and I'm not , I would leave the current M1 in for 7500 and do another UOA.

 

[JoeFromPA]

Originally Posted By: Bryan K. Walton
Originally Posted By: bepperb
What mileage were the universal averages for this engine based on?


Just got off the phone with Blackstone. The Universal averages is based on 5,900 Miles.

-Bryan


So your iron showing was actually at or below universal averages for this engine

 

[ctc]

Originally Posted By: JoeFromPA
Originally Posted By: Bryan K. Walton
Originally Posted By: bepperb
What mileage were the universal averages for this engine based on?


Just got off the phone with Blackstone. The Universal averages is based on 5,900 Miles.

-Bryan


So your iron showing was actually at or below universal averages for this engine


He had incorrectly labeled the unit avg as Universal Avg. The correct Universal Avg for iron was 12 at 5900 mi.

 

[FZ1]

I agree with the 5k oci with PP. I'd run an M1 filter.

 

[ffxfina3]

Thanks everybody who has responded. When I spoke further with Blackstone, they told me that theoretically, I could assume that with iron at 12 PPM at 5900 miles (universal avg), that the average would be 24 PPM at 12000 miles. This is unfortunately my first ever run of M1 0w-20 in this car, so I don't have any real idea whether iron was high on the entire oil run, or if it jumped in the last few thousand miles. I'll have to ponder on this for a little while and make a decision on M1 vs. PP.

Cheers,
Bryan

 

[PandaBear]

How does it compare to other M1 0W20 samples? Maybe the dissolved iron is nothing to worry about, or maybe it is hiding something.

 

[Throckmorton]

What kind of driving do you do?

 

[ffxfina3]

Originally Posted By: Throckmorton
What kind of driving do you do?


This is my wife's car. We live in the country (but not on a gravel road). She does a lot of in town driving, but getting to town is at least a 8 mile drive. We also have a block heater installed in the car which we used many times over the winter. This car is also used for family excursions/vacations etc. I'd say that she puts about 900-1000 miles a month on the car.

-Bryan

 

[buster]

32ppm of Fe is low. It's a bit high compared to ASM, but well below 150ppm alert level.