Pennzoil 10w30, 96 Dodge Neon 2.0L

[RC]

I got the results back from the oil sample I pulled from my girlfriends Neon. The car is a 1996 and had 79k miles on it at the time of the sample.

The sample only has 2,019 miles and just over 2 months of driving. This car is mostly short trip driving. I think the numbers are great with the exception of how much the oil thinned out in only 2,000 miles. Any comments?

Coppper 5
Iron 10
Chromium 0
Aluminum 4
Lead 1
Moly 84
Phos 881
Zinc 999
Magnesium 8
Calcium 2118
Silicon 4

Antifreeze 0%
H20 0%
Sulfur 17%
Oxidation 2%
Nitration 0%

Viscostiy CST 8.88

 

[Chris B.]

Looks good to me but I'm no expert! I'd run it to at least 3,000 or 4,000 and resample.

 

[ToyotaNSaturn]

RC, what's the flash point and the percentage of fuel dilution? Fuel dilution is most likely causing the oil to thin out due to many short trips.

 

[Brett Miller]

How much fuel was in the sample? That could explain the viscosity drop.

 

[RC]

Sorry I forgot the fuel dilution.

The analysis was done by Schaffer's. It doesn't list a numerical value for fuel dilution. In the box it has an "N" I assume it stands for normal????

 

[Patman]

quote:

---

Originally posted by RC:
Sorry I forgot the fuel dilution.

The analysis was done by Schaffer's. It doesn't list a numerical value for fuel dilution. In the box it has an "N" I assume it stands for normal????

---

The N probably stands for negative or none. Either way, that's good.

 

[RC]

Thanks Patman, that makes more sense.

The real issue I have with this oil is the fact that is thinned to a 20w in only 2k miles. Seeing how we have ruled out fuel dilution as the culprit, is this really that good of an oil.

Certainly the wear numbers are great as I would expect them to be with that low of miles on the oil, but it slid out of grade with so few miles.

 

[jason07-1zzfe]

I think all OTC dinos will do that.

And actually I think 1-2k will usually be the peak of thinning. May still be evident at 5-7k though if there isn't much thickening.

Don't think it's anything abnormal

 

[Jay]

No offence, RC, but 5ppm/1000mi iron is a poor wear rate for a 2L engine IMO. Maybe a longer interval would show better numbers or maybe this is the best a Neon engine can do.

 

[Patman]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Jay:
No offence, RC, but 5ppm/1000mi iron is a poor wear rate for a 2L engine IMO. Maybe a longer interval would show better numbers or maybe this is the best a Neon engine can do.

---

Neon engines can do way better than this, as a Neon engine is the one in our very best UOA on this site:

http://theoildrop.server101.com/cgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=000920

To sum up that link quickly, Stuart ran Schaeffer Oil for 15,000 miles, along with LC, and his wear numbers looked like this:

Iron-4
Lead-0
Chromium-0
Aluminum-1
Copper-7

Simply awesome!

 

[RC]

Thanks for the feedback.

I must admit that this is the first sample from this engine and I did not have any idea what to expect out of this 2.0L motor.

I didn't think 10ppm of iron was too bad, but I guess I didn't consider the big picture, only 2k miles.

I have Pennzoil HM in the car now as it was experiencing some oil consumption issues and has a small leak I am hoping will slow. I plan on AutoRx'ing the motor come spring but for now I thought to try the HM.

I haven't decided what I am going to run after the RX treatment but at this time I do not think it will be Pennzoil.

Thanks again.

 

[Bror Jace]

I'm really surprised that this oil thinned out. 10W30, especially, should be ultra stable. I don't think we've ever seen this in a mineral oil before.

Jason, are you saying that you think oxidation steps in at this point and begins to thicken the oil and return it to its original viscosity? Seems way too soon for that to happen.

Maybe Johnny will have something to say?

--- Bror Jace