Pennzoil 5W-20 02 Honda Accord

[khager]

02 Honda Accord 2.3L I4
Total Miles: 15040
Miles on Oil: 3100
6/17/03 thru 8/27/03
Oil: Pennzoil 5W-20 SL

RICHARD: Hondas are normally very good wearing engines and yours is not the exception.
Universal averages show typical wear metals for an oil from this type engine after about 4,500 miles.
Your oil was in use 3,600 miles, and we found all wear at about average and in the correct balance to
show normal mechanical parts inside. Air and oil filtration look okay. The oil's viscosity was a little low
for a 5W/20 oil, cause unknown, since we found no gas, moisture or anti-freeze in it. Other than that,
everything looks great at 15,040 miles. We'll watch the viscosity next time

Sus Viscosity @210F 49.8
Flashpoint: 395F
Water, Fuel, & Antifreeze were all 0.0
No Makeup oil added

ALUMINUM 1
CHROMIUM 0
IRON 4
COPPER 3
LEAD 1
TIN 0
MOLYBDENUM 209
NICKEL 0
MANGANESE 0
SILVER 0
TITANIUM 0
POTASSIUM 0
BORON 58
SILICON 13
SODIUM 2
CALCIUM 2406
MAGNESIUM 5
PHOSPHORUS 767
ZINC 864
BARIUM 0

Well what do you guys think?
I guess my biggest question is why did this oil thin out so much and should I stick with it?

Also the mileage was apx. 60/40 Hwy/City
and Temp's anywhere from 70F-110F with some rush hour traffic conditions.

 

[Al]

Great report. Blackstone says 3600 miles and your data says 3100 miles. Anyway moly is over 200- what did you have in before this?? BTW the oil is still a 20 wt. (abt 44.5 SUS is the lower limit) How do you drive the car??

 

[khager]

3100 Miles is the correct number, I don't know where Blackstone got the 3600. I've always used Pennzoil 5W-20 every 3K except for the factory fill which was left in for the first 6K. I don't drive it too hard, typical commute 70-80MPH with some stop and go rush hour traffic although I do redline it at least a couple of times per day, getting on the freeway and passing.

 

[pscholte]

A very nice report, but, if you are in the mood to spend the bucks, I think I would try M1 0W20 for an interval and see how it does. You're not gonna be able to improve the wear numbers by much but you might not experience the thinning and you might be able to extend your interval if you were so inclined.

 

[buster]

Very nice. I'm definitely a Pennzoil fan! Good oil.

 

[khager]

I don't really want to spend the bucks on M1 0W-20 right now, my wear #'s look good and I like to change every 3K anyway. I get the pennzoil for $8.37 5 Qt. jug at Wally World and the cheapest I can find M1 0W-20 right now is $5.00/Qt, haven't seen it in the 5Qt. jug yet. I think I will stick with the Pennz for now and do a couple more UOA's and see if it keeps thinning out, maybe it is thin to start with?

 

[Jay]

Pennzoil's 5w-20 has the nicest set of specs of any dino 5w-20. It's nice to see it do so well in your engine, and it's certainly a bargain in the 5 qt jugs. Starting viscosity is 8.6cSt, so it thinned 16% which is a lot.

If it were me I'd try Motorcraft's or Chevron's 5w-20 next time if I could get it at a comparable price.

[ September 11, 2003, 12:21 AM: Message edited by: Jay ]

 

[Patman]

If you continue to use this oil in 3k intervals and the reports continue to show low wear metals like this, I see no reason to switch! Eventually the engine might loosen up more and you may see a rise in wear, in which it would be time to try out 5w30, but then again you never know. This is why doing UOAs from the beginning is great, then you can watch the trend and see if your methods are working and decide if any fine tuning is necessary.

The thinning out is definitely disturbing, but when the wear is super low like this, it's obviously not a big issue.

 

[Bror Jace]

Terrific results khager.

But redlining it at least once or twice a day is NOT “normal” usage. You’re a bit harder on the motor than the average bloke.

As always, I’m not crazy about the oil thinning out some. At least it doesn’t seem to have affected the wear at all. I just wouldn’t let the interval go past 4,000 miles without careful testing all along the way. At some point it would start to thicken up again. It’s just that, at that point, it’s not a “premium” lubricant anymore and wear could jump. When you are using such a cost-effective oil like the Pennzoil 5W20, there’s no reason to push it.

Al, moly at 180-250ppm in most 5W20 oils is common. I think Motorcraft is the only one I’ve seen which doesn’t use it (I think).

Like Patman said, with your current habits, there’s no reason to switch oils. Pscholte may be right and M1 0W20 might be a smidge better … especially as the interval gets stretched but I think the main advantage of that stuff is its extreme cold weather performance … not terribly useful in Keller, Texas.

I wish SOMEONE would try the mysterious Chevron 5W20 … or at least confirm that it exists in the real world and is not merely corporate misinformation promulgated on their website.

--- Bror Jace

 

[MNgopher]

Wear looks fine but like others, I'm not thrilled with the thinning, though it still is solidly in xw20 land, and 1 5w20 I know of STARTS nearly this thin (Citgo Supergard). Perhaps this is the oils reaction to running in hotter temperatures, seeing as how we haven't seen a lot of hot weather reports.

With the wear being fine, I'd run this same oil for a few more intervals to get a trend, but otherwise it looks fine.

As far as the Chevron 5w20 goes, I'm running its closest relative, the Texaco Havoline 5w20 in my 99 F150 right now. I've got about 4100 miles on this run right now, I will be changing at 5,000 miles, likely the end of the month. A UOA will be forthcoming. Based on the closeness of the data sheets and some converstations others have had with technical support at ChevronTexaco, it sounds as though the Chevron and Texaco oils have the same base oils, and the additive pack in the Texaco contains a bit of Magnesium that the Chevron doesn't. We'll see!

 

[khager]

Thanks for the reply's everyone. I noticed there was a VOA done on this oil by cdavidc1949 in which the viscosity was sus@210 52.4 so I guess 49.8 is not too bad although the Pennzoil website says 54.0

I put this same oil in when I changed this last time and I have another 5 Qt. jug in the garage so I will try it at least 2 more times.