This is my first run with full tuning of my bolt-on mods with Hondata's Flashpro. The engine was run very hard for the better part of 3 hours on the dyno when it was being tuned with dozens of runs under full load from 1500 RPM all of the way to 8500 RPM (fun is programmed to stop at 8600 RPM). This oil has made it through the better part of two winters and a whole bunch of commuting under 5 miles with a half-dozen stop lights and a half-dozen stop signs on the way to work. If I get to have any fun during my commute it's at 3.5 miles on the way home where I can get a 1-mile stretch of road with nothing around and the engine gets to run through all of 1st and 2nd and part of 3rd. After continuing to see a little extra lead in my last 2 UOAs and reading "Motor Oil 101" on the front page of this site which has me thinking that at 3.5 miles my coolant may be close to operating temp but my motor oil is likely not, I've stopped this practice. Now if I want to exercise this engine I go out of my way to drive for a good 15 minutes before having any fun.
The sample was pulled through the dipstick tube and I plan on changing the oil within the next two weeks or so. While everything else looks great (visc is a little low but I'm not sure this is hurting anything), I am curious about the lead. Possibilities I come up with are the time on the dyno, runs to redline without fully warm oil, aftermarket solid aluminum crank pulley (no harmonic dampener and some people swear that this can hurt the engine), or just that the bearings are still breaking in (is 6 ppm really that much anyway?). Silicon is just a teeny bit higher than last time (in the noise, really) and this could be attributed to the fact that I pulled the valve cover just before I had the engine tuned and adjusted the valve clearance and use some silicone to seal the camshaft corners of the valve cover gasket.
Oil consumption often comes up in discussion with this engine and I've probably consumed 2/3 quart and never topped off. Consumption has never been an issue. I don't know if my semi-aggressive break-in played a role or not. With the oil being so thin (well in to the 20 range) I would have expected to see all kinds of oil being consumed with hundreds of runs to 8000+ RPMs.
Thoughts?
The sample was pulled through the dipstick tube and I plan on changing the oil within the next two weeks or so. While everything else looks great (visc is a little low but I'm not sure this is hurting anything), I am curious about the lead. Possibilities I come up with are the time on the dyno, runs to redline without fully warm oil, aftermarket solid aluminum crank pulley (no harmonic dampener and some people swear that this can hurt the engine), or just that the bearings are still breaking in (is 6 ppm really that much anyway?). Silicon is just a teeny bit higher than last time (in the noise, really) and this could be attributed to the fact that I pulled the valve cover just before I had the engine tuned and adjusted the valve clearance and use some silicone to seal the camshaft corners of the valve cover gasket.
Oil consumption often comes up in discussion with this engine and I've probably consumed 2/3 quart and never topped off. Consumption has never been an issue. I don't know if my semi-aggressive break-in played a role or not. With the oil being so thin (well in to the 20 range) I would have expected to see all kinds of oil being consumed with hundreds of runs to 8000+ RPMs.
Thoughts?