QSAD 5W20 UOA 5,504 miles 2011 TAURUS 3.5

[dustyroads]

This is the new formulation (or at least a modified additive package) of QSGB. This was my third oci with the green bottle. I knew something was different from the first two oci's of use and recently posted a new VOA of QSGB. This most recent report and the far right column are both winter oci's. I very much prefer the old formulation. 2011 Ford Taurus sel 3.5L V6 55,998 miles on engine 5,504 on oil No highways, no city driving...just rural back roads (many of them dirt) QSGB 5W20 / MC FL500S (all 3 oci's) NAPA Gold air filter went in September 2015. I expect silicon to trend down from here. No makeup oil as it always stays full.

Code:

             May 6,2016.        Sept 25,2015       April 1,2015
             5,504 miles.        5,901 miles.       5,129 miles

Aluminum         6                 3                   4
Chromium         1                 0                   0 
Iron             10                9                   8
Copper           25                31                  23
Lead             0                 0                   0          
Tin              0                 0                   0   
Moly             144               110                 111
Nickel           0                 0                   1
Manganese        n/a               n/a                 4       
Silver           0                 0                   0
Titanium         0                 0                   0  
Potassium        1                 0                   4
Boron            41                73                  120
Silicon          15                19                  14
Sodium           0                 22                  69  
Calcium          1861              2155                2327   
Magnesium        6                 9                   10
Phosphorus       669               684                 810
Zinc             780               843                 920
Barium           0                 0                   0

SUS VIS @ 210F   n/a               n/a                 51.8
Visc cSt @ 100C  8.8               8.6                 7.82   
Flash point (F)  n/a               n/a                 395
Fuel %           n/a               n/a                 <0.5
AF/Coolant %     0                 0                   0
Water %          <0.05             <0.05               0.0
Insolubles       n/a               n/a                 0.2
TBN              2.5               2.4                 3.3
TAN              n/a               n/a                 4.9

I arranged this in Blackstone's form but the last two reports were via ALS Tribology in Atlanta. 

 

[Oregoonian]

With a 2.5 TBN....IMO... your under-utilizing the QSAD oil. With these three reports....you should be able to do at least 7k to 7.5K OCI's. I like the higher Moly in the latest report. Should I ever move to a conventional oil, from the synthetic I now use....QSAD would be my choice.

 

[dustyroads]

I can't argue with that Oregoonian. It's a work in progress for me. The oil and filter are both capable of many more miles but I haven't been able to keep my hands off them. I'll keep working on it. The moly does work after the oil gets warmed up but I prefer the old version with much more Boron. The engine was so quiet right from the start, at any temp. Edit- I did run synthetic twice for about 7K miles but it got too noisy. It was grating on me when climbing steep hills. The QSGB is much better than the syns in that aspect so I think I could stand to run 7K with it.

 

[53' Stude]

QSGB: the "new sleeper" oil

 

[dustyroads]

Originally Posted By: car51

QSGB: the "new sleeper" oil

It's still the best I've used even if I don't like it quite as much as I used to. May not be best for everyone but works great in my application.

 

[BrocLuno]

It's going in my wife's '97 JAG next round. With 180K on the clock, it's past any worry about what's best, etc. It's good oil and it'll work fine for 6,000

 

[Branson304]

Good looking UOAs from a fellow Taurus owner. These 3.5Ls are easy on oil. I just use the intelligent OLM with synthetic oil, peace of mind.

 

[advocate]

Nice report! I just bought a 5L jug for my wife's 2008 Ford Edge 3.5 for a 10000 km interval. Looks like I have nothing to worry about based on your uoa.

 

[69GTX]

Looks like they've diluted the add package on this new formulation. We've seen the same thing with some other oils. On the weird side, 540RAT has rated the new 5w-20 QSUD as the highest rated oil they've ever tested, better than 30 grades, better than PP/PUP, M1, Castrol Edge, etc.

 

[dustyroads]

Originally Posted By: Branson304

Good looking UOAs from a fellow Taurus owner. These 3.5Ls are easy on oil. I just use the intelligent OLM with synthetic oil, peace of mind.

I agree that the 3.5 is easy on the oil. I did run two OCI's with sythetics. One was QSUD (ran it down low on the olm %, about 6,800) and then Valvoline Synpower (olm said to change oil soon at 7100-7200) but with both of those the engine had gotten louder and louder. With the Synpower, the engine was particularly loud by the 5k mile mark but I put up with it til almost 7200 miles. I'm going by the sound inside the car and the windows up. The QSGB is far better than either of the synthetics in my car. Maybe PP, M1 or Castrol would be fine but I haven't tried them yet.

 

[dustyroads]

Originally Posted By: advocate

Nice report! I just bought a 5L jug for my wife's 2008 Ford Edge 3.5 for a 10000 km interval. Looks like I have nothing to worry about based on your uoa.

Yeah it maintains a good tbn. My car doesn't have the benefit of long trips yet the oil holds up. It does a lot of trips of 6 miles each and during the winter it's less than ideal (to say the least) for the oil temp. It's a fine conventional oil.

 

[dustyroads]

Originally Posted By: 69GTX

Looks like they've diluted the add package on this new formulation. We've seen the same thing with some other oils. On the weird side, 540RAT has rated the new 5w-20 QSUD as the highest rated oil they've ever tested, better than 30 grades, better than PP/PUP, M1, Castrol Edge, etc.

I think maybe they're going for a more fuel efficient package (?) but maybe there's more to it than that. I contemplated the QSUD knowing they had changed that as well but couldn't pull the trigger when I got into the store.

 

[kschachn]

Originally Posted By: 69GTX

On the weird side, 540RAT has rated the new 5w-20 QSUD as the highest rated oil they've ever tested, better than 30 grades, better than PP/PUP, M1, Castrol Edge, etc.

Demonstrating that the tests have no relevance.

 

[53' Stude]

Dustyroads: my dads used QSGB and always liked it. It's doing ok for 5k runs in his 10' HEMI ram. When I used it in my 11' Focus; it was real quiet for each 7,500 OCI. I may go back to it too

 

[dustyroads]

Originally Posted By: car51

Dustyroads: my dads used QSGB and always liked it. It's doing ok for 5k runs in his 10' HEMI ram. When I used it in my 11' Focus; it was real quiet for each 7,500 OCI. I may go back to it too

QSGB was a great choice for me because I don't stash oil away and it's low cost every day. With the high quality shown in the PQIA tests it was a winner. The first bottles I purchased (dated august 2014) had a little banner on them saying that the oil came with a 10 year/300k mile engine warranty (or something to that effect). Not that I would ever expect to make a warranty claim on an oil company, but it was at least a display of confidence on their part. They no longer put that on the bottle and can only hope it's still of similar quality as the previous formulation.

 

[Mantooth]

I had planned to change my wife's oil yesterday after dinner. While eating, I looked through this thread a second time (just to see what others had added since I last viewed it) and your uoa persuaded me to do a 6k oci instead of 5k. My reasons for changing at 5k had nothing to do with doubting the oil and was more to satisfy my itch to drain it. Your report reminded me I would be draining good oil. This is her 3rd straight fill of QS and the pentastar has been smooth and quiet the whole time. I agree with it being quality oil with a very reasonable price point. Thanks.

 

[dustyroads]

Glad to hear that, Mantooth. If only I could get myself to extend my own oci's...I'll try to go farther this time.