Red Line 0W30 11k Miles (3rd Run) 2004 Volvo S60

[Devo242]

This is the 3rd and what will likely be the final run UOA testing Red Line on my 2004 S60 in which I switched up somewhat running 0W30 for the winter months as opposed to their 5W30 grade as in the previous 2 runs. As I have mentioned in my last post, this car is long paid off and I prefer to spend my money on an product made by a small US company, but comments are of course welcome with that in mind.

Links to Previous UOAs:
Red Line 5W30 - 1st Run
Red Line 5W30 - 2nd Run

There was trace fuel found in this sample, but I believe this to be related to an ignition coil failure at approximately 3,000 miles into the run, the car went into a limp mode and I was able to drive it to my independent Volvo mechanic where I had all five coil packs replaced.

Generally speaking, I am ok with the UOA on the 0W30 grade from Red Line, but the 5W30 produced better fuel economy and a quieter engine. I have moved back to 5W30 for the current fill and noticed an approximate 1 MPG average increase in economy through 2 fillups. Based on this I plan to run 5W30 for the foreseeable future and will continue to change it at ~10k mile intervals with the Volvo OEM filters (Mahle).

BLACKSTONE COMMENTS: The only mark on this report was for a slightly low flashpoint reading, indicating a trace of fuel was present. That's not an excessive amount of fuel, so we doubt it's anything to be concerned about. If fuel had been a lingering issue or if it had read much higher (over 2.0% of the sample), then we'd be singing a different tune. For now, this reading is fine though. Wear metals look pretty good. Iron is a little higher than it has been, but it's not excessive at all. The TBN read just 0.1, but we can't say this low reading is hurting anything.

Code:
OIL Red Line 0W30

MILES IN USE 10,925

MILES 147,068

SAMPLE TAKEN 04/19/2014

MAKE UP OIL 1 QT



ALUMINUM 1

CHROMIUM 0

IRON 21

COPPER 2

LEAD 1

TIN 0

MOLYBDENUM 668

NICKEL 0

MANGANESE 0

SILVER 0

TITANIUM 0

POTASSIUM 1

BORON 37

SILICON 9

SODIUM 19

CALCIUM 2759

MAGNESIUM 48

PHOSPHORUS 1240

ZINC 1362

BARIUM 0



INSOLUBLES % 0.2

FUEL % TR

WATER % 0

ANTIFREEZE % 0

FLASHPOINT ºF 385

SUS VIS 210ºF 60.4

cSt @ 210ºF 10.33

TBN 0.1


Below is a photo of the car:

 

[Rand]

seems like the oci is too long. for whatever reason

winter? severe service?

I would try sampling at 8500 to see what the tbn is.

 

[beast3300]

Holy Moly Batman!! Looks like it did fine!

 

[29662]

TBN is practically nonexistent, viscosity is low, as is flash point despite the lack of fuel dilution, but it doesn't appear to have affected wear rates at all. Nice healthy add pack.
Gotta love redline.

If it ain't broke don't fix it.

 

[Merkava_4]

The oil did a great job but was in there too long.

 

[bigjl]

0w30 synth is what Volvo spec for severe service in Europe. No reduction in oci. And is instead of 5w30

Would i be correct in thinking in Europe we have slightly less sulphur in petrol?

And that would cause the extra drop in TBN?

Lots of low and mid saps oils in Europe intended for long drains, 16k or 18k, start of with a TBN of 5 or 6.

A nice round 10k for the next oci seems spot on.

Was surprised that 0w30 seems to be less up to the task than 5w30 when Volvo say use 0w30 for severe service.

Don't know what standard oci is for your car in Europe though.

 

[Quest]

@bigjl: North America currently already on tier-2 low sulphur gasoline(30ppm local refinery; 80ppm importers):

http://www.epa.gov/otaq/standards/fuels/gas-sulfur.htm

By 2017: it will be on Tier-3, which is around 10ppm or less.

http://www.epa.gov/otaq/fuels/gasolinefuels/gasolinesulfur/index.htm

http://ens-newswire.com/2014/03/03/u-s-epa-tightens-fuel-sulfur-and-vehicle-emission-standards/

Q.

 

[tudorart]

Most will say thinner at start up helps with less fuel dilution. I say high VI will help that. Both oils have about the same modest VI provided you used their latest formulations.

I'd say 5W30 showed better flash and dilution because it provided higher viscosity for your specific cold clearances and allowed less blow by and better compression (hence the fuel economy) at all temperatures.

In Europe the original book shows a 5.8L (6.12q) sump for B5544S and it takes 0W30 A3/12000miles up to 2004. From 2005 on they also allow the 0W30 A5 @ 18000miles and the sump goes down to 5.5L (5.8q).

You ran an A5 in lieu of an A3 from an European perspective. If I had to choose an oil to run thinner than recommended it would be Red Line.

You know they used to recommend their 0W30 in A3 applications. I agree with them on that even if HTHS is lower than required.


I use RL 5W30 in a Subaru LPG EJ20 and I am very happy with 0 oil consumption. Other oils have been showing oil consumption quickly after the LPG conversion.
I will however have to test for nitration in the future and see how it stands on that.

All aside I would not change anything you're doing. Maybe TAN test next couple of times

 

[fdcg27]

I see nothing wrong with this UOA, although it is a good example of why TBN should always be measured in any UOA.
The oil looks like it held up pretty well on a long run in that it did protect the engine from excessive metals shedding.
If the RL 5W-30 provides for both less metals shedding and better fuel economy, that would seem to be the no-brainer choice.
Still, this is a very decent UOA of an oil not really intended for long drains and is one of the better long drain RL UOAs here.

 

[A_Harman]

I say limit the next OCI to 9000 miles and have them do a TAN analysis along with TBN.

 

[SilverC6]

I thought Redline would retain more TBN than that.

I'm thinking M1 EP, Castol Edge EP Titanium, or one of the Euro LL-01 motor oils in 5W-30 would deliver more TBN at the end of a 10,000 mile OCI.