Redline 5w20, 2000 Camry 2.2L, 5210km

[Ken4]

This is my tenth UOA on my 200 Camry 2.2L (5S-FE) done using Schaeffers/WearCheck kit. Previous nine UOAs were by Dyson Analysis. Latest results on the right, oldest on the left. I did a Auto-Rx clean and rinse using Castrol GTX which explains the long gap (84,726km to 101,477km) and I did not bother with UOA during this time. I did a top end reseal recently bcos of oil leaks, which included new rubber gasket, 8 dabs of silicone, cam plug, spark plug tube grommets and spark plug tube reseal using anerobic thread locking sealant. This is actually my second run using Redline 5w20, the first run I did not bother with UOA cos I was afraid the top end reseal would mess up the results. The Redline UOA looks fine to me except for the spike in Aluminum 15ppm which puzzles me.

Oil
Column 1 (left): Castrol RS 10w50
Column 2: Shell Helix Ultra 15w50
Column 3: Shell Helix Ultra 5w40
Column 4: BP Visco 7000 0w40
Column 5: Castrol SLX 0w30
Column 6: SPC 0w30
Column 7: Fuchs Titan GT1 0w20
Column 8: Motul 300v double ester 0w20
Column 9: Royal Purple 5w20
Column 10 (right): Redline 5w20

Mileage on car
51898km, 57018km, 62015km, 67229km, 70247km, 72270km,73647km, 79602km, 84726km, 101,477km

Mileage on oil
4898km, 5120km, 4997km, 5214km, 3018km, 2023km, 1377km, 5955km, 5124km, 5210km

Time on oil
2months, 3.5months, 5months, 6months, 4months, 2months, 1.5months, 4.5months, 4.5months, 4months

Make-up oil
none, none, none, none, none, none, none, none, none, none

CONTAMINATION
Silcon
3, 4, 8, 10, 9, 9, 2, 17, 15, 20
Potassium
0, 0, 2, 4, 0, 2, 3, 1, 0, 0
Sodium
0, 2, 6, 2, 2, 0, 1, 8, 4, 12
Fuel %
N, N, N, N, N, N, N, N, N, Glycol
N, N, N, N, N, N, N, N, N, --
Water %
N, N, N, N, N, N, N, N, N, Soot %
0, 8, 87, 11, 0, 11, 0, 13, 0, 0.1
Sulfation
29, 22, 8, 21, 34, 43, 0, 0, 92, 867
Nitration
37, 24, 10, 34, 105, 27, 60, 115, 88, 140

OIL CONDITION
Boron
--, --, --, --, --, --, --, --, --, 1.5
Barium
--, --, --, --, --, --, --, --, --, 0.0
Calcium
2110, 1250, 1040, 2446, 3072, 2960, 3390, 1750, 2341, 2654
Magnesium
189, 766, 843, 270, 160, 33, 12, 1104, 127, 8.9
Molybdenum
0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 24, 2, 760, 193, 527
Sodium
0, 2, 6, 2, 2, 0, 1, 8, 4, 12
Phosphorus
619, 654, 684, 778, 771, 982, 462, 971, 1159, 1185
Sulfur
--, --, --, --, --, --, --, --, --, 6137
Zinc
742, 844, 810, 874, 852, 1279, 101, 1100, 1259, 1306
Vis@40C
--, --, --, --, --, --, --, --, --, --
Vis@100C
18.4, 15.7, 13.8, 13.6, 12.0, 11.0, 8.3, 9.5, 8.8, 10.2
Oxidation
22, 34, 0, 27, 83, 15, 150, 1385, 101, 3040
TAN
--, --, --, --, --, --, --, --, --, 3.50
TBN
8, 6, 8, 7, 8.5, 8.5, 10, 7, 3, --

WEAR
Iron
2, 2, 7, 9, 5, 3, 2, 11, 7, 9.5
Nickel
--, --, --, --, --, --, --, --, --, 0.0
Chromium
0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0.5
Titanium
--, --, --, --, --, --, --, --, --, 0.0
Copper
2, 4, 7, 8, 5, 6, 3, 10, 8, 6.2
Aluminum
1, 1, 2, 2, 1, 1, 1, 5, 3, 15
Tin
0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 3, 0, 0.0
Lead
0, 1, 0, 3, 0, 7, 3, 1, 0, 1.1
Silver
--, --, --, --, --, --, --, --, --, 0.0

WearCheck's Comments
There is no indication of any contamination in the component. The TAN level is at the top-end of the recommended limit. All component wear rates are normal.

 

[Trex101]

If the TBN for RL 5w20 start at 8 then your TAN are very close to the wearcheck limit (half at TBN). 5k and your oil is shot! That amazing...

Your oxidation numbers and oil thickening to 10.2 seem to indicate high operating engine temp or overheating. Did you lean out your AFR with any after market piggyback chip?

 

[Ken4]

I have a very accurate Defi oil temp gauge, oil temps never rose over 105C during this run. I have piggyback but only for timing advance. I think it's normal for some oils to thicken a little while it ages. I've seen several Redline UOAs on this site and it seems to drop to TBN 0 very quickly, dont know why.

 

[MADMIKE]

This is one of Toyota's sludger engines which supposedly has very high cylinder head temperatures which appears to be the problem--that would be my guess anyway.

 

[Leo]

OT but I'm suprised Motul 300V was the worst performing oil of the lot, especially with all that Moly. Its meant to be such a nice oil. What oil did you like best running in your motor? Ie quietness/smoothness/mileage.

 

[Primus]

But I would say all performed more or less well in this engine, especially if to take into consideration a margin of error.

 

[Ken4]

I now have a hunch the elevated aluminium is caused by my toluene mix. Im using 20%mix to boost octane. Toluene is corrosive and the aluminum cylinder head (aluminum piston tops?) cannot take the 20% mix. The block is CI so it cant be from there. That’s why toluene cleans very well too and is a good paint thinner. Maybe it’s wearing at the valve seat? I know toluene can also causes elevated combustion temps, maybe it's that. I also remember during the dyno test, I had a ping at the high end before it was corrected. Maybe that caused the spike. It could also explain why the oil was shot so early, toluene mix kills the oil quickly?

Leo, I would have to say the 20wts are my favorites now cos they give the best power and economy. I have Mobil 1 0w20 in my crankcase now.

 

[Leo]

I didn't think Toluene was corrosive? At least my marginal uni chemistry would lead me to believe. Its carcinogenic yes and can hurt seals/rubber but on metals I thought it would do nothing as its basically a pure hydrocarbon.

 

[AEHaas]

Trinitrotoluene is really bad for engines.

aehaas

 

[Pablo]

AEHaas make funny!!

TNT = Bad
Reasonable amount of toluene in fuel = Good

I doubt it would cause elevated Al. Neither toluene or xylene did in my turbo. And toluene can be a regular constituent of gasoline.

 

[simple_gifts]

I thought blowing up an engine was a figure of speech.

 

[Ken4]

Im quite happy with the nice low-end torque increase that toluene gives, my 20% toluene mix somehow packs more punch than premium 98ron gas alone. Maybe it's bcos C7H8 is a denser fuel and releases more energy or burns better for more powerful combustion. Im not ready to give up my toluene so easily.

Red Line = Stock
Purple Line = with Powerchip
Blue Line = with Powerchip + Toluene

 

[Trex101]

________... that's an amazing increase of 60 Nm to 95 Nm @ 2000rpm... just by using Toluene.
Where you find Toluene in Spore? I want to get my hands on some too.

 

[Leo]

That spike looks like a stall convertor influence, not Toluene. Seems the toluene did almost nothing for the rest of the rev range?

 

[Ken4]

Trex101, call Mr Gan 62988588, I buy them for S$50 per 18L tin. But be very careful when handling toluene, it's very toxic if inhaled. Wear latex gloves and eye protection. And you need strong spark to burn toluene otherwise you risk stalling.

Leo, that's what my dyno tester told me too, he said to ignore data below 3000rpm, something to do with the way the auto tranny engages. But I dont know, I have done several dynos and toluene always gives that low-end spike, and I can feel it too when driving between 2000-3000rpm, sweet! I have since put in low resistence wire set and Denso VK20Y 0.8mm gap for stronger spark and this combination with powerchip & toluene seems to improve my low & mid range even more (cyan line). But the high end doesnt seem to want to budge, I think it is a problem with my stock intake being too restrictive, I will be trying a cold air intake soon to see if I can free up some power at the high end.

 

[Tom NJ]

Just be careful of seals - toluene can eat them for lunch. And inhalation is not good (as in airplane glue!)

 

[Trex101]

Thanks, will give him a call.

 

[Ken4]

For the last 1000km of this oil run, I have been experimenting with K&N drop-in air filter. Today I removed my K&N filter and replaced with OEM type. I was shocked to find that a tiny bit of the aluminium wire mesh had broken off and was dangling precariously (on the clean air side)! And this was supposedly a brand new K&N, never been washed before! I think the K&N aluminium wire mesh might have also contributed to my UOA aluminium spike, bcos I read somewhere that K&N aluminium wire mesh suffers from erosion. So much for being a lifetime filter………..ha!

Also, the last 1000km using K&N filter could have let in more silica/alumina as this article mentions:

http://www.planetsoarer.com/OilAnalysis/OilAnalysis.htm

Quote:

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Silicon/aluminum ratio in dirt varies by location - The primary constituents of dirt are minerals containing silicon and aluminum. The ratio of these two elements varies widely from place to place. Clay soils contain nearly as much aluminum as silicon. This is one reason why local interpretation of results is important. Silica and alumina are typically present in dirt and dust in the approximate ratio 3.4:1, with silica being the major component and alumina the minor component. Spectrometric analysis of oil samples that contain high levels of dirt and dust typically reflect this ratio of silica to alumina in the ppm of silicon and aluminum measured. It would appear that there is a relationship between silicon and aluminium in my engine oil. Silicon goes up, aluminium goes up, silicon goes down, aluminium goes down. This sort of relationship indicates dirt ingress.

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[goodvibes]

Clean your MAF while your at it. Some of the drop ins come over oiled out of the box. The increase in low torque could just be from lack of timing retard because of the octane boost. The stock ECU still tries top protest things even with the piggy back whose advance curve or a/f mix may be too agressive for stock fuel.