Rotella T Syn 5w40, 6027 miles, '99 F150 4.6l V8

[MNgopher]

The details:

Truck: 1999 Ford F150 Supercab Flareside 4x4
Engine: 4.6L 2V SOHC V8
Oil Filter: Wix 51327
Air Filter: Fram (in use for 24,000 miles). Filter still looks good.

Driving: 60/40 Highway/City. No trailer towing. Fair amount of Gravel Road driving.

Analysis: Blackstone

Rot= Shell Rotella T Synthetic
Hav = Texaco Havoline
Valv = Valvoline Durablend

code:

---

Oil: Rot Hav Hav Hav Val Univ.

DB Avg.

Grade: 5w40 5w20 5w20 5w20 5w30

Date: 9/04 5/04 1/04 9/03 6/03

Mi on Oil: 6027 6134 6004 5033 4984 4500

Mi on Unit:108561 102533 96399 90392 85359

Make Up qt:0.5 1.5 1.5 1.0 1.0

Aluminum 3 5 5 3 4 4

Chromium 1 2 1 1 1 1

Iron 16 28 20 12 14 16

Copper 9 3 3 5 4 7

Lead 1 1 0 0 0 1

Tin 0 0 0 0 0 0

Moly 16 173 200 2 3 44

Nickel 1 2 1 1 2 1

Managnese 0 0 0 0 0 1

Silver 0 0 0 0 0 0

Titanium 0 0 0 0 0 0

Potassium 1 2 0 1 2 1

Boron 0 18 23 1 1 49

Silicon 11 17 11 9 9 16

Sodium 5 6 4 3 3 5

Calcium 3615 2141 2067 2219 2496 2092

Magnesium 9 27 33 30 8 258

Phosphorous930 740 770 783 829 782

Zinc 1068 884 936 1007 999 947

Barium 2 0 0 0 1 1

Vis 14.7 8.3 8.3 8.9 10.3

TBN 4.3 1.6 1.9 4.7 1.8

Flash 400 405 395 425 400

Fuel 1.0 0 0 0 0

Glycol 0 0 0 0 0

Water 0 0 0 0 0

Insolubles 0.5 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.5

---

My Comments:

With all the sucess we've seen 5w20 oils having in Ford Modular motors, I thought I'd take a year long shot at a 5w40 oil to see how it stacked up.

Based on this analysis, wear rates all track very closely with what I've seen out of 5w20 and 5w30 oils, especially when you take the milegae on each interval into account. The lone exception was copper, but given I switched to a HDEO, that may be due to some other cleaning going on in the engine. So, based on wear, I am happy.

I also very much like the TBN number, which shows this could go further in this configuration. Oil cunsumption was also decreased nicely.

AS far as other impressions, what I have not enjoyed is the fuel mileage. My fuel mileage is off by 4% relative to simialr periods of 5w30 and 5w20 and similar temperatures. The engine also "feels" a bit sluggish at times, but that could all be in my head. The mpg drop however, is defintitely more than a statistical tie.

So, at this point, an xw40 appears to work fine in the mod motor. I have paid a penalty in fuel mileage (ugh!). I put another batch of the Rotella T Syn 5w40 in, and will run it for another full interval, and continue tracking it.

If the current trend continues, I will likely switch back to 5w30 or 5w20 again next spring.

 

[Motorbike]

If you use this 5w-40 over the winter I'd expect to see a two fold or more increase in copper given the probable source .

Guess we will see next UOA if you decide to send a sample in .

 

[Al]

Good information-thanks. It does seem like the 20 or 30 wt is the way to go. I'd probably go with a mix of 20 and 30 wt

.

 

[Geoff]

I'd say your wear rates with Rotella look pretty good considering you added a quart less oil.

 

[Last_Z]

Rotella kicked thin oil's butt here! Is this year speced for 20 or 30W?

 

[427Z06]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Motorbike:
If you use this 5w-40 over the winter I'd expect to see a two fold or more increase in copper given the probable source .

Guess we will see next UOA if you decide to send a sample in .

---

Cam lobes.

 

[Gary Allan]

What's the comparative mpg here (did I miss it

)?

The point that I'm trying get you to consider ...

Excellent wear numbers= good choice of oil
Good TBN = longer OCI possible
Lower consumption= less make up oil = $$$$

Does it add up (4% difference in mpg) given the costs of the initial OC and make up when stacked against a 9k OCI and the same reduced consumption over that duration??

or ..total fuel/oil costs over 6000 vs. total fuel/oil costs over 9000. Since motor oil hasn't tracked gasoline in costs ..

..but this can't last forever.

 

[MNgopher]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Last_Z:
Rotella kicked thin oil's butt here! Is this year speced for 20 or 30W?

---

5w30 is the original specification. 5w20 is the current recommendation, and it makes no difference anyways since the engines were not changed when the recomendations changed.

I was waiting for someone to chime in claiming that a "thick" oil kicked the thin oils butt. If only that were true.

Let me explain:

I didn't post the corresponding temperature information, and believe me, this is a climate of extremes! On the intervals I do, I tend to get one long summer run and two intervals that start or end in moderate weather with extreme cold in the middle. Temp statistics for the data I originally posted above is:

code:

---

Oil: Rot Hav Hav Hav Val

DB

Grade: 5w40 5w20 5w20 5w20 5w30

Date: 9/04 5/04 1/04 9/03 6/03

Mi on Oil: 6027 6134 6004 5033 4984



Avg Temp: 65.7 35.9 31.2 70.1 39.4

Avg Hi: 75.4 45.4 39.2 80.8 49.4

Avg Low: 55.9 26.5 23.2 59.3 29.5

Max Hi: 93 90 85 95 90

Max Low: 38 -25 -11 40 -18

---

Anyone see why Multigrades can be a good thing?

In any event, I'm not going to post all the stats here, but the short story is: Compare only this interval and interval that covered a simialar time period last year. When you do that, Iron and especially copper are Much higher per mile in this interval than the corresponding interval, while Aluminum is slightly lower.

Note the 5w20 also carried a higher TBN than the Rotella T Syn did, granted it was a 1000 miles shorter.

Not exactly kicking a 5w20's butt when compared under similar conditions. If anything, it says that viscosity is not a big issue in this motor.

From what I am getting from my trends, Iron and Aluminum decrease with higher temps. Copper increases with higher temps. Iron tracks best with maximum low temps, Aluminum trackes best with average low temps, and Copper trends strongest with avergae temp (again, increasing wear with higher temps).

This is precisely why I am evaluating an oils performance over the course of a year. Summer intervals would make most oils look really good, but cold weather tends to kill them...

[ October 11, 2004, 11:53 PM: Message edited by: MNgopher ]

 

[MNgopher]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Gary Allan:
What's the comparative mpg here (did I miss it

)?

The point that I'm trying get you to consider ...

Excellent wear numbers= good choice of oil
Good TBN = longer OCI possible
Lower consumption= less make up oil = $$$$

Does it add up (4% difference in mpg) given the costs of the initial OC and make up when stacked against a 9k OCI and the same reduced consumption over that duration??

or ..total fuel/oil costs over 6000 vs. total fuel/oil costs over 9000. Since motor oil hasn't tracked gasoline in costs ..

..but this can't last forever.

---

As explained in the previous post, only marginally better over a similar interval in terms of wear, and in fact worse per mile for copper and iron,

TBN retention was only slightly better compared to a 5w20 under a similar interval (cold weather kills TBN - guarenteed the next interval will have a much lower TBN).

Lower consumption is indeed true and noted, but a a difference of 1/2 to 1 qt over the same interval, its an extra $1.29 per quart of Havoline 5w20.

In terms of fuel consumption, I goofed on my calcs. My actual fuel mileage is right around 7% lower using 5w40 versus 5w20! I got 16.2 on the same interval last year, 15.1 this year. Ouch!

So, on a 6000 mile interval, I burn 27 gallons more running 5w20 vs. 5w20. AT the current average price around here of 1.87 a gallon, thats an extra $50.49 in fuel cost. 1/2 qt of Rotella T Syn is 1.71 (includes tax) versus 1.5 quarts of 5w20 at a total of 2.06. Nets a loss of $50.84 cents running a 6000 mile OCI on 5w40. The economics are not good. Not to mention the premium paid to get the Rotella T Syn in the first place.

If I extended to 9000 mile OCI's on Rotella, I still am nowhere near coming out ahead. A regular oil change on Havoline 5w20 at 1.29 a quart and a Napa Gold Filter runs me 14.62, with tax. Figure 1.5 of these per 9000 miles plus 2.25 quarts of topoff oil = grand total of $25.02. Rotella T Syn 5w40 and a Napa Gold filter run me 26.96 for the interval + the make up oil (0.75 qts) for a grand total of $29.53. A difference on oil of about 2.50, plus I burn an extra 40 gallons of gas...

Sorry, the economics aren't there unless the OCI goes out waaaayyyy longer.

That, and the wear isn't that much different over the similar weather intervals!

 

[Gary Allan]

Well at least you're one of the first honest people to admit that their pickup gets a "fair" mpg. You don't know how often I do one of those "cough-cough bs ..bs" thingies when I hear some of the numbers some claim.

This engine obviously doesn't need, and infact is hobbled somewhat by, a xw-40 weight oil. I've only ever noticed a heavier weight oil taxing one of my engines. My 3.0 Mitsu in my Caravan loses about 25% in the around town tour ..yet highway long mileage is unchanged with the use of a 15w-40. I attribute this the the warmup period that doesn't always get fully reached in around town driving. With "light weights" ...it's barely any different.

 

[427Z06]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Gary Allan:
Well at least you're one of the first honest people to admit that their pickup gets a "fair" mpg. You don't know how often I do one of those "cough-cough bs ..bs" thingies when I hear some of the numbers some claim.

---

Nicely worded.

 

[dropitby]

I would try the Amsoil HD 5/30 but thats

me.

 

[Motorbike]

MNgopher

Thanks for taking time to educate those that are willing to learn from your real world experience .

It mirrors mine from past testing .

 

[Whimsey]

to MNgopher. You did a great job and service to us oil geeks

. You actually have real world comparisons of various oils in the same vehicle over varying seasons. And you kept accurate records. For THIS engine the 5W-20's seem to look really good and make economic sense also. And as Gary Allen said it's refreshing to see the MPG numbers for a truck that are more realistic. I have a 2002 F-150 with the same 4.6 but a 5 speed manual tranny and I average about 15-16 mpg period. Mine is 4X4 Supercab 8' long bed with a 250-300lb fiberglass cap. My wife has a 2002 4X4 Explorer with the 4.0L V-6 and she only gets 16-17 mpg in the same average type of driving so I don't feel too bad

.

Whimsey

 

[MNgopher]

Glad to be of some help to the oil geek world...

Thought we might all find some of this info useful!

I agree on the fuel mileage stuff though. Sometimes, you scratch your head and wonder...

I'll keep on into the winter and see how it goes... not that I am expecting a miracle after round 1!