The details:
Truck: 1999 Ford F150 Supercab Flareside 4x4
Engine: 4.6L 2V SOHC V8
Oil Filter: Napa Gold 1327
Air Filter: Fram (in use for 30,000 miles). Filter replaced at this change -looked awfully bad.
Driving: 60/40 Highway/City. Couple of light trailer twoing hauls. Fair amount of Gravel Road driving.
Analysis: Blackstone
Rot= Shell Rotella T Synthetic
Hav = Texaco Havoline
Well, the 5w40 test rolls on. The truck starts and runs fine, even at -20F morning cold starts. No funny or different noises that would worry me.
On a per 1000 mile basis, as of right now, I get the lowest Aluminum, Chromium, and Iron wear rates on 5w40. Copper is the exact opposite, with it tending to run higher than average (though still below the Universal averages). IIRC, the tri-metal bearings in this motor will show up partially in the Copper numbers, so this is a potential item. However, when its all said and done, I feel that for the vast majority of the results, there are close enough to be statistically comparable and much of the variation is noise from sampling error and lab tolerances.
TBN retention is excellent on the Rotella in this application - however, the insolubles level leads me to not want to run any longer, and I'm not going to simply switch filters and run longer.
What is NOT lost in the noise, is my fuel mileage. This interval was over 1% lower fuel mileage than the exact same interval last year on 5w20. Average Hi, Low, and extreme temps were all very similar to the same interval last year. Overall, my fuel mileage is off by 4.5% since switching to 5w40.
For the marginally better results in wear (I will grant that theyy exist, even if just "noise"), I'm not sure the fuel mileage penalty is worth it.
I am thinking I will run a 5w30 oil when the next interval rolls around - seems to be a good compromise between thin and thick with the fuel mileage to go with it. I have not decided on a brand, but Citgo Supergard has peaked my interest, and I can find it on sale for less than a buck over at Fleet Farm...
[ February 09, 2005, 02:52 AM: Message edited by: MNgopher ]
Truck: 1999 Ford F150 Supercab Flareside 4x4
Engine: 4.6L 2V SOHC V8
Oil Filter: Napa Gold 1327
Air Filter: Fram (in use for 30,000 miles). Filter replaced at this change -looked awfully bad.
Driving: 60/40 Highway/City. Couple of light trailer twoing hauls. Fair amount of Gravel Road driving.
Analysis: Blackstone
Rot= Shell Rotella T Synthetic
Hav = Texaco Havoline
My Comments:code:
Oil: Rot Rot Hav Hav Hav Univ.
Avg.
Grade: 5w40 5w40 5w20 5w20 5w20
Date: 1/05 9/04 5/04 1/04 9/03
Mi on Oil: 6132 6027 6134 6004 5033
Mi on Unit:114694 108561 102533 96399 90392
Make Up qt:0.5 0.5 1.5 1.5 1.0
Aluminum 4 3 5 5 3 3
Chromium 1 1 2 1 1 1
Iron 18 16 28 20 12 16
Copper 5 9 3 3 5 7
Lead 0 1 1 0 0 1
Tin 0 0 0 0 0 0
Moly 6 16 173 200 2 45
Nickel 1 1 2 1 1 1
Managnese 0 0 0 0 0 1
Silver 0 0 0 0 0 0
Titanium 0 0 0 0 0 0
Potassium 0 1 2 0 1 1
Boron 1 0 18 23 1 50
Silicon 10 11 17 11 9 16
Sodium 4 5 6 4 3 5
Calcium 3322 3615 2141 2067 2219 2181
Magnesium 10 9 27 33 30 225
Phosphorous808 930 740 770 783 779
Zinc 1022 1068 884 936 1007 945
Barium 1 2 0 0 0 1
Vis 13.7 14.7 8.3 8.3 8.9
TBN 3.1 4.3 1.6 1.9 4.7
Flash 400 400 405 395 425
Fuel 0 1.0 0 0 0
Glycol 0 0 0 0 0
Water 0 0 0 0 0
Insolubles 0.5 0.5 0.4 0.4 0.3
Well, the 5w40 test rolls on. The truck starts and runs fine, even at -20F morning cold starts. No funny or different noises that would worry me.
On a per 1000 mile basis, as of right now, I get the lowest Aluminum, Chromium, and Iron wear rates on 5w40. Copper is the exact opposite, with it tending to run higher than average (though still below the Universal averages). IIRC, the tri-metal bearings in this motor will show up partially in the Copper numbers, so this is a potential item. However, when its all said and done, I feel that for the vast majority of the results, there are close enough to be statistically comparable and much of the variation is noise from sampling error and lab tolerances.
TBN retention is excellent on the Rotella in this application - however, the insolubles level leads me to not want to run any longer, and I'm not going to simply switch filters and run longer.
What is NOT lost in the noise, is my fuel mileage. This interval was over 1% lower fuel mileage than the exact same interval last year on 5w20. Average Hi, Low, and extreme temps were all very similar to the same interval last year. Overall, my fuel mileage is off by 4.5% since switching to 5w40.
For the marginally better results in wear (I will grant that theyy exist, even if just "noise"), I'm not sure the fuel mileage penalty is worth it.
I am thinking I will run a 5w30 oil when the next interval rolls around - seems to be a good compromise between thin and thick with the fuel mileage to go with it. I have not decided on a brand, but Citgo Supergard has peaked my interest, and I can find it on sale for less than a buck over at Fleet Farm...
[ February 09, 2005, 02:52 AM: Message edited by: MNgopher ]