Syntec 5W30 14114km, 2005 Grand Caravan 3.3L

[zero10]

I haven't posted my last few UOAs but I figure it's time for an update. So far this engine is really showing it likes the 5W30 syntec and is behaving well. Oil changes aren't planned to be at 14000km though they keep working out to be very close to that. Basically I have another car that is still under warranty and so every second oil change for it I do the van at the same time. I've posted my last few UOAs below in case anybody is curious about how the engine is aging, most recent sample is the far right.

Code


Lab Number TC7023 TK3272 UI3688 VG5932 WJ8251 XH6809 YJ2917

Date 2/1/2013 10/26/2013 09/04/2014 07/17/2015 08/22/2016 08/01/2017 09/23/2018

Unit 124800 136250 149595 162321 176515 190708 204822

Oil 10800 11450 13345 12726 14194 14193 14114

Type Syntec 5W30 Syntec 5W30 Rotella T6 5W40 Pennzoil 5W20 Mobil 1 5W20 Castrol E 5W30 Castrol E 5W30

Tin 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Lead 1 2 1 1 1 1 1

Copper 0.2 0.7 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.3 0.5

Aluminum 1 1 1 4 3 4 4

Silicon 45 18 21 22 18 56 29

Iron 12 10 18 19 28 17 22

Chromium 1 0.6 1 0.9 1 0.6 0.7

Silver 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Zinc 800 724 1300 1000 721 768 781

Magnesium 950 1000 1200 206 693 152 226

Nickel 0.7 0.8 0 1 1 1 1

Barium 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Sodium 111 70 24 3 23 16 17

Calcum 1150 784 883 2000+ 1150 1900 2000+

Vanadium 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Phosphorus 615 533 1000 757 602 634 608

Molybdenum 60 63 77 63 76 73 60

Boron 16 19 19 42 38 111 21

Manganese 0.9 0 0.8 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.8

Viscosity(D445)@100*C 10.02 9.263 15.16 9.834 8.299 11.63 11.21

Water(D4007) (%v/v) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Solids(D4007) (%v/v)
Glycol No No No No No No No

Fuel Dilution No No No No No No No

Oil Changed? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes


Their comments on this sample are:
YJ2917 - Tests DO NOT indicate an immediate need for an oil change. Silicones (B).
Send in New Oil for Reference. Maintain routine sampling.

 

[JLTD]

MY EYES!

Please fix the formatting...

 

[StevieC]

Thanks for posting.

 

[oil_film_movies]

Can't get much better than that. Funny how that lab gave Cu values in fractions of 1 ppm.
I don't know what "Castrol E 5w30" is, but its not the old Castrol Syntec, since calcium is too high to be a dexos1 Gen2 oil.

 

[Spector]

my thinking has the silicon and iron a tad high but it has been that way early on but in the last three samples the iron is increasing??? Silicon and iron can mean air filtration but could also be normal for this engine, I don't know.

 

[JLTD]

Originally Posted by JLTD
MY EYES!

Please fix the formatting...



Thanks for fixing! Nice results.

Looks like the Syntec might be the best oil overall for this engine.

 

[Patman]

Originally Posted by oil_film_movies
Can't get much better than that. Funny how that lab gave Cu values in fractions of 1 ppm.


Must be Wearcheck, they have always given the numbers to the tenth of a decimal point if it's under 10ppm.

 

[zero10]

Originally Posted by oil_film_movies
Can't get much better than that. Funny how that lab gave Cu values in fractions of 1 ppm.
I don't know what "Castrol E 5w30" is, but its not the old Castrol Syntec, since calcium is too high to be a dexos1 Gen2 oil.

It's a shortened version of "Castrol Edge 5W30" since their column is apparently too small - old school systems I guess?
I could check which version it was but I believe it's the A3/B4 one that I am using

 

[zero10]

Originally Posted by JLTD
Originally Posted by JLTD
MY EYES!

Please fix the formatting...



Thanks for fixing! Nice results.

Looks like the Syntec might be the best oil overall for this engine.


Sorry if things were messed up - I checked when you posted and everything looked properly formatted to me at the time, I was going to reply but work got in the way. Glad to hear things look right now!

I agree this engine really rewards Syntec, I tried throwing a couple oils at it in a very non-scientific way just to see how it did and much to my surprise, the cheapest "good" oil I can buy works the best. I'm happy with that!

I should mention, this last sample includes a week of -35*C cold starts without being plugged in, then 6 months later, a 1200km trip towing a trailer, over half of which were spent at nearly full throttle and continual 4500-5500RPM - it was a brutal slog into a heavy head wind. I couldn't believe it didn't throw a rod or something, I gave it proper [censored], and yet the UOA came back just like the others. Unbelievable!

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted by zero10
I could check which version it was but I believe it's the A3/B4 one that I am using

I would expect the A3/B4 version to have higher phosphorus than what the analysis indicates.

 

[oil_film_movies]

Originally Posted by zero10
I should mention, this last sample includes a week of -35*C cold starts without being plugged in, then 6 months later, a 1200km trip towing a trailer, over half of which were spent at nearly full throttle and continual 4500-5500RPM - it was a brutal slog into a heavy head wind. I couldn't believe it didn't throw a rod or something, I gave it proper [censored], and yet the UOA came back just like the others. Unbelievable!
Wow, -35C = -31F in the U.S. Could have really used a 0w20 in that weather. There is a good case for using a 0w20 in the winter, and a 5w30 or 5w40 in the summer in that engine.

 

[zero10]

Originally Posted by oil_film_movies
Originally Posted by zero10
I should mention, this last sample includes a week of -35*C cold starts without being plugged in, then 6 months later, a 1200km trip towing a trailer, over half of which were spent at nearly full throttle and continual 4500-5500RPM - it was a brutal slog into a heavy head wind. I couldn't believe it didn't throw a rod or something, I gave it proper [censored], and yet the UOA came back just like the others. Unbelievable!
Wow, -35C = -31F in the U.S. Could have really used a 0w20 in that weather. There is a good case for using a 0w20 in the winter, and a 5w30 or 5w40 in the summer in that engine.


Maybe - but keep in mind that in the past I've seen pretty poor results using the 20 weight oils in this van so I'd basically be trading hot wear for cold start wear... Plus right now I'm only doing yearly oil changes as we only drive about 14,000km/year so I'd therefore be running the lighter weight oil year-round. Basically, I guess no matter what I do it's a compromise. It was a bit of a fluke that we couldn't plug the van in for that super cold week but we were visiting family and our lodging arrangements got changed so we ended up parked somewhere we couldn't use the block heater. Worse than the engine, was how the transmission fared though, when cold it would grab reverse right away but engaging drive after backing out of our spot took 10-15 seconds

After we got back it hasn't given us any troubles though, but I did do a fluid change thinking it perhaps the aged fluid was more prone to thickening in the cold.

The climate where the van currently lives consists of warm weather all summer (highs of 35-40*C and lows of 15-25*C aren't unusual for the summer months) and during the winter we get above freezing every couple of weeks with the nighttime lows generally never falling below -20*C. I think 5W30 synthetic is appropriate for our current uses. On our next Christmas trip to the north pole Calgary we will hopefully be able to plug in the van in and won't have to put it through the same suffering.