The Strange Case of the Morphing Motorcraft

[Jim Allen]

Moderators, forgive me for straying from the usual subject format but I have a strange UOA to relate for the general interest and consideration of the BITOG PPM monitors.

Oil: Motorcraft Super Duty HDEO 10W30 API CJ4/SM

Vehicle: '05 F150 5.4L V8, sump capacity 7 qts + 2 qts added for bypass system

Filtration: Primary- P1 (99.7% @ 20um), Racor ABS bypass (99.7% @ 5um)

UOA Duration: 9865 miles, approx. 4K w/o bypass, 6K w/bypass. 2 qts added when bypass installed but no makeup oil otherwise.

Lab: Polaris (SLC)

Notes: Virgin analysis shown first, followed by UOA. The UOA was flagged by Polaris because the UOA stats don't match what they have on file for this oil and are widely divergent from the virgin data. I assure you, all the oil came from the same case of oil, of which I still have two unopened quarts left and one opened. Therein lies the mystery.

Code:


Element Virgin 10K UOA (zero values not listed)



Iron- 1 19

Aluminum- 2 2

Copper- 0 3

Silicon- 0 8

Sodium- 2 1

Potassium- 4 1

Moly- 0 10

Boron- 2 2

Magnesium- 8 73

Calcium- 2642 1829

Phosphorus- 1174 861

Zinc- 1307 985

Viscosity- 11.7 10.7

TAN- NA 2.68

TBN- 7.7 3.72

Oxidation- 9 14

Nitration- 4 11




I would have few complaints about this UOA other than the discrepancy in the specs. Iron is down from 2.5ppm/1k to 1.9ppm/1k. Silicon is up a bit from the last 10K run but still reasonable. TBN is till well up there vs virginand TAN is low, as are oxidation and nitration. Apologies on the formatting. Don't know why it didn't hold from the word doc to the code box. Don't have time to mess with it... it's readable.

For comparison, below is the last set of tests on RP 5W20, that last a 10K run.

Code:


Royal Purple 5W20 SL

Elementals in PPM, 0 values not listed

All Oil Same Batch (2009 vintage)

Oil Capacity- 7 Qts



Test 1 Test 2 Test 3



Test Virgin Used Used

Lab WearCheck WearCheck ANA Labs

Test Date 6/5/09 6/5/09 4/9/11

Vehicle Miles @ Sample NA 18,966 29,290

Oil Miles NA 7,463 10,324

Time in Service. NA 14.5 mo. 22 mo.

Oil Added, Quarts NA 0 1 (@28,520 mi)

Oil Filter NA MC FL820S RP 20-820

Viscosity @ 100C 9.31cSt 8.9cSt 8.93cSt

TBN 13.6 10.0 8.20

MO 170 118 91

MG 1252 1164 915

CA 2524 2280 1708

P 872 825 457

ZN 862 908 1047

P 8.55.1 4

Water
Fuel NA
Copper 0.01 4.4 6

Aluminum 1.3 5.3 5

Nickel 0.5 0.5 1

Iron 3.7 28 25

Lead 1.4 0 0

Sodium 7.1 15 12

Silicon 0 19 2

VI 168 - -

Oxidation NA 27 -

Nitration NA 16 -

Sulfation NA 23 -

 

[Donald]

Is this UOA a change in oil (brand, type) from previous one. If so I would not worry too much. The next UOA will be a better sample.

 

[JOD]

I'm not sure I'm understanding the issue? Wouldn't MG on moly just be left over from the previous RP?

 

[dnewton3]

I don't really see what is "morphing" here, Jim. I'm confused as to what your concern is about.

I see that as the oils are used, they shift.

Small variation in numbers is "normal" up and down a bit (ie - my article). The general progression (too little data to be called statistical trends) seems expected to me.

Additionally, the shift in sump volume (top off and added volume) are going to affect things, as is the bypass filtration.

I guess I'm lost as to your concern? Are you just trying to make sense of the minutia? Don't know that you can at this point. Your outputs (metals) seem OK and expected.

 

[Jim Allen]

Concern? You guys have assumed incorrectly that because I posted this UOA I must must be "concerned." I see this as more than a little anomalous but that's it. As I said, the numbers look very good overall. The discrepancy between virgin and used is a lot more than I would have expected and Polaris also made note of it. Perhaps I was too clever with my subject title. Watching too many Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes videos, I guess (the best Holmes of all time!)

 

[INDYMAC]

I think I have similar concerns if you are talking about the accuracy of Polaris Labs as it relates to additive levels. My virgin and used samples from same batch don't add up. When my 10 pack is gone, I'll probably try someone else. They sent me a survey yesterday via email. I wasn't sure what to do at first, but today I hammered them.

It also took a week to straighten out adminstrative issues with my reports (5 reports).

 

[fdcg27]

If you want meaningful UOA data, you'll only get it after a few runs of any given oil, to clean out the leftovers.
I understand that you already know this.
This is why I only UOA the third run of any given oil.
It reduces the noise to about zero.

 

[dnewton3]

Originally Posted By: Jim Allen
Concern? You guys have assumed incorrectly that because I posted this UOA I must must be "concerned." I see this as more than a little anomalous but that's it. As I said, the numbers look very good overall. The discrepancy between virgin and used is a lot more than I would have expected and Polaris also made note of it. Perhaps I was too clever with my subject title. Watching too many Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes videos, I guess (the best Holmes of all time!)



OK - I get it. I think I read too much into your intent from the title and post. Sorry about that.