Trop Artic 5W-30, 5KOCI, 2006 Expeditition, 125K

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Open to comment, most of the numbers are still greek to me as to interpretation.

The Miles on this OCI were predominately high speed interstate driving. Made about 3 or 4 (lost count) 1,000 mile interstate trips on this OCI. Really, not the most representative sample.

one note, I've switched from 5w20 to 5w30 and my oil consumption was cut in half. with 5w20 I consistently have to add 1qt/2,000 miles. with the 5w30, I was adding less than 1qt/4,000 miles.

it appears that the 5w30 is fine in this motor, despite 5w20 being the spec. but as I said, I'm open to comment if someone sees it differently.

it appears that, for my use, 5-6k oci is fairly conservative. a Motorcraft filter was used for both OCI's.

Giving the code thing a try here:
Code:


OIL Trop 5w30 NAPA 5w20

Artic Synthetic

SynBlend



MILES IN USE 4,989 6,447

MILES 125,086 114,429

SAMPLE TAKEN 10/23/14 06/01/14





Metals (ppm)

IRON 10 45

CHROMIUM
LEAD
COPPER 1 2

TIN
ALUMINUM 4 22

NICKEL
SILVER
TITANIUM
VANADIUM



Contaminants (ppm)

SILICON 8 10

SODIUM 17 278

POTASSIUM


Additives (ppm)

MAGNESIUM 14 118

CALCIUM 2044 1792

BARIUM
PHOSPHORUS 690 627

ZINC 761 730

MOLYBDENUM 15 6

BORON 70 9



Contaminants

WATER
Coolant No No



Physical Tests

Visc (cSt 100C) 8.9 9.0



TBN (mgKOH/g) 2.6 2.5
 
Not stated above, the napa synthetic got me through the coldest winter I can remember. many unaided cold starts at -20°F and lots of idle time to warm up before heading off to work and back. Also had a 1,000 mile trip towing a trailer on that OCI.

The trop artic was all summer use, no idle time, and long interstate trips.

the use of the vehicle was vastly different between the two OCI's.
 
Trop did really well, even considering the different weather and operating conditions.
Be interesting to see another UOA on Trop over a winter OCI.
 
Originally Posted By: meborder
Not stated above, the napa synthetic got me through the coldest winter I can remember. many unaided cold starts at -20°F and lots of idle time to warm up before heading off to work and back. Also had a 1,000 mile trip towing a trailer on that OCI.

The trop artic was all summer use, no idle time, and long interstate trips.

the use of the vehicle was vastly different between the two OCI's.


You can sure see the difference between the two vastly different uses.

I can only say I'm a little surprised that the TBN is that low, given it's usage. It would probably be good for another few thousand miles in continued highway/warm weather use, but warm weather is gone for the next six months.

Looks great regardless!
 
Originally Posted By: meborder
did the trop artic shear slightly out of spec for a 30wt?

I can't find the new table that includes the spec for the 16wt.



Yeah a little but it seems most oils do. They shear down a good bit and then if left in long enough, they thicken back into grade from oxidation.

I don't remember the new tables myself.
 
@ meborder - I think the minimum viscosity for 30 grades is still 9.3

I believe it was the 20 grade that changed with the addition of 16 grade. I thought more about it while driving and that's all I could recall. I think shannow has mentioned 20 grades are now minimum 6.9 (?)

I also think SAE J300 is what you would use in a search. Someone please straighten me out if I'm wrong.
 
thanks dusty! i'll check that out here tonight. same as you, i was thinking about it more on the way home, and if memory serves the new spec tightened up the 20 spec to be more in line with the 30 and 40wt specs as far as bandwidth.

another question for the group.

given the above information, would you say this motor is:
A- relatively healthy
B- ailing in some way
C- borderline between the two

i have little to no frame of reference other than the UOA on our subaru which showed much less metals.
 
Excellent UOA. I have a bunch of Trop Artic and ran it last winter, very satisfied. A little more shear than I'd like to see in a 5w30 but for a budget oil thats a fairly long run too.

Nice report! Thanks for posting.
 
The engine looks fine for 50,000 miles. Since you have better than twice that many miles on it you should be very happy.
 
thanks for the vote of confidence. i bought it last december from a local used lot and don't really know anything about its past. I had to spend some money on it up front, but nothing since summer began. So the last 15k have been trouble free, so to say.

One other question, is it safe to assume that this motor is happy with the 5w30?

I was thinking that this UOA was a waste of money because of how quickly i put the miles on, but then i remembered that is why i wanted to do it. the 5w30 really made a difference in timing chain noise and oil consumption, so i'd like stay with it.
 
Originally Posted By: meborder
100% positive.

i did notice the discrepancy, though.

but i am very sure of what went in that OCI.


That would indicate some significant thickening. Not good for that oil. good thing you switched.
 
curious, to me, as i am still learning....

if an increase in viscosity would be an indication of oxidation, wouldn't the TBN be "low"

i realize there is some debate over TBN, and how low is too low. but going with Blackstone's theory that 1.0 is low, there should still be some reserve in this oil to resist oxidation, right?

or maybe i got the relationship between oxidation and TBN wrong?

this also assumes that it was actually 5w20 that was in the bottle, but i know for sure that the bottles said 5w20.
 
To answer your question from a few posts back...by all means you can run 5w30 as you just did. If it's consuming less, that's great. If it's quieter that's a bonus.

The oxidation in your previous oil (napa) is normal and has to do with the base oil. The more time it's exposed to heat and oxygen the more it will thicken. Some oils do better than others but I ran QSUD 5w20 last year for 9 months and 6,700 miles. At 3k miles it had sheared down to 8.1 cSt and by the time I drained it, it had thickened to 8.9 cSt.

The tbn relates to acid neutralization by way of the additives. Blackstone says you're good down to 1.0 but other labs will flag tbn at much higher numbers.

Sorry if I'm not coherent...I'm falling asleep now.
sleep.gif
 
many on this site think you judge an oil condition by TBN/TAN. Really, oxidation, nitration, sulfation, viscosity and flash point should be the areas of focus. TBN/TAN is good info but not the most important.
 
With your cold temps in the winter and a 30 wt slowing consumption, I think I would try a 0w30 to leave year round. If a UOA or two comes back ok, then just leaving it.
 
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