Valv DuraBlend 10W30, 4,938 miles, 03 Infiniti G35

[chinee]

Here we go... not bad results in my opinion. Reduced relative wear for both Iron and Lead, with a very slight uptick in Copper. Silicon level stays in the midteens, but I suspect it may be coming from the dipstick when I check the oil. Infiniti's dipstick has a guide that collects dirt and is almost impossible to keep clean.

Comments and discussions are always welcome.

I posted Blackstone's UOA, then a spreadsheet of analyses from over the past four years...

 

[Last_Z]

It seems this Durablend gave you best overall wear over all the oils you've used. I would continue to run it for 5k miles and be happy about it!

 

[ThirdeYe]

Looks perfect to me, I agree with Last_Z.

 

[dkryan]

chinee,

I've found that Mobil 1 is not a friend to the VQ30/35 series, with higher lead levels than I'd like in my '01 I30.

I'm running Maxlife full syn 5w30 and I'm clearly going to perform a UOA in hopes of downward wear trends.

Nice spreadsheet! How'd you paste that into the post?

 

[Triple_Se7en]

Looks good. I think he best UOA was the Pennzoil synthetic. That sodium level with the Pennzoil was leftovers from the Mobil.

 

[ncelk]

I read your report with interest.

I also have a VQ, in an 07 Maxima, and have been running Havoline. I run synthetic in everything else, but am hesistant to use it in a VQ engine. I have heard of too many problems with spiked lead levels with the Mobil1/VQ combo. I do not know how other synthetics fare with this engine (more reading to do).

 

[VeeDubb]

Quote:

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Looks good. I think he best UOA was the Pennzoil synthetic. That sodium level with the Pennzoil was leftovers from the Mobil.

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Why do you say the best UOA is Pennzoil? All wear numbers are higher and TBN is higher. Even if you account for the slightly longer OCI, is it enough to offset? What am I missing?

 

[Bror Jace]

VeeDubb, I think Triple Se7en is thinking that the slightly higher numbers are due to the remnants of the previous interval. There's some merit to this.

I'd probably use Pennzoil or Havoline in this motor. Valvoline sure seemed to do OK and no problems sticking with it ... but it's very 'vanilla' additive pack just doesn't sit really well with me so I'd be interested in giving a really good shot at other brands first.

Maybe this motor isn't terribly moly friendly and a 'vanilla' add pack is best here?

 

[Triple_Se7en]

Oops..... typo there.

Meant to type Pennzoil dino.

 

[unDummy]

This stuff is working for you. Stick with it.
Maxlife and Synpower would be easy choices too.

There is more to 'vanilla' then what we can see. The engine must like the 'taste' of vanilla here. Makes me wonder what Valvoline is using that we can't see?

 

[VeeDubb]

Also, even if we look at the second OCI of the pennz dino, I don't see how it outperformed durablend. Comparable wear with lower miles, lower tbn, lower flashpoint, higher solubles.....what am I missing?

 

[chinee]

I currently have another fill of Durablend in there and will stick with a 4,500 mile OCI. The DuraBlend is affordable at WalMart and I've since reduced my commute to about 1,000 miles per month.

I'm thinking of running another fill of M1 just for the sake of curiousity. Maybe the Iron and Lead wear will be reduced... maybe not; the last time M1 touched this engine was 40K miles ago.

 

[Last_Z]

If it was "me", I would not run M1 anymore. If you are curious, then try other stuff like Pennz Plat or Motorcraft Blend or something else. M1 seems to consistently show higher wear....it's getting harder and harder for me to swallow the "cleaning effect" deal.
Don't mess with success....just my opinion though!

 

[JAG]

Quote:

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I currently have another fill of Durablend in there and will stick with a 4,500 mile OCI.

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That will work well based on this UOA.

 

[Triple_Se7en]

Quote:

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Also, even if we look at the second OCI of the pennz dino, I don't see how it outperformed durablend. Comparable wear with lower miles, lower tbn, lower flashpoint, higher solubles.....what am I missing?

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Overall lower wear metals and about $5 back in your wallet - since the dino costs less than a syn-blend. A 390 flashpoint is plenty-good & the Penn TBN was not exhausted.

I'm talking about using it for this mileage -- not extending it further. The extra number on the Valvoline TBN means nothing - unless you want to extend the OCI further.

But at this mileage, I would buy the Pennzoil for this vehicle & save money.

 

[Camu Mahubah]

Looks to me you have found an oil the VQ likes...I see you like to experiment though...thanks for the details...you have done many a great service with your UOA's...Synthetic UOA's lately have disappointed me...Just today I was thinking maybe Syn-blends are the way to go...best of both world's????...Then I see your UOA of Durablend...and if I had this motor...I would definitley use Durablend...The reason your UOA's are so interesting to me is I get a discount on Nissan products...I am maybe considering the Frontier with a version of this engine...I have watched your UOA's and until today if I had this motor I would have ran yellow bottle Pennzoil...now I see another good choice in Durablend...Keep up the detailed work!