Valvoline 4-year 500k conventional vs synthetic engine tear down

[SC Maintenance]

It's indicative to me that 10k oci is stretching it on these engines, Most use cases will be more severe, with multiple cold start, oil levels not monitored as closely etc, a good amount of idling thrown in aswell.

though at 500k, that engine owns you nothing so there's that.

I agree on the OCI.

However 4 years on a dyno is nothing at all like 500K miles in the real world. Not in the same ballpark or even playing the same game. I would have expected them to have much less varnish even at longer OCI.

 

[demarpaint]

I agree on the OCI.

However 4 years on a dyno is nothing at all like 500K miles in the real world. Not in the same ballpark or even playing the same game. I would have expected them to have much less varnish even at longer OCI.

I agree. While 500K miles is a long way I'm not impressed with the outcome in such a controlled test environment.

 

[Ayrton]

I wonder why they only used Valvoline Advanced? Did Extended Protection not exist 4+ years ago?

I think the results are ok, but if I was making a video about it, I might want it to look better.

 

[buster]

^good question. Exactly. This video actually gave me a solid reason to not use either one of those oils.

 

[I<3oil]

I wonder why they only used Valvoline Advanced? Did Extended Protection not exist 4+ years ago?

I think the results are ok, but if I was making a video about it, I might want it to look better.

No, it did not.

 

[demarpaint]

I think the results are ok, but if I was making a video about it, I might want it to look better.

I'd want it to look better too, which brings up some thoughts. I always wondered how honest these companies are when they post pictures or videos. It's real easy imo to post stellar results. Maybe they were on the up and up and those were great results.

 

[I<3oil]

I agree on the OCI.

However 4 years on a dyno is nothing at all like 500K miles in the real world. Not in the same ballpark or even playing the same game. I would have expected them to have much less varnish even at longer OCI.

Whilst I doubt they added in redlining the engine every so often, they did talk about how they did vary RPMs and also simulated stop and go traffic, so for the *average* driver, going on 10k OCIs, it is a fairly representable simulation.

 

[SC Maintenance]

Whilst I doubt they added in redlining the engine every so often, they did talk about how they did vary RPMs and also simulated stop and go traffic, so for the *average* driver, going on 10k OCIs, it is a fairly representable simulation.

For them to get 500,000 miles in 4 years, or 125,000 miles in 1 year, they would need to average

a) If ran 24/7/365 would be 14mph

b) If ran 16 hours x 5 days a week would be 30mph for 16 hours a day

c) If ran 8 hours x 5 days a week would be 60 mph.

Given I doubt they paid someone to babysit these cars 24/7/365 I am guessing it was somewhere between the bottom 2. Meaning the vehicle was at operating temperature the vast majority of its life.

That is completely unlike someone that starts the car, drives for an hour, shuts the car off for 10 hours, repeat, even if they are varying the RPM on the dyno occasionally.

 

[I<3oil]

For them to get 500,000 miles in 4 years, or 125,000 miles in 1 year, they would need to average

a) If ran 24/7/365 would be 14mph

b) If ran 16 hours x 5 days a week would be 30mph for 16 hours a day

c) If ran 8 hours x 5 days a week would be 60 mph.

Given I doubt they paid someone to babysit these cars 24/7/365 I am guessing it was somewhere between the bottom 2. Meaning the vehicle was at operating temperature the vast majority of its life.

That is completely unlike someone that starts the car, drives for an hour, shuts the car off for 10 hours, repeat, even if they are varying the RPM on the dyno occasionally.

It states in the video that it was computer controlled. Most likely the only times it was shut down was for the maintenance issues and/or maybe putting gas in.

 

[SC Maintenance]

It states in the video that it was computer controlled. Most likely the only times it was shut down was for the maintenance issues and/or maybe putting gas in.

So if it was run almost fully for 4 years then it was at operating temperature its whole life. Should look even better.

I would love to see said test with different oils, as mentioned.

 

[kschachn]

So if it was run almost fully for 4 years then it was at operating temperature its whole life. Should look even better.

I would love to see said test with different oils, as mentioned.

In terms of comparing deposit formation then running at operating temperature is what you want.

 

[I<3oil]

So if it was run almost fully for 4 years then it was at operating temperature its whole life. Should look even better.

I would love to see said test with different oils, as mentioned.

The vast majority of the time, as far as we know, yes. Again, with the exceptions of it being off for maintenance. But we also don't know the sequencing of the testing. For all we know, the computer could have been programmed to shut it off every 8 hours, every 12 hours, etc.

 

[buster]

We have high standards on this site. This didn't meet BITOG cleanliness standards LOL.

Apples/oranges but look at some of the pics from the Amsoil tear down post or @wwillson HPL photos. Different operating conditions but longer OCI and much much cleaner internals.

 

[I<3oil]

We have high standards on this site. This didn't meet BITOG cleanliness standards LOL.

Apples/oranges but look at some of the pics from the Amsoil tear down post or @wwillson HPL photos. Different operating conditions but longer OCI and much much cleaner internals.

Also goes to show that HPL oils are designed more for extended intervals whereas VAFS isn't necessarily designed for long haul. Did they post any kind of UOA for the oils used in the test that we know of? It could be a situation where VAFS is done by 8k miles but if they were still using it for 10k intervals, of course you're going to see negative things happening, yanno? But again, the test was designed for newer 10k OCIs and the average user.

 

[buster]

Also goes to show that HPL oils are designed more for extended intervals whereas VAFS isn't necessarily designed for long haul. Did they post any kind of UOA for the oils used in the test that we know of? It could be a situation where VAFS is done by 8k miles but if they were still using it for 10k intervals, of course you're going to see negative things happening, yanno? But again, the test was designed for newer 10k OCIs and the average user.

Valvoline synthetics historically have not been good longer drain oils. I've seen some very low TBN numbers from Valvoline oils over the years. They're heavily in the quick lube market so....something to consider.

The only oil from them that is of interest to me is R&P. Rest of their line is meh.

But for shorter intervals, their oils are fine.

 

[Sandstorm]

I agree on the OCI.

However 4 years on a dyno is nothing at all like 500K miles in the real world. Not in the same ballpark or even playing the same game. I would have expected them to have much less varnish even at longer OCI.

That depends on the engine type. These are Ecoboosts...

 

[Jetronic]

For them to get 500,000 miles in 4 years, or 125,000 miles in 1 year, they would need to average

a) If ran 24/7/365 would be 14mph

b) If ran 16 hours x 5 days a week would be 30mph for 16 hours a day

c) If ran 8 hours x 5 days a week would be 60 mph.

Given I doubt they paid someone to babysit these cars 24/7/365 I am guessing it was somewhere between the bottom 2. Meaning the vehicle was at operating temperature the vast majority of its life.

That is completely unlike someone that starts the car, drives for an hour, shuts the car off for 10 hours, repeat, even if they are varying the RPM on the dyno occasionally.

They said they checked oil levels every 8 hours too, and oil levels get checked with the engine off and cold. I take that as checking the oil and topping off before each day of dyno runs.

 

[I<3oil]

Valvoline synthetics historically have not been good longer drain oils. I've seen some very low TBN numbers from Valvoline oils over the years. They're heavily in the quick lube market so....something to consider.

The only oil from them that is of interest to me is R&P. Rest of their line is meh.

But for shorter intervals, their oils are fine.

Correkt. Which is why taking them to 10k OCI doesn't make a whole lot of sense in general but also explains some of the internals. But also again, they're trying to simulate the average driver, so in that sense, it makes a lot of sense.

 

[Patman]

Valvoline synthetics historically have not been good longer drain oils. I've seen some very low TBN numbers from Valvoline oils over the years. They're heavily in the quick lube market so....something to consider.

The only oil from them that is of interest to me is R&P. Rest of their line is meh.

But for shorter intervals, their oils are fine.

This is what I struggle with in terms of my plans for the future with my Civic. I am going to run R&P for the next interval for sure since I already bought the oil, and most likely the following three after that just to make sure my engine gets nicely cleaned up. But after that I'm not so sure. I like to follow my oil life monitor, so that puts me at 9-10k intervals and I'm not so sure that R&P is good for that amount or not. So I might just go back to QSUP or maybe PUP or M1 EP. It will take me a couple of years to go through 4 oil changes though, so I'll have a lot of time to lose sleep over that final decision

 

[buster]

This is what I struggle with in terms of my plans for the future with my Civic. I am going to run R&P for the next interval for sure since I already bought the oil, and most likely the following three after that just to make sure my engine gets nicely cleaned up. But after that I'm not so sure. I like to follow my oil life monitor, so that puts me at 9-10k intervals and I'm not so sure that R&P is good for that amount or not. So I might just go back to QSUP or maybe PUP or M1 EP. It will take me a couple of years to go through 4 oil changes though, so I'll have a lot of time to lose sleep over that final decision

I hear you. It's too soon to tell whether R&P is a one trick pony or not. My thoughts so far are if it can truly clean pistons that well, then it's worthy of the hype. It sounds very promising.

On the other hand, you could use a top tier synthetic and go longer keeping deposits at bay for life of the engine.