Valvoline EP 0w-20 - 5.5k miles 2016 Honda Accord K24W 28k Miles

[cutlassvillager]

This is the 2nd UOA for my 2016 Accord. The first (using Valvoline Modern Engine 0w-20) is posted here.

As the title states, this was running Valvoline Extended Protection 0w-20 with a Honda A02 filter. 5,586 miles / 10 Months on this combo. The Maintenance Minder was at 40%

My driving habits with this vehicle have been mostly the same as before. I put about 1,600 miles on it over two weeks and a couple 3hr long trips to / from Chicago, but otherwise 80% city driving. I switched to running 89/93 octane a bit more often per the recommendations of a couple others on this forum.

I refilled with more Valvoline 0w-20 EP and another Honda filter.

I also took a UOA for the transmission.

 

[Titan]

Why would you run a higher Octane-rated gas than 87? "Octane rating" is not a measure of Quality, it's ONLY a measure of resistance to ignition prior to the spark plug firing.

 

[Chris142]

Why would you run a higher Octane-rated gas than 87? "Octane rating" is not a measure of Quality, it's ONLY a measure of resistance to ignition prior to the spark plug firing.

Many people still do not understand that. My father ran premium in everything. None of his cars were even close to being performance cars.

 

[FZ1]

This is the 2nd UOA for my 2016 Accord. The first (using Valvoline Modern Engine 0w-20) is posted here.

As the title states, this was running Valvoline Extended Protection 0w-20 with a Honda A02 filter. 5,586 miles / 10 Months on this combo. The Maintenance Minder was at 40%

My driving habits with this vehicle have been mostly the same as before. I put about 1,600 miles on it over two weeks and a couple 3hr long trips to / from Chicago, but otherwise 80% city driving. I switched to running 89/93 octane a bit more often per the recommendations of a couple others on this forum.

I refilled with more Valvoline 0w-20 EP and another Honda filter.

View attachment 120362
I also took a UOA for the transmission.

Looks good. I'd stay at 5500-6000 oci.

 

[cutlassvillager]

Why would you run a higher Octane-rated gas than 87? "Octane rating" is not a measure of Quality, it's ONLY a measure of resistance to ignition prior to the spark plug firing.

It was discussed in the thread for my other UOA so I figured I'd give it a try. The vehicle this replaced "recommend" 91+ so continuing to fuel up with higher octane didn't hurt all that bad. The fuel % did go down in this UOA, but since that's likely a coincidence, I'll stick with 87.

 

[CharBaby]

Yes stick w/87 octane.

 

[The Critic]

TBN of 1.5 seems awfully low for only 5500 miles.

@Al - this might be an example of where a TBN test was beneficial.

 

[cutlassvillager]

TBN of 1.5 seems awfully low for only 5500 miles.

@Al - this might be an example of where a TBN test was beneficial.

I was surprised by this as well. It's concerning to think what the TBN would've been if I actually followed the Maintenance Minder. I would probably be looking elsewhere if I racked up more miles and was looking for a longer drain interval. I've been sticking with Valvoline EP because it's easily available and I like the high moly.

 

[buster]

Valvoline TBN retention has never been that great from what I can remember. I know its b/s labs and TBN is often misunderstood, but I'd expect a bit better TBN from this oil.

 

[himemsys]

Why would you run a higher Octane-rated gas than 87? "Octane rating" is not a measure of Quality, it's ONLY a measure of resistance to ignition prior to the spark plug firing.

I remember hearing that in a fuel diluting vehicle, higher octane gas would burn more efficiently and thus less would end up in the oil.

 

[buster]

24x less TBN retention.

 

[tyman]

TBN of 1.5 seems awfully low for only 5500 miles.

@Al - this might be an example of where a TBN test was beneficial.

It's definitely not an extended interval oil. Most reports around 5-7k show the TBN to be basically done. Similar to RGT.

 

[Titan]

I remember hearing that in a fuel diluting vehicle, higher octane gas would burn more efficiently and thus less would end up in the oil.

No. Higher Octane does NOT burn more efficiently. Higher Octane ONLY means the fuel has more resistance to ignition prior to the spark plug firing. That is ALL it means.

Higher Octane doesn't have more BTU's per unit volume, nor does it necessarily burn cleaner (depending upon what is used to boost the Octane, a higher Octane fuel may burn less efficiently), nor anything else other than resistance to premature ignition. This will help and is easy to look up to check the facts: Ethanol has a higher Octane rating that gasoline. Ethanol is used to boost Octane rating. Ethanol has less energy per unit volume. Despite all those attributes, ethanol is not "better than" gasoline.

 

[OVERKILL]

I remember hearing that in a fuel diluting vehicle, higher octane gas would burn more efficiently and thus less would end up in the oil.

No, it had nothing to do with burning efficiently and everything to do with using enrichment for knock mitigation. DI engines run very high compression ratios and one of the ways that knock is controlled, beyond ignition timing, is through enrichment. Higher octane can reduce this requirement, subsequently leaning out the mixture somewhat, resulting in less dilution.

 

[himemsys]

No, it had nothing to do with burning efficiently and everything to do with using enrichment for knock mitigation. DI engines run very high compression ratios and one of the ways that knock is controlled, beyond ignition timing, is through enrichment. Higher octane can reduce this requirement, subsequently leaning out the mixture somewhat, resulting in less dilution.

It sounds like you're saying that running higher octane fuel in a DI fuel diluter CAN reduce fuel dilution. That was the point I was trying to make, though with the wrong information.

 

[himemsys]

No. Higher Octane does NOT burn more efficiently. Higher Octane ONLY means the fuel has more resistance to ignition prior to the spark plug firing. That is ALL it means.

Higher Octane doesn't have more BTU's per unit volume, nor does it necessarily burn cleaner (depending upon what is used to boost the Octane, a higher Octane fuel may burn less efficiently), nor anything else other than resistance to premature ignition. This will help and is easy to look up to check the facts: Ethanol has a higher Octane rating that gasoline. Ethanol is used to boost Octane rating. Ethanol has less energy per unit volume. Despite all those attributes, ethanol is not "better than" gasoline.

See my reply to OVERKILL. I remembered there being a reason that higher octane fuel in a DI fuel diluter could help reduce fuel % in oil. I got the details wrong, but the concept is what I was going for.

 

[OVERKILL]

It sounds like you're saying that running higher octane fuel in a DI fuel diluter CAN reduce fuel dilution. That was the point I was trying to make, though with the wrong information.

That's correct, it's due to how knock mitigation functions though, so file that in your memory bank

 

[Titan]

See my reply to OVERKILL. I remembered there being a reason that higher octane fuel in a DI fuel diluter could help reduce fuel % in oil. I got the details wrong, but the concept is what I was going for.

Yep. That "enrichment" to prevent knock only works if there is knock. So, if your engine doesn't require a higher Octane-rated fuel to not knock, using a higher Octane-rated fuel isn't going to decrease dilution. By the way, "enrichment" works by cooling the combustion chamber compared to running leaner. A cooler chamber is less likely to have premature ignition events...easy to remember. B-)

 

[himemsys]

That's correct, it's due to how knock mitigation functions though, so file that in your memory bank

It seems to have made some difference for the OP as his flashpoint is much higher on the current UOA than the previous one. So there appears to be some benefit to running higher octane in this situation.

 

[doublebase]

I don’t think I’ve seen a TBN that low in any 5,000 mile UOA. Wow.