Originally Posted By: Donald
Sorry but I do not think any of the members are really qualified to get down to the individual additive basis. Unless they are petroleum engineers and or have a test lab where they can run a new engine, tear it down, examine the wear and move on to the next test. Most of the information on this forum is from experience not testing and is therefor subjective.
I see where you're coming from, and at the end of the day, I reckon how much of each element you can have in the oil is already regulated by whatever standard the oil is required to meet.
For educational purpose, I've been trying to make a list of each element's basic purpose:
Boron: anti-friction
Calcium: detergent/dispersant
Magnesium: detergent/dispersant
Molybdenum: anti-friction
Phosphorus: anti-wear
Zinc: anti-wear
...and after doing quite a bit of reading in the OA section, it seems certain elements (like calcium and zinc) in higher doses are favored. It does get rather complicated where certain elements are not exactly emissions system friendly, and too much can certainly be a bad thing.
Really, the two main elements I was looking at here were calcium and magnesium. The first oil is PAO-based Liqui-Moly Synthoil High Tech 5W-40, and the second is Pennzoil Ultra Euro 5W-40. Both are described as having excellent cleaning and deposit prevention abilities, yet when you look at the analysis, they are pretty much on par. One has more calcium whilst the other has more magnesium, albeit in minute amounts. Does the slightly higher amount of magnesium and less amount of calcium work better at cleaning? Does the better solubility of a Group III basestock really make it that much better than Group IV?
At the end of the day, picking a good brand name at a good price works for the majority. But I guess curiosity gets to me, and I have a habit of over thinking the basics.
Originally Posted By: scurvy
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Based on the above, I would expect both to perform similarly, so I would choose based on price and availability.
Agreed. The VOAs are within measurement noise of each other. I would also pick on whichever brand you 'like' better, price or availability.
I'm running the Liqui-Moly in the Ford 4.6, and Pennzoil in the Mitsubishi 3.0. I use Liqui-Moly Pro-Line Engine Flush in both before each oil change, although there appears to be a bit of varnish on the cylinder heads in the 4.6 and on the camshafts on the 3.0. It's not heavy varnish and the levels are pretty much exactly the same. Just want to see if the PU will remove that on the 3.0 and then try it out on the 4.6. Price wise:
Synthoil High Tech: $8.52/liter
Pennzoil Ultra Euro: $13.49/quart
Originally Posted By: beanoil
I'd go with oil #1. Even though it's in the range of noise, there is no sense in having a higher level of silicon to start with that can add questions in a used oil analysis.
Thanks for your input!
I didn't really look much into silicon, but now that you mention it, I've taken note!
Originally Posted By: ltslimjim
So, I think I know oil 1. lol
Did it turn out to be what you thought it was?
Thanks!
