Amsoil SSO 0W-30, 1993 Civic, 3,007 miles

Holy Bone Builder Bat Man!!! Look at that Calcium--------3893!! I guess they need something to make up for all the stuff that is missing!!!LOL Seriously though I cannot wait to see how it goes once the fuel and coolant issues are repaired!
 
Originally Posted By: buster
harry some oils take time to fully lay down their protective layer. If you are draining oils every 3k and switching brands all the time, that could be one possible reason. I've tried more oils than most people I know and I've never had any difference with engine noise using Mobil 1. However it is possible I guess that some oils will be more quiet than others but generally speaking it's psychological.


True buster, I think it took about 4 changes to get to where I am now. I have stuck to the TSO since 118,000 miles and went to the SSO when it came out. So now with 245,000 miles, I guess you can see why my impressions of the Amsoil is so definite.
The noise with M1 was definate, but then it could have been the M1 filter causing it, I will never know for sure.
 
I think the M1 is usually "thin" within it's range. Try some 40 weight and your engine will really be smooth! Lol.
 
Originally Posted By: JohnBrowning
Holy Bone Builder Bat Man!!! Look at that Calcium--------3893!! I guess they need something to make up for all the stuff that is missing!!!LOL Seriously though I cannot wait to see how it goes once the fuel and coolant issues are repaired!


Yeah, the calcium was very high. Look at the TBN, it went from a claimed 13.2 down to 6.4 in only 3,007 miles. Probably due to the contaminent levels. I will have another UOA due in about two weeks, I am getting a little impatient now to see if the new fuel pressure regulator quells the gas in the oil issue.
If it does, I guess I will have to resort to ARX to keep my engine clean in the future.
 
Harry,

FYI, Royal Purple and Mobil One were the worst oils I experienced in my car (06 Civic SI, 2.0 liter engine). I understand what Buster is saying, but it's hard to say it's psychological or that the oil "needs to lay down it's protective barrier" as the cause for our observations, when an oil switch resulted in almost immediate tangible differences in operating character. My engine sounded harsh with Royal Purple, it didn't rev-happy with M1. The engine worked great with Pennzoil Platinum, even Supertech 5w30, and now AMSOIL Series 2000 and SSO. Sure, you can say it's psychological, but I didn't use those oils back to back and both exhibited easy-to-discern engine differences.

On the same note, I always ran 5w30 in my wife's Saturn Ion. In it's last oil change, I switched to Rotella 5w40. It became the smoothest the engine has ever run, bar none (not a smooth engine, so lots of room for improvement).

Joe
 
Originally Posted By: JoeFromPA
Harry,

FYI, Royal Purple and Mobil One were the worst oils I experienced in my car (06 Civic SI, 2.0 liter engine). I understand what Buster is saying, but it's hard to say it's psychological or that the oil "needs to lay down it's protective barrier" as the cause for our observations, when an oil switch resulted in almost immediate tangible differences in operating character. My engine sounded harsh with Royal Purple, it didn't rev-happy with M1. The engine worked great with Pennzoil Platinum, even Supertech 5w30, and now AMSOIL Series 2000 and SSO. Sure, you can say it's psychological, but I didn't use those oils back to back and both exhibited easy-to-discern engine differences.

On the same note, I always ran 5w30 in my wife's Saturn Ion. In it's last oil change, I switched to Rotella 5w40. It became the smoothest the engine has ever run, bar none (not a smooth engine, so lots of room for improvement).

Joe



I'm with you on that Joe. The Civic engine exhibited harsh characteristics under the influence of M1 and RP. There was nothing psychological about it. I am in intimate tune with my engine sounds and performance. The SSO makes the 1.5 run "turbine like".
 
You are just "feeling" the greater density of these various oils. Thicker "feels" smoother.
 
Originally Posted By: FZ1
You are just "feeling" the greater density of these various oils. Thicker "feels" smoother.



Sounds reasonable FZ1, whatever the reason, I like it!
 
I noticed when I went from M1 and tried M1 EP that it "felt" better in my car. I checked out the density and found EP was more dense. Further,I found that PP was about the same density as EP. .02
 
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Just to follow up on the gas in the oil issue. I replaced the fuel pressure regulator just before the last OC. According to the latest UOA, there is no detectable gas in the oil. Previously, when changing the oil, it smelled like gas. This go 'round, there was no gasoline smell.
 
Density definitely plays a role I would think. EP oils are all around .85. Same with PP/RL etc.

harry, so far so good with SSO. I want to say the engine does seem more smooth at high rpms but I can't confirm it. It's really tough to tell in this engine because it's smooth regardless of oil choice in my experience.

I've been driving a lot slower to save gas so I'm curious to see how this impacts oil consumption.
 
What speed do you normally drive at? My wife drives a 1996 Accord, and of course it uses SSO. On a recent trip, doing between 65 and 70 MPH, the Accord averaged over 35 MPG.
 
BTW, I noticed that the ISO oil cleanliness code dropped from 17/17/14 to 15/15/12 using a fresh EAO with the SSO. I wonder if it's because I leave the "dirty" oil in the filter when not changing the EAO.
 
I have been reading a lot of UOA's. I notice that TBN is often included but not the ISO oil cleanliness code. Is it because of cost?
 
As a follow up, the latest UOA shows that the gas intrusion problem has been solved. TBN that had previously been negatively impacted by this issue, now remains at a high level. I recommend that anyone with a Civic that is experiencing gas in their oil, change out the fuel pressure regulator.
 
Good to see you got that taken care of harry j! Now you can start down the path of the extended drain
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. SSO is a rock solid product and I can't wait to see how it does at the 15k mile mark.
 
Thank you pickled, I am on the road to increased OCIs. I will likely stretch the next interval out to 4,000 miles and then do a UOA. If I like the way it looks, 5,000 is not out of the question.
 
BTW, I have decided, based on 6 UOAs, to change the EAO every oil change. The ISO oil cleanliness code jumped 2 or 3 numbers when I left the used filter in place, for example 17/17/14 vs 15/15/12 with a clean one.
 
Did you ever get the antifreeze leak fixed? If the leak was so minor that you never notice the level go down then the coolant tabs or a big bottle of liquid barsleak should have taken care of it. I have seen that stuff eliminate some serious leaks before.
 
Originally Posted By: harry j
BTW, I have decided, based on 6 UOAs, to change the EAO every oil change. The ISO oil cleanliness code jumped 2 or 3 numbers when I left the used filter in place, for example 17/17/14 vs 15/15/12 with a clean one.

Have all 6 UOAs been done at about 3k and are you going to share the results? It would be interesting to see the trending even though your engine has had some fuel/coolant issues.
 
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