This is the second UOA I've had done for my 2008 Nissan Altima Coupe 2.5 S. (The first one can be found here .) It has the 4-cylinder QR25DE engine and a CVT transmission. This car is my daily driver, driven about 70% highway and 30% city.
Some history… The factory fill came out at 4K miles. It was followed by two 6K mile intervals using Valvoline SynPower 5W-30 and then two 6K mile intervals using Castrol Edge 5W-30. (That was Edge when it was simply known as “Edge”, before Castrol changed their lineup to Edge w/ Syntec and Edge w/ Titanium.) The UOA done (on Edge) at 28K looked good so I decided to try 7,500 miles. This sample of Pennzoil Ultra 5W-30 was the second consecutive fill of Ultra run for that interval. There shouldn't be any mixing or cross-contamination issues affecting the results.
RE: their comments about the sample, I'd let them know that I messed up a bit while taking the sample. I only filled the container about one-third of the way when it was streaming out of the vehicle’s oil pan. I then saw the sampling procedure page on their web site and realized that I needed to fill the container. So using a clean, disposable paper cup I scooped the rest from the drain pan.
RE: their comment about the K&N filter, I'd mentioned to them that I installed a K&N filter immediately upon getting the vehicle home from the dealer, when only 56 miles were on the odometer. I haven’t cleaned/re-oiled it yet. I’ll probably do that at 50K miles. Since a lot of folks on here talk bad about K&N air filters and how UOAs often show high silicon particle counts and other signs of poor filtration, I asked them if there were any signs of less than great air filtration.
Some observations...
Upon draining the fill of Ultra from which this sample was taken, Green Earth Technologies G-OIL 5W-30 went in. Given that it is a relatively new and unproven oil (i.e. there are only a couple UOAs posted on here thus far), I am hesitant to let it go 7,500 miles, even though it is a Group IV synthetic. I might go back to 6K mile intervals, sample after the second, and then consider extending my interval from there, informed by the UOA. Do you guys have any thoughts on that? Am I being too conservative?
Some history… The factory fill came out at 4K miles. It was followed by two 6K mile intervals using Valvoline SynPower 5W-30 and then two 6K mile intervals using Castrol Edge 5W-30. (That was Edge when it was simply known as “Edge”, before Castrol changed their lineup to Edge w/ Syntec and Edge w/ Titanium.) The UOA done (on Edge) at 28K looked good so I decided to try 7,500 miles. This sample of Pennzoil Ultra 5W-30 was the second consecutive fill of Ultra run for that interval. There shouldn't be any mixing or cross-contamination issues affecting the results.
RE: their comments about the sample, I'd let them know that I messed up a bit while taking the sample. I only filled the container about one-third of the way when it was streaming out of the vehicle’s oil pan. I then saw the sampling procedure page on their web site and realized that I needed to fill the container. So using a clean, disposable paper cup I scooped the rest from the drain pan.
RE: their comment about the K&N filter, I'd mentioned to them that I installed a K&N filter immediately upon getting the vehicle home from the dealer, when only 56 miles were on the odometer. I haven’t cleaned/re-oiled it yet. I’ll probably do that at 50K miles. Since a lot of folks on here talk bad about K&N air filters and how UOAs often show high silicon particle counts and other signs of poor filtration, I asked them if there were any signs of less than great air filtration.
Some observations...
- I wonder why Boron is so high in this sample. It's much higher than both my previous sample and the universal average.
- I wonder why Magnesium, in both samples, is so much lower than the universal average.
- Ultra didn't seem to shear as much as Edge.
- I used the same kind of oil filter in both samples; a DENSO 150-1010. I wonder if the increase in insolubles is from the longer OCI or if dust that was likely in the oil pan caused the slight increase.
Upon draining the fill of Ultra from which this sample was taken, Green Earth Technologies G-OIL 5W-30 went in. Given that it is a relatively new and unproven oil (i.e. there are only a couple UOAs posted on here thus far), I am hesitant to let it go 7,500 miles, even though it is a Group IV synthetic. I might go back to 6K mile intervals, sample after the second, and then consider extending my interval from there, informed by the UOA. Do you guys have any thoughts on that? Am I being too conservative?