Exxon Superflo 5W-30, 2600 mi, Pontiac Vibe (1ZZFE)

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Apr 29, 2003
Messages
51
Location
Midwest
This is my Vibe's most recent combined report of UOAs:

Miles on unit: 24,200/21,600/11,000
Miles on oil: 2,600/2,400/2,800
Oil brand: Exxon/Havoline/TropArtic (all 5W-30 GF-4)
Oil filter: QS4967/QS4967/Toyota OEM

Fe 7/4/9
Cr 1/1/2
Al 7/10/5
Cu 1/0/1
Si 7/20/13
Na 239/7/5
K 1/1/0
Mo 179/387/35
Bo 50/26/0
Mg 11/37/12
Ca 1595/1766/1794
P 704/706/687
Zn 840/847/801
all others
Oxidation 12/9/9
Nitration 16/14/15
Sulfation 18/15/15
Viscosity @100C 8.37/8.58/8.13

It seems that no matter what brand of oil I use, it ends up as a 5W-20 oil in less than 3,000 miles. I plan on using Exxon Superflo again in the future.
 
Decent report..but you could go longer. The viscosity will probably not get any lower than that and the wear will be fine. And even if it goes below 8.0 you will still be fine.
 
I was thinking the 1ZZ isn't so hard on oil but it seems at least in your application it's shearing the oil quickly!

Maybe it's just a normal function on SM GF-4 oil to thin out a tad and thicken back up during the OCI much like M1 0W40 does....
 
I replaced the air filter halfway through the Havoline OCI. It seems that air filtration (which is the main reason why I did this last oil analysis) is no longer a problem. As far as the driving conditions are concerned, I rarely go above 3000 rpm, and I follow the severe maintenance schedule (I commute 8 miles each way, plus one or two shorter trips daily).
 
Looks like the two recent reports - Superflo & Havoline give similar performance overall.

What's going on with the Silicon? 20 down to 7. Any filter changes recently?

What's your driving style/conditions?
 
Marius,

Do you plan to run the next OCI any longer?
Perhaps you may want to try GC if you really want a stable 30W.Stuff seems solid in most UOA's.
 
Alan, I cannot find GC in my area. I have in my garage Pennzoil Platinum and Castrol Syntec which I intend to run longer (5000 miles).

kanling, both air filters are Toyota OEM. I considered buying a Purolator, but the Toyota filter appears to be of better quality.

ucandoit, I have not noticed any difference between the 3 oils. Due to what I read on this board, I was affraid the Superflo will make my engine noisier than the other oils, but it worked great. The TropArtic mpg was lower than usual, but I used it during the winter months (I don't think it would be lower under comparable conditions). My overall average is 30.32 mpg (automatic transmission).
 
Seems like the Toyota OEM air filters have pretty poor dirt holding capacity. Your new one is filtering fine, but look how badly the old one did after only about 20k miles.

I am finding the same thing in my 1ZZFE Corolla also with around 20k miles. I'm using the original filter and my Si numbers are also getting up there. 30k is the recommended Toyota air filter replacement interval in my manual.

I was wondering if those filters started off that way or got that way after use. You have answered that question.

I would expect air filter performance to actually improve with time, up until the point where it is so restricted that it can hold no more dirt. I was hoping that would happen a lot later than 20 k miles.

I think I'll try a Wix and see how that does.
 
I just don't understand why you are having problems with oil thinning down after such short mileage. It seems like the only stress issue is the frequent short trips. I would think short trips could reduce the TBN or cause oxidation issues, but I don't see how they would have anything to do with shearing.

At any rate, your wear numbers are good, so the thinning doesn't seem to be causing any harm.

I support Alan's idea about trying a longer interval and see if the oil thickens up a bit again. Or try a low cost semi-synth oil like Motorcraft or Trop Artic. Or just keep changing oil at short intervals.
 
Would a 10w30 dino oil thin or shear less if you were to drive the same amount of miles ??
dunno.gif
 
Marius,

Was there a Fuel dilution number given on your UOAs?

I do not see Fuel Dilution shown in your Used Oil Analysis, could there be some fuel dilution going on here?

I see you wrote:

quote:

all others b>

I have seen some UOAs where the Fuel Dilution was less then 0.5% but the oil was thinned out by Fuel, just a thought.
 
1ZZs just do this, especially if you wind them up. I'd try the 10w30 im summer if it fits warranty requirements. The Trop Artic now has Boron. It may be worth another go now that your motor's worn in. Should have the most shear stable base and the wear results wont be skewwed by break-in.
 
I'm not familiar with the 1ZZ engines, but I'm thinking they went back to timing chains and that would contribute to shearing vs timing belt driven engines.
 
I suspect that the Toyota 1.8 liter engines (1ZZ & 2ZZ) in the Corolla's and Matrix, and the Chevrolet Prizms, and Pontiac Vibes may run rich or do shear the oil.
I have run 4 OCIs for more than 11,000 miles, the oil did not thicken during these intervals.

There are threads on BITOG that speak of some engines (Volvo) that run rich (fuel) and possibly thin a host oil or keep a oil from thickening over a long OCI, the 1ZZ may be this type of engine (some more then others).

The 2ZZ engine is newer, and I do not know if this applies to the 2ZZ engine, I have read but do not remember the changes Toyota made to the 1ZZ to make the 2ZZ engine, just a thought.

By the way, these 1.8 liter engines have Timing Chains.
 
quote:

Originally posted by Bill:
Marius,

Was there a Fuel dilution number given on your UOAs?

I do not see Fuel Dilution shown in your Used Oil Analysis, could there be some fuel dilution going on here?


Bill,

No fuel dilution was indicated in the last two UOAs (Exxon and Havoline), but for the TropArtic oil (during the winter months) the fuel dilution was significant: about 2.5%.
 
Finally - a TropArtic set of UOA figures in which the owner didn't dope it with this or that miracle supplement or in which there was some underlying engine problem skewing the results! (
worshippy.gif
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
worshippy.gif
) Given the 2.5% winter fuel dilution, that TropArtic held up well. I'm on my second run with T/A 10W-30 in my 2.7L Hyundai V6 in southern California (rarely cooler than 40 degrees F.) and will do a UOA through Blackstone at 3,000 miles. I'll probably pop for a TBN on this one, too, since I want to establish a baseline on the oil. (For all you waiting with baited breath, remove your belts and bite down hard on them - I probably won't achieve escape velocity until November or December...) Thanks, again, for sharing your results on these three motor oils in an easy to peruse format.

Note to Kanling: since the TropArtic was GF-4 (identified in parentheses in the "brand" column in Marius' initial post), it was the synthetic blend version.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top