Amsoil 5W-30 HDD, 25K miles, 2003 Cavalier 2.2L

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Here is a sample from my wife's Cavalier. 75,000 total miles. It is driven quite hard daily. Analysis by Oil Analyzers (CTC Labs).

Fe 64
Cr 3
Pb 1
Cu 23
Sb 0
Al 28
Ni 0
Ag 0
Si 13
Na 0
Mg 23
Ca 3316
Ba 0
P 1103
Zn 1428
Mo 6
Ti 0
V 0
K 0
Fuel Visc 15.51 cSt
Water 0
Soot N/A
Coolant No
TBN 1.9
Ox 48
Nitr 66

Comments?
 
Looks good for 25000 miles. Iron looks about right for a GM Ecotec engine. Surprisingly low bearing wear. Viscosity is a solid 15W40 "like," surprised that it isn't a 50wt by now. TBN is on the low side...but expected for 25K.

More info would be appreciated.

1) Brand/Model Oil Filter used
2) How often was the oil filter changed?
3) Total amount of oil added
4) Length of time oil was in use?
5) Past Maint History...

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There was no makeup oil added. None. This car is very tight on oil. It was not down one milimeter during the 25K interval. The oil filter was a Wix. It went the entire 25K. This was the third 25K interval in a row, all with a single Wix filter, Amsoil 5W-30 HDD, and zero makeup oil. I am pleased with the performance of this oil, but the low TBN demonstrates the interval is plenty long, especialy with no makeup oil to replenish things along the way.
 
Amsoil thickened..but other than that. pretty good for a year. wow no makeup oil? one year interval of 25k for the past three years? these GM ecotechs are putting out good UOAs
 
Look at all the phosphorus and zinc in that oil! If there's anything to the notion that excess phosphorus "poisons" catalytic converters, you could be finding out soon. After another 5,000 miles, if a replacement is required, it'll be on your nickel.
 
Ray H - I hope you are being silly. That is only relatively high P compared to SM, but not nearly as high as past HDEO's. Cars have run for years with oils higher in P with zero cat poisoning and they were consuming some oil!

Nice report Riflesmith!
 
The engine still looks very clean inside the filler hole. Amsoil typically keeps engines very clean and sludge free.
 
you said that the car is driven hard, what kind of driving exactly does it deal with?

i have an 04 neon that i will more than likely be using the hdd in soon. but im not as risky, ill stick to 15000 mile intervals.
 
My wife is an aggressive driver. She basically drives it hard and revs it high. I use the car 7 days per month to commute to my job, a round trip of 140 miles. There are numerous steep hills along the way. I rarely drive less than 80 MPH on my commute.
 
Congrats for the guts to go that long on the OCI. That's about 5 times the average BITOGer's OCI comfort level. Very interesting.
 
The numbers seem high to me even though its 25000 mile interval we are still talking easy highway miles. I don't like the numbers, but thats just me.

Daily Drives:
-2003 Toyota Tacoma PreRunner,2.7 liter, 4 cylinder, Mobil1 5w30 ODO 25300
-1995 Toyota 4-Runner,3.0 liter,6 cylinder, Mobil1 5w40 tsuv ODO 104600
http://community.webshots.com/user/amkeer
 
Good report. S3000 is excellent oil but it is expensive. However, if you leave it in for 25,000 miles it becomes cost effective. This is one case where you got more than what you paid for.
 
How is that level of Phosphorus and Zinc going to hurt the cat with zero oil consumption?

1 year, 25k miles on the oil. Cool.
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Amsoil is good stuff.
 
25,000 + 25,000 + 25,000 = 75,000 miles = you ran the factory fill for 25,000 miles?
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Why isn't there any "insolubles" data listed in the report? That would have been really interesting to see, since you ran the whole 25k on one filter. Did you or your wife notice a change in mpg/performance/noises/etc. during that long of an interval?
 
He probably ran the factory fill for 1-2K, then changed to HDD 5W30 up until 25K, then he continued to use HDD 5W30 at 25K drains thereafter.
 
My previous posts were misleading. I am currently 3K miles into my third 25K run on this oil. The Amsoil use started at the 25K mark on the odometer. The miles are not easy miles. There are 7% grades between where I live and where I work. The miles my wife puts on are mostly city type driving. The car's performance and fuel economy have remained constant.
 
So the oil has been used for 28k miles? Or 3k miles?

If just 3k miles, then this UOA is terrible, especially on the TBN front.

Please clarify further.
 
The analysis listed is from the end of my second 25K mile run on Amsoil 5W-30 HDD sampled when the oil was changed at 75K on the odo. I am currently 3K miles into my third 25K interval on this oil. Currently at 78K on the odo.
 
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