Oil analysis report - Not so great

[Goldenpony]

Analysis:

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[cummins cowboy]

whats up with the running so light of oil trend?? with engines running hotter and hotter these days, I would think a heavier oil would be better, what wrong with good ole 10-40?? isn't the reason the factory runs such light oil to squeeze an extra .5 mpg out of the car???

[BruceH]

Originally Posted by cummins cowboy

whats up with the running so light of oil trend?? with engines running hotter and hotter these days, I would think a heavier oil would be better, what wrong with good ole 10-40?? isn't the reason the factory runs such light oil to squeeze an extra .5 mpg out of the car???

Closer machining tolerances require thinner oil, especially at start up. 4.6 3v motors use oil pressure to advance or retard the cams, another reason to use 5-20 as specified by Ford.

[moosestang]

Originally Posted by BruceH

I would think the wear metals going up after changing from Mobil 1 would be because the new oil isn't working as well. What am I missing here?

You aren't missing anything. Jbauer must be missing his common sense.

There will be no more arguing on this topic, understood?

What the hell does this mean Jbauer? I understand you don't want to argue, so STFU boy! Your reasoning is flawed. I have no lover for Mobil 1, i'm not even using it, but I can't sit here and read this complete garbage. I've been on BITOG many times and I've actually posted an oil analysis using mobil 1.

Yes you will have more wear metals the longer you wait between changes, but all the oil labs give you an average based on the miles on the oil.

[moosestang]

Originally Posted by cummins cowboy

whats up with the running so light of oil trend?? with engines running hotter and hotter these days, I would think a heavier oil would be better, what wrong with good ole 10-40?? isn't the reason the factory runs such light oil to squeeze an extra .5 mpg out of the car???

I use 5w30, but i'm sure you can run 10-40 without a problem. I would probably try a 10w30 first. Ford recommends 5w30 in Europe, South America, Australia, basically everywhere but the US, because they don't have 5w20 in other countries.

[scorpio333]

Still trying to figure out how everything in this thread can be gathered off one analysis. There's nothing to compare it to, so it's all pretty much assumption and/or opinion. Mice aren't made from wet towels in the barn.

[Nuke]

And regarding the comment about the price of Amsoil motor oil being outrageous, I pay $27.60 per gallon for their 0W20 ASM oil. I don't think that's outrageous compared to $22.00/gallon for M1.

[FastDEW]

I usually stay out of these my oil is better than yours contests because they are often like a Chevy vs Ford debate. Minds never change. This one however, I cannot resist.

First off - Using M1 and then another oil will NOT increase your wear. That is just plain crazy talk. Somebody hit their head......

Now to my point - All of this oil changes at 3,000 miles and only Synthetic and doing oil testing, etc is most certainly a waste of time and money. On a race engine or perhaps a FI motor okay, you need to monitor, etc. Otherwise save your time and money.

My company runs a large fleet of nearly 100 vehicles that do real work ever day of the week including Sundays. They work in high heat and high loads. They idle for hours and hours in 100+ degree heat and they work in the deserts and mountains. They tow, they pull, they get beat on with more full throttle than most sane people would do and I mean full throttle under loads because the guy doesn't own the dang thing so he doesn't really care. These trucks are serviced every 20,000 miles whether they need it or not. They come in and get whatever oil the company happens to get the best deal on for that month. The oil is always purchased in 50 gallon drums and mostly I see valvoline, but I also see other brands. Never would it be synthetic (too much $). Most of the trucks are Ford with the mod motors. V10's or 5.4's. Almost ALL of these trucks hit 200,000 miles before the company dumps them or they get otherwise wrecked. Several have more if they are still on jobs and haven't blown their last transmission yet or been crashed and beat too badly. The engines keep on running and running.

My point on that - These engines as with almost any modern engine using a modern oil will last a lot longer than you think and under harsh conditions and all without 3,000 mile oil changes, etc.

By the way, I am a M1 user in all of my cars because the local shop has it and I get the oil changed around 6,000 or 7,000 miles and never really think about it much. Given what I see at work, I am not worried about it. My last (personal truck) F250 V10 used the 7,000 or so mile change schedule and after towing my 36 foot fiver all over hell with my foot heavy on it and a set of 4.30 gears keeping the Rs up, I sold the truck at 130,000 miles and she ran great. Used about 1 Quart of oil between changes but sometimes two if I was in high heat towing.

Have fun with whatever you are comfortable with. But the idea that your engine will somehow crap out if you use oil X or oil Y is just nonsense.

[Nuke]

Originally Posted by FastDEW

...Have fun with whatever you are comfortable with. But the idea that your engine will somehow crap out if you use oil X or oil Y is just nonsense.

I totally agree. Having been trained in oil analysis and component monitoring years ago, this whole "which oil is best" business has the masses jumping thru hoops unnecessarily. Any decent brand of oil (dino, blend or full syn) will protect your engine just as long providing you don't let the oil become depleted of it's protective properties. AND, you use a decent oil filter (but even filters are surrounded in lots of hype).

It's not rocket science that full syn will last and therefore protect longer than a blend and a blend will last longer than dino. I've owned and maintained countless vehicles that have gone well over 200,000 miles on dino with 3,000 - 4,000 mile oil changes (and FRAM filters, to boot! ) and some on full synthetic at 8,000 - 10,000 mile oil changes. ALL ran and operated just as well when I sold them. Some are still on the road with over 350,000 miles.

As far as oil analysis goes and what the test data implies, far more important than the condition of the oil itself is the condition of the ENGINE (duhhhh). I don't give a ratz azz WHAT oil you're using, providing it's a name brand, but a component that is beginnning to fail (and they CAN fail no matter what oil you run) will typically begin shedding material which shows up in the oil analysis. It's up to the tech to properly read this and determine the cause. Too many people will simply look at the test results and assume that the abnormal value means that their oil sucks and that it's time to change the oil. They disregard the fact that they have an impending failure. Oil will not prevent damage in progress; it'll simply carry the message IF you're willing to "hear" what it's telling you.

Most people won't bother with testing their oil since the trouble to pull the sample and the cost to have it done outweighs the cost of simply doing the oil change. Others are willing to pay to see what's going on inside. That's fine but IMPO, ANY name brand full synthetic maintains it's protective capabilites beyond 10,000 miles and up to 1 year or longer. Changing it sooner doesn't protect your engine better. But if that's YOUR comfort zone, then that's all that matters. Pick an oil and filter that suits your mindset and wallet.

[ShadyNinja]

Originally Posted by Goldenpony

Analysis:

I see nothing?


but I hope you take samples from the new brand of oil, I'd like to see a comparison.


Also, how was this sample collected?