02 Protege, Supertech 10W-30 Dino, 5078 miles

[The Critic]

2002 Mazda Protégé
2.0L 4-cyl Engine, 5-spd Manual
3.5 qt Sump

Supertech 10w-30-WPP (5 qt jug)
API SM/ILSAC-GF-4
No oil or fuel additives

Miles on Unit: 60518
Miles on Oil: 5078
Time on Oil: 3.5 months
Oil Filter: OEM
Air Filter: OEM

Conditions: Majority HWY; Central TX 12/19/05-4/1/06

Notes: Car was purchased used with an unknown past maintenance history. Fill prior to this oil was Exxon Superflo 10w-30 API SM/ILSAC GF-4 with an OEM filter for 1500 miles. This oil contains a sodium additive, hence the residual sodium in this analysis. When the Superflo was drained, it was already brown, which may indicate that some cleaning is occurring, and may explain the low TBN in this sample. (Note: OAI uses the ASTM D-4739 protocol to measure TBN, so the readings are approximately 2 pts higher than Blackstone’s. 1.0 is considered a low reading on the D-4739 scale by industry standards)

Current fill is Pennzoil Platinum 10w-30 API SM/ILSAC GF-4 with an OEM filter.

Lab: OAI/CTC (Amsoil)

code:

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Fe 8

Cr 2

Pb 2

Cu 4

Sn 0

Al 3

Ni 0

Ag 0

Si 9

B 8

Na 25

Mg 10

Ca 1721

Ba 0

P 673

Zn 848

Mo 24

Ti 0

Va 0

K 0



Fuel= < 1%

VIS @ 100C= 10.66 cSt

Water= 0

Soot/Solids= NA

Coolant= None

TBN, ASTM D-4739= 2.72

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[427Z06]

Not too shabby considering the cost of this oil and the sump size. Highway miles in the cooler part of the year in Texas helped here.

Are these the same engine as yours?
http://theoildrop.server101.com/cgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=003058
http://theoildrop.server101.com/cgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=002174

 

[Pablo]

I would say this is the little oil that could. Brown in 5K? So?

I have no idea how hard this engine is on oil, but it seems to be wearing nicely. I always wonder how the econo oils hold up in oil chewers.

I say the Pennzoil should look very sweet.

 

[leel]

The critic,
thank you,I've been wanting to see this oil in this type of engine.

427zo6,
yes it would be the same.

 

[ekpolk]

Not much to complain about here. Could the low-ish TBN also be a result of the small oil volume? What grade of oil did Mazda spec for this engine? Thanks for posting the info.

 

[HondaMan]

The car in the report is mine as I ran this test for 'The Critic'.

This car is new to me and I paid very little money for it, so while I am not willing to trash it running some sort of ATF/Dino brew, I am willing to be 'a little' experimental.

The jug at the time was a whooping $5.48 for 5 qts.

ekpolk, the car does spec. 10w-30

OAI did flag the TBN as low, I don't think that was mentioned above.

The PP in the car now is my experiment, but I wonder how far to take it?? Seems like this ST is good for 4k easily and is soooo cheap it would be hard to compare to anything else.

'The Critic' wanted to see M1EP which I could not find at the time, so I went with the PP and the intention of a 15k OCI, but as I mentioned, don't know if I should go that far. We'll see.

 

[The Critic]

HondaMan,

Thanks for this test. It’s interesting to note the cost of this entire experiment. The UOA kit, postage, oil, and oil filter combined, is nearly identical in cost to a jug of M1 EP.

My apologies if my original post was unclear. The previous fill, Exxon Superflo 10w-30, was run for 1500 miles. When the oil was drained, it was already brown. Given the unknown past maintenance history of this engine, there is a good possibility of a cleaning action occurring during the Exxon Superflo and Supertech runs, thus subjecting these oils to greater stress than they’d normally endure in a well-maintained engine.

The “cleaning” done by the Supertech oil during this interval may have resulted in severe oil oxidation, and resulted in the oil thickening back to its virgin viscosity. This generated a false perception that the oil retains its viscosity well, when instead; it was simply the result of severe oil oxidation. The low TBN verifies that the oil was severely stressed due to the oil oxidation.

Just my guess.

[ April 18, 2006, 07:30 PM: Message edited by: The Critic ]

 

[Al]

Interesting. I'm beginning to wonder if there is any value in UOA's And Personally..I'm not sure how much "cleaning" would occur in a weak base oil with a weak additive package in 5K miles.

 

[The Critic]

All new oils will have some cleaning ability, but varies depending on the type of oil. Though the dino may have a weak additive pack (though it may contain elements invisible to spectro analysis), it will still clean to an extent, though not as much as the synthetics. Perhaps "cleaning" isn't the right term..."flushing out" is a better one. But the dirty environment the oil was used may'be been the cause. Perhaps Bruce can comment on this?

 

[HondaMan]

I think that without the oxidation/nitration numbers we would only be guessing.

I sort of understand the catch-22 that is oxidation, but not enough to make any real comment.

As I understand, the VIS held up and I am not aware of anything else in the report that would correlate to 'thickening' and this reported number.

Al,
This little test was merely a "let's see if this oil will hold up" and I do believe everyone agrees that it did, thus some value derived from the UOA.

The Critic,
'Cleaning' may or may not have been the right word.

As I mentioned earlier, this little oil would be real good in a 4k drain with this engine.

We'll see how that PP does.....

 

[GROUCHO MARX]

Flushing may be the word.

 

[Mr Magoo]

Good oil for very little money

 

[Al]

quote:

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Originally posted by GROUCHO MARX:
Flushing may be the word.

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Yea-at best.

HondaMan: Yea, I agree that it did hold up. What I said was partly in jest. It seems we are to the point that all oil analysis on a car in great mechanical shape all look the same irregardless of the oil. I think that looking for a "better oil" may be a thing of the past. Naturally though the value of an oil analysis it to find problems with the engine.

For me the oil analysis is entertainment

 

[HondaMan]

Al,

I agree completely. Entertainment is the perfect word. My wife thinks I am a basket case sending off a UOA for the little Mazda.

I have also said before that in order to really establish a pattern one cannot just switch from oil to oil and pretend the UOAs are telling you something meaningful (in regards to oil quaility), hence as I said 'just a little test' and as you said better 'for entertainment'.

 

[bruce381]

how about the new oil dispersing any current sludge thus thickening and getting dark. Happens all the time ANY new oil will have fresh active detergents an dsipersants which will "suspend" gunk and clean thats what they post to do.
bruce

 

[jorton]

quote:

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Originally posted by bruce381:
how about the new oil dispersing any current sludge thus thickening and getting dark. Happens all the time ANY new oil will have fresh active detergents an dsipersants which will "suspend" gunk and clean thats what they post to do.
bruce

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:OT:If the oil is doing a good job and gunk is deposited in the filter, will the insol # be low or high in a Blackstone report?