2 years 4608 km, Motomaster F1 5W-30 1987 Jetta

[Drivebelt]

BLACKSTONE Oil Report

Vehicle: 1987 Jetta 1.8 SOHC gas
OIL: Motomaster F1 5W-30 SM (Canadian Tire) + about 7 other various oils blended together.
OIL FILTER: Fram EG
Oil sump: 4.0 liters

MI/HR on Oil: 4,608 km (2,880 miles) ... ~ 2 years on oil (Aug8/2006 - July16/2008)
MI/HR on Unit: 130,000 km (81,250 miles)
Sample Date: 07/16/2008
Make Up Oil Added: 2.0L

ALUMINUM:........ 2
CHROMIUM:........ 1
IRON:............... 4
COPPER:........... 43
LEAD:............... 9
TIN:................. 1
MOLYBDENUM:.... 36
NICKEL:............. 0
MANGANESE:....... 5
SILVER:............. 0
TITANIUM:......... 0
POTASSIUM:....... 1
BORON:........... 69
SILICON:........... 4
SODIUM:.......... 19
CALCIUM:...... 1320
MAGNESIUM:.... 350
PHOSPHORUS:.. 777
ZINC:............ 906
BARIUM:.......... 10

SUS Vis 210°F:.... 56.1
cSt Vis 100°C:.... 9.09
Flashpoint °F:.... 370 … … (oil drained cold)
Fuel %:........... < 0.5
Antifreeze %:...... 0.0
Water %:........... 0.0
Insolubles %:...... 0.5
TBN:............... 2.5

The vehicle sees all city driving with a fair amount of short tripping. Car sits outside (Edmonton) where it can hit -30C in the dead of winter, so the vehicle gets idled for warm-up 15-20 minutes or more sometimes when it is very cold. My only concern with running the oil 2 years was the tough winters we go through and the many short trips (cycling) that the oil saw.

The oil was about 2 liters of conventional Motomaster F1 5W-30 SM oil with quite a few other oils blended in, some over the OCI, including …

Motomaster Supreme 5W-30 SM
Motomaster F1 synthetic blend 5w-30 SJ ... (older GII/PAO made by Esso, current MM is Shell)
Esso Extra 5w-30 SM
Pennzoil 5W-30 SL
Tech 2000 5W-30 SM
Motomaster F1 5W-50 SM (synthetic)
Castrol Syntec 5w-50 SH (synthetic) … total amount of syn 5W-50's added was quite small, < 0.5 liters.

BLACKSTONE COMMENTS: This initial sample from your Volkswagen showed high levels of copper and lead. These normally come from the bearings, so this could indicate a problem there. Both elements also come from bronze parts and may be okay of any new parts like those were added recently. All other wear looks fine, so we think these metals are just something to keep any eye on for now. Universal averages show typical wear levels from the 1.8L 4-cylidner after ~6,100 miles use on the oil. The TBN was still strong at 2.5, so the oil mix had some active additive left. 1.0 is low.

I think I had the cam cover off 3 times during the oil change interval (experimenting with pictures) and the air filter was changed during the oil run too. So, the high copper reading could be a result of a little dirt getting into the system (at least that is my current thinking). The TBN was still good for a conventional oil being run through 2 winters with the fair amount of idling the car sees during winter and the short tripping. The other interesting thing is the mix of 8 different oils -- which looks to be doing well going by the iron wear and TBN reading.

 

[addyguy]

Very, very interesting results! There is some copper corrosion from short trip/cold weather driving, but I'm suprised by the lack of iron corrosion/wear to go with it.

I'm also suprised that with all the top off, including 5W-50, that the visc. isn't higher. The topping off DID keep the TBN nice and high.

Interesting to see how the different formulations show up - the older, 'SH' oils probably used magnesium in them, so it shows up here, but on the other hand, I'm suprised by how low the calcium is.....

All in all an interesting result, but I'd LOVE to hear a more 'learned' read of these results...

Also, with such a nice, clean, fuel-effecient car, why don't you drive it more? Is it a 'collector car' for you?

 

[glennc]

I agree, a very interesting result. Two years on conventional, and no real problems. I think the lead is a pretty normal result of cold starts. The copper is a bit high and I don't know enough about this car to speculate on where it's coming from but for two years worth of use I don't think it's worth being concerned about.

This does show that oils can hold up a long time. I do believe the usual advice to always change the oil twice, or at least once, a year, is pretty conservative these days.

 

[Turbo_777]

WOW what a cocktail! Lasted well though, CU seems a bit of a concern, if you run a similar mix next time, do a UOA at 1 year, if the CU is creeping then you might consider another oil..

 

[Drivebelt]

Quote:
I'm also suprised that with all the top off, including 5W-50, that the visc. isn't higher.
The 9.09 cSt viscosity kind of surprised me too. I expected the oil to be in the 10.0 - 11.0 cSt range, and more likely close to 11.0 mark with the 5W-50 in there. The engine has a belt for the camshaft, so it's not like the engine should be hard on shearing oil, although, the camshaft does not have roller-bearings -- being an old design.

On the viscosity issue, a couple of months ago I was looking through a lot of 5W-30 conventional UOA's here, and what struck me is was how much the viscosity was dropping on these Group II+ 5W-30 based SM oils. They just about all were around 9.0 cSt -- some even a little lower. I came away skeptical that Blackstones 100C cSt viscosity readings were accurate, and I still am, thinking that the 100C viscosities measurements are on the low side. Are they possibly cutting corners on the viscosity measurements -- you know … production line efficiencies … time is money …get the sample through as quickly as possible … ??? Could they be heating the oil to only 50C and using some formula to estimate the 100C viscosity? It would be quicker and give one a ballpark figure, but may not be very accurate.

Quote:
I think the lead is a pretty normal result of cold starts. The copper is a bit high and I don't know enough about this car to speculate on where it's coming from but for two years worth of use I don't think it's worth being concerned about.

That's interesting about the cold starts and the possible lead/copper reading. If not for the copper/lead, it would have been a stellar UOA. The oil on the dipstick still looked pretty good when I changed it and the TBN tells me the oil still had lots of life in it (don't want to leave too much TBN on the table

). I can say that starting a car in -30C weather here in Edmonton that has been sitting for a couple of days (block heater not plugged in because I'm too lazy to do it sometimes

) … is just brutal. Engines sound just awful when you first start them in -30C weather.