Amsoil 5w-30 ASL in 2001 Nissan Pathfinder with VQ35DE

[Douglas M]

This is my 1st UOA. I used blackstone. Things to note are that there are 16,881 on the oil with a filter change at 10K using the Amsoil SDF filter. Make up oil was added during the filter change. Also this interval was run with a K&N drop in air filter. I just recently found this site and I took Amsoil's word for the drain interval and K&N's word on filtration efficiency. One last thing the used oil sat in a brand new plastic container (used for the oil change) for about a week. I mixed up the best I could. I do not know how informative this sample will be but please coment.

 

[Terry]

Doug, you have a possible air/dirt leak and or small coolant leak. Also the dreaded Amsoil oxidation issue. Note vis is solidly 40w. I suggest correcting the dirt ingression,checking for coolant loss .Once the above mechanical issues are dealt with....

Auto-RX this engine for 1500 miles on a normal SL rated 10w-30 to clean out the dirt/coolant that is wearing the bearings. Has the car been exposed to salt/sea spray or contamination ?

Then:

To successfully use Amsoil for 16,000 miles I suggest LubeControl at 1 ounce per qt in this engine and Fuel Power at 1 ounce to 5 gallons gas. This will moderate the oxidation tendency of Amsoil ASL and allow you to go longer drains with low wear generation.

Thanks for your first post and consider using our services on the next run.

Terry

 

[Douglas M]

Thanks for the quick response Terry. The reason I did not use your service is because I was advised my members on this board to chalk this up to a learning experience because of the way I collected the sample. Or I would have asked for the TBN to be measured and for your analysis. I switched the K&N with a paper filter, and found out later that I th K&N was not the correct filter for my application. The car has not been exposed to salt/sea spray or contamination, but the oil may have been contaminated in the container.

 

[Pablo]

Considering you went 17K miles without really prepping for it, the oil did pretty good. Yes you could doctor the oil with LC and the vis. probably would have stayed in range.

I am curious - how many months and what type of driving?

 

[Cary]

Except for the oil thickining out of grade, I think this is a great report. For the milage the wear numbers are great. As a note, that engine has a very small sump, slightly less than 4 quarts which made the oil work even harder.

Cary

 

[Douglas M]

Actually the sump is 5 qts, 5 1/4 qts if you include the OEM filter (very small), and 5 1/4 - 5 3/4 if you use the oversized Mobil 1 filter (M1-105). I used the Amsoil SDF that appears to be the same size as OEM.

 

[Douglas M]

Pablo - It was about 10 months of use. 6 months into it (~10K) I changed the filter. It was my wife and my only car so it saw a little bit of everything. During the week it saw 2 15 mile trips daily (to and from work), then some shorter trips around town. On the weekends it usually saw one or two trips of 100 miles round trip. I'd say 50/50 with some really short trips.

 

[buster]

This is a very good report. I'd be happy with it. I'd run LC or a Rx maintenance dose if your going to go this long between changes.

 

[TooSlick]

Doug,

I"d toss the K&N in the trash,

then use the Amsoil engine flush to inexpensively clean the engine. The sodium and potassium most likely salt spray - NaCl and KCL - in this case, as Terry has alluded to.

If you want to run drain intervals of 15k-20k in this motor, I'd recommend using the HD, 5w-30, ie the Series 3000 oil. It is much more resistant to oxidative thickening than "ASL", based on the testing I've done in my personal vehicles. I'd suggest ordering the S3000 in a case of one gallon containers,which will save you fifty cents per quart.

Results are very good, but I'm never satisfied with very good ....

Tooslick

 

[jthorner]

Personally I would not risk such a capable and expensive engine on K&N air filters or extended oil change intervals.

You are paying premium prices for your supplies and yet not getting premium wear results.

John

 

[wulimaster]

quote:

---

Originally posted by jthorner:
Personally I would not risk such a capable and expensive engine on K&N air filters or extended oil change intervals.

You are paying premium prices for your supplies and yet not getting premium wear results.

John

---

The wear looks good. With 4 times the average mileage only lead is 3 times the average. Iron only 1.5 times and everything else is the same as a vehical with 1/4 the mileage.

 

[Douglas M]

I have $30 of oi (Amsoil 5w-30 ASL) l that only has ~1K miles on it. Can I wait or is it imperative that I flush/clean the engine? If it is necessary then should I use Amsoil flush or Auto Rx?

 

[Dick in Falls Church]

Doug-

Can you wait? Sure?
But I wouldn't. If you have a problem, attack it now.
Drain the AMSOIL into a clean container, and put it away for reuse after you do the flush.

 

[Douglas M]

Thanks for all the advice. Coolant levels did not change during the interval, but I decided to Rx the engine anyway. I do drive down to San Diego every couple of months to take the family to the zoo which could account for the sodium. I'll chalk up the silicone to the K&N which did not fit right. I put some Chevron supreme 10w-40 in yesterday and should get the Auto-Rx in today. I plan on rinsing with the Chevron Supreme also. I'll probably post another UOA on this engine of the next Amsoil fill up (at 7.5K this time) after the cleaning and rinse cycle.

 

[MolaKule]

Doug,

I have the same engine in a 2003 PF and with Mobil 1 5W30, it showed about the same levels with 4 k miles on oil and 8k miles on engine. Silicon, however, was only 15 ppm with the stock filter.

I have used an Amsoil SDF20 filter from birth, since I think the SDF13 is way too small.

 

[Douglas M]

MolaKule - this was with 16K on oil, so I guess either I have good numbers or you have bad ones at least for the sodium and lead. Seeing that I had 4 x the miles you did and a K&N I guess I shouldn't be too worried about the silicone. Thanks for the reply.

 

[TooSlick]

If you wanted to get really AR, you could say that lead is slightly elevated in this sample. I'd expect it to be in the 10-15 ppm range.

When you see high bearing wear, look for one or both of these things:

1) A coolant leak, which generates an acidic sludge that attacks the main/rod bearing overlays...Sodium and Potassium are your "markers",along with Boron and perhaps Silicone.
Determine the additive chemistry in the specific coolant that's being used.

2) An overextended drain interval and a low TBN - usually accompanied by a significant increase in viscosity @ 100C and/or a total solids level > 0.6%.

(I could tell you even more, but Mr. Dyson might just show up at my door with a bat one of these days ...

)

I'd say #2 is the culprit here and again I'm nit picking. I'd simply drop down to a 15,000 mile change interval w/ a filter change @ 7500 miles. That will help keep the viscosity more stable and give you a bit more TBN reserve.

These are really low wear rates for a high performance, 3.5L V-6. You should get 300k out of this motor with no problems ...