Havoline 5w20, 6004 miles, 99 F150 4.6 V8

[MNgopher]

Results are in from my latest run of 5w20 use.

The details:

Truck: 1999 Ford F150 Supercab Flareside 4x4
Engine: 4.6L 2V SOHC V8
Oil Filter: Napa Gold (Wix)
Air Filter: Fram (in for 11,000 miles)

Driving: 50-60% freeway, this interval had a boatload of trailer towing (4000 lb trailer) - about 1000 miles, plenty of 4x4 off roading (mud and snow) and gravel road driving, several fully loaded firewood runs, etc... In other words, it earned its keep over the intreval...

Weather: Temps ranged from 90 F near the start of the interval to -20 F at the end.

Hav = Texaco Havoline
Valv = Valvoline Durablend

code:

---

Oil: Hav Hav Valv Valv

Grade: 5w20 5w20 5w30 5w30

Date: 1/04 9/03 6/03 1/03

Miles on Oil: 6004 5033 4984 4038

Miles on Unit: 96399 90392 85359 80376

Make Up Oil (qts): 1.5 1.0 1.0 1.0



Aluminum 5 3 4 3

Chromium 1 1 1 1

Iron 20 12 14 16

Copper 3 5 4 2

Lead 0 0 0 0

Tin 0 0 0 0

Moly 200 2 3 3

Nickel 1 1 2

Managnese 0 0 0

Silver 0 0 0

Titanium 0 0 0

Potassium 0 1 2 0

Boron 23 1 1

Silicon 11 9 9 4

Sodium 4 3 3 2

Calcium 2067 2219 2496 1980

Magnesium 33 30 8 12

Phosphorous 770 783 829 721

Zinc 936 1007 999 908

Barium 0 0 1



Vis 8.3 8.9 10.3 10.5

TBN 1.9 4.7 1.8

Flash 395 425 400

Fuel 0 0 0 0

Glycol 0 0 0 0

Water 0 0 0 0

Insolubles 0.4 0.3 0.5

---

The first three are Blackstone, the last is Holt CAT.

My thoughts: Iron and Aluminum wear are up slightly, but not out of line with trends and Universal averages. Cold weather at the end of the interval may have played a part here with long periods of extended idling at below zero weather. In any case, they are acceptable.

Obviously, as I posted the last time I posted a UOA on this truck, this is the new formulation of Havoline 5w20. Note the moly and boron additives. This similar, but not exactly the same as we see in Chevron Supreme 5w20. You will know that you have the new formula - it is VERY dark in coloration.

Havoline 5w20 viscosity (new formulation) starts at 8.0, so we aren't really budging there. TBN retention is down, but it is much colder than the previous intervals.

All in all, its holding its own just fine and i'm not giving anything up running a 5w20. Consumption is the same and I'm getting longer intervals.

I think I'll run another 6000 mile interval, we'll see how the rest of the winter goes. Looks like summer can run slightly longer with winter cutting the interval a bit.

Not bad for a $1.59 a qt **** water thin oil!

[ February 03, 2004, 02:07 AM: Message edited by: MNgopher ]

 

[Johnny]

Good report on all of the products but glad to see the changes Chevron is making to the new Havoline.

Do me a favor: Please stop sending the cold weather and that darn snow over here.

 

[Al]

Very imppressive and lead=0

Due to the makeup your actual contaminants would be 20-25% higher than shown but still very very nice. I applaud you for having the courage to get your full use out of the oil. And on a 20 wt. no less. Very interesting -Thanks

 

[hkkc]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Al:
Very imppressive and lead=0

Due to the makeup your actual contaminants would be 20-25% higher than shown but still very very nice.

---

Why would adding makeup oil increase the actual contaminants?

 

[mikep]

wow, very nice! I didn't realize Chevron/Tex made such a change in the formulation. Nice to see the moly and boron up.

Curious.....did Blackstone recommend cutting back to your previous 5,000 mile interval? Not sure if it is warranted but given the slightly elevated iron and with aluminum being up a tad I might be inclined to go back to the 5K OCI where results looked even better (albeit different weather conditions).

Thanks for posting the report. I can add another choice to the mix for my 4.6 ltr F150.

Mikep

 

[Schmoe]

From 9/03 to 1/04, Hav. increased their moly and boron, but dropped calcium? Wow. Maybe they are trying harder. Nice report on that Modular engine.

 

[JohnBrowning]

Nice UOA that is for sure. I do not see how the 20Wt has solved any problems though! Statisticly the differences are not significant! When it warms up would you consider runing Havoline 10W30 so we can see if it makes any difference? Your engine looks very consistent!

 

[MNgopher]

Believe me, we are taking our usual bouts of cold weather and snow. Supposed to be -21 F tonight and we recieved about 15" of new snow yesterday. We're trying!

Believe me, it hasn't been easy killing the old temptation to drain every 3000 miles. Only the consistent trends I'm seeing have convinced me this is fine.

Blackstone isn't making any recomendations for me. I'll let you figure out what that means...

It will be a while before another change. As far as running a 10w30, we'll see. I I do, it would be the second warm weather interval, as I want to see how the "new" version of the 5w20 holds up in hot weather, same as the previous run on the old version.

Statistically not much difference between the 5w20 and 5w30 though, other than being able to run the 5w20 longer!

 

[Drew99GT]

quote:

---

Originally posted by hkkc:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Al:
Very imppressive and lead=0

Due to the makeup your actual contaminants would be 20-25% higher than shown but still very very nice.

---

Why would adding makeup oil increase the actual contaminants?

---

Topping off the crankcase will decrease contaminents seen in an oil analysis because the used oil is being dilluted with fresh oil that has no wear metals in it.

 

[Jay]

This oil has some inconsistent cold temperature specs. It has an OK cold-cranking spec of 5200cP @-30C and a very high pour point of -27F.

This is a good report, but I think I'd look for a 20-weight with better cold-temp specs in your climate.

The Havoline 5w-20 has a 460F flashpoint which is awesome!

 

[MNgopher]

Despite what looks like a mediocre pour point, this oil is starting easier and quieter under cold temps than any oil used previously (all 5w30). I have no complaints about its cold weather performance!

Most would argue that in this climate I should be using a synthetic. Reality is 90+% of the cars on the road run fine here without going that route.

Not saying results might be marginally better, but just pointing out what happens in real life...

 

[cheeks]

MNgopher,

Thanks for posting this analysis and your other one as well.

Frankly, I had fallen prey to the "thicker is better" supposition and had been running Mobil 1 5w30 in my 2003 SuperCrew 4.6L. Whenever I changed the oil, paranoia about keeping my warranty intact made me buy 6 bottles of 5w20, take a photo of the bottles along with that day's newspaper for date verification, and then stick the 5w20 on the shelf while I poured in the Mobil 1. Comical, I know.

After seeing your analyses I will be running 5w20 from now on....I see no reason not to except *maybe*, and I mean maybe, in the hot Texas summer...I know yours is hot but ours is pretty severe and longer.

Once my warranty has expired I'll experiment with some extended drain analyses and post them also.

 

[MNgopher]

Yep, I here you on the hot weather bit. We get some hot weather in the summer, but not every day by any means. On average, we see 14-15 days over 90 in a year. Of course its always humid then, so it feels much worse!

In any event, I wondered about these oils too, but figuref Ford knew what they were doing recommending it in a full size truck! That's why I'm posting these numbers - so everyone can draw their own conclusions. I know that I am satisfied (always subject to change though!

)

 

[dustyjoe1]

I will confirm that the havoline 5w20 cranks over easier, noticibly easier than any other oil I've used in my f150 4.2. I am comparing to pzoil 5w20, m1 0w30 and motorcraft 5w20. The havoline produced the easiest starts and best mileage...for what its worth. Currently using Pennzoil 5w20 (had it in the garage). But will be going back to havoline next change. BTW. I drove it Through the Texas summer also and it did fine..did drop it out at 4k though....Take it for what its worth.


regards

 

[GregH]

Would not the insolubles and TBN say that the useful life of the oil is over in all of the UOA's.
GrgH

 

[MNgopher]

No.

Insoluble lower = better, but the cutoff in this application is 0.7.

TBN cutoff is generally 1.0 (for Blackstone anyways).