I don't understand where all the moral outrage is coming from.
Since when has ANY motor oil manufacturer been forthright regarding it's chemistry? They act like their 'proprietary formulation' some big secret, yet I've got to believe that they all know exactly what's in their competitor's lube. Instead of telling up lowly consumers the truth, they lie and distort, and sic the marketing ******es on us - "Our Super Lube 2000 is new and improved, now with BLUE CRYSTALS!" They spend millions on advertising not to inform, but to sow the seeds of fear. "You'll get sludge!," "you'll suffer startup wear!," "you'll get sheared!!! if you don't use our oil." Puuuuuleaze!
From the one data-sparse graph I've seen, it does appear that at least one M1 sample tested exceeded the S-IVA cam lobe wear spec. Valvoline has not released ANY further information. 'Details' such as batches tested, dates, margin of error, repeatability, etc. are all strangely missing. They hype and insinuate, but don't really tell you anything. You want 'sleazy' you got it. Until this all shakes out and full disclosure occurs (if it ever does), I'm greeting everything I hear with a large does of cynicism.
As for the S-IVa test itself, I suspect it represents some sort of worst case scenario. Does anyone have specific details to share? Does the Nissan engine have a reputation for eating cams? Does the test require the use of high strength valve springs, high lift cams, or some other modification? Nissan has a pretty good reputation, and it seems odd that any appreciable wear would occur over the test duration. The specified 120 micron wear limit represents a LOT of missing metal.
I'm sure XM is quite concerned about a possible failing of spec, this stuff IS important. On the other hand, all the wailing and gnashing we're seeing (and participating in!) seems rather unnecessary. If M1's real-world lubricant qualities were/are lacking, the zillion+1 UOA posts in this forum would see it. Hundreds of microns of camshaft floating around would show as a huge spike the wear metal report.
FWLIW, my personal experience reinforces the BITOG UOA data. I've been using M1 for the last ~4 years. Last summer I changed the cam cover seal on my 92 Accord. The cams, nearly 200K miles old, were immaculate. Relax people, the killer oil is not going to eat your car. (I'm far more PO'd about M1's recent price hikes. If I stop using it, it will be a cost issue.)
-Moo
