Oil (re)selection for GDI

[johnmyster]

I'm revisiting my oil selection for our small commuter. Transitioned from a 17 mile to a 5 mile commute. Short trips. 2012 Mazda Skyactiv 2.0 with 80k miles. IVD is the principal concern. I'm considering going back to six month changes if 5-6k OCI is too dirty. Middle Virginia, so only a handful of morning starts below 20 F per year. I've typically run M1-HM, PP-HM, or most recently M1 EP, always 0w-20. Use now is much closer to "hard use" than it was. Stock grade is 0w-20 but I've highly considered transitioning to a 5w-30, obviously in full synthetic...less for viscosity concerns than other matters.

Walmart jug oils are strongly preferred. I plan to use my annual Mobil rebates for our other car, so I'm slightly biased towards other annual rebate/deal brands for this car (PP, Castrol Edge, etc). I've read plenty of love on here for M1EP in GDI application, but seems formulas changed a few years ago (less PAO) so I'm not sure how to consider historical BITOG searches. (I read the 7 page thread.)

Between M1-EP (HM or non), PP (HM or non) and the other variants (M1 AFE, M1 AP), Castrol, Valvoline, etc, is there a current leading candidate for IVD and LSPI?

Dexos1 seems like the best specification I should look for. (I don't think I'm going to find C2/C3, VW 504, etc at WM.)

Amongst a given brand and model of oil (M1 EP or PP, for instance) would grade choice (ow-20 vs 5w-30) contribute to NOACK, oxidation, IVD, etc? Does the HM option typically impact this as well?

 

[odie]

P.U.P.

 

[johnmyster]

P.U.P.

Never seen PUP at the local WM, so unless there's a deal on amazon during a rebate, I'm biased against it. Is it so great that I need to reconsider?

PP and PP-HM are fair game.

Wasn't there some test where M1EP bigly outperformed PP, PPPP, and PUP on oxidation?

 

[Furious]

Never seen PUP at the local WM, so unless there's a deal on amazon during a rebate, I'm biased against it. Is it so great that I need to reconsider?

PP and PP-HM are fair game.

Wasn't there some test where M1EP bigly outperformed PP, PPPP, and PUP on oxidation?

PUP is very good oil but Mobil 1 EP would probably out-perform it.

 

[odie]

It's available at NAPA and ADVANCED AUTO . Too expensive at this time at NAPA . A.A.P. has it for $41.99 for 5 quart jug , so $8.40 a quart . I think the rebate for PENNZOIL is possibly in March or February . OXIDATION for PU. 5w-30 is 10.1 .

 

[gman2304]

Mobil 1 EP 5w30 is $29.97 on Amazon, no hoops to jump through and delivered free to your door with Prime! $5 a quart! Great oil that works against the LSPI you mentioned. I use it in my 2.0T Ecotec DI engine for this very reason!

 

[johnmyster]

Mobil 1 EP 5w30 is $29.97 on Amazon, no hoops to jump through and delivered free to your door with Prime! $5 a quart! Great oil that works against the LSPI you mentioned. I use it in my 2.0T Ecotec DI engine for this very reason!

I have some EP 0w-20 in the car now, and another bottle available. Is the 5w-30 formula as heralded (or moreso) than the 0w-20 for IVD? I think I can do fine with the viscosity ~10 for that particular 30 weight if it has advantages over the 20. In the past the argument has been that GDI benefits from better base stock in the 0w rated oils vs the 5w. To further blur the topic, how about the EP-HM variants? (The HM variants typically drop the Dexos/Honda spec.)

Mobil 1 EP 5w30 is $29.97 on Amazon, no hoops to jump through and delivered free to your door with Prime! $5 a quart! Great oil that works against the LSPI you mentioned. I use it in my 2.0T Ecotec DI engine for this very reason!

Same price as WM, and in the past I think Amazon was not eligible for the M1 seasonal rebates. Using that same arguement against myself, if Amazon is Pennzoil rebate eligible (they have been in the past) perhaps they should be my PUP source if going that route.

 

[Spedestrian]

M1 EP 5w-30 5QT 3 pack is on sale online at walmart for $72.88. Otherwise, pennzoil euro l 5w-30 from walmart is very good.

 

[twX]

For short trips, I'd prioritize an oil with good anti-sludge performance. Dexos1 Gen3 is much more stringent than API SP in terms of sludge.

For intake valve deposits, my understanding is that the largest contributor in terms of oil composition is the VII content, with high-VII oils causing more deposits. A 5W-20 should have less VII than a 0W-20, but some formulators may just use lower quality base stocks instead. You could consider HPL's No-VII 5W-20 (though I'm not sure if it's a low-calcium formulation for LSPI).

PP and PUP have fairly low NOACK (~8.2%), as does Mobil 1 5W-20 (8.7%). The HPL is probably lower. I don't think NOACK actually impacts valve deposits much though.

I wouldn't be too concerned about oxidation on a commuter vehicle that doesn't often have high oil temperatures.

I'd probably go with PP 5W-20 or Mobil 1 5W-20.

 

[johnmyster]

...Otherwise, pennzoil euro l 5w-30 from walmart is very good.

The euro L can be had at a good price right now. I've considered stocking up. The MB 229.51 spec is appealing, but the viscosity around 12 is a good bit higher than the 8 that the engine is accustomed to. The question is how good is the rest of the formulation for IVD.

 

[Rogueman2016s]

anything from Walmart full synthetic 0w or 5w20

 

[Oliveoil2]

how much do you have to add at <5-6k OCI’s?

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

I'm revisiting my oil selection for our small commuter. Transitioned from a 17 mile to a 5 mile commute. Short trips. 2012 Mazda Skyactiv 2.0 with 80k miles. IVD is the principal concern. I'm considering going back to six month changes if 5-6k OCI is too dirty. Middle Virginia, so only a handful of morning starts below 20 F per year. I've typically run M1-HM, PP-HM, or most recently M1 EP, always 0w-20. Use now is much closer to "hard use" than it was. Stock grade is 0w-20 but I've highly considered transitioning to a 5w-30, obviously in full synthetic...less for viscosity concerns than other matters.

Walmart jug oils are strongly preferred. I plan to use my annual Mobil rebates for our other car, so I'm slightly biased towards other annual rebate/deal brands for this car (PP, Castrol Edge, etc). I've read plenty of love on here for M1EP in GDI application, but seems formulas changed a few years ago (less PAO) so I'm not sure how to consider historical BITOG searches. (I read the 7 page thread.)

Between M1-EP (HM or non), PP (HM or non) and the other variants (M1 AFE, M1 AP), Castrol, Valvoline, etc, is there a current leading candidate for IVD and LSPI?

Dexos1 seems like the best specification I should look for. (I don't think I'm going to find C2/C3, VW 504, etc at WM.)

Amongst a given brand and model of oil (M1 EP or PP, for instance) would grade choice (ow-20 vs 5w-30) contribute to NOACK, oxidation, IVD, etc? Does the HM option typically impact this as well?

API SP. 5w30.

 

[MalibuRam65]

Folks please be easy with the lite bashing of Pennzoil products. They are a big sponsor of website ok

 

[We're Metals]

Folks please be easy with the lite bashing of Pennzoil products. They are a big sponsor of website ok

HPL and Pennzoil holding hands as they dive into their pool of money.

 

[Rogueman2016s]

Pennzoil is good stuff along with any other sopus product

 

[Vitamin Yoda]

For short tripping, get any ILSAC oil (PUP, QS, M1, Castrol, whatever). Install an oil catch can and empty it once a week. It will be filled with water, sooty gasoline, and a bit of oil. That's how you keep your engine in good health. Oil alone won't save it. Or you could make your commute longer, and ensure that oil and everything else gets up to temperature and stays there for a while, which I guess you can't do, since you're short tripping.

 

[Mainia]

All available at Walmart. Castrol Euro car 5w-30.......M1 regular/M1 Extended 5w-30....... M1Euro 0w-40.......Pennzoil Platinum/ Ultra 5w-30. Pick one and you will be fine. ALL dump at 4,000 miles and call it a day.

 

[Vitamin Yoda]

All available at Walmart. Castrol Euro car 5w-30.......M1 regular/M1 Extended 5w-30....... M1Euro 0w-40.......Pennzoil Platinum/ Ultra 5w-30. Pick one and you will be fine. ALL dump at 4,000 miles and call it a day.

Full SAPS Euro oils have more detergents than ILSAC oils, so they tend to attract more water. When you short trip, that's exactly what you tend to put in your oil.

 

[johnmyster]

I'll try to combine some responses...

1) I think this engine is particularly difficult to retrofit a catch can onto. Not excited about the proposition. And with 80k on the clock, if our driving patterns are residue susceptible, there's already some deposits present.
2) Given the factory 0w-20 grade (~8 cS), I was comfortable with going up to a "light" 30 (~10 cS) if other factors warranted (PP, M1EP, M1AP, Edge, etc.) but less comfortable going up to a "full" 30 (~12 cS) or 40 weight. That's just my comfort zone talking. So I was somewhat biased against euro 30 and 40 oils. Granted, M1 0w-40 is what I am using in our other car going forward. One oil for both cars would be nice, but that car isn't DI. A3/B4 is beyond my comfort zone for the little DI mazda.
3) The car seems to use less than 1/2 quart in a 6000k oci, but I don't exactly monitor it accurately. I just know I put 4.3 qts to get to mid stick and never need to top off before I dump.

So I see several options:
1) Easy button, use whatever good/cheap 0w-20 I've been using (PP or M1EP) and keep the intervals reasonable. Perhaps stop using the HM variants unless I see leaks develop. Engine life is what it is. Dexos1 type qualities.
2) Same, but with a good 5w-30, e.g. PP or M1EP. Maybe it gains something, maybe not. Engine life is what it is. Dexos1 type qualities.
3) Take it a small step further and use a commonly available/cheap "lite" euro oil, like Pennzoil Euro L or M1 ESP. MB 229.51, C2/C3, Porche C30. Still keep OCI reasonable but at least the oil is doing as much as it can.