Valvoline Maxlife Synthetic 10w-30 @ 4750 oci

[BlueBird]

Valvoline Maxlife Synthetic 10w30 , in a 94 Dodge Ram 5.2 2 wheel drive 5 speed with 106.000 total miles on the clock. miles on sample is 4750 , about 4 months covering the summer. the first sample ( sample 1 )is 10w30 Durablend with 8 oz of Maxlife engine protector added , the second sample ( sample 2 ) is the current 10w30 Maxlife Synthetic.

SAMPLE 1/ Sample 2 / Universal AVERAGES

Aluminum 4 / 3 / 7
Chromium 1 / 1 / 3
Iron 21 / 18 / 52
Copper 4 / 5 / 16
Lead 3 / 4 /17
Tin 0 / 0 / 4
Molybdenum 46 / 166 /26
nickel 1 / 1 /1
Manganese 0 / 2 /1
Silver 0 / 0 /0
Titanium 0 / 0 /0
Potassium 8 / 6 /1
Boron 7 / 6 /27
Silicon 12 / 7 /23
Sodium 13 / 9 /35
Calcium 2221 / 2971 /1461
Magnesium 19 / 21 /527
Phosphorus 797 / 698 /800
Zinc 925 / 779 /955
Barium 0 / 0 /0

Antifreeze .0% / .0%
Fuel % SUS vis @ 210F 63.8 / 74.3
Flashpoint 365 / 380
Insolubles % .5 / .5
TBN n/a / 1.9

I think this is the first Maxlife Synthetic UOA to be posted. Viccosity was high and the tbn was a little low. Is that typical for synthetics ? any comments welcome.

 

[ToyotaNSaturn]

Three items stand out:
--Insolubles at .5
--FP at 380
--TBN at 1.9

Could these be explained by this oil cleaning up left over deposits?

Will you be running this oil a second time and performing another UOA for comparison's sake? Seems like 5000 miles is about it for this oil in this engine. Perhaps a second UOA would shed more light on things...

 

[dropitby]

The Durablend even with the add. didn't seem as good or about the same as Maxlife.That makes me wonder have you ever had a UOA with any other oil on this Dodge. If so how did it compare,and if it was almost the same use what you can find the cheapest.

 

[vvk]

Wow, looks EXCELLENT! No wonder this oil meets all the good specs.

Thanks for posting!

 

[BlueBird]

quote:

---

Three items stand out:
--Insolubles at .5
--FP at 380
--TBN at 1.9

Could these be explained by this oil cleaning up left over deposits?

---

TNS , thanks for the interesting observation. I refilled with Maxlife Synthetic and i guess i will do another sample in the spring.

Does anyone see a reason not to use this oil on low milage vehicles ?

 

[ToyotaNSaturn]

No, I don't see any reasons not to except that it's a bit expensive for use in a low mileage car.

How 'bout just using the regular MaxLife on the lower mileage vehicles to save the extra bucks?

 

[ToyotaNSaturn]

It could be many reasons. I strongly suggest contacting Terry with your UOA to get the correct "read" on it. By no means am I professional at this!

 

[Brett Miller]

Isn't that viscosity awfully high for a 30 weight oil?

 

[Starbreaker666]

What are your driving habits. I'm looking for a dino 30wt that wont shear to a 20 in my driving condition. This may be a good option.

 

[BlueBird]

relative cost is not a major concern, besides im spending like 35 bananas for a oil sample anyway just to find the "best" oil.

What causes the oil to increase in viscosity anyway ? does that lead to sludge formation?

 

[TallPaul]

Search for my recent UOA on regular Maxlife 10w30. Beat on it for 4400 miles in my motorhome and the UOA looks great. Viscosity is right on too. I am not sure the Synthetic Maxlife is giving the extra 2 bucks a quart worth of value here (of course different vehicles makes it impossible to really compare). Maybe run regular Maxlife with one qt the synthetic.

 

[BlueBird]

Starrbreaker666 - my driving habits are typically 50 / 50 highway and in town traffic. 25 miles each way to work , mostly highway , this sample i had a few long runs ( 250+ miles ). Also summer stop and go traffic. Typicaly shift at 2500 to 3000 rpm never went past 3500. 70 mph is 2000 rpm.

Im concerned as to what caused the increase in viscosity ? is that bad that a oil thickened to a 40 weight ?

 

[gerhardb]

FYI:

I did post the VOA in this link:

http://theoildrop.server101.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=11;t=000213#000002