Citgo Synthetic 5w30, 6267 miles, '99 Ford F150 4.6l

[MNgopher]

The details:

Truck: 1999 Ford F150 Supercab Flareside 4x4
Engine: 4.6L 2V SOHC V8
Oil Filter: Purolator Pure One
Air Filter: Fram (in use for 12000+ miles). Not happy with the "new and improved" design of this filter in terms of fit in the air box, but see the UOA results below.

Driving: 60/40 Highway/City. Couple of light trailer towing hauls. Fair amount of Gravel Road driving.

Weather: From June through October in Minnesota, a bit warmer than usual. Plenty of 90+ summer weather this year.

Analysis: Blackstone
Cit=Citgo Synthetic 5w30
Rot= Shell Rotella T Synthetic

code:

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Oil: Cit Rot Rot Rot Univ.

Avg.

Grade: 5w30 5w40 5w40 5w40

Date: 10/05 6/05 1/05 9/04

Mi on Oil: 6267 6117 6132 6027 4445

Mi on Unit:127078 120811 114694 108561

Make Up qt:1.0 1.0 0.5 0.5

Aluminum 4 5 4 3 3

Chromium 1 1 1 1 1

Iron 14 22 18 16 15

Copper 7 4 5 9 6

Lead 0 0 0 1 1

Tin 0 0 0 0 0

Moly 23 10 6 16 52

Nickel 1 2 1 1 1

Managnese 0 0 0 0 1

Silver 0 0 0 0 0

Titanium 0 0 0 0 0

Potassium 5 0 0 1 1

Boron 1 0 1 0 48

Silicon 9 12 10 11 16

Sodium 4 6 4 5 6

Calcium 2196 3460 3322 3615 2165

Magnesium 8 14 10 9 185

Phosphorous756 1117 808 930 766

Zinc 938 1267 1022 1068 926

Barium 0 0 1 2 1

Vis 10.8 13.5 13.7 14.7

TBN 2.5 3.0 3.1 4.3

Flash 400 410 400 400

Fuel 0 0 0 1.0

Glycol 0 0 0 0

Water 0 0 0 0

Insolubles 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.5

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My Comments:

1st Run on Citgo Synthetic 5w30, and so far, I am pleased. Copper is up slightly, but I've seen this behavior nearly every time I switched oil brnads/types. We'll watch it as we move along.

Potassium also showed up a bit in this sample, we'll need to track that into the future. It didn't show up in the 10w30 sample from my Jeep, so I am assuming for now it is vehicle specific.

Viscosity also held itself nearly steady which is nice for a 5w30.

Fuel mileage has improved noticably over the same period last year running 5w40. The wear results show no reason to run the 5w40 with that kind of mileage penalty in this motor!

Fire away!

 

[TR3-2001SE]

I have not seen this oil but it is doing an excellent job for sure. I would not change a thing and continue with this stuff. I use Citgo 2 cycle oil in my outboards as it came highly recomended by locals who use it.

 

[MNgopher]

Already been down the 5w20 road, with good results. Tried 5w40, now I'm back to 5w30. If you do a search, you'll find the complete UOA history of this rig on the site!

 

[ekpolk]

One of the several conclusions that would be consistent with this data (though not necessarily the right conclusion) would be that the modulars really do hunger for thinner oils. Dare I suggest that perhaps you give a 5w-20 a try?

EDIT: You might even try a ... a ... a dino 5w-20. There, I said it... Just to see what happens, of course. I'm coming to the conclusion that the best approach, long term, is to try a bunch of in-range, reasonable options, test, and see what works best for you. We've seen some very nice 5w-20 syn UOAs, but there are also some equally good dino performances. I guess you'll never really know what's really best for you until you try some different things and see what works best.

 

[ekpolk]

Ooops, another sloppy reply-instead-of-edit. Mods pls delete.