2011 Chevy Equinox 2.4L double UOA

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Sent in the samples for my last two oil changes. I had a ringjob done at 120k miles as part of a recall for excess oil consumption, so was curious to see how the numbers would look. Unfortunately never did any analyses before the work.

First sample is Pennzoil Plat 5w-30, 2nd is Castrol Edge 5w-30

 
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I changed the oil in my wife's "11 Equinox with NAPA 5/30 wt Synthetic. And thought the oil filter design was cheezy. To me. it doesn't hold or contain anything. When I changed it, looks like anything that would be contained in a standard filter, drains back into the crankcase when you lift it out. I wonder if We'll get the same life out of it you did, before it needs a rebuild.,,,
 
Originally Posted By: BigCahuna
I changed the oil in my wife's "11 Equinox with NAPA 5/30 wt Synthetic. And thought the oil filter design was cheezy. To me. it doesn't hold or contain anything. When I changed it, looks like anything that would be contained in a standard filter, drains back into the crankcase when you lift it out. I wonder if We'll get the same life out of it you did, before it needs a rebuild.,,,


That 2.4L Ecotec motor has been around for years and used by GM in a wide variety of cars from Malibu on down. Would have thought they had worked out any issues by 2012 when they upgraded to a 2.5L. Since this Is the first indications of problems that I've read about, I'd be interested in feedback from others who are familiar with this motor.
 
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Not sure why the moly was so high, at 151 ppm its way above what Castrol Edge has always used in the past (around 80 ppm). Maybe a formula change??? (Your assembly lube would have showed up on the previous oil sample, so its not from assembly lube.)

Viscosity dropped way too much, mostly due to fuel dilution. Some may be due to VII permanent shearing.
I'd suggest going to one of the great Walmart Castrol Edge black bottle 0w40 or any 0w40 you see on the shelf at Walmart (Pennzoil, Mobil1) because fuel dilution is a problem, and that will give you more viscosity reserve to spare. Your oil is currently getting too thin.

From the fuel dilution indications, those rings look like they are not sealing properly. Just a ring job without making sure the cylinders are circular and not slightly oval, means they aren't preventing blowby. Oil consumption is corrected, so the oil control rings and return holes were cleaned out anyway.

Originally Posted By: BigCahuna
I changed the oil in my wife's "11 Equinox with NAPA 5/30 wt Synthetic. And thought the oil filter design was cheezy. To me. it doesn't hold or contain anything. When I changed it, looks like anything that would be contained in a standard filter, drains back into the crankcase when you lift it out.


Nothing wrong with the cartridge oil filter design. The ADBV is built in to the housing, not the filter. It works.
Here is the XG9018 you should be using for maximum filtering performance:
XG9018_Front.jpg
 
GM now recommends 5k oci for your car.
I do like the fact that the fuel % went down on the second oil change. Maybe the new rings are really getting broken in? Or it's the castrol?
Might want to try pennzoil again to see if you have similar results? A 5k oci in the castrol would have produced even lesser fuel dilution.


I just had the pistons and rings replaced on my 2011 2.4l Equinox a month ago. Courtesy of GM. So thank you for your post!
 
Originally Posted By: Iowegian
GM now recommends 5k oci for your car.
I do like the fact that the fuel % went down on the second oil change. Maybe the new rings are really getting broken in? Or it's the castrol?
Might want to try pennzoil again to see if you have similar results? A 5k oci in the castrol would have produced even lesser fuel dilution.


I just had the pistons and rings replaced on my 2011 2.4l Equinox a month ago. Courtesy of GM. So thank you for your post!



Yea the oil consumption warranty extension went to 120k, and I got it in just under the wire at 119 and some change! Got really lucky. I was burning through about double the amount they were looking for.
 
I wanted to see what the metals would look like after that work, and how far I could reasonably stretch the OCI.

From other UOAs I've seen, IIRC my fuel dilution is actually pretty low for these GM DI motors. Some degree of it will always be present from what I gather. But yea I might try a w40 to see how its viscosity holds up. I'm thinking it would sheer down to a 30 pretty quick and hopefully stay in that grade through a 7500 OCI, which is about when the OLM hit 0%

Lesson learned though- I highly doubt I could pull off a 10k OCI on this motor
 
I'm not sure that your second OCI was done with Castrol Edge. There's roughly double the amount of moly reading here and no titanium. At first I saw the moly and figured it was just an additive, but with the titanium missing, I'd say that this was some other brand.
 
Originally Posted By: JustN89
I'm not sure that your second OCI was done with Castrol Edge. There's roughly double the amount of moly reading here and no titanium. At first I saw the moly and figured it was just an additive, but with the titanium missing, I'd say that this was some other brand.



You're right! [censored] I got the brand mixed up with my other vehicle fill.

The 2nd OCI here is a GM dealer fill. They claim to use Mobil1


Is there a way to edit the original post, despite the Edit button now being gone? Mods help a brother out!
crazy.gif
 
Originally Posted By: euphoric85
Originally Posted By: JustN89
I'm not sure that your second OCI was done with Castrol Edge. There's roughly double the amount of moly reading here and no titanium. At first I saw the moly and figured it was just an additive, but with the titanium missing, I'd say that this was some other brand.

You're right! I got the brand mixed up with my other vehicle fill.
The 2nd OCI here is a GM dealer fill. They claim to use Mobil1

Thats not Mobil1 either.
Too much moly. Too much calcium too, and Mobil1 uses high magnesium detergents as well.
The moly level looks similar to what some conventional oils use, such as Pennz or Quaker conventional, but the boron levels are too low for those.
 
Originally Posted By: euphoric85
Originally Posted By: JustN89
I'm not sure that your second OCI was done with Castrol Edge. There's roughly double the amount of moly reading here and no titanium. At first I saw the moly and figured it was just an additive, but with the titanium missing, I'd say that this was some other brand.



You're right! [censored] I got the brand mixed up with my other vehicle fill.

The 2nd OCI here is a GM dealer fill. They claim to use Mobil1


Is there a way to edit the original post, despite the Edit button now being gone? Mods help a brother out!
crazy.gif


Hmm.. I wouldn't say it's Mobil 1 either. It looks a lot like SOPUS product, but the Magnesium is way off. Well, sometimes things just remain a mystery. Look like it held up well, whatever it is, assuming the iron drops over the course of your next few OCIs.
 
Originally Posted By: euphoric85
Originally Posted By: JustN89
I'm not sure that your second OCI was done with Castrol Edge. There's roughly double the amount of moly reading here and no titanium. At first I saw the moly and figured it was just an additive, but with the titanium missing, I'd say that this was some other brand.



You're right! [censored] I got the brand mixed up with my other vehicle fill.

The 2nd OCI here is a GM dealer fill. They claim to use Mobil1


Is there a way to edit the original post, despite the Edit button now being gone? Mods help a brother out!
crazy.gif



I don't think it's actually Mobil 1, more likely GM's oil formulated by Mobil/Exxon. My 7,000 mile OCI in our 2.3 EcoBoost Ford using Mobil 1 showed a Moly of 80 vs your 151, Boron was close but my Calcium was 1025, less than yours at around 1400 and my Magnesium was 544, vs your 400+++, not a big difference there. Also I believe your Zinc was higher, mine was 698. Look at the bright side you didn't have to add oil in the ~8,500 mi OCI so they've done "good".

Whimsey
 
I don't think its AC-Delco (GM's own brand) either. Some of their formulas look like Valvoline (sodium high). Others look like Mobil1. None have this high moly.

This is a big deal because it appears the dealer told the customer it was the high-end full-synthetic when it was likely a conventional GroupII where they have to use extra moly to get it to pass GF-5 low friction requirements.
 
Originally Posted By: oil_film_movies
I don't think its AC-Delco (GM's own brand) either. Some of their formulas look like Valvoline (sodium high). Others look like Mobil1. None have this high moly.

This is a big deal because it appears the dealer told the customer it was the high-end full-synthetic when it was likely a conventional GroupII where they have to use extra moly to get it to pass GF-5 low friction requirements.

Not sure how convinced I am that it's a conventional. While I agree that the moly makes it look like a conventional, I'd expect wear numbers and other signs of serious breakdown after nearly 9,000 miles on the oil if it were a conventional.
 
Originally Posted By: euphoric85
Originally Posted By: JustN89
I'm not sure that your second OCI was done with Castrol Edge. There's roughly double the amount of moly reading here and no titanium. At first I saw the moly and figured it was just an additive, but with the titanium missing, I'd say that this was some other brand.



You're right! [censored] I got the brand mixed up with my other vehicle fill.

The 2nd OCI here is a GM dealer fill. They claim to use Mobil1


Is there a way to edit the original post, despite the Edit button now being gone? Mods help a brother out!
crazy.gif



One of two forums I've ever been on that limits your correcting mistakes after 5 minutes. I don't understand that logic?
 
As a mod on another forum, one reason is when someone replies back to a post in a certain manner esp if it's heated. Then one person can go back and change their post where they take all the bad stuff out. It keeps people more accountable for their original post. Having any kind of edit feature is a luxury and not a necessity. Kind of like with emails and they can't be changed. Moderators have the ability to change any post without any time limits.
 
Originally Posted By: euphoric85
Originally Posted By: JustN89
I'm not sure that your second OCI was done with Castrol Edge. There's roughly double the amount of moly reading here and no titanium. At first I saw the moly and figured it was just an additive, but with the titanium missing, I'd say that this was some other brand.



You're right! [censored] I got the brand mixed up with my other vehicle fill.

The 2nd OCI here is a GM dealer fill. They claim to use Mobil1


Is there a way to edit the original post, despite the Edit button now being gone? Mods help a brother out!
crazy.gif

Here's what to do. Buy a 5 quart jug of oil at WM and take it to the dealer to use in your car. Ask for the jug back so you know they used your oil. They will just charge you for the labor and filter. Run a 5k oci. I think PP may be too thin. Try the Castrol Edge in 5w-30.
 
Personally I'm not all that concerned with what the dealer put in there, it held up as well as I would expect in this motor. I've emailed them just to confirm what they put in out of curiosity, but I'm not really worried about it myself.

Edge 5w-30 is actually what is in there now so I'll do another UOA after another 5k miles and go from there. If it also slips down in grade to a w-20 like these have, I'll likely switch to a w-40, stick to 7500mi OCIs and call it a day
 
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