Idemitsu Zepro Eco Medalist

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Haven't seen this before and thought I'd share.

I have a new Acura with 3,000 miles but, as it had been on the dealer lot for quite a while, the ff had reached the 12 month OEM drain interval limit.

Honda and Acura continue to recommend leaving the ff in for a "normal" interval to allow the molybdenum from assembly lubes to prevent cylinder wall hot spots during the break-in period. In a bout or obvious over-analysis, I looked for a molybdenum-rich oil for the first oil change. My first choice was Mazda with Moly (made by Ifemitsu) but Mazda dealers don't seem to carry it and on-line prices are outrageous. But I found this Idemitsu on Amazon and presume it may be a near-clone. So,I used this for the first oil change and, at $31 for 5 quarts, not a bad deal.

While molybdenum was the draw for me, this does have a pretty spectacular viscosity index though volatility and TBN are average.

This seems to be a new offering in the US as the Idemitsu's website has no information. This PDS is from Amazon.
 
Ahhh.... its a honda. As long as ther is no sand in the oil it will run forever. This has been proven over and over.

Do what others would consider a waste of money and change synthetic oil at 5k miles and dont worry about boutique oils. By the way M1 also has some Moly and its right at your local walmart
 
I'd have to say that NOACK loss is pretty bad for a synthetic from my perspective...the API SN limit is 15%, and this oil could not be dexos1 as that has a 13% limit.
Doesn't mean it's a bad oil, but that's not an impressive result.
 
Originally Posted By: Virtus_Probi
I'd have to say that NOACK loss is pretty bad for a synthetic from my perspective...the API SN limit is 15%, and this oil could not be dexos1 as that has a 13% limit.
Doesn't mean it's a bad oil, but that's not an impressive result.


Yup, that's some rather mediocre volatility.
 
You get the volatility you'd expect given the high VI of the finished oil.
TBN is pretty good by modern standards.
What makes you think that this oil has high moly?
Nothing you've posted would indicate that.
You may as well have simply left the FF in, since oil can't tell time and doesn't know that your car was a lot queen.
You did get a pretty good price on what must be a fairly rare oil, although Idemitsu does have a blending plant in Indiana which could be where this oil came from.
 
Originally Posted By: fdcg27
You get the volatility you'd expect given the high VI of the finished oil.
TBN is pretty good by modern standards.
What makes you think that this oil has high moly?
Nothing you've posted would indicate that.
You may as well have simply left the FF in, since oil can't tell time and doesn't know that your car was a lot queen.
You did get a pretty good price on what must be a fairly rare oil, although Idemitsu does have a blending plant in Indiana which could be where this oil came from.


Never having seen a VOA or UOA for this oil, I was suckered in by the Moly comments in the PDS and on the bottle. It is mentioned this oil is the ff for a "...leading global vehicle manufacturer", which could be Mazda. Plus, knowing Idemitsu makes Mazda's high Moly oil made this seem credible.

The car sat on the lot through a northern winter and was surely repositioned with some frequency so it just seemed like 12 months was long enough. And yes, the oil came from Idemitsu's Indiana plant.
 
Danh, It would be great if you could send a sample out for analysis.

This oil was mentioned in a previous thread not too long ago. Last I checked, it was out of stock at Amazon.
 
Originally Posted By: PimTac
Danh, It would be great if you could send a sample out for analysis.

This oil was mentioned in a previous thread not too long ago. Last I checked, it was out of stock at Amazon.


Thanks for mentioning the prior thread. From that it does look like it's the same oil as the OEM Mazda with Moly. I'm kind of off the UOA kick at the moment as they seem to add more heat than light, at least in DI/TGDI engines, but we'll see.

It is out of stock at Amazon, but should be available again soon. Fwiw, the bottle I received looked fresh and not shop-worn.
 
Many of the numbers sound similar to the Moly oil but the I've numbers are different. I don't remember a 35 number in the original VOA. Evolution?

A poster here named CATERHAM had spoke of this oil along with other light 20wt oils. The Mazda oil came in above the TGMO for its VI albeit only slightly. Another oil mentioned was Eneos Sustina which is a very high priced product.

Interesting to see if this will replace the Moly oil, If they can make it available
 
Maybe the following moly PPM numbers and visc index from the Russian oil club was a little off. Not sure.

Originally Posted By: oil_film_movies
Originally Posted By: PimTac
Here is a VOA from the Russian oil club. A ton of moly and boron. Check out the kv40 number.

http://www.oil-club.ru/forum/uploads/monthly_10_2013/post-2-0-71264800-1382355659.jpg


It has a VI of 232 ! Isn't that a new record? Haven't seen anything that high.
Also, the moly+boron amount is huge, biggest ever outside of dedicated racing oil. The Idemitsu-made Mazda Genuine Motor Oil 0w20 'only' has 700 ppm moly, not this 947 ppm, so I guess the rumors that both Idemitsu oils are the same may not be correct. For comparison, Redline 0w20 has 869 ppm, now #2 in the moly wars!


Alternatives to this oil with high moly are Redline 0w20 with 869 ppm. High priced.

One thing you can do is simply buy LM MOS2 from napa auto parts or amazon.com and that would give you a good shot. I think its 4,365 ppm moly IIRC. Add it to any dexos1 0w20 you see on the shelf at Walmart, for example.

Originally Posted By: oil_film_movies
Originally Posted By: Indydriver
MED CENTER MAZDA is awesome! Ordered Wednesday, arrived Friday via Fed Ex. I now have 10 qts of Mazda Magic Moly in my inventory, five oil filters and drain plug washers plus a cap wrench I know will fit properly. Great parts dept! Reminds me of Bernardi Honda. Why aren't they all this good?

One even cheaper source of Mazda moly 0w20 is https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B072QX...S7W87ZGT8DBRT8N where the Zepro Moly 0w20 is actually the same oil Mazda sources, and its only $6 per quart in 5-quart jugs.
 
Originally Posted By: Virtus_Probi
I'd have to say that NOACK loss is pretty bad for a synthetic from my perspective...the API SN limit is 15%, and this oil could not be dexos1 as that has a 13% limit.
Doesn't mean it's a bad oil, but that's not an impressive result.


Maybe the product has evolved a bit, but Idemitsu 0w-20 Zepro Eco Medalist (gotta love Japanese marketing) is on the Dexos1 Gen2 approved list.
 
The picture on their site looks like WPP bottles. If that's what they are, then they're a quality motor oil and likely the same as all the other house brands they make,including Walmart's ST (in some regions)
 
Originally Posted By: PimTac
I was under the impression that Idemitsu had their own refinery, located in Schaumburg Illinois?


The bottle says Jeffersonville, Indiana. Schaumburg is pretty much a white-collar suburb and an unlikely spot for a refinery.
 
Originally Posted By: Danh
Originally Posted By: Virtus_Probi
I'd have to say that NOACK loss is pretty bad for a synthetic from my perspective...the API SN limit is 15%, and this oil could not be dexos1 as that has a 13% limit.
Doesn't mean it's a bad oil, but that's not an impressive result.


Maybe the product has evolved a bit, but Idemitsu 0w-20 Zepro Eco Medalist (gotta love Japanese marketing) is on the Dexos1 Gen2 approved list.


Amazon actually has two Idemitsu Zepro 0w20 Eco Medalist oils - one is the Advanced Moly Formula and the other is the Dexos1 Gen2 approved version.

Btw - I now know who bought the other jug of this stuff I didn't buy. Lol. Small world this motor oil community.
 
Originally Posted By: tommersyip
Originally Posted By: Danh
Originally Posted By: Virtus_Probi
I'd have to say that NOACK loss is pretty bad for a synthetic from my perspective...the API SN limit is 15%, and this oil could not be dexos1 as that has a 13% limit.
Doesn't mean it's a bad oil, but that's not an impressive result.


Maybe the product has evolved a bit, but Idemitsu 0w-20 Zepro Eco Medalist (gotta love Japanese marketing) is on the Dexos1 Gen2 approved list.


Amazon actually has two Idemitsu Zepro 0w20 Eco Medalist oils - one is the Advanced Moly Formula and the other is the Dexos1 Gen2 approved version.

Btw - I now know who bought the other jug of this stuff I didn't buy. Lol. Small world this motor oil community.


I didn't see that. Comparing the two versions the Dexos1 Gen2 is a bit thinner (7.91 vs 8.3@ 100C) has a 15F higher flash point and Noack of 11% instead of 14%. Looks like better base stocks but I do wish it didn't get become even thinner. And the new PDS and bottle don't mention molybdenum, so I may be a one-time-only buyer. You likely don't have to worry about future Amazon competition from me!
 
I recall that Idemitsu had a regular 0w-20 oil and the Mazda Moly oil, also 0w-20. The regular synthetic is on Amazon as well although it’s a 30wt.

As thin as that dexos gen2 20wt is, it would be interesting to see the specs on their 0w-16.
 
This seems like a really good option at a good price. Avoiding the dealerships for TGMO, Mazda, etc has a huge value. I personally hate that chore.

I waited to pull the trigger on Amazon, but think I will now.
Hopefully its back in stock and perhaps this shows up on shelves somewhere...and we get a VOA and some UOA on this site...and further discussion.
 
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