Oil recommendations & OCI Mazda 3

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Monterrey, Mexico
Hello All,

Hope you are doing well,

I would like to request your support to recommend some good oils based on my application and also considering the prices,

- Car
2013 Mazda3 2.5 (pre-skyactive) with 65K miles

- Commute
Weekdays 37 mile round trip commute to work mixed driving
Weekend highway 130 miles round trip to see the family

- Maintenance History
Always dealer maintained up to my purchase 3 months ago and i am looking to service it elsewhere from now due to dealership is overpriced.

- Synthetic Oil choices in Mexico (i am targeting to use 5w-30)
Valvoline Synpower 5w-30 $9.15 USD/quart
Castrol 5w-30 (the one previously known as SLX) $10.52 USD/quart
Mobil 1 5w-30 $11 USD/quart
Royal Purple 5w-30 $11.57 USD/quart
Quaker State UD 5W-30 $9.70 USD/quart

- OCI
I always use 10,000 KM (6,000 miles approx) for synthetic

-Filter
Will use FRAM Ultra

I have seen a little bit under the valve cover and it looks really clean
Was thinking to run Synpower but just want to know if the other more expensive oils will actually make a difference in the long run (most likely not).

Thank you guys for any feedback.

(There are other weights available, such as Castrol, and Mobil 0w-40 but was thinking to go 5w-30 for now)
(No Mobil 1 AFE, EP, AP available in Mexico sadly)
 
That Valvoline is an excellent oil and would be a great choice. All the others as well except for Royal Purple which I am not familiar with. I stick with the major brands. Your oci sounds good to go.
 
I'd use the Quaker Ultimate Durability oil since they recently raised the moly in it to 129 ppm (previous was 58 ppm).
I'm a moly fan, as it has been the go-to friction modifier in a lot of oils for a while. A little more usually works well.
You're right to use a Fram Ultra, considered the best.
 
All of your oil and filter choices are high quality products and could be used for longer change intervals if you want. With no cold weather or short trip driving, you could extend your change intervals from 10,000 to 20,000 km but keep a close eye on oil level and condition. Follow the oil life monitor if the car equipped or the owners manual for normal driving.
 
Originally Posted By: JohnnyJohnson
You mean with all that free trade Mexico has with the US you can't get 19.88 oil from Walmart shipped to you?


To buy engine oil at that price point it would have to be Dino for 19.88 for a 5 quart jug.
You probably can have it shipped from Walmart but is just isnt going to be synthetic at that price point over here in Mexico.

Probably one of the reasons its so much more expensive here is that synthetic still isnt a more mainstream choice, most people over here still using dyno 25w-50, probably buy a blend at the most.

I used to be like that until i found BITOG then my whole maintenance mindset changed for good due to all the knowledge shared here.
 
Well if your mindset changed due to BITOG, then you should be doing extended oil change intervals using that super expensive synthetic oil @ 10,000 miles. Haha.
 
Originally Posted By: Artem
Well if your mindset changed due to BITOG, then you should be doing extended oil change intervals using that super expensive synthetic oil @ 10,000 miles. Haha.


I do partially agree with you as i have seen the UOAs here and 6000 miles for quality synthetic is most likely overkill, i just tend to be somewhat obsessive about maintenance.

What i am actually using good BITOG knowledge foe example is that at OCI of 6000 miles the Valvoline Synpower is more than adequate and i do not have to spend more money on the Royal Purple (for example) for extra protection just because it costs more, my engine under those conditions will not most likely tell the difference.
 
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Thanks all for giving me some feedback and confirming the Valvoline or Quaker State will do a very good job keeping my engine clean and protected at my OCI.

Have a good one!
 
We have the same Mazda 3 with sky active engine 2013 but it calls for 0W-20 which the dealer puts in Castrol Magnatec . We are in Central Texas . 5,000 OCI
 
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Sounds like a winning plan. Both of those oils will serve you fine. The idea that moly is better than other friction reducing components is just speculation. But, with the recent reformulating of oils to the new dexos gen 2 standard, Valvoline May have switched back to Moly from the sodium base they were using. We won’t know until an analysis becomes public.

In the meantime have no worries on either brand.
 
Yea getting quality oil at a good price in Mexico sucks since its imported and gets hit with import duties to protect domestic oil producers. I drive to the US every 6 months and stock up on Castrol euro formula 0w40 for the wifes VW and Redline 5w30 for the GTO along with Mobil 1 EP filters. Vehicle maintenance here is very spotty and most people think any oil is fine, when I first got my wifes New Beetle the person who sold it was using 15w50 dino oil in it. It has taken 5 1000km oil changes and flushes (including dropping the pan twice) to clean the engine up. The problem here in Mexico City is while the distances driven are very short (8 km each way for me) the stop and go idling is huge (1 hr to 1 hr 45 min ) which is very hard on oil.
 
Originally Posted By: PimTac
Sounds like a winning plan. Both of those oils will serve you fine. The idea that moly is better than other friction reducing components is just speculation.


Problem is you don't know if non-moly FMs are high in many oils since a VOA/UOA doesn't detect non-moly FMs. If moly is there in high amounts, at least you know they were going for low friction.

If you look at the last 3 graphs (near the end of this paper: http://www.lube-media.com/documents/cont...nEngineOils.pdf ), you'll see moly does work well. They tested the Mazda/Idemitsu 0w20 high-moly oil as well as some low-moly oils, and experimented with adding moly and/or polymer esters.
Therefore, it is true if you choose an approach to reducing friction using polymer esters (as Castrol's Magnatec likely does), vs. choosing to use gobs of moly like Mazda/Idemitsu oil does, you do get some good friction reduction in boundary conditions (where the oil film is near zero) with either approach.
Problem is a VOA/UOA only shows a strong moly approach to friction reduction, so we don't know if the other low-ish moly oils actually do put in lots of polymer esters (expensive?) to fully make up for it. At least seeing more moly, you know that works. Sure Castrol's Magnatec may be using some boosted level of polymer esters, but thats the only formula that seems to even hint at using polymer esters.

Bottom line: Go with Quaker UD here since we know they boost moly a bit, while we think moly is low in the other oils, and we can't tell if polymer esters are taking over since VOA/UOAs don't show esters.

Of course with dexos1 Gen2 oils arriving, many brands may get a visible boost in moly levels too, in the future. We pick up clues to lowered frction wherever we can.
 
If that is the case then why not throw a bottle of Liqui Moly additive along with your oil? More is better, right? With that you should have around 2000ppm of moly in that QS.
 
Originally Posted By: PimTac
If that is the case then why not throw a bottle of Liqui Moly additive along with your oil? More is better, right? With that you should have around 2000ppm of moly in that QS.
You're ridiculous. Evidently, you didn't read the engineering paper I cited. Also, LM MOS2, if one chooses that, won't raise moly levels to anywhere near 2000 ppm. Funny.
 
Brand fanatics are a dime a dozen. Moly is just one friction reducer. Just because some oils use less doesn’t make them inferior.

I am currently running the Idemitsu Mazda oil. No complaints since the engine is quiet but can that be attributed to the Moly? Nope. Too many factors.

Agree to disagree here.
 
Originally Posted By: mctmatt
We have the same Mazda 3 with sky active engine 2013 but it calls for 0W-20 which the dealer puts in Castrol Magnatec . We are in Central Texas . 5,000 OCI


Double check your owner’s manual...my 2017 CX-3 specs 0W-20 in US, Canada and PR ONLY. Mexican cars spec 5W-30. Which kind of destroys the urban legend that modern engines are designed to run only one specific weight of oil.
 
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Originally Posted By: compratio10_5
All of your oil and filter choices are high quality products and could be used for longer change intervals if you want. With no cold weather or short trip driving, you could extend your change intervals from 10,000 to 20,000 km but keep a close eye on oil level and condition. Follow the oil life monitor if the car equipped or the owners manual for normal driving.

^^^^^^^This^^^^^^
IMO.....Your OCI is extremely short with the driving your doing....so get with it shoot for 18 to 20,000 km. I'm also in favor of Quaker State UD. Its a fine oil, especially with the extra moly.
 
Originally Posted By: Oregoonian
Originally Posted By: compratio10_5
All of your oil and filter choices are high quality products and could be used for longer change intervals if you want. With no cold weather or short trip driving, you could extend your change intervals from 10,000 to 20,000 km but keep a close eye on oil level and condition. Follow the oil life monitor if the car equipped or the owners manual for normal driving.

^^^^^^^This^^^^^^
IMO.....Your OCI is extremely short with the driving your doing....so get with it shoot for 18 to 20,000 km. I'm also in favor of Quaker State UD. Its a fine oil, especially with the extra moly.


Again,

Thank you all for the continued feedback.

Looks like Quaker state it is.

I will seriously consider extending my OCI to 15,000 KM (9,000 miles) but unfortunately there is no UOA lab like Blackstone in Mexico.

Most mechanics here are still going by "Your oil came out dark, looks pretty burned"
laugh.gif
 
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