Castrol Edge 5W-30 13k miles F150 5.0

[dustyroads]

My goal was to hit something around 10k-11k, but I've been so busy each time I get home that it was easy to push it out even more. Most miles are on rural roads with an occasional trip "down" to Binghamton or "up" to Utica or Syracuse area, so very little stop and go driving. It commutes 6 miles to work (riding the brakes 3 of them while descending into a valley) and 6 miles climbing back home. On weekends, it may haul people, groceries, lumber, grain, hay, horses, cows, ATVs, etc. Whatever is needed, it's certainly used as a truck. This isn't a pretty UOA, but seems reasonable.

11 months (May '18 to April '19)
Odometer: 109781 miles
Oil: 12935 miles
'13 F150 5.0 4x4, crew cab, 6.5ft bed, Leer fiberglass cap, 6450 lbs with half tank fuel
787 gallons of fuel burned (16.435 mpg)
477 hours (unknown idle time, as I can only track total hours for each tank of fuel)

Make-up oil was less than a quart. At just 1400 miles, the oil was down a half quart and I topped it off. At 7900 miles, I added just about 6 more ounces to get it full again. It remained full from there to the time of draining.

Both OCIs below had many miles on them before the winter set in. Like many people, I had always put in fresh oil for the cold weather, but these oils were probably far from their best for the winters they endured. The most recent OCI was at 8k in early December and was over 10k when the coldest weather hit.

The 5W-20 was just SN, without a dexos1 approval. This new one is 5W-30 SN with dexos1 Gen2 approval.

Code


Castrol EDGE Castrol EDGE

5W-30 SN 5w-20 SN

12935 miles 9557 miles



Copper 3 2

Iron 19 17

Chromium 2 0

Aluminum 5 7

Lead 2 0

Tin 0 0



Silicon 10 9

Sodium 11 3

Potassium 3 3



Boron 21 65

Moly 68 65



Nickel 1 0

Silver 0 0



Titanium 9 6

Calcium 833 2207

Magnesium 1391 9

Zinc 817 785

Phosphorus 640 604

Barium 0 0



Oxidation 32% 27%

Nitration 18% 13%

Sulfation 42% 46%



Visc@100°C 11.6 9.7



TAN 5.54 6.19

TBN 2.2 2.3



% fuel 2.82 2.55



PQI 9 6

(Particle Quantifying Index)

 

[double vanos]

I don't see a single thing wrong!

 

[dustyroads]

Originally Posted by double vanos
I don't see a single thing wrong!

I agree. The lab (Milton CAT) said I went too far because of the high sulfation %.

Well, the lab also dinged me for the inverted TBN/TAN. But the sulfation had risen too much in relation to the VOA they did for me so they suggested I back it down a bit.

 

[oil_film_movies]

For hauling, yes probably good to go to a 5w30. You wouldn't have to. Interesting your viscosity goes up during these two runs, which is safe, as it never gets too thin for too much boundary lubrication.
This is a very good wearing engine.
You could get better oil filtering performance with a Fram Ultra. The Puro Boss you have is OK, yet just doesn't have very good 4548-12 filtering efficiency.

 

[dustyroads]

Originally Posted by oil_film_movies

You could get better oil filtering performance with a Fram Ultra. The Puro Boss you have is OK, yet just doesn't have very good 4548-12 filtering efficiency.


Yup I agree, and for the record, this last OCI was done with a Fram Ultra 10575. The previous OCI with 5W-20 had a Boss filter. When I (recently) decided to finally change the oil, I scooted to an Advance Auto and just grabbed the Boss filter as part of their monthly special. It's not the best value proposition out there, but not too awful, either. I would prefer the Fram's efficiency for sure, though.

 

[csandste]

Calcium for Magnesium. Like that switch. Long live SN+.

 

[JLTD]

TAN flipping over....depends on what the virgin TAN is....

Looks good and IMO can go further!

 

[toneydoc]

That oil held up good for some truck action

 

[noclutch]

I pretty new to analyzing these analyses here, so I don't really know Jack....


But two things caught my eye on the OPs UOA are the very good viscosity for 13k miles @ 11.6 in and conjunction with 2.8% fuel?

Am I missing something? When does fuel begin to noticeably decrease viscosity?

Does seem that Edge is usually a good performer though, from what I hear and see.

TIA

 

[doyall]

Given that Castrol Edge 5W-30 SN has a typical viscosity of 9.5 cSt @ 100°C ( https://msdspds.castrol.com/bpglis/FusionPDS.nsf/Files/CB8AEBFC62B9D19380257CB700410AC2/$File/KRAE-9J3G4F.pdf ), unless this was an atypical batch or something other than the SN formulation (which it could be given the low calcium-high magnesium, but I doubt their everyday SN Plus formulated product even starts at that high viscosity), there appears to be some oxidative thickening going on, especially given the fuel dilution.

 

[noclutch]

Ah! I'm not completely ignorant after all

 

[dustyroads]

Originally Posted by JLTD
TAN flipping over....depends on what the virgin TAN is....

Looks good and IMO can go further!

I think so too, but it did thicken up a little. Nothing I'm concerned about yet, as it's still well within grade.

 

[dustyroads]

Originally Posted by noclutch
I pretty new to analyzing these analyses here, so I don't really know Jack....


But two things caught my eye on the OPs UOA are the very good viscosity for 13k miles @ 11.6 in and conjunction with 2.8% fuel?

Am I missing something? When does fuel begin to noticeably decrease viscosity?

Does seem that Edge is usually a good performer though, from what I hear and see.

TIA

Originally Posted by doyall
Given that Castrol Edge 5W-30 SN has a typical viscosity of 9.5 cSt @ 100°C ( https://msdspds.castrol.com/bpglis/FusionPDS.nsf/Files/CB8AEBFC62B9D19380257CB700410AC2/$File/KRAE-9J3G4F.pdf ), unless this was an atypical batch or something other than the SN formulation (which it could be given the low calcium-high magnesium, but I doubt their everyday SN Plus formulated product even starts at that high viscosity), there appears to be some oxidative thickening going on, especially given the fuel dilution.

My 2 VOAs are in one convenient thread on page 1 of the appropriate sub-forum.

My VOA for this oil (SN d1G2) was tested by the same lab and is more accurate than just going by the manufacturer's general numbers. Viscosity and additives can vary from batch to batch, and lab to lab. I've posted VOAs for the SN and SN+, but to be clear, this UOA is SN purchased in May'18.

Some of the VOA numbers for the above UOA:

Oxidation 10
Nitration 5
Sulfation 17

TAN 2.90
TBN 10.1

Viscosity 10.5

Yes, there's definitely some oxidative thickening showing, but I'm not the least bit concerned yet. If the oil was still in the engine, I'd probably stop by the 15k mark, but the increase seen here leaves the oil well within the grade.

Castrol seems to do well when diluted with fuel. I am consistent with my sampling. I don't make any attempts to burn off the fuel, but rather grab a sample after normal driving; the same type of driving as always. The sample above was taken after a 30 mile round trip drive to pick up the oil and filter. The engine loafs along at 1100 rpm, mostly. The truck does six miles each way to work and back five days a week. Going to work, it's coasting/braking more than half of the way.