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Old 03-24-2005, 08:46 AM   #1
bluesubie
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Join Date: Jan 2000
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Location: N.J.
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04 FXT
20 OB Onyx XT

Default Oil analysis on German Castrol Syntec 0W30, 5,930 miles, FXT

Report by Blackstone. First column is current, second column is M1 5W30 w/5,774 miles on the oil.

Quote:
Equipment make: Subaru
Equipment model: 2.5L Turbo
Oil use interval: 5,930 miles
Oil type & Grade: Castrol Syntec 0W30
Make-up oil added: 0
Miles on unit: 21,930
Air filter: Amsoil
Oil filter: OEM

Aluminum 4 6
Chromium 1 1
Iron 10 15
Copper 6 20
Lead 2 2
Tin 0 0
Molybdenum 12 63
Nickel 1 0
Maganese 0 0
Silver 0 0
Titanium 0 0
Potassium 0 3
Boron 14 115
Silicon 15 18
Sodium 2 6
Calcium 2582 3394
Magnesium 106 10
Phosphorous 680 764
Zinc 818 904
Barium 0 1

Properties
SUS Viscosity @ 210F: 64.8
Flashpoint: 365F [>385]
Fuel %: 1.0 [<2.0]
Antifreeze: 0 [0]
Water: 0 [<0.1]
Insolubules: .4 [<.6]

Dennis: Nice improvement. You can see your engine maturing in wear with this sample. Most metals have settled down, though iron and copper are still a little above average. They should drop more in the next sample. We did find a little bit of fuel dilution, which is common in engines that see a lot of city driving and/or idling. We don’t consider it a problem until it reads above 2.0%. No other contaminants present, and the viscosity was normal. The fuel isn’t hurting anything. Looks great!
This was my first German Castrol UOA. I'll be switching to an OEM air filter soon.

I'm guessing that fuel dilution is due to the fact that it was winter and I drive five miles each way weekdays. I probably didn't "push it" as often as I would've liked [no track, strip or auto-x]. It looks like the additives and viscosity held up "ok" despite the dilution. No make-up oil added, although it was about 1/2 quart low right before I sampled it.

The M1's viscosity by comparison was 57.8 during the summer on less miles and .5% fuel dilution. Not sure what I'll try next.

-Dennis

Last edited by bluesubie; 03-24-2005 at 08:52 AM.
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Old 03-24-2005, 09:55 AM   #2
vvk
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1998 Impreza 2.5RS
BDP

Impreza GC8 looks great

Excellent results! Keep doing what you are doing.
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Old 03-24-2005, 01:41 PM   #3
bluesubie
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20 OB Onyx XT

Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by vvk
Excellent results! Keep doing what you are doing.
I'm a little unsure about sticking with the GC since it's not "Energy Conserving" and not a 5W30 or 10W30. I do notice that the owner's manual talks about preferred and recommended viscosities instead of required.

My dealer is pretty level headed when it comes to things like that though. If it ever came down to it, I can now prove that GC protects better than M1 even though it's a 0W30.

Quote:
Originally Posted by lark6
...changed over to M1 5W30 at ~7500 miles a couple of months ago. I need to be sure whether I need to switch away from that come the warmer weather.
Just switch to something thicker and/or more shear stable by July, IMHO. Don't forget to do a UOA!

-Dennis
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Old 03-24-2005, 12:57 PM   #4
lark6
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Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by bluesubie
This was my first German Castrol UOA. I'll be switching to an OEM air filter soon.

I'm guessing that fuel dilution is due to the fact that it was winter and I drive five miles each way weekdays. I probably didn't "push it" as often as I would've liked [no track, strip or auto-x]. It looks like the additives and viscosity held up "ok" despite the dilution. No make-up oil added, although it was about 1/2 quart low right before I sampled it.

The M1's viscosity by comparison was 57.8 during the summer on less miles and .5% fuel dilution. Not sure what I'll try next.

-Dennis
Well I'm watching you! I just hit 10K today; changed over to M1 5W30 at ~7500 miles a couple of months ago. I need to be sure whether I need to switch away from that come the warmer weather.

Ed
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Old 03-24-2005, 01:57 PM   #5
subenerd
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Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by bluesubie
I probably didn't "push it" as often as I would've liked [no track, strip or auto-x].

-Dennis
Im scared to wait past 4K miles to change oil (synthetic), cause I 'push it' quite often...prolonged periods of time with the tach in the 6 -7K range.

I would like to have an analysis of my oil to see how its doing so I can know for sure and not speculate on how I 'think' my oil is.
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Old 03-24-2005, 04:44 PM   #6
bluesubie
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20 OB Onyx XT

Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by subenerd
Im scared to wait past 4K miles to change oil (synthetic), cause I 'push it' quite often...prolonged periods of time with the tach in the 6 -7K range.

I would like to have an analysis of my oil to see how its doing so I can know for sure and not speculate on how I 'think' my oil is.
Pushing it is actually better for the oil. I take a lot of short trips, so the oil doesn't get up to operating temp, especially during the winter (see lab comments about fuel dilution).

Quote:
Originally Posted by drees
With those 5mi short trips and cold weather, good to use around a 5k oil change interval.
Yeah, I should scale back on my winter OCI's. I usually take longer drives and road trips during the rest of the year.

-Dennis
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Old 03-25-2005, 10:24 PM   #7
esteve
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Default

How much is the GC? The way they rave about it over at BITOG it's like the holy grail of lubrication...shoot, it even has its own category in their forums. I wonder why it's not classified as being "energy conserving?"

I'm very content with M1 although I returned all my cases in exchange for 10W-30.
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Old 03-26-2005, 10:06 AM   #8
bluesubie
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04 FXT
20 OB Onyx XT

Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by esteve
How much is the GC? The way they rave about it over at BITOG it's like the holy grail of lubrication...shoot, it even has its own category in their forums. I wonder why it's not classified as being "energy conserving?"
Yeah, it's crazy.
I bought it on sale for $3.99, IIRC. It's too thick at operating temp. to be energy conserving. It's around 12.2 cst's while most 30 weight synthetics are 10-11 cst's. Thicker oil = better protection, but slightly less mpg's (what, 1-2 mpg's?).

-Dennis
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Old 03-24-2005, 02:11 PM   #9
drees
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Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by bluesubie
This was my first German Castrol UOA. I'll be switching to an OEM air filter soon.

The M1's viscosity by comparison was 57.8 during the summer on less miles and .5% fuel dilution. Not sure what I'll try next.
The Si readings are definitely high, below 10 is a good reading on a Subie. My Si readings dropped significantly after going back to the stock filter after running the Amsoil.

With those 5mi short trips and cold weather, good to use around a 5k oil change interval. I'm running 7.5k intervals but my commute is 22mi in SoCal, so I could probably bump it up closer to 10k.

Any synthetic oil will work well in Subies. I've tried M1 and Amsoil in various weights (0w30, 5w30 and 10w30), with similar readings on all of them. My best numbers were my last on M1 10w30, but the numbers just seem to keep on getting better with time.

My last UOA is here: http://www.greenhydrant.com/gallery/.../c35071?full=1
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