Latest Oil Sample, Motorcraft full syn

[CajunMick]

Copy of latest oil sample analysis of significant mileage of Motorcraft full synthetic oil. My focus is on oil viscosity values which historically has demonstrated low values, not within realm of the brand publicized specs. Be that the oil be blended or full syn. Also previous sample revealed shearing. This report not indicating shearing. Oh well…

Next oil change coming up soon. Have 6 qts of Quaker State full synthetic oil. The QS oil is Ford approved oil. Plan to run that next 1,000-1,500 miles, do sample see how that goes.

The 3 yrs warranty up in October. Truck not driven much, so mileage not a factor, time is. I might switch to 5W-40 syn to keep modest lubricatio.

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[JimKivi]

Thanks for the post. Much better to have "real" data than anecdotal data: "My grandpa used grape seed oil and bacon fat in his Model A and never had a problem", LOL.

 

[TheSEARCH]

Shearing is bad I watch the motor oil geek on youtube . He has a video talking about what happens when oil shears.

Oil Video

 

[Master Blaster]

So what caused the supposed shearing in the first oil analysis, and then just went away in the second?

 

[CajunMick]

So what caused the supposed shearing in the first oil analysis, and then just went away in the second?

Not sure. But I will ask!

 

[CajunMick]

Thanks for the post. Much better to have "real" data than anecdotal data: "My grandpa used grape seed oil and bacon fat in his Model A and never had a problem", LOL.

I remember a Ford model A with v-8 Flathead going around country demo running without oil. Well, not exactly…it had Marvel Mystery Oil in its pan/sump. The oil that smells like medicine!

 

[sajohnson]

Copy of latest oil sample analysis of significant mileage of Motorcraft full synthetic oil. My focus is on oil viscosity values which historically has demonstrated low values, not within realm of the brand publicized specs. Be that the oil be blended or full syn. Also previous sample revealed shearing. This report not indicating shearing. Oh well…

Next oil change coming up soon. Have 6 qts of Quaker State full synthetic oil. The QS oil is Ford approved oil. Plan to run that next 1,000-1,500 miles, do sample see how that goes.

The 3 yrs warranty up in October. Truck not driven much, so mileage not a factor, time is. I might switch to 5W-40 syn to keep modest lubricatio.

Thanks for posting your test results!

I've been encouraging people to get their oil tested rather than picking some arbitrary number of miles for their OCI.

It's amazing how many people make declarations as to the proper interval. It's usually so short that they are wasting oil, time, and money -- but there's no way to know without testing.

 

[Cherokee]

2.0L With a Turbo,
Motorcraft full synthetic at my dealer.
5,000 mile service intervals, because of the turbo. In and out in under an hour, I cruise the lot looking at trucks, pffft
13,000 miles a year,
Oil is mighty cheap insurance.

No snake oil, no additives ever.

Trouble free miles on previous engines all with 10,000 mile oil change intervals :
129,000 Ford
140,000 Ford
167,000 Ford
528,000 yep you read it right. Toyota
394,000 AMC, Jeep
350,000 Ford
191,000 Ford
I drove alot and didn’t list them all.
All of the above on Mobil 1 Full Synthetic and most with Fram oil filters from Walmart, the kind with that deep rough texture on the end. Made them easy to spin on and off by hand.
A few Wix spec filters from Napa

Never did a single oil study.

The Air Force did ‘soap samples’ on the
Wild Weasel Engines every 100 flight hours without fail.

The Air Force proved beyond a shadow of doubt that if you had enough horse power they could put wings on a brick and make it fly.
Said of the F-4 Phantom.

If a non emergency flight was logged past that 100 hour mark the bird was grounded.

Oil analysis is extremely effective but IMHO a total waste of of time and money on a engine 98% of us will trade away long before 200,000 miles.

 

[Master Blaster]

2.0L With a Turbo,
Motorcraft full synthetic at my dealer.
5,000 mile service intervals, because of the turbo. In and out in under an hour, I cruise the lot looking at trucks, pffft
13,000 miles a year,
Oil is mighty cheap insurance.

No snake oil, no additives ever.

Trouble free miles on previous engines all with 10,000 mile oil change intervals :
129,000 Ford
140,000 Ford
167,000 Ford
528,000 yep you read it right. Toyota
394,000 AMC, Jeep
350,000 Ford
191,000 Ford
I drove alot and didn’t list them all.
All of the above on Mobil 1 Full Synthetic and most with Fram oil filters from Walmart, the kind with that deep rough texture on the end. Made them easy to spin on and off by hand.
A few Wix spec filters from Napa

Never did a single oil study.

The Air Force did ‘soap samples’ on the
Wild Weasel Engines every 100 flight hours without fail.

The Air Force proved beyond a shadow of doubt that if you had enough horse power they could put wings on a brick and make it fly.
Said of the F-4 Phantom.

If a non emergency flight was logged past that 100 hour mark the bird was grounded.

Oil analysis is extremely effective but IMHO a total waste of of time and money on a engine 98% of us will trade away long before 200,000 miles.

Crummy oil demands short change intervals. I had 744k on my 87 Ranger when I sold it, and changed it pretty religiously every 5k, all with Castrol crap oil. When I switched to Motul oil on the next 3 engines, I changed to 10k changes. I'm doing 12k changes now on my Mav Hybrid, since it is not direct-injected. The turbo on the EcoBoost is both oil and water cooled, so the turbo does not coke up or cook the oil and should be good for similar change intervals, but using oils with very low evaporative compounds to prevent intake valve carbon deposits. My 13 Fusion 2.0 EcoBoost had zero carbon at 186k when I traded it for the Mav.

 

[CajunMick]

Not sure. But I will ask!

I asked and Blackstone reply.

“Yep, there is evidence of shearing like before. Shearing just means the viscosity is a little lower than it should be for the grade, and it's a characteristic of some engines. It's looking like that's the case for your EcoBoost, and that's true for many other EcoBoost engines as well.

Other things can cause a low viscosity like fuel dilution or using/adding thinner oil so a low viscosity isn't always due to shearing, but when you're certain of the grade and the viscosity is low in analysis on a regular basis, it's usually due to shearing. As long as the engine wears well, a slightly low viscosity is just something to note, not a problem.”

 

[Chops]

Thanks for posting your test results!

I've been encouraging people to get their oil tested rather than picking some arbitrary number of miles for their OCI.

It's amazing how many people make declarations as to the proper interval. It's usually so short that they are wasting oil, time, and money -- but there's no way to know without testing.

Far far more engines are damaged by those neglecting proper oil change intervals than those who “neglect” getting their oil tested.

Little companies like Blackstone and my favorite Speed Diagnostix will forever be little companies serving enthusiasts & nerds.

Playing the “you’re wasting time & money by changing your oil too soon” gambit either falls on deaf ears or on ears that prefer fresher oil than you do

 

[sajohnson]

I asked and Blackstone reply.

“Yep, there is evidence of shearing like before. Shearing just means the viscosity is a little lower than it should be for the grade, and it's a characteristic of some engines. It's looking like that's the case for your EcoBoost, and that's true for many other EcoBoost engines as well.

Other things can cause a low viscosity like fuel dilution or using/adding thinner oil so a low viscosity isn't always due to shearing, but when you're certain of the grade and the viscosity is low in analysis on a regular basis, it's usually due to shearing. As long as the engine wears well, a slightly low viscosity is just something to note, not a problem.”

An excellent reply from Blackstone as usual.

One reason of many why proclamations from on high regarding oil change intervals are often incorrect is touched on in their response:

"Shearing just means the viscosity is a little lower than it should be for the grade, and it's a characteristic of some engines. It's looking like that's the case for your EcoBoost, and that's true for many other EcoBoost engines as well."

All engines are not the same.
Operating environments can vary.
Engines are exposed to different loads.
Owners have a wide range of driving styles.

Mfrs acknowledge those variations with their "normal", "severe", etc., service intervals, although they require some guesstimating. For example, is towing a 1,200 lb. landscaping trailer 50 miles 'severe service'? What if it's done 2-3 times?

If designed well, the OLM is a reasonable alternative to testing. Unfortunately, the OLM cannot detect fuel dilution; coolant leaks; excessive bearing wear, etc., but at least it can keep track of how the vehicle was driven, and the conditions.

Without testing, or an OLM, the factory recommendations should be fine -- in fact, they are conservative. In 50 years of working on and reading about cars I can't recall even one case where an owner changed the oil according to mfr specs (and did not abuse the vehicle) and the engine blew up because the oil was not changed often enough.

Using shorter intervals than the mfr recommends obviously won't hurt, but it is a waste of time, money, and resources. If (say) every 7,500 miles is good, why not every 6K? Every 5K? How about every 2,500 miles?

Analogy time: A person goes to a doctor with an issue that calls for medication. Typical procedure is to follow recommended dosing guidelines and then do blood testing to verify therapeutic levels. The doctor sez, "We don't need no stinkin' tests! Most patients of your weight are fine with the dose I prescribed. Testing is a waste of time!" Then it turns out that the patient has some condition that wasn't readily apparent that affects the dosing.

Oops.

More info is always better.

 

[Chops]

I’m currently very healthy - but in engine years I’m about 200,000 miles old.

If my Doc told me to hold off on the next annual visit to “save my time & money” - I would quickly find a new doctor.

Also, I don’t trust ANY doctor that does not change her oil every 5,000 miles or 6 months whichever comes first.

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