Well, since I got the results before Joe and he gave me the okay to do so, here are the oil analysis results for his Focus.
Lab: Oil Analyzers
Miles on Car: 65,450
Miles on Oil: 10,250
Time on Oil: 6 months
Iron - 4
Chromium - 0
Lead - 0
Copper - 5
Aluminum - 3
Nickel - 0
Silver - 0
Silicon - 4
Boron - 1
Sodium - 5
Magnesium - 26
Calcium - 2837
Barium - 0
Phosphorus - 828
Zinc - 1066
Molbdenum - 4
Titanium - 0
Vanadium - 0
Potassium - 0
Fuel dilution - <1
Viscosity @ 100C - 8.26
Water - 0
Soot/Solids - N/A
Glycol - Negative
TBN - 3.01
Oxidation - 9.0
Nitration - 18.0
Joe ran this oil for over 10k miles. Now if you remember the XL line of oil was originally designed for 7500 miles or 6 months. Earlier this year Amsoil reformulated it for the new GF4 specs. They removed the 7500 mile recommendation, I say primarily for those with the GM Oil Life Monitors.
So Joe takes this oil over 10,000 miles and its still holding up remarkably well. Wear number are outstandingly low, very near what a virgin oil analysis would look like. The TBN shows that it has went the mileage with being at 3.01. He is getting close to the limit of the oil but it still has some life left in it and I believe would make it 12,500 miles which would be the limit for the SDF34 Oil filter he is using.
His motor is barely showing any wear at all with that oil and it seems his motor is responding much better to this line of Amsoil oil than the Series 2000 oil. This is not uncommon either, some motors respond differently to different oils and using oil analysis you can find the one that works best for your motor. My Focus ran better on the Series 3000 than the Series 2000 Amsoil. You just have to keep analyzing until you get what your motor needs. Sometimes just a change in viscosity can make a difference, such as going from a 5W20 to a 5W30 or vice versa.
Notice also that the oil stayed in grade. In other words, he put in a 5W20 oil and it stayed a 5W20 oil. The viscosity was 8.26, the viscosity range for a 5W20 is 5.6 - 9.3, so its not showing the thickening that the Series 2000 oil did. As a result his wear numbers are down about 25 - 30 %, which is exactly what you want.
All I can say is its a fantastic report, despite him running a K&N filter silicon levels are a lot lower than Im used to for that filter and I suspect the oil filter is doing an outstanding job of filtration with silicon numbers that low.
Great report Joe, carry on.
Last edited on Wed Aug 31st, 2005 02:08 pm by SyntheticShield
____________________ My car is a synner! It uses Amsoil Synthetic Lubricants.
2001 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP
It whines a lot, but I like it
Good bill of health! Damn Joe you drive a Lot though!
So neither the oil nor the filter had to be changed out before the 10k? I wouldn't want oil that I needed to change the filter before the oil was ready to leave too, rather it just be the same time for both, ideally.
Thats one of the ways Amsoil gets their 25,000 mile oil. Besides it having hefty additive package you also change the oil filter mid way through (12,500 miles or 6 months). In the process of doing that, you add oil to make up for what was lost with the oil filter and it kinda refreshes the oil a little. The Focus takes not quite a half a quart with the oil filter out of a total fill of 4.5qts. So you are talking something like 10% of the oil. Not a lot, but you'd be surprised at how much it helps.
Though with the location of the Zetec oil filter, its not all that convienient, but in the grand scheme of things, it saves money. On the Grand Prix my filter is just inside the passenger side wheel so its tons easier to get to, but the filter isnt quite as big as the one on the Focus. One of the reasons I'll be slapping on my dual remote by-pass system at the first chance I get.
____________________ My car is a synner! It uses Amsoil Synthetic Lubricants.
2001 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP
It whines a lot, but I like it
Yeah my car certainly gets some miles on her. Almost 600 a week. My gas bill is killing me. It should also be mentioned that the oil shown above also had 2 full autocrosses on it. And still doesn't look much worse for the wear. I'm satisfied in trying to push my new oil to 12,500 and seeing if I can just do the change the filter and oil all at once deal. I certainly know I've saved money. Figure 4 changes at ~20/change, that's 80 bucks, and a change with the Amsoil 1 change is about $40 or something like that. Not too shabby.
Codger wrote: Good numbers.
Are you planning on changing both filters or just the primary when you install your kit?
Both filters? If you are speaking of the by-pass filters, I'll install two new filters. I wont change any of the filters until the oil analysis says that its time to do so. This isnt what Amsoil recommends. They recommend that you change the full flow filter at 12,500 miles / 6mo intervals and the by-pass filter at 25,000 mile / 1 yr intervals. However, through experience and oil analysis I have seen first hand that the bypass filter allows the whole thing go a lot longer. I know that because of the bypass filter keeping everything so clean both filters can go a year or better.
Since the Grand Prix is a new beast, I'll do oil analysis about every 6 months up to about 2 years and if all still shows well then I'll just change it out because it made it so far. Though I personally know of people that have over 80,000 miles on their oil with the dual remote by-pass system. It kinda depends on the car. Each motor has its own little personality that can allow you to go forever or force you to change the oil and/or filters more frequently. Fortunately the Zetec motor and the L67 (Grand Prix) have shown as being really easy on oil for the most part.
____________________ My car is a synner! It uses Amsoil Synthetic Lubricants.
2001 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP
It whines a lot, but I like it
So what I'm seeing here is that basically the XL7500 is what Joe used and ran it the life of the Series 2000 & 3000 right?
My concern here, even though the test proves it's held it's own, is that if there is a failure at some point, Amsoil won't stand by the failure nor will the car company warranty the damage due to exceeding the recommended drain/filter intervals. I mean you can try to fight it using the M-Moss Act, but the recommendations are clear.
I wouldn't suggest to any of my clients to go that long with the 7500 oils just for the simple fact that it's not recommended by the company. It would end up being a choice of a client. As I said, the numbers speak for themselves, but also as Daniel stated each engine is just a little different.
So having said that, the change over from conventional oils to synthetics, Amsoil to be specific, the change would average $50 depending on if you do the flush, which is recommended.
Also, now, we're looking at fuel prices increasing, so will oil changes and shipping etc. I would still recommend Amsoil and I use their products and trust them and have been thrilled with them. To me it's worth the initial expense & time savings. NOt to mention helping the environment.
____________________ Get in, Sit down, Shut up and HANG ON!
You misread, I used the XL-7500 for 10,250 miles, not 35,000 as the Series 2K is billed out for. I did no filter changes of any sort, I ran what was installed for 10,250 miles, drained and changed the filter, I will now run the XL-7500 for 12,500 miles which is the life expectancy of the SDF-34 filter. I am confident that even with 2 autocrosses, and the mileage, that the oil has done it's job exceptionally, and with life still remaining. I would not be fool-hardy enough to run the oil for 35,000 miles. Especially without a filter change. I believe that since the filter is able to filter out to 12,500 miles, that the oil will hold, since it isn't subjected to excess amounts of particulate matter being suspended indefinitely in it. A good filter makes a heap of difference, hence those with by-passes can run longer.
They have changed the strict recommendation to 7500 or longer on some cars, cars with the GM life monitor run it until the monitor says not to. As far as I can tell, that makes the guarantee part a little vague, but frankly, the Series 2000 sucked in my opinion, at least in my car it sucked 15K and it was thick as cold molasses in my engine. The XL lines seem by empirical data far better for my car. Notice it isn't called XL-7500 anymore either it's just XL
