Thanks for all three of these samples Steve. It's good to have something new on the grid.
I would first like to point something out. This report looks almost identical to Amsoil's OAI reports when everyone here order kits directly from Amsoil. Like I've said before, Amsoil doesn't do the testing on any lubricant, it's outsourced to Polaris Labs, and they have multiple locations across America. Lubrication Engineers is part of Polaris' outsourcing program as well. I will never forget MobeyDick stating OAI was biased towards Amsoil. Ahh....the good ol's days! ;-)
First sample is the break in factory fill Motorcraft
Second sample is Castrol 5W-50
Third sample is Lubrication engineers 15W-40
Wear metals are consistent with everything we have seen before. No worries here.
Don't worry about the red flag on silicon, it's normal. Changing the oil is cleaning it out over time. This is left over leaching from sealers used to build the engine and cast parts. By the 4th-5th oil change, this number will have settled around the 20 ppm area.
Viscosity of the factory fill is abnormally low. I've seen this occur two other times. Still curious about this one, and I almost think this isn't 5W-50 Motorcraft. Maybe something in a 10W-30 grade break in oil.
Castrol 5W-50 sheared to a mid 40 grade, which is normal. Same as all previous samples of Castrol.
Lubrication Engineers 15W-40 is a light 40 grade lubricant in this sample. Factory specs taken from their website say the virgin lubricant is 16.1 cSt @ 100*F. Using this spec, the lubricant has sheared ~15%.
TBN of LE 15W-40 is depleted by ~54%. I don't have enough samples of this lubricant to guess at useable interval.
Overall, your latest sample is yet another nail in the coffin for 50 grade lubricant being used in the GT500. It's too viscous. My only gripe with LE 15W-40 is the extremely low viscosity index of 130 on their spec sheet. This stuff thickens really fast, more than any other sample I've seen from this engine. It's not a desirable trait in this engine.
LE 8800 15W-50 technical data pdf
Question, on the coldest days, did the engine seem sluggish on cold starts?
When I change the oil in my dad's Mercedes E350, I'll be putting in M1 5W-40 Formula M; it's only $6/qt at the local dealer. I'll send a sample in for a VOA when I buy the oil.
Thanks for sending me your sample, I appreciate your/everyone's contribution to the GT500 community.
Wear metal look great after 5,000 miles in this engine. These are typical wear numbers of 2,000 mile samples with lesser overall miles. You can tell that your engine is outside of the break in period, and should note the difference between sample #2 and #1. The more an engine ages, the more wear will decrease. A good lubricant helps this decrease. Anti-wear additives also look very strong and ready to go a much longer distance.
Silicon is still a tad high, but that's going to be down in the 20 ppm range on the next oil change. No worries there, we know it's not from poor filtration.
Viscosity at 13.4 cSt isn't alarming, you have to remember, this lubricant began life around 14.6 cSt. Amsoil 10W-40 AMO only sheared 8-9% over 5,000 miles in your engine. This is something MC 5W-50 could never accomplish, and consistency is a great thing.
TBN (detergent additives) looks great at this interval as well. This lubricant still had a good 8,000 miles left in it minimum if you pushed it to the max.
Ignore Oxidation and Nitration testing. Polaris Labs is failing with that part of the test. There is no consistency.
My only concern is.....
Your report states that you added 7 quarts between the oil change interval. I'm assuming this is a typo. No way your engine could consume that much oil in 5,000 miles. If it is....you have issues that need to be addressed.
