Oil Analysis: Redline 5W-20 after 11,000 miles

[Itchy]

Well, I had a lot of hope for Redline 5w-20 as an extended oil; especially at about $10 per quart. I've started using them at 30,000 miles, changed oil at 40k, then again at 51k with this report.

I typically drive under severe conditions < 5 mile trips. That probably added to the wear and tear. In any case, I'll be switching to petroleum 5w-20, probably Honda's brand and perform oil changes ever 3,000 miles.

[rockman19762001]

Thanks for report, I should send in a report on my oil changes also. I have been using a syn-dino blend and changing at 5,000 miles. I will call blackstone for a shipping container soon.

[mfisher1967]

I am an oil junkie too, so please do not take these comments personally. I know that Redline is a great oil, but I don't think that I would trust any oil for 10,000+ miles without performing at least one UOA at ~8,000 miles to see how it was holding up. Perhaps I would feel more comfortable running without the 8,000 mile UOA after seeing a few 10,000+ mile OCI's without any issues.

With that being said, please consider the following:

For 10,000 mile OCI
Wix Oil Filter = ~$6
5 quarts of Redline 5W-20 = ~$50
One BLS UOA = ~$32 ($22 UOA, $10 TBN)
Total Cost = ~$88

For 5,000 mile OCI
Wix Oil Filter = ~$6
5 quarts of Mobil 1 or PP 5W-20 = ~$22
One BLS UOA = $22 (No TBN needed)
Total Cost = $50

In my opinion you are rolling the dice to save ~$12 (Two 5,000 mile drains = $100 versus One 10,000 mile drain = $88). This holds especially true because you state that you do a lot of short trip driving.

This is just my .02 cents.

[Itchy]

The $12 savings isn't really a concern to me as the inconvenience of taking the Pilot in for service. My previous vehicle, a BMW had factory recommended oil intervals at 15,000 miles. I always added an extra oil change in the middle as that seemed excessive. However redline oil is even superior to BMW's synthetic brand, so you'd think it'd go a little farther. I guess that's not the case here. I think the excessive wear in the engine was from my short 2 mile trips to work, where the engine would never fully warm up (along with lubricating properly) prior to being shut off.

In speaking with the Blackstone engineer, who by the way was very easy to talk to, mentioned that some engines also do not interact very well with synthetics.

In any case, I'll probably switch back to conventional at 55k, then change the oil at 57,500, 60k, then every 5k. I no longer drive short trips. Maybe I'll do an oil analysis at 65k. But then again I'm really eyeing the new Tundra!!

[mfisher1967]

I get excellent UOA's from my 2006 Pilot using Mobil One 5W-20 when I let the maintenance minder tell me when to perform oil changes.

Short trip driving usually results in high fuel dilution and viscosity breakdown, neither of which was present in your UOA. This tells me that you simply ran the Redline oil too long. I bet a UOA would have looked good at 8,000 or 9,000 miles.

With that being said, may I suggest the following:

A) Amsoil ASL 0W-20, which should be able to last 10,000+ miles with ease.

B) Mobil One 5W-20, which should be able to last 6,500 miles with ease.

C) Pennzoil Platinum 5W-20, which should be able to last 6,500 miles with ease.

Honestly, I have seen mixed results on UOA's from engine's using Redline oil. Their oil provides great protection in race applications, and severe service, but I don't believe that it is intended for super-extended drain intervals.

[ctobio]

Honestly, 3000 miles on Dino is overkill. 5000 on Synth is probably overkill as well. Next oil change I'll be running an oil analysis on my Pilot.

I'm a believer in synthetics. Here's the oil analysis for my '03 VW Passat, which has gotten nothing but synthetic every 5000 miles, and is at 100,000 now:



Based on the TBN available at nearly 5000 miles, I expect an OCI of 7500+ is not unreasonable. It helps that I have a 6.5 qt sump, and this engine has burned 1 qt every 2500 miles since new (and is normal for this engine) so I'm refreshing by 1/6 every 2500.

[sblvro]

send an oil analysis of your synthetic oils at 10,000 miles so I can see if my extended performance 5W/30 Mobil 1 is holding up which is good for 15,000 miles using honda oem filter

[Itchy]

I really think my short distance driving contributed to the accelerated wear. In any case I've lost faith in synthetics, especially when the engineer mentioned that all their analysis engineers run standard petroleum oils. They probably perform their own oil analysis with each oil change.

[ctobio]

Was any "make up oil" required during this long term test? The reason I ask is because the Honda Pilot has a relatively small sump at 4.5 qts, and without any topping off, you're really not doing much of a refresh of the oil that's in there. I would not expect a synthetic to do well under these circumstances.