SkyActiv Oil Analysis Thread

2019 CX-5 NA. I'm an extended oil change interval enthusiast at least with port injected engines. I'm not certain that extened OCI's is a good idea with direct injection engines, especially old school GDI like SkyActiv that doesn't have port injectors to keep the intake valves clean. Will not go more than 10K on oil changes with this engine. Like the cleaning ability that the R and P has from the engineered base oil and not the additive package(the Valvoline guy, Lake Speed Jr. interviewed said so). Some stories on the web from drivers with oil burning engines from gummed up rings like the GM 5.3's, Honda V6's, etc getting positive results after using R and P. I must say that the STP/Amalie HDEO 5w-40 did very well the last oil change.
 

Attachments

  • Cx-5-3.webp
    Cx-5-3.webp
    225.2 KB · Views: 30
I finally got my result today.

skyactiv-g-2-5-turbo-oil-analysis-3.webp


I'm happy to see that the wear metals are down despite the higher mileage this interval. Looks like I've cleared the last of the silicon out from assembly. And fuel dilution has continued to reduce on a per-mile basis, a sign that the rings are nearly fully broken in.

One big curiosity stands out to me. The amount of boron (friction modifier) is down 25%, and calcium (detergent) is down 10%. ZDDP (anti-wear) is also down slightly. Did Pennzoil alter their formula? Just to be sure, I shake up my oil jugs every few months, and vigorously before the oil change, to ensure the additives are all going into the engine.
 
Last edited:
I finally got my result today.

View attachment 379531

I'm happy to see that the wear metals are down despite the higher mileage this interval. Looks like I've cleared the last of the silicon out from assembly. And fuel dilution has continued to reduce on a per-mile basis, a sign that the rings are nearly fully broken in.

One big curiosity stands out to me. The amount of boron (friction modifier) is down 25%, and calcium (detergent) is down 10%. ZDDP (anti-wear) is also down slightly. Did Pennzoil alter their formula? Just to be sure, I shake up my oil jugs every few months, and vigorously before the oil change, to ensure the additives are all going into the engine.
I believe so as I had the same thing on a PUP 0w20 test from about the same dates on another vehicle I do analysis on..the boron went down and the viscosity increased....
 
Latest report on my 2017 CX-3 Skyactiv 2.0 with 165,550 miles. 6,300 miles on Royal Purple 0w20 with LM Motor Oil Saver and RP filter.

The next sample is Idemitsu 5w30, Mazda Thailand filter, and LM moly. 2K more miles to go so maybe mid January.

***Comments: Liqui Moly Oil Saver is fine to use, and it doesn't tend to skew the results much, if at all. There's a different reason potassium and sodium spiked. These elements together show coolant
contamination. The good news is, the contamination doesn't seem to have interfered with lubrication; the wear metals are about as low as they were in past samples. There aren't any other contaminants like excess dirt or fuel dilution to deal with. If coolant is disappearing, seek inspection. If no coolant loss is seen, check back on contamination in 5K-6K miles.***

I have not detected any coolant loss and I am looking under the hood more than twice a week. Pretty sure that the sample had not been contaminated during collection. Will wait and see!
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot_2025-12-03_143946.webp
    Screenshot_2025-12-03_143946.webp
    62.4 KB · Views: 3
  • Screenshot_2025-12-03_143958.webp
    Screenshot_2025-12-03_143958.webp
    57.4 KB · Views: 3
Last edited:

New Threads and Articles

Back