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.
 

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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.
 
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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!

Edit: Kept reading last night and confirmed that potassium and sodium are in the Peak formula that I used at the time. I did only one round of drain & fill, which means the old-new mix is perhaps 33/67 (judging by how much is left in the first jug). The hike in potassium coincides with the introduction of new formula. What else is there to blame? I of course blame myself for the choice. I can feel Gandalf staring at me.

Followed up with Brian at the lab and he didn't think the new formula did it. I will do two more rounds of drain & fill with Peak OET Asian Green 50/50.
 

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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 just did a 10K run on the Pennz Non-Ultra Platinum and the Boron was way low compared to the previous oils I have used. Everything was fine but WHOA that is a BIG difference in Boron from the other oils.
 
From my reading, I think the Ultra got the extra boron while the the Platinum oil did not. It was one thing that differentiated them.

When I did the math and found the difference is 25% and 10%, I thought those were some nice numbers that a human would intentionally target so it must be a formula change.

I know LSPI prevention is a big theme these days and is why calcium has been cut and magnesium has increased to fill some of that role, but I'm not sure what role boron would play in that.

On the topic, I also noted that the container stickers have changed.

Had to use imgur because the forum software cuts images down to such a small size that it prevents zooming for inspection.

Old on the left, New on the right:


I'm not sure why the marketing team agonized over "Made From" vs "Made With" natural gas, but the more noteworthy changes are on the back.
  • No longer lists ACEA A5/B5, A1/B1
  • No longer lists Ford WSS-M2C946-A
  • No longer lists Honda/Acura HT0-06
We don't know enough to necessarily say the oil is now worse (remember they never listed GM Dexos for the Ultra, either). They maintain that this is the best oil they can make, derived from their race experience. It just means there is something about this formula that doesn't fit within these other specs so they can't officially list them.
 
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