Oh yes you're right , MB specifies Fleece filter which is made of 'special' material which isn't paper/cellulose material that I'm talking about .

Hence there should be limitation for cheapo paper filter but whether a certain specific paper filter can do 30000 km?
.... probably not and I don't know for I'm no fan of higher priced 'quality' filter or so called high performance filter.

One thing I learn is OEM's are always too conservative, as UMW Toyata recommends 5000 km oil change for my Avanza.

VW is recommending 30,000 km oil change interval too but I'm not aware it applies to VW OEM filter too.
I'm not sure about VW OEM filter material details .

This post has been edited by zeng: Mar 5 2019, 01:44 PM

It may be true at times that a higher mileage oil has less obvious centre ring than a lower mileage oil, whether or not it's a Mobil 1.
It appears to me mileage is not the one and only one factor that affects the 'shape' of a blotter spot test, though it's likely the primary one when we look at an oil's 'trending' in a blotter spot test .
Other factors like oil temperature , engine components temperature etc may 'shape' a blotter spot test centre ring other than lighting etc.

Edit:The 7000 km Mobil 1 ESP has indications of fuel dilution phenomenon, is the engine a Turbo direct injection type ?


This post has been edited by zeng: Mar 25 2019, 02:35 PM

Gasoline Direct Injection is more prone to fuel dilution problem.
If yours is a certain Japanese or American GDI, I would think it could be 'normal' as some OEM's seems helpless in preempting this problem for some SC's are clueless about the problem and its solution .
European OEM's seems to do better in this .

Anyway looking at your 7000 km blotter and strong specs of M1 ESP 5W30,


I would hazard a guess that it does no harm to the engine at 7000 km, and the oil is still serviceable IMHO.

Edit:BTW, this engine oil spec is recommended for 30,000 km OCI by European MB/VW.

Edit2: Since this 7000 km blotter was taken hot after an hour of travel, it's clear to me the outermost zone points 'solely' to fuel dilution phenomenon.
Most likely it's attributed to being a Gasoline Direct Injection rather than out-of-tune fuel system.

This post has been edited by zeng: Mar 27 2019, 08:26 PM

Their qualities are different.
Ultra 5W40 specs are higher, with BMW LL01, MB 229.5, Porsche A40 etc requiring higher grade base oil (GTL ?) AND higher quality additives package etc.
For applications that did not call for above OEM approvals AND oil change interval < 10,000 km say, they are the same.
For OCI > say 15,000 km , they may not be the same IDK.
In Europe Mercedes, Ultra 5W40 may be spec'ed for 30,000 km OCI. Helix 8 doesn't meet the requirements.




This post has been edited by zeng: Apr 29 2019, 08:33 PM

Yes, you got it right.
Most of the 'modern day' Mercedes Benz you see on KL/JB roads today requires MB 229.5 approvals found in Ultra.
HX8's MB 229.3 doesn't make it.

Thanks for posting , Trony.
The centre zone is quite dark, indicating rather substantial levels of combustion byproducts , acidification etc.
Good news is there is absence of dark solid perimeter ring in centre zone , indicating the oil's dispersancy/detergency capability has not badly broken down yet, hence no irrepairable severe engine damage has occurred despite 4.5 yo oil in use.

Would I recommend 9000 km OCI and beyond ? Probably not and I personally may be comfortable at up to 7500-8000 km.

In a way, this 4.5 year old engine oil is not causing excessive engine wear rates , yet.
The darker centre zone is also caused by oil oxidation from unusually low usage AND long oil age, but it is still holding up fine ..... may be not for too long from now.

Outermost zone obviously indicate quite bad fuel dilution problem whereby its Kinematic Viscosity at 100*C (KV100C) may have dropped to 7.5 -8.5 cSt from virgin KV100C of around 10.5 cSt.
In a way this unusally low viscosity (caused by fuel dilution) is bad but I believe it's not causing bad metal wear due to your low usage and cold engine oil in operation most of the time.

The intermidiate zone is not darkened yet, indicating it has additional capacity to absorb more contaminants. However ,dark coloured solid centre perameter ring (representing failure in detergency/dispersancy oil capability) is something you want to avoid and look out for.

This post has been edited by zeng: Jun 9 2019, 09:53 PM

Just curious, are you using the same oil filter ?
Paper/Cellulose type filter ?

Mobil 1 New Life 0W40 (from Tesco)
9642 km in 2005 Avanza 1.3 K3VE engine
ODO 289165 km
Blotter spot 48 hrs.




.......... and going

Hmm..no sign of obvious centre zone perimeter ring.

Wow, great blotter spot test with no sign of greyish/darkish centre zone demonstrating as 'virgin' detergency and dispersancy capability at 7110 km usage.
I like to speculate this quality HDEO could easily go on for another 5000-10000 km .
Btw, what oil brand is this ?
and I suppose it's in your Honda City?

This post has been edited by zeng: Jul 29 2019, 09:45 PM

Hi wkc,
No signs of centre zone perimeter ring, which is good news indicating the used oil's detergency/dispersancy capabilities are in tip top condition.
IMO, it's fit for continuing use in this Mazda3 engine , which comes with the inherent fuel dilution 'problem' (by observing the outermost perimeter zone) but not serious enough to 'destroy' the Formula Shell 5W30 at 9200 km usage.

This 9200 km blotter spot is far 'better' than Senscents' 8500 km of similar oil but different engine type and mileage, IMHO.

This post has been edited by zeng: Jul 31 2019, 08:17 PM

Honda calls it HGEO Honda Genuine Engine Oil 0W30, it is petrol engine oil.

HDEO is diesel engine oil and generally performs well in petrol engines like my Wira 1.5 and Avanza 1.3 petrol engines .

Oh well, Shell Helix fullsyn 5W40 is a very powerful oil with Molybdenum and Boron as shown in VOA below.







This post has been edited by zeng: Aug 1 2019, 02:40 PM

SHU 0W30 C2/C3 has very powerful OEM approvals (MB VW) and are supposedly meant for 30,000 km OCI in Europe.

0W30 ?
..... or you mean to say this 5W30 ?



This post has been edited by zeng: Aug 4 2019, 07:33 PM

... or SN HX8 ?



Anyway certifications specifications/approvals of SHU 0W30 C3 >> SHU 5W40 A3B4 >> Helix HX8 5W30 , be it SN or SL.

With a dipstick, let one drop used oil on a piece of paper.
Lay the blotter spot sample flat over 2 stacks (of paper support) and observe its changes over 48 hour.

Best done with the oil warm, like within 30 minutes on engine shut down preferably after a 'long' engine run of at least 20 minutes.

Any A4 size printing paper or 'company letter head' will do.

Post#1 provides several links for further reading.

This post has been edited by zeng: Aug 10 2019, 10:27 AM

Hi 90Boyz,
This 1069 km blotter is very translucent and clean with kind of total absence of soot from your clean engine.
It still has plenty of life in it.
What's your habitual historical oil change intervals for full/semi synthetic or mineral ?
Curious to check with you this paper type, as it appears of quality type for Blotter Spot Test.

Hi,
Sure enough, this HX8 blotter demonstrates complete absence of soot and centre zone indicating this 1069 km oil is as new as virgin.

Btw, there appears to be no fuel dilution problem in this blotter spot test.

Link





This post has been edited by zeng: Aug 12 2019, 08:14 PM

You're most welcome, sharing blotters of HX8 5W30 with other readers here with a view of 'ascertaining' the quality or efficacy of this oil.

Btw, Shell Malaysia claims MB 229.5 which I am doubtful of .......
can anyone confirms it with a packaging image ?


This post has been edited by zeng: Aug 13 2019, 07:35 PM

Hi Chemistry,
can you take a closer look at the picture, if you've a higher resolution one, to establish this HX8 X 5W30 is MB 229.5 or 229.3 ?
I've images showing HX8 (without X) 5W30 from Russia, Indonesia and Australia/NZ showing MB 229.3.

90Boyz,
do you have access to this used bottle to take a snap on its back label ? or anyone else ?

Thanks for sharing, Chemistry.