In your case , follow mileage will do , not time as we always heard as Malaysia never had winter or for that matter spring/autumn where cold temperature promotes corrosion.

You may consider using a cheaper semi synthetic for 2 years of 10,000 km usage, IMO.

Note: Our minimum ambient temperature is 24*C, vs gwailous winter temperature up to -40*C or lower , go figure.

Note2: I had seen a few UOA's of 4-7 year old used engine oils on Bitog that demonstrates tip top condition.

This post has been edited by zeng: Jan 14 2019, 03:24 PM

Tesco sold me Total SL A3B4 10W40 in 2015 .
For past 2 years or so, I couldn't get from Tesco /Aeon Big and Giant.
Surprised that Total SN A3B4 10W40 5L pack could be found today in Aeon Big (Subang Jaya) for RM 129 list.
Btw, Giant has promotion for fully synthetic Helix Ultra 5W40 SN A3B4 vw ,MB for RM 99 often times.

This post has been edited by zeng: Jan 14 2019, 03:22 PM

17138 km blotter at 50 hrs.

Shell Helix Ultra 5W40 (from Giant)




Still absence of centre zone perimeter ring .

Oil changed for CNY.

This post has been edited by zeng: Jan 15 2019, 01:46 PM

Really good value for money!

Remember both SHU 5W40 and 5W30 have powerful OEM approvals in MB 229.5; BMW LL01; Porsche A40; VW 502 505; A3B4 etc.

VOA Shell Helix Ultra 5W40 (Russia)

A good reference, but not necessarily same as the formulation we get here. At least speaks volumes that they can produce damn good oils also.

Too bad no 5w30 version to reference, interested to know the noack on this viscosity.

This VOA is for current generation of SHU 5W40 'Activ Cleansing' with Pure Plus Technology.
Pure Plus Technology is a GTL Gas-To-Liquid technology intro somewhere in 2014 , IIRC.
It has a voa Noack of 6.8%.

Current SHU 5W30, being a MB 229.5 spec would have a Noack of < 10 % .
I would speculate a SHU 5W30 is likely to have even lower Noack than a SHU 5W40 meaning < 6.8 %.

Note:My blotter spot is for SHU 5W40 with Pure Plus Technology, i.e with 'Actic Cleansing' logo on the bottle.

This post has been edited by zeng: Jan 16 2019, 10:17 PM

Toyota Type IV ATF
32138 km in Avanza 1.3 automatic transmissions.
50 hour blotter spot.

zeng

Blotter 4 days ago, please help me do a reading of used oil blotter on my mazda3.

Shell helix hx7 5w30 semi synthetic
Oil mileage : 7400km (5 months)
Car total mileage : 60890km

Hi Wkc,
Wow , a very clean and clear 7400 km blotter spot from Helix H7 5W30.
There is absence of perimeter ring center zone.
Generally not much of contaminants and combustion by products in 7400 km usage as dispersion zone is not greyish , indicating engine is in tip top condition.
At outermost zone, there is an indication of fuel dilution either caused by cold sample or injection system. I suppose Mazda3 (Is it 2.0L ?) comes with direct injection, I would attribute this as the main cause.
Having said this, in contrary to popular belief UOA's of say, <20/30000 km have shown that most fuel dilution incidences do not cause increase in metal wear (in ppm) though there is obvious drop in viscosity.

This post has been edited by zeng: Jan 24 2019, 10:35 AM

Thanks for the comment. Again this proves that despite HX7 being the lower mid product range, the base line quality is quite high. No wonder shell lubricants are the choice of many car manufacturers first fill and choice of lubricants.

Yes, the car is using a direct injected engine. Regardless, i changed the engine oil not too long after taking a sample for blotter.

Ironically, i got myself another shell oil, but the SOPUS version of formula shell instead of the helix ultra series that we regularly see here. Got it at a pretty good price of RM20/quart from vanli through shopee.

Thanks for your feedback. Would driving conditions matter? Say, short trips of <10km daily.

Short trips is not favourable for long OCI, especially in countries with cold winters.
Now for our hot climate , the 'negative' is marginal IMHO.
For those of you not comfortable with (Euro) semi synthetic OCI > 10,000 km in normal circumstances, may be you can consider 8000 km or 2 years.
As I'd done > 16000 km OCI with Total Euro Qaurtz Energy 10W40 semi synthetic in Avanza before , I would be comfortable with 10000 km or 2 years with short trips.
15,000 km ? .... I'm not comfortable , for now.
Anyway, in lieu of exorbitantly expensive and time consuming UOA, a simple and cost free blotter spot test would be my option to push the limits beyond 10,000 km.

Just started reading thru this topic, quite educative & nice exposures there bro.
After doing the blotter test and review for quite some time, whats the best fully syn & semi syn EO that you think you would recommend? Just ur opinions..

Hi Sean77,
My oil selection approach for Asian engines is :
a )OEM specs approvals like MB 229.5; MB 229.51; VW 50400; VW 505.01;....... , then
b )ACEA C3, A5B5, A3B4 etc with lower MB 229.3 , VW 50200 specifications .... and lastly,
c )SN,SM,SL .....which I kind of ignore as these are always part of (a) and (b) above.
No semisyn/mineral oils can meet (a) specs as almost all of them are fully synthetic.
Most (b) are semi synthetics and balance goes to minerals.
Note: For Euro engines, stick to OEM factory specs please .

Alternatively, comparing blotter spot tests images of various fully synthetic/ semi synthetic/mineral oils on Post #1 here may be a supplementary approach for a kind of performance evaluation, bearing in mind there exists differences in engine conditions and driving styles etc.

This post has been edited by zeng: Jan 28 2019, 09:11 AM

Are you using RON 95 or RON 97 ?
Have a read on Mazda3.

i'm on RON97 most of the time.

Anyway, the discussion on the link given isn't of much relevance to us because our RON rating is only 2 points apart, and our RON rating here is quite high to begin with. RON95 is considered baseline premium in some other countries. US 87 octane is roughly RON91/92 here.

A bit free so I want to update you guys on the latest blotter test I've taken from the current Honda Fully Synthetic SN0W30 engine oil as below.

@ 3,222KM

@ 4622KM

This post has been edited by Thrust: Feb 7 2019, 11:27 AM

The perimeter ring of centre zone disappears in later blotter spot sample, which is good news indicating detergency/dispersancy properties of this Honda oil is still strong.
Unable to figure out why do earlier 3222 km sample demonstrates some signs of perimeter ring that disappers in longer use ?
Generally later 4622 km sample is more grayish, indicating higher amount of combustion by-products and that's normal for an oil in use longer, IMHO.
Looks like this used Honda 0W30 is good to go for another 2000-4000 km and then see how the blotter spot develops.