Errmmmm , you are not quite off topic here as Zic oil X7 5W30 blotter is being discussed several posts above .

My readings from Russia oil club suggests this Zic oil is South Korean and seems to be quite popular in Russia .

Zic oil is also brought up in Bitog though not so much on German oil club .

Approval listings of European OEM MB 229.51 does include 3 Zic brand models , which I would deduce Zic as of a reputable oil company in the international market in Europe as well as North America .

The same cannot be said of the numerous locally available 'Japanese' engine oils though and I concur with your position here .


Edit : I am adding to Post #1 here that , other than matters related to used engine oil change intervals and Blotter Spot Tests , this thread welcomes questions on Used Oil Analyses (UOA's) and vehicle Wheel Alignment since I do not create separate threads on 1 ) UOA's and 2 ) Wheel Alignments on lowyat .

This post has been edited by zeng: Aug 25 2021, 01:18 PM

Zic is under SK, one of the largest conglomerates in South Korea. They are definitely a legitimate company. I have no idea about their lubricant's quality though.

If I'm not mistaken, from what I've come across, the SN plus TBN are generally lower than SN only oils. The newer oils (SN plus, dexos 2) have lower TBN. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Yes, I do not expect them to include any Group IV or V in this x7. It won't be that affordable anymore.

One of the reasons I chose this brand is because it is relatively less popular in Malaysia and the chance of you getting a fake oil online is much lower. So far, I have bought a few which all comes with proper seal and additional plastic Zic wrap over the bottle cap. I have doubts buying popular brands online as there are various news in the past stating that unscrupulous people repackaged recycle oils into branded oil bottles.

Zeng, do you mind sharing how and where you get your engine oil from?

Interesting about SN plus generally having lower TBN than non-plus SN .

IIRC , both API SN plus and SN specification limits on SaPS are the same at < 1.0 percent .

Yes, you are right in suggesting Dexos 2 oils generally have lower TBN but this is due to the fact Dexos 2 is a mid-SaPS oil complying with ACEA C3 performance spec whereas typical SN plus/SN specs are not mid-SaPS .

I suppose you meant to say SN plus generally has Dexos 1 GEN 2 specs , a spec which this Zic X7 5W30 is claiming ?

Btw, for similar price point , take a look at a semi-synthetic Shell HX7 5W30 which has rather strong additive package and certain amount of higher grade GTL base oil , a base oil Zic X7 doesn't have .

Having said that , I am of the opinion that this Zic X7 is beyond doubt a reasonably good oil . Personally I have no qualms in attempting 12,000 - 15,000 km oci with this Zic X7 to be followed with blotter spot tests for assessments .

My source of engine oils ?

Ohhh....... most of them were from online purchases from Tesco .........years ago .

They are all branded big names like Shell/Castrol/Mobil/Total etc carrying ACEA specs and Euro OEM approvals like MB, VW etc for thicker oil film thickness and extended oci .

In a way , I would consider this Zic oil as branded too though not popular , yet over here ?

This post has been edited by zeng: Nov 26 2020, 09:52 AM

Its almost impossible to price a 100% ester/PAOoil at sub rm100 price bracket. Let me give you a rough figure on the pricing. PAO and Ester base cost almost 3-4 times more expensive than a regular group 3 base oil.

To be fair, Aisin did not claim 100% pao+ester base oil. So one should not assume that as well. If you look at full ester based oil, price goes well above RM250. So what you pay is what you get.

Actually does 100% PAO engine oil exist in market?

Really tough. I only manage to come across 1.

https://www.lazada.com.my/products/kixx-pao...lBrUUM&search=1

On the bottle, it says Fully PAO la

i think no... but Penrite seems to claim 100% (or is it 100% full synthetic je? lol)
https://www.penriteoil.com.au/knowledge-cen...engine-oils/454

out of curiosity, looks like the claim is real
https://www.penriteoil.com.au/assets/msds/1...01.0%200318.pdf
>80% are the chemical based base oil (no petroleum)
rest are esters/(not base oil, zinc based) and additives to make up the rest of the composition

This post has been edited by Quazacolt: Nov 26 2020, 11:17 PM

What's the difference between 100% PAO and 100% ester?

PAO polyalphaolefin base oils have negative characteristics such as the tendency to shrink seals and trouble dissolving common oil additives , i.e additives solubility problems .

They are commonly blended or combined with organic ester and/or petroleum synthetic base oils to provide a blended base oil that does not have these negative characteristics.

There may be engine oils claiming or advertising as 100% PAO , but these oil formulations cannot be totally free of ester or petroleum synthetic oils IMHO .

Just my 2 sen .

PAO Explained , Machinery Lubrication .





This post has been edited by zeng: Nov 27 2020, 07:41 PM

Kixx PAO 1 0W30 SN CF ( 100% Synthetic)

Material Safety Data Sheet MSDS as below :



Item 1 PAO base oil ( 68 - 79% ) ;

Item 2 , a kind of ester ? IDK .

Item 3 , ZDDP anti-wear ;

Item 4 , Additive package (15 - 25% )




This post has been edited by zeng: Nov 29 2020, 10:43 PM

Mobil 1 New Life 0W40 (Tesco) MB229.5
Oil Life : 19,160 km
14 months oil life thus far .
ODO :312,990 km in
Car model: Toyota Avanza 1.3L
Engine: K3VE Multi Port Injection
Added some 100 mL of graphited engine oil in Elf Molygraphite 15W50 .
Make up oil added : Nil

48 hour blotters ,





Absence of darkened and opaque centre zone .

Absence of darkened aureole zone / perimeter ring indicating no agglomeration of contaminants , yet .

Diffusion zone darker than before , indicating increased levels of dirt/contaminants/combustion by-products but appears harmless for now .

Darkened jagged external edge indicates presence of moisture in used oil , which is supposed to aggravate corrosion wear .

But centre zone/aureole zone, perimeter ring and diffusion zone do not indicate alarming levels of wear/dirt/contaminants caused by moisture corrossion .

Fuel dilution seems to be absent from blotter sample .

and ....... going , for now .

This post has been edited by zeng: Dec 1 2020, 01:19 PM

The difference is :
100% PAO base oil formulation must have some ester or petroleum synthetic base for additive solubility .
100% ester base oil formulation may NOT have some PAO or petroleum synthetic base .

This post has been edited by zeng: Dec 2 2020, 10:20 AM

I am interested source and citations please?

Sorry , no citations or source but laced with ambiguity opposite that of certainty .

Persons who had done research rather extensively on 100% ester formulations may be able to throw some light on this .

This post has been edited by zeng: Dec 2 2020, 12:20 PM

Honda City GM2 year 2009
Current Odo : 135,634KM
Date: 03/12/2020
Blotter time : 8:00am (picture after 24hrs)
oil age : 2,330km
Engine oil used : Honda HGEO Semi Synthetic 5W30 SN


Pics taken after 48hrs after blotter test

This post has been edited by 90Boyz: Dec 4 2020, 12:45 PM

Hi ,

If not for your disclosure of its 2330 km usage , this clean blotter would have been mistaken as that of an un-used virgin oil blotter from HGEO semi syn 5W30 SN .

There is complete absence of 'structures' in this 2330 km blotter , which means good news as it indicates 'near new' condition of the used oil sample with minimal or negligible amount of combustion by-products or contaminants/dirt .

The very light colour of the blotter also indicates very very minimal oxidation of oil .

You may scroll through Post # 1 of this thread for a 4.5 years usage at about 6.8K km blotter of similar Honda oil uploaded by @Trony for comparison , though of differrent engine models (?) and driving pattern .

This post has been edited by zeng: Dec 3 2020, 01:10 PM

Item 2 Long Chain Alkaryl Amine is NOT an ester . It performs as anti-oxidants .

Item 3 Zinc Alkyl Dithiophosphate /Phosphorodithioic Acid is an ester . It performs as anti-wear additives , but it is not ZDDP which is also another type of anti-wear additives .

This post has been edited by zeng: Dec 3 2020, 01:43 PM

Hi bro zeng,
Thanks for the explanations
This bottle of oil sit in the closet for quite some times , maybe 2years ?
also i also bought a Aisin 5w30 pao + ester on 11.11 promo
will drain out the Honda Oil when reaching 6k