nadeem

I checked rosetta stone's website but did not find the software to speak "OIL".

SpitfireS

Interesting
What did you do different the second time?
More short drives, longer periods of no driving after short drives?
Same lab?

INDYMAC: you're right, of course , without TAN we know half the story.
But, how hight could the TAN get in a healthy F2x engine?
The low TBN after only 6k miles in a Honda engine using ATM almost by itself suggest there is something different going on?

OP: how did you get to the 6k miles?
3500 miles in 3 week vacation and the rest during short drives?
Anything that would explain the low TBN?

Personally, I'm not a fan of running oil on the low end of the level.
Ok.. maybe if I know I'm going to change it next week or something.
When I check the level and it is 1 "X" down I will add some.
But that's just me I guess.

INDYMAC

I can't talk to the inconsistent oil conditions of this engine over similar OCI's and same oil, except maybe point to the Honda recommended Severe and Normal maintenance interval definitions. There are other reasons too, for sure. As I've noticed over the years, and Terry Dyson has pointed out to me a few times, there is a TBN number (reserve alkalinity), and then there is effective TBN (where the chemistry of the alkalinity is holding harmful acids at bay). My point was that I could only guess the condition of his oil and the prospect of going further on an OCI. That has always been my beef with Amsoil recommended OCI's. Yes, they do say in fine print that you must use oila analysis. But they don't educate their customers about how to determine rejection criteria, let alone what data to look at.

BirdShot works for (at least he used to) Polaris labs. They have a nice testing package called Advanced Mobile Analysis at a very resonable price. The additional data included over a Blackstone test will make guessing a lot less frustrating. You will need to kick in an extra $5 for TAN on each test for engine oil, because the basic will include only TBN. With the 10 pack I just purchased, that would bring the total cost per test to around $23 It also includes nitration and oxidation. For gear oil testing, you will only need TAN.