RyRy210

Hi, reading through the forums it looks like Valvoline MaxLife Engine Protector (MLEP) is the only additive able to mimic Honda's break-in oil. Now I need to figure out the missing part of the equation, which dino oil should I use in conjunction with this to try to mimic honda's break-in oil?

I've been debating whether just to use the oil's at the dealer and ask them to add a bottle of MLEP in. I have also been looking into Mobil Clean 5000 and Mobil Clean High Mileage.

http://www.mobil1.com/USA-English/MotorOil...Clean_5000.aspx
http://www.mobil1.com/USA-English/MotorOil...gh_Mileage.aspx

Any thoughts?

Road Rage - what do you suggest?

Thanks!

Wisconsin S2k

www.mrmoly.com

get the moly breakin addative, and use mobil drive clean dino oil, and that's as close to the breakin oil as you can get.

RyRy210

I thought the MLEP was closer in composition to the OEM break-in oil than Mr. Moly. Is that not true?

QIKSILVR

Just use Redline 10w30. Superior synthetic over dino with tons of moly. I dumped the "break in" oil at 2K miles, ran the Redline for 4K miles.
The relevant analysis wear numbers were:

Iron 9
Lead 3.3
Copper 27
Silicon 24
Sodium 17
Aluminum 7
TBN 6.21
Visc 10.6

I drove the car hard, as it's meant to be. Redline did not shear at all and it had a lot of life left.

Wisconsin S2k

[QUOTE=QIKSILVR,May 19 2005, 09:32 AM] Just use Redline 10w30.

TR-S2K

One of the best conventional oil, if not the best, is Halvoline GF4 formulation. This Halvoline GF4 contains high level of Moly, up to about 400 ppm.

Valvoline SynPower Oil Treatment is better than Valvoline MaxLife Engine Protector and it costs less too, $4 vs $6. Below are VOA of each additive:

Valvoline SynPower Oil Treatment:

Molybdenum (Mo): 2324 ppm
Calcium (Ca): 1050 ppm
Magnesium (Mg): 968 ppm
Phosphorus (P): 1792 ppm
Zinc (Zn): 1740 ppm

Valvoline MaxLife Engine Protector:

Molybdenum (Mo): 489 ppm
Calcium (Ca): 240 ppm
Magnesium (Mg): 57 ppm
Phosphorus (P): 567 ppm
Zinc (Zn): 625 ppm

If you add 1 bottle of Valvoline SynPower Oil Treatment to 5 quarts of Halvoline GF4, you will have about 630 ppm of Moly which is close to Honda's break-in oil. Because this Oil Treatment is very thick, you may want to use either 5W30 or 5W20 dino oil.

JawKnee

I actually just picked up Havoline 10W-30 GF4 last night for my '05's first oil change to be done at 3,750 miles, which will be any day now.

Should I use any of those Valvoline additives, even though it's 10W-30?

TR-S2K

I would exchange Havoline 10W-30 to 5W20 and use one 15 oz bottle of Valvoline SynPower Oil Treatment. The final viscosity will be a little higher than 10W30, which is okay for summer. I am currently use 1/2 bottle of VSOP with 5 quarts Mobil 7500 5W30, this is my second oil change at 7000 miles. I will do the third oil change at 10k miles in about 2 to 3 weeks, at that time I will use Mobil1 0W30 with 1 bottle of VSOP. Since I drive only about 7000 miles a year, mostly short trips of about 5 miles, I need synthetic oil so that I will need to change oil only once a year.

QIKSILVR

How have I shortened my engine's life by using a synthetic oil at 2K? What about the cars that come with synthetic oil from the factory?

This is an oil analysis of Honda Factory Fill from an Accord V6 with 2900 miles :

Aluminum 9
Chromium 1
Iron 57
Copper 174
Lead 4
Tin 3
Molybdenum 479
Nickel 0
Manganese 0
Silver 0
Titanium 0
Potassium 0
Boron 53
Silicon 78
Calcium 2143
Magnesium 5
Phosphorus 880
Zinc 1282
Barium 5

And here is Redline 10w30 with 4K on the oil

Iron9.8
Chromium (Cr) 0.5
Nickel (Ni) 0.1
Titanium (Ti) 0.1
Silver (Ag) 0.5
Aluminum (Al) 7.2
Lead (Pb) 3.3
Copper (Cu) 27
Tin (Sn) 0.2
Silicon (Si) 24
Sodium (Na) 17
Potassium (K) 0.0
Boron (B) 17
Barium (Ba) 1.6
Molybdenum (Mo) 586
Magnesium (Mg) 9.7
Calcium (Ca) 2760
Phosphorus (P) 1143
Zinc (Zn) 1275
Sulfur (S) 4757
Manganese (Mn) 2.2
Vanadium (V) 0.6

Obviously this isn't a fair comparison but the Redline has a much higher Moly content than Honda OEM..

So can you enlighten us on what am I missing that I can't see from the UOA?

Wisconsin S2k

The Honda S2000 has Fiber Reinforced Metallic cylinder walls. This material takes much longer to break in, and synthetic oils may not properly allow them to do so. A previous generation prelude had FRM walls, and honda actually released a TSB to dealers telling them not to use synthetic in the engine until after 10k, because of this exact reason. If the FRM walls are not allowed to properly break in, over time you may unseat a piston ring, score a cylinder wall, or some type of similar damage once the engine starts to get up there in miles. In other words, it could shorten the life of the engine.

This is all according to honda, so if you wish to argue it, you can take it up with the people that engineered and designed the car. The reason there is not a similar TSB on the S2k is because honda assumes people will follow the breakin procedure of not changing the factory oil until 7500 miles.