IMHO, to start with I have little to no faith in the majority of oil labs.......most are not licensed/certified by the states they reside (required by most states) and there are more than enough posted examples where the same oil was sent in (multiple submissions) and the results were completely different....most likely as a result of staff training and/or equipment calibration.
This is a very polite expose from a "real Oil Engineer"
http://oil-analysis.testoil.com/?p=56
By: Tim Nelson, Technical Services Manager, Insight Services
"A company recently hired me to train their samplers. The company used the drop tube method to collect their oil samples so I grabbed a line of tube and began waking around taking samples with a trainee. At the first piece of equipment I cut a line of tube and took a sample and then threw the used tube away. The trainee immediately stopped me and asked why I was throwing away the tube. I was shocked to learn that he was taught to reuse the tube.
Samples taken from a drop tube or drain port have a highest potential of producing inconsistency among samples. In situations where drop-tube vacuum sampling must be used on circulating systems, the best sampling location is between the return line and the suction line. This is known as the short circuit. In addition, tubing should never be reused. To avoid minimizing sample contamination a new line of tube should be used for each sample taken.
Does your plant have a standard method for taking samples? Have all of your samplers been formally trained in taking samples? Do you have questions about the different sampling methods?"
although this chat is directly about the ecoboost..... A few comments from Ford Master Techs……
http://www.flatratetech.com/community/index.php?showtopic=33204
“You are supposed to go 5K-7.5K on an LOF. That way, Ford can sell you either another vehicle, or an engine, after 100K pops up on the clock. Providing it makes it that far. But in honesty, I think the main problems now are the size of the oil filters today.”
“Turbo engines beat the shxx out of oil like motorcycles.”
“Knowing the Ford engines and my experience with Mazda, I wouldn't push the oil change interval past 4k miles regardless of synthetic or not. Especially if you beat on the car.”
“Car manufacturers use the customers as lab rats for testing. I'd be concerned that the oil is taking a beating due to the DI, heat from the turbocharger working overtime, and so on. The turbo won't be the only thing taking a beating either.”
http://www.flatratetech.com/community/index.php?showtopic=33158
Karrpilot January 2015
“Makes me wonder how Ford is going to get out of paying all those claims against them if the customer's follow their owners guide maintenance intervals. Yep. 100K tune ups, 100K coolant change out, 7.5K LOF's, not servicing the PTU units, transmissions, etc.”
“Me thinks I am going to be having my hands quite full in the coming years...............”
But let's look at the filters.....
Primary (OE) oil filters cannot filter (for design reasons) below 10 ppm, like industrial power plant filters do (about 5ppm), because it would restrict the flow to the engine causing possible oil starvation. Most of the oil filter mfgs conceed, that after about 90 days of use, the bypass valve in the filter opens to some degree. While the stored/caught particulates do not escape, the oil is allowed to flow straight through to prevent starvation.
With the extended oil changes 5,000 up to 10,000 miles and the longer exposure to periodic oil filter bypass activation, this is another parallel to the hydraulic timing chain actuators failing at around 100k miles as compared to their design specs which say they should be good for 150K+ miles. Those who have experienced these specific failures, the majority report they are on extended oil drain frequencies- most of the Ford Master Techs i have spoken directly too regarding this, agree their gut instint says there is a relationship between the two.
With regards to syn vs non-syn oils, today, all oils are considered synthetic. While I am not promoting this company nor their products, they have an excellent, detailed description as to how & why all oils today are considered “Synthetic”
http://www.synlube.com/synthetic.htm and was confirmed through legal proceedings
http://www.scribd.com/doc/217558103/Motor-Oil-s-Day-in-Court. Mfgs such as castrol, are actually using a oil base that is not by previous industry standards to be even considered a "synthetic", was sued (By Exxon/Mobile IIRR) and they won in court because they were able to demonstrate with additives they were essentially delivering a syn product. When looking at all the refineries in the US (2014), the only one really capable of supporting 100% synthetic oil manufacturing is Chevron/Phillips refinery in Texas…and they
do not promote their product as a synthetic oil.
I too do extended coolant & oil changes on my vehicles. I use cathodic protection installed in each of the vehicle coolant reserve containers, the ph and ehtylene glycol levels of the water is checked annually and the fluid is removed, filtered (3 ppm), the system is flushed and then refilled with the same fluid every 5 years. The oil on my 65 300 hp mustang (which has been inthe family since new), has only seen 3 oil changes since its ground up rebuild (and of course after the engine break-in period) since the mid 1980's......but I do change the oem filter annually and i run a bypass filter (filters down to 5 ppm) and on the last oil change (which was recent) I did add one bottle of ZDDP per after discussing this in detail with Ron Eskenderian (yes, Isky Racing Cams), and I add 1/3 of a bottle to my mod motors as well (1997 Cougar Sport 4.6 & 2006 Lincoln Mark LT 5.4)- IIRR it is a 6 oz bottle.
So, do I believe in extended oil change intervals- yes. Do I believe that without other support measures the extended duration oil changes have no negative impact on the engine assemblies- heck no! Do I believe engineers or the accountant/risk managers (who supervise the engineering programs) to calculate the risk of drivetrain failures versus what I'm most likely to eat out of my pocket- no! Should I have any faith in a "self marketed oil Lab's report- no way!