60,000 mile oil change?

anyone using/have any thoughts/expensive on 5W30 CI-4 Castrol "Elixion" 60,000 oil change (with analysis) ......http://www.castrolhdl.com/Products/Fleet/EngineOils.Asp?Product=Elixion&Category=EngineOils

An extended drain capability of 60,000 miles and beyond (in conjunction with an oil monitoring system).

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I'm sure this is based on being used in a commercial vehicle that drives an average of 3000 miles per week.

It might be possible in a TDI. Just depends on driving habits, fuel quality, performance mods (if any), etc.

An oil bypass system would definitely make the oil last to 60k miles, or even longer.

I agree. highly unlikely you could pull this off in a TDI, but not completely out of reach for someone with perfect conditions.

I must admit it has some very good specs:

Castrol Elixion 5w-30

API = CI-4

Pour Point = -62F / -52C

Flash point = 460F / 238C

NOAK = 8.5%

TBN = 12

Wonder how much it's gonna cost.

I must admit it has some very good specs:

Castrol Elixion 5w-30

Wonder how much it's gonna cost.
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Bill I just checked at my local distributor here and he has a gallon of it for $18.39. If you buy a case of 6 the price drops by $0.40/gallon.

Sounds like a test is in order. I've emailed Castrol to ask them about using it in VW TDIs. My TDI in particular. I'll let you know what they say.

I'm about out of Delvac anyway.

Jeff in Texas
'01 Golf GL TDI 5-speed "RAV" (Rural Assult Vehicle)
209,000 miles since 5/1/01 and climbing fast!

Sounds like a test is in order. I've emailed Castrol to ask them about using it in VW TDIs. My TDI in particular. I'll let you know what they say. (snip)

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__. I'm glad that it's your TDI. I worked for Norton motorcycles at the factory in England in 1972-73. We were building some rad engines (highly tuned in an effort to keep up with the Japanese competition) but were having some problems on the road. We were recommending Castrol and we kept calling them in and asking them for help. They kept telling us how good their stuff was and how everything would be OK. Finally, we went to some independent testers and experts. Castrol stuff sucks, big time. Dirty water or mud would be better.

__. If you *ever* hear of a Castrol product being used in a grey-haired, broken down, old, cheap retired guy who drives slow's car, you know that there's a large-caliber pistol pointed right behind his right ear.

__. Hope I'm not being too subtle here. Any questions, just let me know.

Bruce, etc.

http://www.bp.com/downloads/1076/bpf03lubricants.pdf

While its not my intention to defend Castrol (i actually use Millers XFD) ....it is interesting that VW working succesfully with them to develop oils suitable for Diesels right back to the 1.5 IDI engine and its oil related problems...hence the start of the VW 500.00 type specs.

I stick with the Mobil Delvac 1.

Does Delvac 1 have a recommended change interval? I bet it could go 60,000 miles in a commercial truck.

Delvac can go 100,000 miles in CERTAIN commercial HD diesel motors. BUT they have to have the expensive monitoring and filtration systems. Remember his. They don't get that hot but they stay hot and have limited cold starts, they turn relatively low RPMs, and they have absolutely huge sump capacity. Considering these things they are under ideal conditions.

jason

The price puts it right there w/ Delvac 1.

I've watched the posts for quite some time and I'm wondering, does anyone change oil strictly on the basis of their analysis, and not their milage? Seems to me that that would make the most sense (cents? ), providing the analysis is done on a frequent enough basis.

FWIW,

Why bother with an oil test. For the $20 that it costs plus the oil you have to add to make up for what you took you end up sending MORE in the long run. Now. I test, every 30K just to be sure there is nothing really amiss. I am chipped and drive the car realtivly hard and it idles in traffic a lot. So, I change the oil every 5K. If I wan't chipped I'd go 10K. Simple. I think a lot of this is all overkill. Bordering on OCD. Yes, it would be nice to same the natural resources and change every 20K but that has been shown time and time again to not be possible with a modded engine. So be it.

Again just my opinion. Based on some facts here.

Jason

I think a lot of this is all overkill. Bordering on OCD.

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OCD?

I agree with your view. Use synthetic and just follow the warranty. After the warranty expires, go every 10,000 miles...gas or diesel. (Why 10,000? Because it's easy to remember.) Everything will be cool.

Took awhile but I got it:

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

With the chip in my car 15,000 miles is all I can do becuase of soot in the oil.

Without the chip I can easily go 25,000 miles perhaps 30,000 depending on the type of driving (city verses highway).

These numbers were derived from operating a 1998 A3 Jetta using oil analysis and Delvac 1 5w40.

DB

(snip) Without the chip I can easily go 25,000 miles perhaps 30,000 depending on the type of driving (city verses highway).
DB

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Would "mostly highway" or "mostly city" mileage result in longer oil life? Thanks,
Bruce Henderson, Wallace NC

15,000 miles with the chip is just about all I can get because of excessive soot in the oil. Fuel quality and other factors play into how much soot you get. As a rule with my high speed driving style I'm gonna see very high soot regardless of whether its city or highway.

The stock configuration is the absolute best way to extend your oil changes. However as you pointed out city driving with lots of cold starts can reduce your TBN reserve because of the moisture being created and the fact you will never really stabilize your oil temps at an optimum level.

Highway driving puts the engine at a relatively low power setting for long periods allowing a very good balance of boost and fuel ratio (remember that fuel to air ratios enrichen the higher the load in a diesel thus leading to higher soot levels in the oil AND eveywhere else).

The A4 TDI's as well as the A4 TDI Automatic burn much cleaner than does my A3. Higher injection pressure are partly the reason.

If you want to know for sure how long a realistic interval is take an oil sample at 10,000 miles, again at 15K, 20K, 25k etc until the oil indicates that it has around 3-4% soot Realize that we are talking Delvac 1 here that has been proven per the API CI-4 specs to protect with as much as 6.5% soot loading WITHOUT excessive wear or TBN depletion. Once you see that 3-4% range change the oil OR a TBN less than 5.0 also note the other things like additive levels, wear metals etc. I know for a fact that when Delvac 1 gets to 6.5% you see a rise in iron so I can say from experience that the oil protects as advertised under the CI-4 certification.

Again the modifications you make to your car make a difference in how long the oil can remain in the sump.

DB

I'd strongly recommend limiting soot levels at changeout to 3%, even if you are using Amsoil or Delvac 1 in the TDI. If you keep soot levels as low as possible, there is a clear benefit in terms of piston ring and cylinder wall wear. If you test your oil @ 10k miles and it shows 6% soot, I'd reduce the change interval to 5k miles.

Even though soot particles are very small, they are highly abrasive. You will get "erosive" wear (think gritblasting) if you allow soot laden oil to flow throughout the engine at high velocities ....

It is true that CI-4 rated oils are overtested in the Cummins M-11 test by running oil with 6.5% soot. However you always see significantly increased wear rates and oil thickening at these kind of soot levels and it's not something that is in any way acceptable for a practical application.

TooSlick