I got it!
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From: Midlothian
Originally posted by 3ngin33r1
What's the mystery?
What's the mystery?
Joined: Jun 2002
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From: Central Massachusetts
The mystery was the question of Molybdenum content and whether or not there really is a special breakin oil.
Various folks have claimed that this is bunk, and that if there is high Moly content that it is the result of lubricants used in the manufacture of the engine that have been washed into the oil.
I don't see where oil analysis is of any value here. If in fact there's extra Moly, who cares how it got there. The point is that Honda says to leave the factory fill in there for a while, and I'm sure that's why.
Unfortunately, the verbiage in the owners manual that tells people not to change the oil somehow gives a few owners the feeling that they don't have to top it off -- a sure-fire recipe for disaster with our little oil burner.
Various folks have claimed that this is bunk, and that if there is high Moly content that it is the result of lubricants used in the manufacture of the engine that have been washed into the oil.
I don't see where oil analysis is of any value here. If in fact there's extra Moly, who cares how it got there. The point is that Honda says to leave the factory fill in there for a while, and I'm sure that's why.
Unfortunately, the verbiage in the owners manual that tells people not to change the oil somehow gives a few owners the feeling that they don't have to top it off -- a sure-fire recipe for disaster with our little oil burner.
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From: Midlothian
I personally believe the whole thing has gotten out of hand - I have seen engines assembled with just Mobil1 at a Mercedes engine mfg facility. And another explanation for Honda's recommendation is that it wants to make sure that a quality oil is used during the critical first few thousand miles, and the best way to do this is to make the draconian recommendation it does - after all, some folks will put in the cheapest oil they can find (Group I) or may take their car to the corner gas station, where the oil may have been sitting foir a while, and the colloids have settled out. And of course, in severe service, 6 months could elapse before 1000 miles have been driven, right?
That is why my approach makes sense -change it at 1k miles to get rid of any metal flash or sand debris, and add a can of non-plating moly to ensure that the asperites are flattened. That makes it a non-issue and a non-mystery for me.
And I agree absolutely about the make-up oil point you made - I do not think it is at all arguable. But if the break-in oil were as critical as Honda implies or perhaps as some here INFER, then logic suggests there should be a "Break-in makeup oil" - which of course there isn't.
That is why my approach makes sense -change it at 1k miles to get rid of any metal flash or sand debris, and add a can of non-plating moly to ensure that the asperites are flattened. That makes it a non-issue and a non-mystery for me.
And I agree absolutely about the make-up oil point you made - I do not think it is at all arguable. But if the break-in oil were as critical as Honda implies or perhaps as some here INFER, then logic suggests there should be a "Break-in makeup oil" - which of course there isn't.
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 42,315
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From: Central Massachusetts
What you're saying sounds reasonable, RR. I'd recommend waiting until oil consumption seems to drop off before going to the Mob1, though... That occurred for me at around 8K mi. 5K might be a wee bit early. I'm not sure why Honda would recommend waiting until 10K or so miles for synth, though, unless there really were a reason. The quality argument doesn't fit there.