Questions about Mobil1.

This is about my use of synthetic oil and Mobil1, as generated by questions from my post titled Mobil1.

Can you elaborate a little more on what those numbers mean? Those lower percentages of metals, are those presumably worn off from engine parts? What made you decide to try Mobil 1? I've heard that synthetics are much better in low temperatures, so this is good timing.

First you need to know what I am using for my limits, this comes from Bob is the oil guy.

Table I. Engine problems predicted with oil analysis.
Indicator
Acceptable Levels
Engine Problem
What to Check
Silicon (Si) and Aluminum (Al)
10 to 30 ppm
Dirt ingestion
Air intake system, oil filter plugging, oil filler cap and breather, valve covers, oil supply
Iron (Fe)
100 to 200 ppm
Wear of cylinder liner, valve and gear train, oil pump, rust in system
Excessive oil consumption, abnormal engine noise,performance problems, oil pressure, abnormal operating temperatures, stuck/broken piston rings
Chromium (CR)
10 to 30 ppm
Piston ring wear
Excessive oil blow-by and oil consumption, oil degradation
Copper (CU)
10 to 50 ppm
Bearings and bushings wear, oil cooler passivating,radiator corrosion
Coolant in engine oil, abnormal noise when operating at near stall speed
Lead (Pb)*
40 to 100 ppm
Bearing corrosion
Extended oil change intervals
Copper (CU) and Lead (Pb)*
10 to 50 ppm
Bearing lining wear
Oil pressure, abnormal engine noise, dirt being ingested in air intake, fuel dilution, extended oil drain intervals
Aluminum (Al)
10 to 30 ppm
Piston and piston thrust bearing wear
Blow-by gases, oil consumption, power loss, abnormal engine noise
Silver and Tin
2 to 5 ppm 10 to 30 ppm
Wear of bearings
Excessive oil consumption, abnormal engine noise, loss in oil pressure
Viscosity Change
Lack of lubrication
Fuel dilution, blow-by gases, oil oxidation, carburetor choke, ignition timing, injectors, injector pump, oil pressure
Water/Anti-freeze
Coolant leak or condensation
Coolant supply, gasket sealed, hose connection, oil filler cap and breather
* Significant as wear metal, only for engines using unleaded and diesel fuel.

As you can see he also says what the cause of the metal is, and also other things also.
My numbers,Iron- 12 ppm with Yamalube 10w40[ will be given first], 8ppm with Mobil1 a drop 25%, Lead- 4 ppm, down to 0, Copper- dropped from 15 ppm to 5 ppm, Chromium and Aluminum both went from 3 ppm to zero ppm, neither sample had any Nickel or Silver, and Tin dropped from 2 ppm down to 0 ppm.
Those are wear metals, and based on these numbers I would have to conclude that synthetic oil does indeed cause less wear on engine parts.

What made me try Mobil1? Two things I came from the air force where I worked on F-15 aircraft. The turbine engines used synthetic oil and I we ever did was sample it, after every flight.
I know of only 2 times the oil was changed both involved bird strikes. So I knew that synthetic oil would preform at high temp.
I researched different synthetic oils and went with Mobil1 based on cost and several people I know who use it, but I can get it at Costco for $30.00 a case of six. I use a liter of oil for each change so six will get me 5 changes and a bottle of make up oil to use to make the liter.

Yes synthetics do flow better in the cold, Mobil1 has a pour point of -45C, much colder than I will ride in. It also has a flash point of 224C.

I hope this has answered some questions about my use of Mobil1, and you find it useful in making your decision whether to use synthetic oil or not.

Mobil 1

I made the switch to Mobil 1 a while back but did not have a place that could analyze oil samples, I have sense found a place locally. My first two tests involve Yamalube 10w40 and Mobil 1 10w30, I know the weights are a little different but I don't think that matters. I change my oil every one thousand miles. What I noticed was that the Yamalube dropped two grades from 10w40 to 10w20. The Mobil 1 stayed in grade that being 10w30. The wear metals that were tested for and showed up, Mobil 1 showed a drop in all of them.
Iron a 25% drop, from 12 ppm to 8ppm, Lead a 400% drop, from 4ppm to 0ppm, Copper a 30% decrease from 15ppm to 5 ppm, Chromium a 300% decrease from 3ppm to 0ppm, Aluminum a 300% drop from 3ppm to 0ppm, and Tin a 200% decrease from 2ppm to zero ppm.
I know that this is only one test for Mobil1 but I am less than 500 miles from my next oil change and will have that oil tested also. I do believe that these results will hold up at the next test.

Brake job

Today i undertook a change of my front brake pad, I did not feel that this was going to be a hard or complicated job as I have the Yamaha shop manual.
I read the manual, made sure I had the proper tools, and the correct parts. This was not to be the case. The disassembly was uneventful as the three bolts were easily accessed being in the open.

Reassembly was the adventure had the caliper off slid the new pads in tried to put caliper back on and found out no matter what I did it would not go on. Took the casting that holds the caliper and pads off, and tried reassembly that way still no go, upon inspection found that the caliper is hitting the pads. I removed the pads and measured them and found out they were thicker than the factory stock pad, a little use of sand paper took care of that.
Put the pads in the casting installed the caliper on the casting mounted every thing on the fork leg and installed the 3 bolts and torqued them all down. completed a test ride to confirm I replaced all parts properly.

Total time 1 hour 12 minutes.