Post your UOA, (used oil analysis) here

[Grumpy Bear]

3 hours ago, customboss said:

Great input. Do you think the cold snap you got recently hammered the test trends? 
 

Using slightly more viscous lubes will

hold some heat in. 
 

Im gonna be testing a new additive formula Valvoline is using in VR1 straight 30. 
 

 

 

Yes, possible. I might just need to stay short on OCI in the winter  

 

So here's one out of left field. I added a cooler for CVT fluid cooling. That required adding the Juke JATCO two way fluid exchanger on the transmission. One side is water (heater) as designed, the other is the fluid piping addition for the cooler in front of the radiator. Getting to wordy here but the fluid is now 50 degrees or more cooler than it was and as such the water side is also being cooled. I leave the heater off until the jacket gets over 140 F (light on the dash). Otherwise it take a month of Sundays to bring to heat. I have options. I can blind the grill aka Freightliner or I can add a fluid side thermostat. Which I have planned for spring. I installed the colder water stat last winter and it wasn't an issue and helped keep the trans heat more moderate but I might have stepped off the cliff with the plate and fin CVT fluid cooler. There was no other way to tap into the fluid without the JUKE adaptor. 

 

3 hours ago, customboss said:

Hey Grump how dirty or moist - damp are the used air filters in your area? 

 

Sir I'm taking out better filters than most put in .  I usually change them right after spring plowing and fall harvest. Need a mask in the fall indoors and a Scott Air Pack outside. That said most of the debris in the element is bugs and not dirt. Look nearly new with I take them out of service. 

 

The fresh air side is closed and supplied after the filter so I'm at a loss as to why silica levels are so unrelenting. I've tried a few different medias. Hengst, NAPA, Denso. Why that one lower reading, I can't say. 

[customboss]

2 minutes ago, Grumpy Bear said:

 

Yes, possible. I might just need to stay short on OCI in the winter  

 

So here's one out of left field. I added a cooler for CVT fluid cooling. That required adding the Juke JATCO two way fluid exchanger on the transmission. One side is water (heater) as designed, the other is the fluid piping addition for the cooler in front of the radiator. Getting to wordy here but the fluid is now 50 degrees or more cooler than it was and as such the water side is also being cooled. I leave the heater off until the jacket gets over 140 F (light on the dash). Otherwise it take a month of Sundays to bring to heat. I have options. I can blind the grill aka Freightliner or I can add a fluid side thermostat. Which I have planned for spring. I installed the colder water stat last winter and it wasn't an issue and helped keep the trans heat more moderate but I might have stepped off the cliff with the plate and fin CVT fluid cooler. There was no other way to tap into the fluid without the JUKE adaptor. 

 

 

Sir I'm taking out better filters than most put in .  I usually change them right after spring plowing and fall harvest. Need a mask in the fall indoors and a Scott Air Pack outside. That said most of the debris in the element is bugs and not dirt. Look nearly new with I take them out of service. 

 

The fresh air side is closed and supplied after the filter so I'm at a loss as to why silica levels are so unrelenting. I've tried a few different medias. Hengst, NAPA, Denso. Why that one lower reading, I can't say. 

Yes Sir you might be inadvertently overcooling the engine. Forgot that CVT cooling effort. 

 

You willing to go to a 20w-50, 10w-50, 5w-50? Redline?  MAYBE experiment with another lower cost brand to test proof of concept? Hold engine heat but don’t affect CVT much. 
 

The silicon is the Korean/Japanese RTV. Ignore it as long as wear stays low. 
 

Change air filter when MPG drops off. Use your watchful awareness to note dusty time frames and save your $$. 
 

My take. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Grumpy Bear]

On 11/21/2025 at 6:18 PM, customboss said:

Yes Sir you might be inadvertently overcooling the engine. Forgot that CVT cooling effort. 

 

You willing to go to a 20w-50, 10w-50, 5w-50? Redline?  MAYBE experiment with another lower cost brand to test proof of concept? Hold engine heat but don’t affect CVT much. 
 

The silicon is the Korean/Japanese RTV. Ignore it as long as wear stays low. 
 

Change air filter when MPG drops off. Use your watchful awareness to note dusty time frames and save your $$. 
 

My take. 

 

Plugs and coils...Good to go. 

 

I bought some 1/2 copper pipe insulation and cut lengths to block the grill. Successfully so. Being the record keeper I am I effectively entirely blocked the CVT cooler raising temps to precooler levels AND inlet air temperatures up about 10 F AND getting the water temp stable above cracking temperature even at idle. 

 

Not having a direct oil temperature measurement for this motor and based on indirect inputs which now have those at mid summer levels AND single tank fuel results reflecting those changes.... Yea, seems it was over cooling.... Next test or two will bear that out. Quite a few miles on this OCI already so not going to see the full impact this go. 

 

That's "All the news fit to print" (Hee-Haw)  

[customboss]

3 minutes ago, Grumpy Bear said:

 

Plugs and coils...Good to go. 

 

I bought some 1/2 copper pipe insulation and cut lengths to block the grill. Successfully so. Being the record keeper I am I effectively entirely blocked the CVT cooler raising temps to precooler levels AND inlet air temperatures up about 10 F AND getting the water temp stable above cracking temperature even at idle. 

 

Not having a direct oil temperature measurement for this motor and based on indirect inputs which now have those at mid summer levels AND single tank fuel results reflecting those changes.... Yea, seems it was over cooling.... Next test or two will bear that out. Quite a few miles on this OCI already so not going to see the full impact this go. 

 

That's "All the news fit to print" (Hee-Haw)  

Good on ya El Hefe! Rock on and enjoy 52 mpg? 

[customboss]

16 hours ago, Grumpy Bear said:

 

Plugs and coils...Good to go. 

 

I bought some 1/2 copper pipe insulation and cut lengths to block the grill. Successfully so. Being the record keeper I am I effectively entirely blocked the CVT cooler raising temps to precooler levels AND inlet air temperatures up about 10 F AND getting the water temp stable above cracking temperature even at idle. 

 

Not having a direct oil temperature measurement for this motor and based on indirect inputs which now have those at mid summer levels AND single tank fuel results reflecting those changes.... Yea, seems it was over cooling.... Next test or two will bear that out. Quite a few miles on this OCI already so not going to see the full impact this go. 

 

That's "All the news fit to print" (Hee-Haw)  

In cold how’s the MPG? 

[Grumpy Bear]

Just now, customboss said:

In cold how’s the MPG? 

 

In the 40's last few days but has been for several weeks. Good improvement so far. Most noticeable into the wind. Blocks must have cleaned up the bow wave a bit. Like NASCAR tapping the grill closed.  

 

Tomorrow starts a string of low 20's and high winds. So......   We'll see. I have last years history to gauge it with so I'm not flying totally blind. 

[Grumpy Bear]

On 11/21/2025 at 6:18 PM, customboss said:

Yes Sir you might be inadvertently overcooling the engine. Forgot that CVT cooling effort. 

 

Added some grill covering and added a few gauges to the Scan Gauge III to monitor progress. Chemical Injector Service (RL SI-1) First UOA to follow shows a 33.33% reduction in fuels to a very manageable 1.4%. This did not restore viscosity nor reduce wear metals even on a slightly shorter OCI. That is disappointing. 

 

Also confirmed multiple changes in Red Line Euro Spec chemistry.  Need to adjust my OCI schedules. I reached out to Red Line....crickets. Since Dave retired this two way street we had for thirty years has turned one way. I will have a VOA run on the two new cases I just bought. 

 

Reached out to some fellas with more experience with Mitsubishi for cold weather tips and tricks and learned a few useful facts. Adjust grill block to raise inlet temps to run between 60 and 90 F. The converter doesn't lock up until CVT fluid temperatures reach 50 C and the fuel map doesn't go full lean until 122 F. (2500 stall) Not motor friendly when water temperatures are under 85 F so let it idle until the water is at least 85 F, prefer 100 F and be easy on her until the CVT hits 50 F. Add a block heater (on order) Even without the block heater observing their advice and adding grill block has already greatly improved cold weather fuel efficiency. Guys in Canada run pan heaters. 

 

 

[OnTheReel]

Forgot to post this latest one from my Jeep. Typical gnarly winter run with lots of cold starts and short trips. Corrective action plan…I ordered a brand new in box OEM lower intake manifold loaded with fuel rails and injectors for $80. Cheaper than I could get just a couple injectors for. When I install that I will also be doing a piggyback eFlexPlus kit to run E85. Think the OEM injectors should have the headroom but I’ll monitor duty cycles. Hoping to bring the dilution under control a little better?

2018-JEEP-E-I-222990-Sev3.pdf

[customboss]

6 minutes ago, OnTheReel said:

Forgot to post this latest one from my Jeep. Typical gnarly winter run with lots of cold starts and short trips. Corrective action plan…I ordered a brand new in box OEM lower intake manifold loaded with fuel rails and injectors for $80. Cheaper than I could get just a couple injectors for. When I install that I will also be doing a piggyback eFlexPlus kit to run E85. Think the OEM injectors should have the headroom but I’ll monitor duty cycles. Hoping to bring the dilution under control a little better?

2018-JEEP-E-I-222990-Sev3.pdf 278.57 kB · 1 download

Please remind us of engine specifics. Not a hybrid is it? 

[OnTheReel]

2 minutes ago, customboss said:

Please remind us of engine specifics. Not a hybrid is it? 

Nope, just a regular 3.6.

[customboss]

8 minutes ago, OnTheReel said:

Nope, just a regular 3.6.

If it was me based on the two results change the coils, plugs, boots, new stat and make sure coolant system serviced. 
I’m a big supporter of burning ethanol but burn as clean as you can first. 
 

Based on @Grumpy Bear’s  wise  input on Redline I’m withholding my comments about the possibility of its chemistry being hygroscopic and holding water in the oil. 

 

 

 

[OnTheReel]

1 hour ago, customboss said:

If it was me based on the two results change the coils, plugs, boots, new stat and make sure coolant system serviced. 
I’m a big supporter of burning ethanol but burn as clean as you can first. 
 

Based on @Grumpy Bear’s  wise  input on Redline I’m withholding my comments about the possibility of its chemistry being hygroscopic and holding water in the oil. 

 

 

 

I installed NGK Ruthenium plugs and coils about 10k ago. Don’t think there’s really a tuning issue, more environmental / operation style this round. But injectors seemed like a no brainer since I already have to get in there and plug into the harnesses for the flex fuel kit.

 

Last sample (attached below) was run too long but fuel was better in check:

5490435.pdf

[customboss]

52 minutes ago, OnTheReel said:

I installed NGK Ruthenium plugs and coils about 10k ago. Don’t think there’s really a tuning issue, more environmental / operation style this round. But injectors seemed like a no brainer since I already have to get in there and plug into the harnesses for the flex fuel kit.

 

Last sample (attached below) was run too long but fuel was better in check:

5490435.pdf 125.17 kB · 1 download

If that’s the case and they get good spark boost from coils I agree. 

[Black02Silverado]

This is my wife's Wrangler 4xe. Most driving is done on electric around town, 10 to 18 miles. It's crazy that this thing kicks the engine on for a few seconds and then shuts off. Only time it runs full time is on the interstate. So just after we got off the interstate for a 45 min drive I pulled the sample. Seems the short turn on and off and not running much at all is really putting fuel into the oil. I hate to see what other 4xe engines oil looks like. Especially those that go 10k on an oil change using dealer installed oil. I need to start changing at 3k miles and just run AMSOIL's OE or even their synthetic blend. I know there are other choices but I like to use AMSOIL and fortunate that I can afford to do so. This is also using the Ea15k 50 oil filter. Might as well change out to a CQ Premium for a lesser cost there. Air filters engine and cabin get changed out in May after this nasty yellow pollen goes away.