I’m on my second fill of Valvoline 5w40 in 6 mos. I changed the break in oil at 1000 and now have a few thousand miles on the second batch. I’ll probably do one more change soon just in case it was still making any break-in particulates for a while longer after the first change. No problems so far with the Valvoline…seems like good stuff. Although I’m not an oil expert and will usually grab whatever major brand full synth is on sale when the time comes for my cars.

No intention of re-igniting any oil wars! This board is a breath of fresh air with those types of issues which so motivate folks on other boards.

I did get a blackstone analysis done on the first batch, and think I’m going to keep at it. Really just for my own curiosity to see how a new motor wears, assuming the 20 year old car lasts long enough around it to develop trends. The first analysis came back with no coolant in the oil (my main concern after my overheat issue) and slightly elevated levels of other materials, which Blackstone indicated was normal for a new motor. The Valvoline looked fine they said, which makes sense because it only had 1000 miles on it. Although it did get hot, so I guess that says something good about the oil.