Amsoil

[CanadianZ71]

I don't mean to bring up any debate here...but I had some questions for you guys that have been regular Amsoil users. I went to a boat and sportsmens show yesterday and I had a chat with the Amsoil dealer there. The stuff he showed me made Amsoil look far superior to the Mobil1 I am using now and he told me that Amsoil guarantees 25K mile or yearly oil change intervals. For me that would mean an oil change a year as oppossed to 3 or 4. How many of you actually leave thier oil in that long? Even though the Amsoil is more $$ than Mobil1 changing oil only once a year would save me a small bundle of both $$ and time.

[WEFs99]

A different brand of oil can't prevent contaminants from entering the crankcase so you will still have to change filters.  You might be surprised at how far long haul tractor trailers go before changing oil.  They do it by analysis, not mileage or time.   My personal opinion is that if you are not Number One in sales then you better make some wild claims to get there. I doubt if there is much difference in performance with any of the major  syn brands.

[Black02Silverado]

Where was the boat show?

 

Amsoil does claim one year or 25k mile oil changes with their oil. If you use their oil filter then you need to change the filter out at 6 months or 12,500 miles which ever comes first. Their filters are manufactured to their specifications by Hastings and have a larger filtering capacity than normal filters. You can still go the 25k or one year oil changes if you use a standard Wix, Puralator or AC filter, you just need to change out that filter at that manufactures recommendations. The oil is still good for the 25k or one year. Now if you are not comfortable with leting the oil in that long you can use Amsoils 7500 mile oil, which is good for 7500 miles or 6 months which ever comes first and just use a regular oil filter.

 

I change my oil once a year in my vehicles. I had an analisys done just to see how things were holding up and it was fine. I put on anverage 20k on my truck a year and my wife puts 30k a year on her van.

 

The additive package that Amsoil has in their oil is a really strong package. As we all know synthetics are really good compaired to regular oil.

 

The 7500 mile oil is comparable to Mobil 1 in price. You can get it for $3.95 a quart whole sale in the perferred buyers club.

 

There are a lot of people out there that have been running Amsoil since it was first introduce  as the an API certified synthetic oil back in 1972. That is 30 years of R&D under their belt as opposed to the latest large companies jumping on the band wagon in the past 15 years.

 

Don't get me wrong Mobil 1 is a really good oil. As far a performance gains. You will get it running a synthetic oil over a nonsynthetic oil. The protection is there, but if you are just going to change your oil every 3k then regular oil will do just fine.

 

Synthetics hold up to the heat way better than regular oil as well as protect and flow better in the extreme cold.

 

Amsoil isn't making any wild claims to get the sales, they are just telling it like it is. If they wanted to get rich fast then they would push for 3k oil changes and sale a higher volume of oil. Why change the oil more than needed. Technology has come a long way. :thumb:

 

[Professor]

I would not increase oil drain intervals excessively without doing an analysis on the oil regardless of what Amsoil is recommending. You should establish a baseline on the oil through analysis until you are comfortable with the results. If you do not want to spend the time and money for analysis, I would not stray very far from the vehicle manufacturers recommendations.

 

As to Mobil vs Amsoil, IMO the M1 is a better oil than the XL7500 series.  Keep in mind that Amsoil buys their base stocks from Mobil for their higher end oils.

 

There is a wealth of information here:

 

Bob is the oil guy Forum

[lrymal]

I don't mean to bring up any debate here...but I had some questions for you guys that have been regular Amsoil users. ..

For what it is worth, a few days ago, this exact same message was posted to another list and really stirred up some "debates".  

[traveler]

On other forums this debate gets almost mean spirited (Mobil One vrs Amsoil).  Amsoil is formulated for extended useage whereas most other synthetics are not.  Mobil One, and any other brand, is a good oil for people who don't want to run extended period of time between oil changes.  Mobil One has a good distribution system in place and the ads to go with them.  It is the original oil in many vehicles on the road today to include Mercedes, Mini Cooper, Porsche, Corvette and others.  Why Mobil One - I think it has to do with the distribution system and the price given to the manufacturers.  A manufacturer doesn't spend one penny they don't have to in order to bring a car to the dealer.  Then you have the manufacturer advising owners they can go 5000, 7000, and even 10000 miles before oil changes.  Others have computers to decide the life of your oil before a change is due.  I have over 4000 miles on my Yukon XL and have approx 46% oil life left.  Lastly all the ads you see remind you to change your oil every 3000 miles.  It was that way in the 60's when a tune up was required every 10,000 miles.  So who wants your money?  Get the best oil filter you can find and install it regardless of what type of oil you use.  Both Amsoil and Mobil One have excellent filters, but for extended oil drains, I will stick with Amsoil thank you very much.

[lrymal]

....Then you have the manufacturer advising owners they can go 5000, 7000, and even 10000 miles before oil changes. ...

I'm not getting into the AA vs. BB debate due to the slug fest that always seems to occur, and it is a very tired argument, rehashed every few months, anyway.

 

However, I would like to toy around with the change interval.  I do agree that in the 60s oil change intervals were much longer than today, and that is when we used that nasty leaded gasoline and many folks were still using oil-bath air cleaners.  The environment then was far more hostile for engines back then than it is for engines today.

 

Today, the lubes are far better, the gasoline is much cleaner, and engines are less prone to run too lean or too rich due to computer monitoring....YET, the manufacturer claims we need to change at 3,000 mile intervals.  For the past decades, I have used 7000 to 10,000 mile intervals, and have yet to experience a sludge-filled motor, or any premature wear.  Most of our motors go waaaay over 100,000 miles and usually are retired because the body of the truck is finally kaput.

 

Anyway, that is my opinon on the change interval. One slight comment on Amsoil and Mobil 1....  I worry about going over 10,000 miles due to the condensation, acids, and other junk that accumulates.  If anything, at least change out the filter every 7,000 or less, or get a long-life filter system.

 

Admittedly Amsoil's claim to fame is the long-life interval.  In the 70s, Mobil 1 guaranteed their product for 25,000 mile intervals, but I think that their dealers of the time had a royal fit over that due to less profit coming in for the service stations (remember those???) doing oil changes.

 

Ok, that's it fer me....

[CanadianZ71]

It was me that posted the message on the other board as well and I would like to thank you guys for your responces.  This is exactly what I was looking for not the mud flinging debate that happened over there.  Thanks guys!!

[TahoeSS]

Not to cause a stur-just my real life experience with Amsoil.My crate motor went down at 11,000 miles with Amsoil 10w40 in and Amsoil filter change and top off at 7500 miles,sent oil sample out to lab and engine people did also.Results came back the same;oil clumped and was at the viscosity of a straight 60w oil. Oil was not the cause of the failure though,Amsoil never responded to me .I dropped my distribtorship shortly after.Other stories also but won't go there-no need.Use Mobil 1 or Royal Purple.

[Black02Silverado]

Not to cause a stur-just my real life experience with Amsoil.My crate motor went down at 11,000 miles with Amsoil 10w40 in and Amsoil filter change and top off at 7500 miles,sent oil sample out to lab and engine people did also.Results came back the same;oil clumped and was at the viscosity of a straight 60w oil. Oil was not the cause of the failure though,Amsoil never responded to me .I dropped my distribtorship shortly after.Other stories also but won't go there-no need.Use Mobil 1 or Royal Purple.

Now this is the kind of stuff I really want to learn more about. If you would Tahoe please send me an email or you can let me in on here all the details. I would really like to know more if you don't mind.  

 

Like how could they tell you that it wasn't oil related when the oil was clumped like a 60w. Did two different labs say the same thing? What was Amsoil's reasoning for not covering it? How did they explain the thickening of the oil?  What exactly happened to the engine? Did it seize?  Sorry for all the questions, I just want to learn what I can to better inform others as well.

 

Thanks