I was wondering if anybody uses amsoil. Is is really the miracle product that is says it is, and can you really go for 25,000 miles without changing your oil. It seems like it is to good to be true.

 

What's that old saying, if it sounds too good to be true then it probably isn't true.

 

A lot of people use Amsoil, it is a good product but not a miracle product. Nobody I know who uses it takes it to 25000 miles under typical conditions, and in my opinion IS too good to be true. There are other choices out there that will perform just as well for a lot less money.

 

Ah... He said the "a" word....

For the money, there are better options out there too. Don't fall for the marketing of it, talk about a joke. I speak from experience about this.

 

amsoil is a good oil, and i have seen it go to 25000 miles. people seem to either love or hate amsoil. i personally like it.

 

I have heard nothing but good things about Amsoil oil and nothing but bad things about it's marketing. There are some decent Amsoil dealers at the Oil Guy site though.

If you want to try 25,000 miles you will need to change the filter a couple or more times and you should have the oil analyzed a couple times along the way to ensure it is holding up to the task. Frankly, it would be easier to run shorter OCIs, at least half that much.

 

Amsoil is a very good product. I have been using it for probably 25 years, and have never had a complaint with what it does or how it lubricates. I am a hydraulics mechanic/millwright and lubricant specialist, and have had no problems with their products - any of them. That said, 25,000 miles OR ONE YEAR is their claim (whichever comes first) with a filter change at 12,500 OR SIX MONTHS using their filters. If you religiously followed this, you should be okay, and they guarantee it, but most people feel that if they put 10,000 miles on in a year, then they can go 2 1/2 years without changing their oil. I would say that THIS is expecting miracles. There are also other synthetics on the market which do as good a job as Amsoil. I saw it stated that they do this at a lower price, and I find that to be doubtful. A premium extended drain synthetic is rare. I think there are three. The above products, NEO, and Red Line. All three are pricey. Mobil One does not recommend extended drain, so in the long run costs more. Most others are the same. Back in the late seventies, the oil industry came out with products called "super slippery". I don't know what happened to them, but they were supposed to double drain intervals (so to 6,000 miles) They were pricey too, for the time period. Anything of quality is going to cost. I think Amsoil is a bit high, but I am willing to pay the price. Hope this helps. Like was stated above, the "A" company is loved or hated, with not much in between. I have heard mechanics really come down on synthetics in general, and then talked to them and discovered it was mostly because they knew nothing about them. That is what hating strongly suggests to me. Recrimination without investigation.

 

Oh boy here we go again!

In before the lock!!!

Ok now that that's out of the way, here's my opinion on Amzoil:
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lurchy98 asked a legitimate question. Since there are amsoil adds by google all over this page I don't see why the topic shouldn't be discussed on technical merit. The opinions given so far seem to be balanced and objective. But I promise if anyone starts *cheerleading* for the product or gets all emotional about it, this thread will get locked.

 

Fair enough.

I've heard Flash say that synthetics dont hold their additives as well as conventionals, also something about more wear in winter. Maybe he'll chime in.

FWIW, I've gotten excellent results with diesel rated conventional oil. I see no reason to change.

Since this hasn't been mentioned yet, I'll throw it out here. Anyone notice that the premium Amsoil oils aren't API rated? This could be a problem for someone with a new vehicle warranty.

 

FWIW, here's my take on the whole situation.

I like being able to run down to the local "insert your favorite store" and get any ole oil off the shelf, and know that it will easily make the 4K mi OCI mark, and that my engine will last a long time even with this "cheap" oil.

Heck, I used to own a '71 Olds Delta 88 that 325,000 on the original motor and only had a waterpump and a fuel pump installed. It had a routine diet of bargain 10-40 with a 4K OCI and Fram filters its whole life.

Now if the wonderfull conventional oils from that era (and they were nothing to write home about compared to todays conventionals) helped to make that 454 (IIRC right) last that long, why in the world would I want to spend 6x the $ on a miracle oil??

The closest to a miracle oil (reline, RP, Neo, amsoil, etc) that I'll ever use is 5-30 Mobil 1, and I only use that in the winter in my F-150 because I like the better cold startup in my freezing neck of the woods. The rest of the time I use a Motorcraft 5-20 convetional.

Will Amsoil work? I'm sure it does a great job, but I'm willing to bet that any standard oil will do the same job.

 

Amsoil is a blender of motor oils and lubricants; they do not refine anything; they buy individual components and blend them together according to their own recipe. Their motor oils for the most part are PAO basestocks that are purchased from Mobil. PAO oils come with a variety of problems like they do not mix well with the additive package therefore, the blenders will employ a carrier fluid to support the function. The same can be said about a Gp III dino. PAOs do not support any seal swell so the blender must use some type of additive to swell the seals otherwise leaks abound. Some will use an ester as an additive for this. PAOs are generally polar or non-polar. Polar will attach itself to the metal parts which can be a problem as the film strength is so great that the additive package cannot get in to do its job therefore wear is accelerated. Mobil One uses alkylated napthalenes as an additive to break the film down to solve this problem. Non-polar fluids will basically run off of the metal parts and not provide a film at all. Tackifiers are used to keep the film in place- yet another additive besides the usual anti-wear agents, detergents, etc. PAO oils will show in analysis, higher wear metals than a quality dino oil. So, when you hear or see someone say that they are running a "full" or "100%" synthetic- they are clueless- there isn't one including the ester based oils. Is Amsoil a good product? For the average driver I don't see the benefit or it being cost effective. For it to be used to its fullest advantage it needs to be used in an engine that is run hard and long everyday. In commercial vehicles, where time is money, it can be a viable solution to maintenance down time. In this arena it shines with the best of the current production lubricants. But it also requires better filtration than the primary filter that screws on the engine which is an additional cost to take full advantage of using their system. By-pass filtration can easily cost $500 installed on an engine. The average Joe can't justify the cost of the extra filtration to do it right, pay for analysis to trend the engine, and pay a high premium for the lubricant. Again, the question is: is it a good oil? Yep. if you can afford it and want to spend money on the novelty of it. It will do just as good of job as any oil on the market.

 

Good stuff as usual Flash.

(Note: "Tackifier" has just been added to my Oil & Lube vocabulary )

 

lurchy98, I suspect the simple answer to your questions is, no.

If you really do try it for 25K, drighten noted the really important considerations to keep in mind. But I think Flash is more realistic about the whole thing.

I've used Amsoil in 3 different vehicles and was disappointed in 2 of the applications, and have since gone back to dino in those two cars. Amsoil seemed to do best in my Nissan Maxima and I continue to use it in that vehicle, but no where near 25K. The conclusion I've come to is that good oil selection is as much "engine dependent" as is the choice of the oil in the 1st place. As an example, my V6 Maxima did not do well using regular Havoline or Valvoline Synpower oils. Both oils showed elevated wear and consumption. By contrast Mobil 1 did much better than either of those two. And Amsoil did slightly better than Mobil 1 in the Maxima. Now my 4 cyl Nissan Altima on the other hand did very poor with Amsoil. High wear and thickened viscosity. Mobil 1 did okay in the Altima. Regular Havoline...you guessed it...it did the best (lower uoa wear and consumption) and is the oil I use regularily in that car now.

That's what I mean by engine dependent. There is no "miracle product" when it comes to engine oils IMHO.

 

Thickening out of viscosity range is the same thing that has been noted on the Spacebears synthetic oil test. Amsoil 5w-30 had surpassed the 40w range well before they concluded the test at 14k. Is this bad? I don't know but 14k is still a pretty long time to run oil. I prefer Mobile 1 myself, walk into Walmart and pick up a 5 qt. jug for $20. The Mobile distributor here were I live runs Mobile 1 in his 5.4l 4x4 crew cab 25k with filter changes every 5k, he has had this truck about 4 years now. I prefer to go 8-10k and dump the whole mess out and start new. I have been using Mobile1 since the late seventies in every vehicle we have owned, excepted for a couple that leaked or used oil when we got them. The Spacebears test I feel shows that synthetics are good for extended drain but they will always be nay sayers. When I was little (maybe not that long ago) all the older mechanics use to say stay away from that multiviscosity crap, you want a good oil run straight 30w. I think we all know that isn't true for most applications.