Hi all.
This is a great forum. When I first got here I was like “what are they going on about”, then I came across ‘Motor Oil by AE Hans’ and I’m pleased to say I now know better.
To start with here’s a little background info on my car. It’s a 1995 Saab GM900 2.5 V6. I picked it up with about 125k miles on the clock, roughly 12 months ago. I had it serviced at a GM dealership; the mechanic mentioned some minor engine leaks, but there have been no drips or any oil loss over the 12 months (I only do about 5000 miles a year of 50/50 city/motorway journeys in this car), so I’m confident there’s nothing to worry about. Have you any thoughts on this?
Anyway, I didn’t specify any particular oil, as I trusted the pro would do what was best for the car. So for the oil change he flushed the engine with Forton Engine Flush, filled it with Shell Helix Plus 10w40 then added Forton Emission Control (could be known as Forton Oil Fortifier). The oil seemed fine over the summer with fair mpg, but since the winter the fuel efficiency fell and the car feels sluggish.
12 months are up and it’s time for an oil change.
I’m going to look after the engine from now on.
I’m still open to suggestions but the main reason for this post is that I’ve been impressed by the figures of Amsoil. My manual suggests 5w-30 fully synthetic so I’m considering either Amsoil 5w-30 (ASL) or Amsoil Series 2000 0w-30 (TSO).
Their particulars are so similar I’m not sure what benefits one has over the other; I can’t see how the TSO justifies its higher price over the ASL. Can anyone enlighten me?
(Ok so I said the figures are similar, they are according to the ‘thick or thin’ viscosity chart on this forum but less so on the official Amsoil site. Which specifications should I believe?)
However, what most concerns me is the stories of the 5w-30 degrading to a higher viscosity over time, which is just what I’d want to avoid going into winter later in the year. I’ve read elsewhere on here that the formula has been improved. So how would I know what I’m getting is the new improved formula?
As I’m in the UK and depending on when the formula changed there might still be old formula on the market here. Also there are no stores that I know of that stock Amsoil but there’s a couple on the web that deliver (opieoils and the amsoil distributor performance oils ltd), I suppose I could just ask them, but I'd rather trust the experts here.
Does anyone have some rock solid info please?
Any help or other suggestions much appreciated.
This is a great forum. When I first got here I was like “what are they going on about”, then I came across ‘Motor Oil by AE Hans’ and I’m pleased to say I now know better.
To start with here’s a little background info on my car. It’s a 1995 Saab GM900 2.5 V6. I picked it up with about 125k miles on the clock, roughly 12 months ago. I had it serviced at a GM dealership; the mechanic mentioned some minor engine leaks, but there have been no drips or any oil loss over the 12 months (I only do about 5000 miles a year of 50/50 city/motorway journeys in this car), so I’m confident there’s nothing to worry about. Have you any thoughts on this?
Anyway, I didn’t specify any particular oil, as I trusted the pro would do what was best for the car. So for the oil change he flushed the engine with Forton Engine Flush, filled it with Shell Helix Plus 10w40 then added Forton Emission Control (could be known as Forton Oil Fortifier). The oil seemed fine over the summer with fair mpg, but since the winter the fuel efficiency fell and the car feels sluggish.
12 months are up and it’s time for an oil change.
I’m going to look after the engine from now on.
I’m still open to suggestions but the main reason for this post is that I’ve been impressed by the figures of Amsoil. My manual suggests 5w-30 fully synthetic so I’m considering either Amsoil 5w-30 (ASL) or Amsoil Series 2000 0w-30 (TSO).
Their particulars are so similar I’m not sure what benefits one has over the other; I can’t see how the TSO justifies its higher price over the ASL. Can anyone enlighten me?
(Ok so I said the figures are similar, they are according to the ‘thick or thin’ viscosity chart on this forum but less so on the official Amsoil site. Which specifications should I believe?)
However, what most concerns me is the stories of the 5w-30 degrading to a higher viscosity over time, which is just what I’d want to avoid going into winter later in the year. I’ve read elsewhere on here that the formula has been improved. So how would I know what I’m getting is the new improved formula?
As I’m in the UK and depending on when the formula changed there might still be old formula on the market here. Also there are no stores that I know of that stock Amsoil but there’s a couple on the web that deliver (opieoils and the amsoil distributor performance oils ltd), I suppose I could just ask them, but I'd rather trust the experts here.
Does anyone have some rock solid info please?
Any help or other suggestions much appreciated.
