amsoil display engine - hoax?

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DirtyApe

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Jun 10, 2004
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SW Illinois.
Every year at the local state fair (DuQuoin Illinois, going on this week), there is an amsoil dealer there.. Same spot, selling his wares, chatting up passers-by.

Always has a bare engine sitting out there, sometimes running, sometimes not. Radiator, fan, etc. I don't know what size, but older car/light truck motor. He has had it there for at least the last 10 years I know of.

Noticed a sign on it yesterday: "Engine will be started at 6pm - this engine has now been run 200+ hours WITHOUT Oil".

C'mon.
 
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An internal combution engine can't make one revolution without oil.

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Sure it can, it can acually make allot of turns,but then she's shot.
crushedcar.gif
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If DuQuoin wasn't so durned far for me, I'd take the GL1800 down there just to see that...

I can't really take the extra time off either... already planning to attend the Farm Progress Show in Decatur, IL this week.
 
If this engine is "without oil" it can not be turned over, even one time. What they might mean is that the oil has been drained, but there is still oil in then engine. There has been only one creditable example of an engine running with the oil drained out of the sump and that's from Militec-1. That little stunt was supervised by their customer, the US Government and had to do with vehicles running after combat damage. Most of these examples are a hoax.
 
I think the point is that it once had Amsoil in it and it has been drained but the oil will leave a protective film to be able to run without oil in the pan. I think it's been done before. 'Sposed to show how Amsoil reduces startup wear?
 
Yeah, all oil leaves a film of protection. What do you think happens at every startup (or worse after every oil change)? I know people who don't worry about oil pressure taking 30 seconds to build after changing their oil.
 
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Yeah, all oil leaves a film of protection. What do you think happens at every startup (or worse after every oil change)? I know people who don't worry about oil pressure taking 30 seconds to build after changing their oil.

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30 seconds? Cars I've worked on take about 2 seconds to build oil pressure, as read on the gauge.
 
Thats funny...have an engine on hand fill her up with amsoil for alittle while then drain then start her up and see what happens.
 
I have seen a few customer cars that were run several miles with no oil in the sump before the car quit. The highest mileage I personally experienced was just over 11 miles in a Dodge Polara with a big 440 in it. The owner left his car unattended while the oil was draining and went to the store to get a filter. Meanwhile, his wife sees her car is missing, so drives the Polara to the mall AND back with no oil. She asked why a red light was glowing on the dash. I was with him when this happened, so I have to believe what I saw. We added oil to the engine when she returned, and the car ran fine. This was during the first big gas crisis, and we gave the car to some Mexican gardeners who drove it to Ensenada. I know they made it to Ensenada, but we lost track of the car's history after that.
If you work on quirky European cars you get a lot of owners who do their own maintenance. It is not at all uncommon for someone to change their oil and forget to add new oil. Typically they drive down the block and realize their mistake. Usually there is no harm done and the car runs normally after adding oil.
 
What I'm wondering, is it said "engine will be started at 6pm"... "blah blah 200+ hrs... HOW LONG will it be run at 6? Maybe 200hrs without oil scattered over 20 years? I'll check it when we go back..
 
Okay, I have a story that sounds too good to be true, and it is one of the reasons that I am now an Amsoil dealer.....

A couple of years back, when Amsoil just released, or I just realized that they had Amsoil European formula 5w40, I started running it in my 2000 VR6 VW Jetta. It was in the motor, and I took it to Checkered Flag Auto Service, in Grove City, OH to get the oil changed. It is now Mobil Lube Express, go figure. Anyway, I paid them to put Amsoil in my car, and I had it changed out at my regular 5k OCI. (keep in mind, this was pre-BITOG, and I was just lazy on changing my own oil.) Anyway, I went to get it changed and about a mile after I left, my check engine light came on, and my oil light came on and started beeping, it may have been on and I didn't see it, but it starts beeping after a minute or something. The car was running fine, and I knew immediately that they had drained the oil, and not replaced it. It had Amsoil in it before this, and they were supposed to have put it back in again, but some idiot there didn't do it. So, I drove the car back to them, and I drove it as hard as I could and it was running just fine. I was hoping it would blow up and they would owe me a motor for their mistake. They agreed as soon as I got there that they had forgot, and the Amsoil quarts were still sitting on the ground. I got a police report, and took it to VW to get it inspected. They tore the motor apart, and found no problems at all, they only replaced the seals that they had to. Checkered Flag covered the bill immediately, and all was well. So, I think that this is possible on a short mileage basis. As for me, I trust Amsoil products because of this. What would have happened if I had some GIII oil in there? Who knows, but Amsoil did good for me. I no longer have the car, and it was running like a champ 30k miles after that, no leaks, no noise, even the timing chain didn't rattle.

I think this motor was probably prelubed prior to every single start without any oil. I think it is the only way it is possible, but I think it is possible.
 
It's birds like this guy with the motor at the fair that make it difficult for other Amsoil dealers to be taken seriously. Surely, other dealers have reported him to Amsoil if he does that every year.
 
I was in no way saying that this guy is anything but crazy in his selling technique. I was just implying that it may be a little slight of hand to make it possible. I would be shyed away from Amsoil by a person like this if I didn't already like their products. It reminds me of the infomercials on tv for KaBlam or OXXXyclean and the like.
 
Quote:


Noticed a sign on it yesterday: "Engine will be started at 6pm - this engine has now been run 200+ hours WITHOUT Oil".

C'mon.

Click to expand...


I dont get it, is he selling amsoil or is he selling the lubricating properties of AIR? That's usually the setup additive salesmen use, I dunno how it in any way proves amsoils performance...
 
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I dunno how it in any way proves amsoils performance...

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Doesn't prove a thing. Neither does the driving around the world on one oil change commercial for Mobil 1 I saw the other night prove anything nor any of the many tests or "Actual Demonstrations" we see prove anything. They are just gimmicks to get our attention. Yet Amsoil, Mobil 1 et. al are still decent products. We know that by digging past the hype and evaluating their performance in everyday use by people we acutally know or by using them ourselves.
 
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