Amsoil Lower Engine temps.

[buster]

My friend recently put Amsoil 0w-30 S2k into his 2003 Vette. He has noticed that his engine temps are now 20 degrees cooler and his oil pressure is more stable. He previously had factory fill Mobil 1 5w-30. Why would a thicker oil (then M1) create cooler engine temperatures? My initial thoughts are that it transfers heat better due to lower friction. I've guys with Audi's say this too that Amsoil 0w-30 has reduced their engine temps. by 15 degrees on average.

What is interesting about this is that Amsoil buys there PAO base stock from ExxonMobil. Are their various grades of PAO base stocks and would they be selling out better base oils then what they are using in Mobil 1? On the other hand, it could just be the added package and the fact that Amsoil is a more refined, expensive therefore better product. Any ideas?

 

[Al]

I guess I would just have to see that personally too believe it

Don't forgety that summer is almost over

[ September 10, 2003, 06:00 PM: Message edited by: Al ]

 

[pscholte]

I don't know of any reason why this COULDN'T happen, but if it was due to a basic property or quality of the oil, why wouldn't it be a more "universal" occurance when people switch?

 

[BOBISTHEOILGUY]

Buster, no offense intended here but it seems you come up with some things such as this seemingly trying to make amsoil look better than other oils. In some cases it seems a stretch. I myself would like to see all these temp drops. I've yet to see anyone demonstrate this.

Case in point, had a guy last week changed from a mineral gear oil to a full synth. His temp gauge was much cooler than with the mineral oil.

Come to find out, when he came in with the mineral oil, he'd just come off the road, obviously temp was high. When he came in the next time, he had been sitting there well over a few hours before they opened, and of course his gauge was lower. But, he didn't mention that until I asked.

[ September 10, 2003, 06:11 PM: Message edited by: BOBISTHEOILGUY ]

 

[Jelly]

Hmmm, well I can personally attest to a very similar situation that happened with me.

...I was running Pennzoil Long-Life 10w-30 in my truck. Now this was the first oil I had put in the truck myself, so I really didn't know what to expect. It ran at 160 degrees for awhile, but eventually, the temps would never go below 180, with occasional stints up to 200.

Made the switch over to Delo 15w-40 and the temps stay at 160 all the time.

When I drained out the old Pennzoil, it came out BLACK AS COAL, and I really don't know from what (Engine is not sludged up).

Only thing I can possibly think of is at the time the Pennzoil was it, I was doing some pretty hard off-roading around the farm (trying to get to some places that I should have taken the tractor to). Once, I got the truck stuck in a mud-hole, which, of course, was full of water. Truck sat in door deep water for 24 hours. Maybe water got into the sump somehow???

BTW, the Delo in there now is still brown in color, even after nearly 3,000 miles

 

[userfriendly]

Oh I don't know 'bout that.
Last June I changed out the SAE 30 to an SAE 40 in my 3.8 Windstar and the water temperature during operation dropped about 20 degrees.
Now I don't have to worry about over-heating and the engine stopped boiling over.
What else did I do that day???? Lets see....
Oh yea. I changed out the 9 year old 198* thermostate and put in a 180.
What do you people think lowered my egine temperature, the SAE 40 engine oil or the 180* thermostate?
After changing to the heavier oil, I noticed a slight miss during heavy acceleration.
Will switching to a synthetic oil cure that, or should I try changing the spark plugs first?
The last time I changed the spark plugs....the next day I got a flat tire.
The last time I got a flat tire was right after the dog died.

 

[buster]

quote:

---

Buster, no offense intended here but it seems you come up with some things such as this seemingly trying to make amsoil look better than other oils. In some cases it seems a stretch. I myself would like to see all these temp drops. I've yet to see anyone demonstrate this.

---

Bob, I was one of the ones criticizing this oil to death. Pablo will tell you. I'll also say that Amsoil IS NOT better then Mobil 1 right now. I've used it and M1 did better then this oil, in my car. It was shot at 8k miles.

Guys, I'm not trying to push Amsoil, seriously. If anything, I push Mobil 1.

My friend is an Amsoil fan, but I can tell you he is not exagerating. The car only has 5k miles on it. He said he has noticed 20 degree drop in engine temperature. It's a 2003 C5. I don't think the computer read out is wrong. The guy he bought it from also said that Amsoil 0w-30 in several of his cars (BMW M3) ran cooler.

Now regarding oil pressure. He said at start up with Amsoil the oil pressure was a 35psi. With Mobil 1 it was 40psi. When he gets on the car with the Mobil 1 the PSI goes up very fast. With the Amsoil 0w-30 it goes up slower. So would you say the oil pressure is better or worse with Amsoil 0w-30? Where is Molekule?

[ September 10, 2003, 06:56 PM: Message edited by: buster ]

 

[Doug Hillary]

Hi,
in my experience the tracking of engine temperature is quite a complex task;

1 - understanding the engine contruction
2 - by replicating circumstance
3 - use of monitoring devices

I have done a lot of this type of work on various vehicles including prototypes and the following method has been used ( it is now much easier with remote or direct reading computerised real time monitoring devices );

4 - fit devices at agreed key engine points to monitor engine load, fuel use etc - and various key component temperatures
5 - establish a log of ambient temp., weather data ( wind, humidity etc.)and perhaps other relevant data too
6 - commemce testing - usually over some weeks
7 - evaluate results

For the average person however, the use of an IR temperature reader is quite accurate ( usually +/- 2c )

You still need to select key areas to constantly "read" and log ( gauge reading, top hose, bottom hose, thermostat housing, valve cover, vee intersection etc. etc. oil pan and/or oil cooler in/out connections and perhaps others )
Usually four to six key points are all that is required to get a reasonable picture for trend analysis

At the same time you need to monitor ambient temp.,weather and the vehicle's operational cycle ( load,speed etc ), again monitoring trends

After logging these for a considerable time - perhaps one could state with some authority that an oil or other device has changed the vehicle's operational charteristics - like its running temperature, or I may add, its fuel economy!

These things can only be done in a "correct" and meaningful way - and over time. Otherwise the results - like a simple change of oil brand/type/viscosity - will be viewed as circumstantial.
It may just however be correct as well!

Regards

 

[TR3-2001SE]

Yes I agree buster. You usually like M1 so I don't believe you are trying to make Amsoil look good. It is a very interesting question that someone should have an answer for. Wish I did.

 

[greencrew]

My 5.4 truck ran about 190 at the head when I ran motorcraft 5w-20. Now that I'm running Amsoil 0w-30 I'll check it tomorrow and see what the temp is.

 

[wulimaster]

quote:

---

Originally posted by BOBISTHEOILGUY:
Buster, no offense intended here but it seems you come up with some things such as this seemingly trying to make amsoil look better than other oils. In some cases it seems a stretch. I myself would like to see all these temp drops. I've yet to see anyone demonstrate this.

---

I was at superduty headquarters in Arizona and I was talking to a customer there and had asked him if he had heard of Amsoil and he told me that he was using 0w30 in his vette and it lowered his engine temps 5 degrees over the Mobil 1 head had previously used.

Do new corvettes have a digital readout for engine temp?

 

[JohnBrowning]

You can not trust the guage in cluster as it is not a percison instrement. THe graduations are rather crude. I would want to read the temp directly from the data port and shoot it with infared non-contact device. Mechanicaly pyrometer reading would be nice as well. I have been useing synthetic since 1988 and I have only observed temp. differences at WOT on a dyno. I have never seen any difference in daily driveing. It is has been my experince that oil wt. makes a biger difference base stock under normal driveing cycles. Just my $.02

 

[buster]

IMO, I think the Vette gauge is accurate enough. What your missing is that it really doesnt matter if the temperature was X degrees. What matters is that it droped. I do see your point though. If he sees this continually, then its fair to say S2k does allow the engine to run cooler.

[ September 10, 2003, 09:06 PM: Message edited by: buster ]

 

[Pablo]

While I do believe that in certain applications, certain synthetics will have less frictional heat - It would be hard to swallow a 15° delta.

Not scientific, too small of a sample, need to repeat....as I tell Bob: "not a scientific study"

 

[Doug Hillary]

Hi,
I have seen many instances where heavy truck differentials have shed 20C-30C in cases of;

a) a change from 80w-140 synthetic to a 75w-90 synthetic lubricant
b) a change from mineral to synthetic lubricant of similar viscosity
c) a change from a mineral oil of one viscosity to a synthetic of a lower viscosity

And a reasonable temperature varaince in a change from a heavy mineral to a lighter mineral gear lubricant

And, I have tracked a significant drop in heavy truck gearbox oil temperature when the oil is changed from a mineral 50 to a synthetic oil of the same grade. The same applies when changing the oil from a mineral 90 to a conforming synthetic lubricant

I have never tracked a measurable drop in engine coolant temperature off the coolant gauge - when changing from a mineral oil to synthetic. There are simply too many variables involved

For one - most coolant gauges normally operate close to the thermostat's "crack" point which makes this almost impossible - all things being equal!

Even with a calibrated oil temperature gauge the operating variables would always need to be factored in as well

Regards

 

[Last_Z]

Doug;
Buster's case seems to contradict your theory though. His friend went from M1 (thinner) to AMS (thicker) and it lowered the temp? Hmmm...I can can see a thinner oil cooling the engine a few degrees, but a thicker one??

Rick

[ September 10, 2003, 10:55 PM: Message edited by: Last_Z ]

 

[pscholte]

I think there are too many unknowns at this point to assign a reasonable explanation...unless their is something substantial out there none of us have considered.

[ September 10, 2003, 11:04 PM: Message edited by: pscholte ]

 

[Steve S]

The oil would not make the engine run cooler as the engine coolant is controlled by a thermostat which has somewhat of a tolerance. Maybe the oil temp . reads lower ,could it be the syn. oil loses heat faster? which with airflow and area around the pan seems hard or could due to the faster flow of the syn. oil not pick up as much heat? Some Amsoil users have good imaginations I have read their mlm magazine for years. Imo Amsoil is a good heavy duty oil but nothing super special as Amsoil hasn't invented any additives or base stocks . Question, would the difference between the discussed oil be enough to motice a change in oil temps.

[ September 11, 2003, 12:29 AM: Message edited by: Steve S ]

 

[Doug Hillary]

Hi,
Last_Z - my first post concerned engine oils here.
It is impossible to make a judgement on engine temps. without a fairly clinical analysis
Unless it is all done correctly the results will likely be a horse's ????

I have been tracking the engine systems' temperatures on my Porsche S4 V8 along with the UOAs. Many experienced practicioners have all increased their knowlege a lot from this exercise

Regards

 

[wulimaster]

I have heard that engine oil performs 40 % of the engine cooling. With this much of the cooling done by the oil, it seems plausible that different oils will transfer heat to the surfaces of the engine where it can be disapated.

Kind of like how water wetter makes water cool better by providing more surface area to collect the heat.