Amsoil lubes: worth it?

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ok-- first off-- any posts by Amsoil dealers will be ignored. Sorry, just can't expect you to do anything other than represent it as the best lube ever. It's nothing personal. You just can't expect an objective opinion from someone with a dog in the fight.

Same goes for you employees of other oil manufacturers, too- to keep it fair.
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My queston is simple. I've got the following vehicles:

1989 Chevy S-10 Blazer 4X4. 4.3L V6, 700R4 AT, NP231C transfer case. approx 20K miles on the engine, 8K on the trans.

1990 Jeep Cherokee 4X4. 4.0 I-6, NP231J. junkyard motor in it, no idea of the mileage, but it holds rock-solid 40PSI pressure at hot idle and cruise.

1994 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4X4. Same drivetrain as the 1990 Cherokee. 170,000 miles. short trips mostly under 3 miles [taking the wife to work.

All vehicles engines are internally clean, as inspected top and bottom. They wil be getting Motorguard bypass filters, and I use Purolator Pure-One filters, or the Mobil1/K&ns if they're on sale. I've been using Castrol GTX except for the Blazer which had a leaking oil line to the remote filter- so it got Advance Auto housebrand oil, and have recently switched over to Castrol Syntec in all vehicles [having fixed all leaks].

I intend to go with an extended OCI, with OA done every 5000 miles, perhaps lengthening that interval according to my experience.

OK-- so now we know the field we're on-- what is so great about Amsoil that I should chose it over Mobil1 or Castrol Syntec? I *do not* buy their line about their $30 filter elements being such wonderful things-- should I dismiss Amsoil's lubes as being dramatically better than the lubes I'm using as well?

BTW- yes, I did search first. Saw a lot of messages indexed that showed up as "not available". PArticular among them the one with the title "interesting response from Amsoil". This makes me leary.

[ October 16, 2005, 03:45 AM: Message edited by: burntkat ]
 
amsoil and recently mobil1 are the only oils marketed specifically as extended drain interval oils if that means anything to you. I think it says something if they are willing to tell you not to buy as much oil from them.
 
Esso Extra XD-3 is also marketed as an extended drain oil, with the usual stipulation that UOA should be used as part of an overall oil and maintenance management program.

From everything I have seen to date, I don't believe there is anything intrinsically better about the Amsoil oils versus the M1 EP oils (and XD-3 synth hangs right in there as well). In some circumstances, the Amsoil products perform slightly better, and in others, the M1 products perform slightly better. If you believe in doing 25k mile oil changes with Amsoil, you should be able to, with confidence, repeat the same with M1 with similar results.

Remember: Amsoil is an oil company. Oil companies exist to make profits. Some of Amsoil's marketing claims are highly credible for most situations, and others are not.

For example, their insistence of keeping OCI's at 1-year or less, the 12k mile filter changes they recommend, and some of their fuel economy claims are not supported by publicly available credible evidence.
 
Your engines will tolerate "lesser" motor oils; jeep inline 6-s take Xw40 weights pretty well and a 15w40 HDEO (diesel) oil fits that. The 4.3 if it burns due to poor valve seals could also use this oil. The higher TBN will fight effects of the 3 mile commutes.

Amsoil has a big wonderous catalog of transmission, transfer case, and rear end oils from which more (economy, durability) can be gained in many situations. Unless you get the axles underwater then I'd change out cheap dino gear oil every time. Post this same Q in the trans/rear end oils section.

You never mentioned how you drive the first two vehicles, on/off road, etc.
 
I've been using Amsoil in all of my vehicles for a couple of years now. I switched from M1 for a couple of reasons, including ease of ordering (it's much easier for me to order it on line and have it dropped at my doorstep in a couple of days). With the Preferred Customer program the price per quart (purchased in gallon containers) is usually less than M1 in auto parts stores, including shipping.

I put Amsoil in pretty much everything I own and am pleased with the results. My UOA's have been good and in both my Jeeps (96 Cherokee and 00 Wrangler) fuel mileage increased when I put Amsoil in everything including transfer case, transmission and differentials.

I've since sold the Wrangler but the Cherokee still runs strong at 155K miles and tows on a regular basis.
 
What is your objective?

If it is cost savings, you'll never save money running expensive synthetic and doing UOA every 5,000 miles, even with a 20,000 mile OCI.

None of these vehicles need anything other than a good dino of the proper viscosity and regular maintenance, especially in your moderate climate.

My $0.02 FWIW

Tim
 
I am interested in long OCI too but if doing UOA at 5000 miles is part of the deal/requirement, I would choose to just change the oil (with dino) at 5000 miles. I maintain 5 cars in the family and what bothers me is not the actual time to do the oil change but the constant alert of 5000 miles of the individual car.
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I really don't believe that Amsoil or any other full synthetic oil in that price range is worth it.

The only way the Synthetic vs. Petroleum oil level cost factor would even out is for the Synthetic being used along with the full and bypass filter set up. You would need to run the oil until the oil analyser told you it was time to change.

I like to do 5,000 mile OCI's and crawl around under the vechiles to see what's up. I have found many a potential problem this way. The last one was a rubber transmission hose ready to go.
 
quote:

Originally posted by Tim:
What is your objective?

If it is cost savings, you'll never save money running expensive synthetic and doing UOA every 5,000 miles, even with a 20,000 mile OCI.

None of these vehicles need anything other than a good dino of the proper viscosity and regular maintenance, especially in your moderate climate.

My $0.02 FWIW

Tim


You were reading my mind......Ditto
 
quote:

Originally posted by eljefino:
You never mentioned how you drive the first two vehicles, on/off road, etc.

The Blazer is my DD, but also sees offroad use as often as possible. Did I mention it's running Dana 44 axles front and rear [ie: I cut off the factory IFS and went to straight axle up front, while upgrading the rear]. That tell ya anything?
smile.gif


The 1990 XJ is a rockcrawler. While it hasn't as of yet been in extreme situations offroad due to my work schedule, it's being built for severe offroad abuse.

I have a 5psi air overpressure system to each axle, transfer case, and transmission to help avoid water intrusion during water crossings.
 
quote:

Originally posted by Pablo:
I know this will be ignored - but all I ask is the proper initial cost be used, not the Redline price
smile.gif
Sorry for poking my head in where it doesn't belong.


hey, not a problem.

If I could get a straight answer from Amsoil re: their costs on the oils after the preferred customer discount, and if I knew they won't bug the **** out of me once I give them my info fo rthe PC plan, it would help.

Sorry, every time I've heard Preferred Customer in a MLM scheme, it's resulted in lots of lost hours for the customer-- as they get spiel after spiel about the "Excellent MoneyMaking Opportunity"
 
Amsoil and M1 both make excellent oils. To be perfectly honest, their isn't much difference between the two. M1 EP and Amsoil 5w-30/10w-30 are virtually the same spec wise. Both would get the job done.
 
On your off roaders I'd put in a midsize auto tranny cooler. Either in front of the main radiator where the fan can suck through or with little baby electric fans. Use dino ATF and change it annually or immediately if you suspect water intrustion.

Running synthetics will make you cry if you have to dump them and make you think twice which you don't want to do if you have a problem. The cooler will hold dino ATF to a friendly temp.

Your engine oil plan looks spot on.

The amsoil catalog may have some value in their coolant section, their equivalent to "water wetter" if they have one (and I'm sure they do) might be handy when crawling.
 
Believe it or not there are a couple of Amsoil products that I use. I am a Preferred Customer, and I have never received anything from Amsoil trying to sell me something other than the monthly magazine. Don't let this program get in your way. It also keeps you informed on what's happening inside Amsoil and then you can form your own opinions.
 
quote:

Originally posted by eljefino:
On your off roaders I'd put in a midsize auto tranny cooler. Either in front of the main radiator where the fan can suck through or with little baby electric fans. Use dino ATF and change it annually or immediately if you suspect water intrustion.

Running synthetics will make you cry if you have to dump them and make you think twice which you don't want to do if you have a problem. The cooler will hold dino ATF to a friendly temp.

Your engine oil plan looks spot on.

The amsoil catalog may have some value in their coolant section, their equivalent to "water wetter" if they have one (and I'm sure they do) might be handy when crawling.


offroaders are both running at least one 15,000-pound rated RV tranny cooler, and bypassing the radiator cooler entirely. The rockcrawler is running two of them in series, though I am considering dropping to just one, and using the second as an engine oil cooler.

I'll check out the coolant at Amsoil. But I've been using standard water/glycol mix to good effect. I had to replace the radiator shortly after getting the jeep running and I put a 3-row aftermarket unit in.

Which engine oil plan was it that looked spot-on?
smile.gif
 
Thanks Hounddog- this is the kind of info I'm looking for.

I'll compare prices on the Amsoil and Mobil1 and let my wallet make the decision, then. Anyone have problems with Castrol Syntec? I never have, but I don't know as much as some of you in this area.
 
quote:

Originally posted by burntkat:

quote:

Originally posted by Pablo:
I know this will be ignored - but all I ask is the proper initial cost be used, not the Redline price
smile.gif
Sorry for poking my head in where it doesn't belong.


hey, not a problem.

If I could get a straight answer from Amsoil re: their costs on the oils after the preferred customer discount, and if I knew they won't bug the **** out of me once I give them my info fo rthe PC plan, it would help.

Sorry, every time I've heard Preferred Customer in a MLM scheme, it's resulted in lots of lost hours for the customer-- as they get spiel after spiel about the "Excellent MoneyMaking Opportunity"


I concur with the other members's description of preferred membership. I did it for a year, but let it lapse, having decided to use GC for the foreseeable future. I never got more than an occasional magazine or flyer in the mail. No pitching to be a pitchman.
 
burntkat,

I did the same thing that ekpolk did. No one is going to "hotbox" you.

My concern about Amsoil's regular car oils (xw-30) now look almost identical to Mobil 1 EP line. Specifically, these oils are not ACEA A3 rated anymore since this line is a thinner 30 weight like Mobil 1.

For your application, I believe that the regular 15w-40 is a good oil for the $$$ and a perfect choice for the Jeeps. You could use it year round in your climate.

Their 5w-30 HDD is probaly their best oil; heck big Al uses it in his own vehicles. I would consider this oil in my 2k Maxima since it is an oil abuser, currently using GC.

Their 5w-40 Euro oil looks like a winner but I do not have an application for it.
 
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