I changed the oil in my 2016 Toyota 4 Runner in summer of 2021 to Amsoil Signature 0W-20 Synthetic, drove the car 3000 miles and it's been sitting in the garage since Nov 2021- til now. The oil looks new on the dipstick. Is it good for driving cross country for another 5000 miles or not? When should it be changed? The car as 35,000 total miles. Thanks.
Amsoil Synthetic - 18 months and 3,000 miles
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What does Amsoil say? Do they say the Signature series oil needs to be changed?
- Normal Service – Up to 25,000 miles (40,200 km), 700 hours of operation or one year, whichever comes first, in personal vehicles not operating under severe service.
- Severe Service – Up to 15,000 miles (24,140 km), 700 hours of operation or one year, whichever comes first. Severe service conditions include commercial or fleet vehicles; excessive idling; or frequent towing, hauling, plowing or driving in dusty conditions.
But they are in the business of SELLING oil...
I'm a believer that oil doesn't go bad sitting there. Now, if you were driving it every day and short tripping the vehicle, that would be a different scenario. This is only my opinion, but I believe this oil has plenty of life left.
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The Amsoil Signature series 5W30 in my wife's car was changed 12/06/20 @ 93,743 by me. Car now has 99, 463 on it and I'm not worried in the least. Signature series starts out with a TBN of 12.5, it is one of the most robust on the market. I've been using Amsoil SS since about 2011 and UOA since 2012 on Amsoil SS. I've NEVER changed it before 10-12K miles. C'mon man it's the best oil out there, you don't need to change it like Wally world oil.
I have no idea why Amsoil puts that "one year" lifespan on their oil. Probably got something to do with lawyers or new car warranties, neither of which I care about. I have previously run Amsoil over 3 years to get about 10K miles. If you are sincerely concerned, I would suggest doing a UOA, and I know, there's a crowd on this site that would say "oil is cheap, engines are not." But they don't run Amsoil, and I'm not suggesting you do UOA on a regular basis, just to establish precedent and give yourself peace of mind.
What area of the country do you live and how is the car stored at night? Does your garage have freeze/thaw cycles?
I have no idea why Amsoil puts that "one year" lifespan on their oil. Probably got something to do with lawyers or new car warranties, neither of which I care about. I have previously run Amsoil over 3 years to get about 10K miles. If you are sincerely concerned, I would suggest doing a UOA, and I know, there's a crowd on this site that would say "oil is cheap, engines are not." But they don't run Amsoil, and I'm not suggesting you do UOA on a regular basis, just to establish precedent and give yourself peace of mind.
What area of the country do you live and how is the car stored at night? Does your garage have freeze/thaw cycles?
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Very good post and thank you for the feedback. I'm curious what you are doing for oil filters, however.
Desert South West. No freezing.
Long time user of Amsoil products across our family of vehicles... We have a few short tripping vehicles and those we change yearly. The ones that don't drive a lot like summer only cars or grandma type thing those get every 2 years and none of them have had any issue.
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Amsoil EA15K29 and Filtermag. http://www.shopfiltermag.com/ Although on this site they seem to worship Fram. Fram does have on their site the efficiency rating of their "ultra" filter which is 99% @ 20 microns. This is equivalent to Amsoil, but I guess I'm just stuck on Amsoil; I've been using their products for so long.
UOA is Used Oil Analysis. Taking a 2? oz. sample of oil and sending it off for test lab analysis. I'm getting ready for work right now & don't have much time, but after work I can PM you some same lab reports on what I've found if you like. Much smarter men than I have stated that the best OIL filter is a good air filter. This makes some sense because the two worst things you can have in your oil are Iron and Silicon. Iron is your engine (microscopically) disintegrating and silicon is rock. Silicon is the 8th most common element in the universe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon Obviously, it is in the air we breath as dust. Also obviously, rock isn't good for your engine internals.
There isn’t elemental silicon in the air, that’s silicon dioxide which is decomposed in the ICP during analysis. And the iron that shows up in that analysis is not causing wear at all since the machine cannot measure particles that large.
Those one year limitations are due to the fact that the blender has no idea what the operation of the vehicle is during the year. Multiple short trips in cold weather is far different than fewer long trips on the oil.
If the vehicle is not being operated then no the oil will not degrade sitting in the pan. It takes the products of combustion along with heat and water to deplete the buffers and lower the TBN.
If the vehicle is not being operated then no the oil will not degrade sitting in the pan. It takes the products of combustion along with heat and water to deplete the buffers and lower the TBN.
I’ve run Amsoil and now an oil that’s arguably and measurably better, and yes, oil is always cheaper than engines.
Even with shelf-stock, $25 oil at 5k intervals, you’re talking a HALF-CENT per mile. A certain PCEO that has been extensively tested (nearly 2 BILLION miles in the past decade) to 15k intervals with hundreds of hours of idling per OCI in fleets works out to about 0.37 cents per mile. It’s even cheaper on a per-hour basis!
So, IMO, while “cheap” feels good to the pocket today, the “best” oil you can buy usually works out to be a better deal all the way around when it’s used to its capabilities.
What data lead you to that conclusion?
Arguably? No real need to expound there, because we could argue all day even on things that will never matter to the engine nor the oil.
Measurably? When OCIs are extended past the OLM, the competitor can go farther while remaining in grade & having reserve TBN in my engine application.
As always, no mfr claims should be taken only at face value; operating conditions and environmental factors will always play a part in determining safe & proper OCIs.
So you have a direct apples-to-apples comparo showing brand X to Amsoil?
Driving 5000 miles right now would be ideal actually. Good for the engine and the oil.
Change it whenever - 3 - 6 months after return would be fine.
Others nailed it. The 12 months comes from the unknown. People could have a 1 mile commute and have 1000 miles of cold cold engine driving, etc.
I have amsoil in my S4 right now. I can't remember the last time I changed it. Maybe 2018 or 2019, possibly 2017 too. However, I'm almost positive that it has less than 1k miles on it. I don't drive the car but I do start it maybe a few times a year. Until I can get to DMV to reregister it, it'll just sit.
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