Amsoil xl change today

[tnt_motorsports]

You think he’s wrong and unless he can prove it to you by going through the pains of getting recordings he can’t be correct? Ears are data.

FWIW, A simple DB meter on a smart phone could work, but that could be subjective due to an uncontrolled environment. The only way to know for sure, is to control all the variables in a DOE. Sorry, its engineering and what I do for a living.

Unfortunately, like others have said, I think it is the placebo effect.

Just my $0.02

 

[ka9mnx]

No doubt. I’m sure in your neck of the woods you deal with the same thing. I’m just waiting till the weather warms to get some new oil in and I’ll run it the whole summer. I probably should have used something cheaper for a winter run.

I would try going up a grade

 

[FlyingTexan]

That’s nowhere near close to reality. Out of all the senses, sound perception is one of the most nebulous. It’s very, very difficult to obtain accurate sound pressure measurements even in a proper lab. Throw a human in the mix and it’s exponentially more subjective.

A running engine is a dynamic environment with many moving variables.

I'm a commercial pilot and before that I've operated machinery my entire life. Anyone that knows their machine knows it talks to them. I've had fires, shut down engines, excessive vibrations causing shut downs, failed gear extensions, and not a single one of them did I need a system to tell me something was wrong. Sound is the THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT thing we have. Before you can see, feel, smell, or grab a checklist or book and read about it, or have some instrument tell me something is wrong I can tell when my machine is off tune. It's the absolute first indication you have. If the pitch or the sound environment changes from normal operating then you're alert and know something has changed. It may not be "nowhere near close to reality" for you but all that tells me is you have no idea what you're talking about. You need a proper lab to tell you when an engine sounds completely off? You're telling me walking by and hearing it misfiring it simply CAN'T be happening until you've had some lab equipment tell you so? You're saying you lack the ability to tell when an engine is idling rough vs smooth? You're completely wrong on this and everyone that thinks they need a decibel meter to add credibility spends more time behind a keyboard then in real world usage. I don't know how anyone can sit there and continually dispute people's claims when they weren't there, didn't experience it for themselves, and apparently know little enough they don't think it's possible. My pickup was running rough the other day. No indications, no labs, no decibel meters, no scientist. I started it, used my ears to hear it struggling, and instantly said "Wow somethings not right, hasn't been ran in a while, time for some maintenance". Ended up being completely right and didn't need your internet PHD or to assuage your doubts to remedy it. You keep walking around believing what you want but don't tell others that they don't know what they're talking about because you, who wasn't there and only believes in instruments and validated lab reports apparently, can't fathom it to be true.

 

[FlyingTexan]

In my 50 years, I've experienced the same thing on all of my vehicles and many brands of oil with varying intensity. Many people I know do not notice any difference, My wife is typically one of those people.

That is until recently. At the thought of using the latest oil of choice here on BITOG and because I was changing the oil anyway, I changed my truck over to to VRP. Same weight as always, 5w-30. The initial smoothness and power were astounding. The start-up was also noticeably quieter, enough so that my wife asked without provocation, if had done something to my truck. A couple hundred miles later on the same oil, she asked me again: "Did you mess something up? You truck is loud again."

My guess is that oils shear to a certain degree and lose a little cushion that better absorbs sound and vibration. Some people are more sensitive to the sound and vibration.

I'm sorry but per experts here everything you've said isn't possible unless you've placed multiple microphones on your vehicle and had an independent lab of "top men" in white coats verify your claims using sophisticated equipment, had the findings notarized, then hand delivered back to you where you they then sit down and explain to you everything you experienced in the first place.

/sarcasm for the absurdity of it all lol

 

[FlyingTexan]

Shearing? My 24 has hpl premium plus 0w20, setting @ 7k and sounds like it needs changed. Rough winter, lots of idling and short tripped 50% of the time. I’m not looking for level 5 status by running oil 38k miles. I just wanna feed my cars the best and keep the engine clean.

See above posts. You're not qualified to tell anyone what your engine sounds like. Come here where people tell YOU what it must have sounded like until verified otherwise.

 

[facility1]

when I was working (now retired) I always listened to my equipment and vibrations, smell, temperatures, gut feelings etc, can tell you a lot of possible upcoming issues, ( even your current vehicle), just being alert of your given senses without over reactions can be beneficial, this is a quality of a lifetime hands on experienced mechanical minded person who has knowledge of how things work and of course lubricated.

 

[Nesterenko]

Back off on your OCI...or move up to Signature series..

You're the one giving advice, maybe you should list test results before doing so. If you think switching over to SS is going to change anything vs XL then you had better go back to square one.

 

[D1dad]

I would try going up a grade

Maybe some day when it’s out of warranty but probably not. My 18 rogue with the same engine has made it to 100k on basically maxlife 0w20 its whole life and uses not a drop with zero valve train clatter. I may run Hps 5w20, but see no reason to go thicker with the results I’ve had. I’ve always ran cheaper oil in the winter and changed it more often but like a dummy, I didn’t this year. If premium plus can’t make it 7500k under severe conditions then somethings wrong. I have 10, 5 qt jugs of fram, carquest and pennzoil that I’ll use next winter and dump it at 4-5k.

 

[Glenda W.]

I'm a commercial pilot and before that I've operated machinery my entire life. Anyone that knows their machine knows it talks to them. I've had fires, shut down engines, excessive vibrations causing shut downs, failed gear extensions, and not a single one of them did I need a system to tell me something was wrong. Sound is the THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT thing we have. Before you can see, feel, smell, or grab a checklist or book and read about it, or have some instrument tell me something is wrong I can tell when my machine is off tune. It's the absolute first indication you have. If the pitch or the sound environment changes from normal operating then you're alert and know something has changed. It may not be "nowhere near close to reality" for you but all that tells me is you have no idea what you're talking about. You need a proper lab to tell you when an engine sounds completely off? You're telling me walking by and hearing it misfiring it simply CAN'T be happening until you've had some lab equipment tell you so? You're saying you lack the ability to tell when an engine is idling rough vs smooth? You're completely wrong on this and everyone that thinks they need a decibel meter to add credibility spends more time behind a keyboard then in real world usage. I don't know how anyone can sit there and continually dispute people's claims when they weren't there, didn't experience it for themselves, and apparently know little enough they don't think it's possible. My pickup was running rough the other day. No indications, no labs, no decibel meters, no scientist. I started it, used my ears to hear it struggling, and instantly said "Wow somethings not right, hasn't been ran in a while, time for some maintenance". Ended up being completely right and didn't need your internet PHD or to assuage your doubts to remedy it. You keep walking around believing what you want but don't tell others that they don't know what they're talking about because you, who wasn't there and only believes in instruments and validated lab reports apparently, can't fathom it to be true.

No at all different than running a locomotive. The best engineers run by senses and can tell when something is going on before it happens. We called bad engineers trained monkeys because they never got the “feel” of running a train but knew how to by the book.

IMO cars are no different, I know every squeak, rattle, vibration etc. in my cars. I can tell immediately when something is different. In fact about a month ago my daughter said something sounded different in her Acura RDX. It was over due for a timing belt so I replaced it. I had found the actuator binding up causing a very slight fluttering noise from the front engine cover. She says the noise is gone now.

 

[kschachn]

I'm a commercial pilot and before that I've operated machinery my entire life. Anyone that knows their machine knows it talks to them. I've had fires, shut down engines, excessive vibrations causing shut downs, failed gear extensions, and not a single one of them did I need a system to tell me something was wrong. Sound is the THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT thing we have. Before you can see, feel, smell, or grab a checklist or book and read about it, or have some instrument tell me something is wrong I can tell when my machine is off tune. It's the absolute first indication you have. If the pitch or the sound environment changes from normal operating then you're alert and know something has changed. It may not be "nowhere near close to reality" for you but all that tells me is you have no idea what you're talking about. You need a proper lab to tell you when an engine sounds completely off? You're telling me walking by and hearing it misfiring it simply CAN'T be happening until you've had some lab equipment tell you so? You're saying you lack the ability to tell when an engine is idling rough vs smooth? You're completely wrong on this and everyone that thinks they need a decibel meter to add credibility spends more time behind a keyboard then in real world usage. I don't know how anyone can sit there and continually dispute people's claims when they weren't there, didn't experience it for themselves, and apparently know little enough they don't think it's possible. My pickup was running rough the other day. No indications, no labs, no decibel meters, no scientist. I started it, used my ears to hear it struggling, and instantly said "Wow somethings not right, hasn't been ran in a while, time for some maintenance". Ended up being completely right and didn't need your internet PHD or to assuage your doubts to remedy it. You keep walking around believing what you want but don't tell others that they don't know what they're talking about because you, who wasn't there and only believes in instruments and validated lab reports apparently, can't fathom it to be true.

Thanks, that explains a lot.

 

[Patman]

I think there is a big difference between the ears of an airline pilot knowing the difference in sound on their engine vs some random dude who mixes up a bunch of different oils and honestly believes that he’s come up with something better than fully formulated oils

The average person doesn’t really have that kind of ear. Most are only hearing a difference because they want to! In all of my years of trying different oils in many cars I have honestly never heard a difference in sound or felt as if it was making the engine run smoother. I might have said something to that effect when I was a teenager running Slick 50 or Duralube but I was only fooling myself because I had just wasted money on what I later found out was just snake oil.

 

[Zee09]

I think there is a big difference between the ears of an airline pilot knowing the difference in sound on their engine vs some random dude who mixes up a bunch of different oils and honestly believes that he’s come up with something better than fully formulated oils

The average person doesn’t really have that kind of ear. Most are only hearing a difference because they want to! In all of my years of trying different oils in many cars I have honestly never heard a difference in sound or felt as if it was making the engine run smoother. I might have said something to that effect when I was a teenager running Slick 50 or Duralube but I was only fooling myself because I had just wasted money on what I later found out was just snake oil.

The progression of astuteness and deafness factor in at a higher level than familiarity.

 

[VersatileGuy]

I think there is a big difference between the ears of an airline pilot knowing the difference in sound on their engine vs some random dude who mixes up a bunch of different oils and honestly believes that he’s come up with something better than fully formulated oils

The average person doesn’t really have that kind of ear. Most are only hearing a difference because they want to! In all of my years of trying different oils in many cars I have honestly never heard a difference in sound or felt as if it was making the engine run smoother. I might have said something to that effect when I was a teenager running Slick 50 or Duralube but I was only fooling myself because I had just wasted money on what I later found out was just snake oil.

People sit in their cars for a long time. It's the presumption that humans are necessarily insane or prone to fabrication that suffocates further investigation into matters.

This especially true when we're talking about machines like cars, where the room for human bias is much less because the object in an inanimate physical thing and the observations are strictly physical.

This is even more true of women than men, where they observe in a more careful manner compared to the careless and often "brush-off" nature of men.

 

[FlyingTexan]

Thanks, that explains a lot.

Ok, like what? Seems to be your go-to level response with anyone that doesn’t fall in line with your ridiculous statement

 

[VersatileGuy]

Let's just take it to the extreme.

That alternator bearing that is going wahhhn, all in the customer's head. The customer is just a dumb monkey who is hearing things. Only when it gets louder and/or he's stranded is his alternator bearing proven failed.

That rattle from a loose exhaust shield. Fabrication of the mind because he wants to hear concerning noises. The customer takes it to the mechanic and loses money over such a triviality because HE WANTS TO LOSE MONEY and deal with shady mechanics.

The screech from the "wear warning indicator" on brake pads are not real, it's just the paranoia of the driver wanting to feel afraid so he can satisfy the car version of Munchausen by proxy. Send him to the insane asylum or actual grinding of metal on metal is observed.

The smoother shifts of Amsoil Signature Series tranny fluid vs the the most typical "obvious" shifts of OEM of Maxlife? Insanity of the buyer. Amsoil is just marketing because it can be presumed so. There is no difference by assumption.

 

[FlyingTexan]

I think there is a big difference between the ears of an airline pilot knowing the difference in sound on their engine vs some random dude who mixes up a bunch of different oils and honestly believes that he’s come up with something better than fully formulated oils

The average person doesn’t really have that kind of ear. Most are only hearing a difference because they want to! In all of my years of trying different oils in many cars I have honestly never heard a difference in sound or felt as if it was making the engine run smoother. I might have said something to that effect when I was a teenager running Slick 50 or Duralube but I was only fooling myself because I had just wasted money on what I later found out was just snake oil.

All that means is I’m in the same machine a lot so can tell its changes. I’d think that true of most people in their vehicles. Just some ignore it or don’t know what to do about it.

 

[VersatileGuy]

Ok, like what? Seems to be your go-to level response with anyone that doesn’t fall in line with your ridiculous statement

People thrive by the appeal to authority fallacy. So they think that you're superior because you're a pilot, not because your ears are good independent of pilot training.

Besides pilot training has no relevance to detecting car sounds because the soundscape is entirely different but they can't understand that. You've got giant jet engines which are way different from a car engine.

 

[kschachn]

Ok, like what? Seems to be your go-to level response with anyone that doesn’t fall in line with your ridiculous statement

It meant exactly what I said.

What was my ridiculous statement? That comparative sound determinations are highly subjective? That one?

It comes out of having done them in a lab. But perhaps that’s just me, I’m not a pilot.

 

[Glenda W.]

I think there is a big difference between the ears of an airline pilot knowing the difference in sound on their engine vs some random dude who mixes up a bunch of different oils and honestly believes that he’s come up with something better than fully formulated oils

The average person doesn’t really have that kind of ear. Most are only hearing a difference because they want to! In all of my years of trying different oils in many cars I have honestly never heard a difference in sound or felt as if it was making the engine run smoother. I might have said something to that effect when I was a teenager running Slick 50 or Duralube but I was only fooling myself because I had just wasted money on what I later found out was just snake oil.

Has your son experimented with different oils in his Subarus? Perfect engine IMO for this type of test as they are not considered quite or smooth. I have my favorites after trying many different oils over the years for these engines. Not so much brand but viscosity. Brand for other reasons like cleanliness etc.

 

[OVERKILL]

I think there is a big difference between the ears of an airline pilot knowing the difference in sound on their engine vs some random dude who mixes up a bunch of different oils and honestly believes that he’s come up with something better than fully formulated oils

The average person doesn’t really have that kind of ear. Most are only hearing a difference because they want to! In all of my years of trying different oils in many cars I have honestly never heard a difference in sound or felt as if it was making the engine run smoother. I might have said something to that effect when I was a teenager running Slick 50 or Duralube but I was only fooling myself because I had just wasted money on what I later found out was just snake oil.

My buddy's dad was an old shade tree and liked to do things by "feel" and by sound. When we built the engine for his S10 we tuned it with a wideband and knock sensor, verifying our results at the track as we went.

A few weeks later, we go to take the truck for a spin and it's pinging like crazy. My buddy asks his dad what the hell he did to the truck and he said he "fixed it" because it wasn't running right; that we had the timing all wrong, so he timed it by ear. We put a light on it and it had like 35 degrees of base timing

We set the fuel trims using the wide band (had a Holley HP650 on it IIRC), again, this was verified at the track. Well, a while later, it was bogging like crazy and smelled rich and sure enough, his dad had changed the jets and "fixed" the carb because it "wasn't right". Had of course screwed up the timing again too.

We thought we'd solve the problem by putting on fuel injection (Holley TBI kit). Got that dialled, thing ran amazing. About a month later, we come by, the fuel injection was sitting on a pile of trash in the garage, he ripped it off because it "wasn't right" but he didn't know how to "fix it", so he slapped on an old Quadrajet and we simply gave up at that point.

People are not inherently sensory savants. Just because something is different doesn't mean it's "bad" or "wrong". Just because you are accustomed to the way something feels or sounds like doesn't inherently make a change from that a harbinger of catastrophic failure. What I'm seeing in this thread are examples of ridiculous hyperbole "oh, the brake squealers are all in your head"; something on the far end of the obvious spectrum, to justify the validation of things in the realm of sensory noise as being significant.

It's like somebody being questioned on their claim that they can "feel" the radiation from bananas and somebody sarcastically quips that having Tea at the elephant foot is totally fine because it's "all in your head". Intentionally binning the nuance because somebody clearly hit a nerve on a subject you are overly sensitive on.

Yes, it is quite possible to hear when things are "off" with a piece of equipment. Simultaneously, that does not mean that what you perceive as a slight change in valvetrain noise is good, bad or even there. That's why we have testing equipment that can measure the sound profiles and allow us to visualize what we believe we are hearing. No different than bumping the base timing and discovering I lost 2mph in the quarter, even though the engine "sounded better".