Amsoil xl change today

[Patman]

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.

He originally was using Brotella 5w40 because all of his Subie friends were doing that but a few years ago he switched to Castrol 5w40 and has never looked back

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Even harmonics vs. odd and high order harmonics in the noise mix. Not just amplitude. You have to be a musician too.

Ask Ricky Lee Rudd if he knows when his engine is about to let go.

Then argue with him that it's all placebo

 

[ARCOgraphite]

My engine was noisy as all get out when I changed to Mobil one last fall. Was ready to dump the slop.

Now she is purrin' like a kitten and I may run M1 again cause she usually ain't this happy so far deep into the OCI.

@buster ? Am I wrong?

 

[Glenda W.]

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".

Good post. Even though I have heard noise differences with oils in some of my engines, I’ve never made the leap to somehow equate that to a performance or quality difference. I’m not that smart

 

[mrjlube]

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.

Yes! I work in my vehicle. 300 miles 6 days a week. I know this car Thanks for sharing your information.

 

[Triple_Se7en]

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.

Some of us walking the planet aren't average and either are our engines.

Please don't ever tell me I can't produce a good frankenblend. Every time you claim I can't, I run another engine past 20 years / 300k - take it to the junkyard, only to see it get sold and run in another pickup truck for another 5-6 years.

Please don't ever tell me I cannot hear the differences in engine sounds, following an oil change. My wife's Kia 2.0 MPI is very sensitive to constant changes of motor oil brand names and @100cst viscosities. It's the perfect patient for such tests. My upper-tier hearing aids and the adjustments I can make with the hearing aid help judge these changes I hear under the hood also.

You keep saying good frankenblends and engine sound changes can't be employed and boy are you wrong.

 

[Patman]

Some of us walking the planet aren't average and either are our engines.

Please don't ever tell me I can't produce a good frankenblend. Every time you claim I can't, I run another engine past 20 years / 300k - take it to the junkyard, only to see it get sold and run in another pickup truck for another 5-6 years.

Please don't ever tell me I cannot hear the differences in engine sounds, following an oil change. My wife's Kia 2.0 MPI is very sensitive to constant changes of motor oil brand names and @100cst viscosities. It's the perfect patient for such tests. My upper-tier hearing aids and the adjustments I can make with the hearing aid help judge these changes I hear under the hood also.

You keep saying good frankenblends and engine sound changes can't be employed and boy are you wrong.

It’s all in your head

 

[D1dad]

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".

It’s 100% possible to hear when things are off. I’m not really sure why that’s a topic around here. I knew my hpl needs changed by sound, checked it today and it’s even used a few ounces low. I hope that changing to hpl so soon (1k) on a new engine, didn’t allow the rings to seat. Yes, that’s a thing for the non “butt Dyno” folks on here as well. Some of the stuff I read here blows my mind.

 

[FlyingTexan]

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.

It’s just about the type of person you are. I listed it as an example because it’s happened to me at work.

 

[FlyingTexan]

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.

Show me where you said comparative sound determinations are highly subjective? I’ll wait.

 

[kschachn]

Show me where you said comparative sound determinations are highly subjective? I’ll wait.

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.

But, you’re a pilot so it may not apply.

 

[factorytuned2012]

Amsoil actually has an oil to quiet engines and tells you when an oil change is needed by getting louder?

 

[Plumb Bob]

Please don't ever tell me I can't produce a good frankenblend.

You can't. The oil formulators were gracious enough to stick to D6922, so you can pursue your fruitless auditory hobby.

 

[Jw95]

I’m not sure if this has been been said or not. If it has I apologize, but if I may suggest with it being a direct injection engine to run a bottle of amsoil P.I., Techron complete, gumout all in one, or redline, or redline complete fuel system cleaner every oil change. It’ll help those injectors stay clean as well as bring down any fuel dilution.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Some of us walking the planet aren't average and either are our engines.

Please don't ever tell me I can't produce a good frankenblend. Every time you claim I can't, I run another engine past 20 years / 300k - take it to the junkyard, only to see it get sold and run in another pickup truck for another 5-6 years.

Please don't ever tell me I cannot hear the differences in engine sounds, following an oil change. My wife's Kia 2.0 MPI is very sensitive to constant changes of motor oil brand names and @100cst viscosities. It's the perfect patient for such tests. My upper-tier hearing aids and the adjustments I can make with the hearing aid help judge these changes I hear under the hood also.

You keep saying good frankenblends and engine sound changes can't be employed and boy are you wrong.

UOA of one of my favourite Frakenblends. Magnatec and Valvoline Advanced 0w20. On a beat to the edge of existence Subaru FB2.0 . Run 3200 mile beyond the factory oil change interval of 6000 miles. May be just lucky this time?

 

[Triple_Se7en]

Amsoil actually has an oil to quiet engines and tells you when an oil change is needed by getting louder?

Why are you keeping this a secret?

 

[factorytuned2012]

Why are you keeping this a secret?

No longer a secret thanks to the op

 

[Triple_Se7en]

UOA of one of my favourite Frakenblends. Magnatec and Valvoline Advanced 0w20. On a beat to the edge of existence Subaru FB2.0 . Run 3200 mile beyond the factory oil change interval of 6000 miles. May be just lucky this time?

View attachment 266947

Nobody gets lucky 100% of the time. But somehow I've managed to stay clenched to a Continuous Motor Oils Lucky Charm in the past 35 years.

That confirms this is not a coincidence Arco. It's a representation of how much improved today's modern motor oils have become and their compatability features. That's a compliment to all the Oil Scientists out there.

Keep in-mind however that I never do a hypothetical extended OCI anymore. Longest I ever did with my (now grandson-owned) 2004 Colorado P/U was 6k a few times.

So I don't recommend waking up Mr. Frankenblend from his garage sleep and asking him to accomplish 10+k OCIs without any issues. And that includes my most current frankenbrew of HPL Premium Plus and HPL No VII, in a 50-50 blend. What I'm currently viewing on my Kia dipstick is a blackened color I've never seen before. I've witnessed used black oil before on dipsticks. But this Black is different than all others in 50 years of changing oils and it's showing how well HPL works in our 2.0 MPI with only 33k and never having an oil change beyond 3k.

I'm at 3k right now. But I'm going to run this oil another month to 4k...... that's it. I have money to splurge on oils (big piggy bank all with quarters...lol), so the cost means nothing to me.

 

[Patman]

So I don't recommend waking up Mr. Frankenblend from his garage sleep and asking him to accomplish 10+k OCIs without any issues.

We agree on something! Frankenblends are definitely not recommended for extended intervals. (Not that I would ever recommend them at all…)

 

[ARCOgraphite]

We agree on something! Frankenblends are definitely not recommended for extended intervals. (Not that I would ever recommend them at all…)

Well mine evidenced an aggregate metal wear rate of 1ppm/1000miles as seen above in post #55

How is you Vette engine wearing? Yep I know; comparing Kentucky Green Apples and Mandarin Oranges, LOL.

Too bad you can't get Castrol 5W20 "Magictech" anymore. It was my fave go-to oil fixer in a bottle.

I don't like to have to fix an oil right after a change, but it seems I have to more often than not these days/these engines.