AMSOIL XL VS Dexos 1 & GM factory fills

[Don_M]

I have the opportunity to have my major vehicle fluids (engine, manual transmission and rear differential) fluids changed over to AMSOIL XL series for the engine and AMSOIL Severe Gear (+ posi additive for the diff) for $265 inc/tax. How much better is the AMSOIL than the GM factory fills on my Camaro (2013, 3.6 V6, 6 speed manual with limited slip differential)?

Thanks

 

[Bluestream]

You may have to define Better

 

[Alex_V]

The gear boxes, probably quite a difference. Certainly not any worse for the engine, but I couldn't say how much better. I believe Ams recommends factory OCI for OE, 10K for XL, and 25K for Signature series, if that tells you anything.

 

[Bgallagher]

I wouldn't bother. GM fluids are made by Exxon-Mobil and are high quality

 

[Alex_V]

Heh - maybe the motor oils, and I'm not sure what the gearbox FF is on higher performance models, but the Cruze stick shift (like mine) transmission came grossly under filled with an inadequate lube that had a lot of people burning out the 5-6 shaft bearing in 20-40,000 miles. Switching to the proper amount of Amsoil synchromesh mitigates the issue completely.

 

[NYSteve]

For the manual trans and rear end, Amsoil is one of the best you can put in.

For the engine with XL, it's a fine choice but not top of the line like Amsoil SS, Mobil 1, Penn. Plat/Ultra, Castrol Edge, etc.

You don't have disclose why you are paying for this, but essentially if you can change the engine oil you can do the transmission and rear end yourself too. You could just buy the fluid yourself.

Do you have a breakdown on how much they are charging for each? Price is prob fair compared to any other shop. I know prices are fairly outrageous for diffs and trans in general. I would hope that if they are passionate about using Amsoil they are passionate about doing good work too, that's what it comes down to. How did this 'opportunity' get presented to you?

 

[4WD]

Not a bad deal - miles on car ?

 

[CT8]

New clean oil is good , Change it.

 

[widetrax]

I am a firm believer in changing trans and diff fluids, if your's is a 2013 and still FF,, you are ready now. Just as a FYI, I always remove the top/fill plug first before draining, it is a problem to drain fluids and cannot get the fill plug out....

 

[Don_M]

I currently have 47,000 miles on the car, close enough to 50k that I think it's time. The reason I'm not doing it myself is because I'm in Ohio and the temps are around 29* without windchill and I don't have a garage. Total cost was $253.13 out the door ($109.50 labor and $123.24 parts + tax/disposal fees), $100 LESS than my wife's "preferred shop" and $200 LESS than the dealer.

I found this shop "Gear Heads" when I looked at AMSOIL's website and looked for local shops that use AMSOIL, It's less than 10 miles from me and since my AMSOIL dealer disappeared (literally) I haven't found it locally since and I'm not a big fan of ordering over the internet.

I did ask about the Signature Series and they advised me that unless I was running dual bypass filters like recommended by AMSOIL, that it would be expensive overkill ... I took that to mean they weren't going to intentionally "upsell" me into something that I might not need, they also advised me about the importance of upper intake cleaning on a Direct Injection engine (which I already knew about) AND how it should properly be done and WHY it should be done that way (which I also knew). Just generally talking with the service manager at the shop gave me enough confidence before I gave the OK to do the work to let them do the changes.

I did forget to tell them that I drive 100 miles/day to work & back and that 95% of my driving is steady-state highway. Maybe that will change their mind about SS vs XL, we'll see in a few months when the OLI says it's time to change the oil again.

 

[doublebase]

It's tonight to say what or how much better one oil is over the other. For one thing I don't buy into their "tests" they do on their oil and their comparisons to other brands. I tend to go off a mixture of assessments...what I read on here, what I hear from techs and people I trust and my own experiences. Truth is with oil and fluids, as long as you change them within a reasonable schedule all the major brands will do just fine. [censored], even the "lower quality" stuff will do fine in most applications.

I do hear great things about the Amsoil severe gear fluid. I had a guy tell it's the only thing that can stand up to the abuse he puts on his duffs and gear boxes. And I've read enough of those types of stories to think it may be "superior" to other brands, but as far as the engine oil goes? I don't know if it's any better than any other leading brand.

 

[vitez]

For only $110 in labour I'd jump on it.

If you're following the OLI then XL is fine. I wouldn't bother with OE as the specs are worse and the price isn't much cheaper. SS is excellent if you're going do long OCI's, but I agree it's overkill for your parameters. I've used Sever Gear in many vehicles and will continue to use it.

 

[Don_M]

I called them this morning and they still said the XL is good for my driving style/habits, and again stated that without using AMSOIL's secondary by-pass filter along with the factory filter, the SS is still expensive overkill.

 

[IllinoisSparky]

Originally Posted By: Don_M
I called them this morning and they still said the XL is good for my driving style/habits, and again stated that without using AMSOIL's secondary by-pass filter along with the factory filter, the SS is still expensive overkill.


Sounds like you found an honest, knowledgeable shop you can trust.
And they are right, unless you want to use the Amsoil filter and try to go 15k-25k OCI, XL will do a good job for you.