"The Motor Oil Bible" is it a good read?

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I was just wondering if "The Motor Oil Bible" is a good book to get? It sounds like there is a ton of information in it.

Any body care to elaborate?
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It is an interesting read but it also has a lot of misinformation in it too. It puts down conventional oil like it's going to destroy your engine, so it's a bit over the top in that regard.

Don't pay for it though, there are free versions floating around the net.
 
You could easily learn more here for less cash. And despite his "updates" you'll hear it here first....

Just know this: Use more than one data point, use more than one person, use more than one source to form your opinion on lubricants, if you are at all serious about the subject. A "Bible" is a catchy title no less - but I personally wouldn't use "Bible" as a title (yes I am a Christian) because: I can't think of many other books that have been interpreted in so many ways! That written; I wouldn't form my opinion on just this website either!!

No one can be truly objective in lfe. We are human. Living in balance is tough enough - but when you start talking about fluids that you can't really see (immediately) what they are "up to"....and then you have people with chips on their shoulders, people trying to sell you: oil, analysis, books, oil change interval philosophies, and all the marketing hoopla...yikes it's PURE FUN!!!

[ December 15, 2002, 08:33 AM: Message edited by: Pablo ]
 
I go along with the prev posts about this book.

Looking at this book, it appeared to be written by an amsoil rep.(sorry, not trying to slam amsoil). The indication was that synth's are the only oil to use and dino was a bad oil to use. There is some good info that can be found in this book but even a stopped clock gonna be right 2 times a day so does that tell the time?

Amazingly there is many personal opinions about oil which is so much like politics and depending on your position it can be slightly slanted towards your side of the fence. This is why it is a good idea to get a broad spectrum of opinions from various resources so to see a more realistic picture because as you may very well know, there is a lot of "sales propaganda" shoveled everyday. This was why I setup this board so that everyone could discuss this issue in a personal,factual way without drag'n in any sales sheets, but use technical data to help support opinions.

Unfortunatly even the tech data sheets can be mis leading in many examples as the #'s are showing specific tests that don't show the over all action/reaction of the oil when put into actual use. Case in point...

moly will not show up in any of the testing #'s on a tech data sheet. So, when tech data shows up with an 8tbn on a oil with moly, and another oil shows a 12tbn without moly, it appears that the 12 would do better and last longer but in reality, it has shown that the moly provides some antioxidant properties that actually reduce the drain on the oils tbn so if both oils are used for the same time period, the 12tbn will drop say to a 8 but the other one only dropped to a 6.8 or 6.9tbn.

This is one reason I like the oil analysis section as it does show a more broader spectrum of over all use in the oils ability to hold up. Now even that information has to be looked at very closely because like everything else there is differences in a lot o variables which must be taken into consideration.

Conclusion:, as stated by Pablo, look at the whole picture, not just one.
 
And again speaking of "opinions". Brings to mind what is best about this board. Folks here have different ideas and methods of operation - yet in spite of these differences, I really havent noticed anyone trying to force their beliefs and even their knowledge down the throats of others. Argue-yes-but thats the fun of it. If that were true I'm sure I'd get severely "spanked" every day for my sometimes nonconventional thoughts
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In that vein:
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cheers to our Canadian friends.
 
I paid for it and was reasonably satisfied. Since then I've learned more and went back and read parts of it again. What I found was that it is somewhat light on information, but heavy on conclusions. I prefer reading information that is presented in such a way so I can draw my own conclusions. His bias is totally towards synthetic and extended drains, but is careful not to come straight out and let you know he is an Amsoil dealer.

I also didn't like the e-book format too much as it took some getting used to.

[ December 18, 2002, 04:08 PM: Message edited by: Giles ]
 
I thought "Motor Oil Bible" was very worthwhile. It was well written, reasonably up-to-date, and mostly accurate. It was written with the oil novice in mind and has a lot of solid nuts & bolts information for that audience.

I didn't like the format of the book. I couldn't print it on both sides of the paper. It was written by an Amsoil dealer and a slight amount of Amsoil bias is evident. The book overemphasized the importance of oil specs in judging the quality of an oil, but these are small criticisms compared to the overall value to an oil novice.
 
What I didn't like about it was the description of what the "w" meant in multi-weight oils. The author claims to have lots of experience but so did people on other forums who'd been in the business for many years. Each said the other was wrong...big argument. To this day I don't know who is right.
 
I was thoroughly pleased with it. Of course, I'm somewhat "synthetic-minded" myself. I would buy it again. I liked the e-book and got the CD in the mail a week or so later.
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I bought it, looked at it, sort of said so what to myself, and then exercised the money back guarantee. They honored it. I felt that I really hadn't learned anything.
 
At the time when it came out it was the best oil info on the web.....today I would not buy it anymore, but I don't regret buying it in the first place
 
quote:

Originally posted by Alex D:
At the time when it came out it was the best oil info on the web.....today I would not buy it anymore, but I don't regret buying it in the first place

It is / was great, I have it in physical and e-form. If I had learned of this forum though I wouldn't have bought it.
Mr Kaufmann is a good man, too. He needs to sell books and Amsoil to make a living, and he pulls no punches about the fact that he regards Amsoil as the best. That's OK.
Perhaps he is a member here. I'll email him this page and invite him.
 
I got a copy of this thing and was rather disappointed. Whatever research he conducted to reach his extensive conclusions, he did not share it with the rest of us. I found it filled with firmly-believed but largely unsubstantiated statements.

Perhaps as a general overview it may have merit but as reference material it is useless; I won't even be including it in my bibliography.

And his install-on-just-one-computer thing is ****ed annoying in this age of home networks.
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Cheers, 3MP
 
I bought the paperback book. It is an okay read, very slanted towards amsoil. As the guy is an Amsoil Dealer.

Anyhow, for someone who has no idea about Amsoil, it would be a good eye opener, but as I said, it's mainly a selling tool for Mike Kaufman. If you get the action news you will see he is pretty high up. So whatever he is doing it must be working.

Anyhow. I would say it's not worth the price you pay for it. I could take about 3 piece of amsoil literature and say the exact same thing.
 
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