Synthetic lubricants

[rdm]

Does anyone have experience with Amsoil products I am considering switching the engine, transmission and rear end fluid over to a synthetic. Your comments are appreciated.
Thanks
Ray
1985 Airstream 325

[BobbyW]

I run Mobil1 products in anything that needs lubricants. I looked at the Amsoil and Redline products before settling on the Mobil 1 products. I chose to go Mobil1 for really on one reason. Availabilty.

I did quite a bit of research before beginning to use them. I have been using them for over 15 years now. Vehicles I have used them in from the time I purchased them are:

1985 Chevy S-10 2.8 liter pickup- had 310,000 miles on it when I sold it last year.
1991 Chevy S-10 4.3 liter Blazer- currently has 188,000 miles and still going strong. Still own
1995 Chevy CK 1500 5.7 liter xtdn cab- 148,000 miles daily ride and our tow vehicle. Still own.
1994 Miata 1.8 liter forced air- 40,000 miles "very tweaked" HI Revving engine. Still own and run it pretty hard but do not abuse. (There is a difference.)


The only reason I use synthetics is they do not breakdown as does dinosaur oil. I live in south-central Texas and it is not uncommon for us to have a month of 100+ degree days in the summer. I do not use them to extend the service intervals. I still believe that dirt circulating around in an engine is the main cause of premature engine failure. I change the lubricants out at 3000-5000 intervals. As you can see from the miles noted above I must be doing something right but I do not think it has anything to do with the lubricants. I think it has to do with just keeping the internals cleaned and properly lubed.

By the way, If you post this question on any of the vehicle Forums, it will cause a war like you would not believe!! If you go to a Forum like Miata.net and search on synthetics or oil it will produce pages and pages of threads. Some of them are just plain nasty. Me, I just want my engines to last.

Best Regards;
-BobbyWright

[davidz71]

Ray,
Bobby is right about the synthetic oil war on some of the auto forums. I have answered many times on www.pickuptrucks.com forum that I have used Amsoil products in my '92 Chevy Z71 4x4, my '01 Chevy 2500HD extended cab, my son's '01 Nissan Maxima and on my other son's recently purchased '90 Chevy 4x4 Sport with Z71 package. I just changed the rear end fluid in my 2500HD with Amsoil 75-90 series 2000 synthetic. It happened to be light blue in color by the way. The rear dif cover was replaced with an finned aluminum unit by Mag-Hytec which increased capacity from 3.5 qts. to 5 qts. Also included was magnetic bottom draining plug, a small center plug and a magnetic fill/dipstick check plug. It doesn't use a regular gasket but has a machined trough that has a rubber O ring. After 500 miles, I retorqued the alan wrench bolts and checked the gear lube. There were small fuzzy shavings on the mag. dipstick left over from inside the dif. case I could not wipe out.

My '92 had 143,000 miles on it and I had been using an Amsoil dual bypass oil filtration system (2 filters) since 38,000 miles. I would run 9,000 miles, change the full flow filter, go 9,000 miles and then change the full flow and the BE90 bypass filter. It increased the oil fill to 6.25 qts. The truck was rolled by my son when he attempted to miss a deer who ran out in front of him. The filter system was taken off and will be put on his '90 truck. I will get another bypass unit for my '01 sometime this year.

I am a firm believer that filtration and proper oil changes are the key to engine longevity. Even synthetic can go bad if not properly filtered. I saw a TV report stating that changing dino oil every 3,000 miles was just as effective as using synthetic oil with longer drain intervals such as 5,000, 7,500 miles etc. I won't refute this except to say that if the 3,000 miles were severe duty, stop and go, high heat, etc., i'd rather have the synthetic for extra protection. What are we doing when we tow a coach that weighs 7,000 lbs.? The report did not address this. Why do they use synthetics in jet engines? The dino oils do not cut it for severe duty that is why.

I don't push Amsoil on people because that is like talking religion and politics. Synthetics made by Amsoil, Mobile One, Royal Purple, Red Line and others are all better for your engine and drive train than dino oil could ever hope to be. They don't lose their viscosity, burn off or gum up during harsh cold weather like petroleum products. They can give you better mileage in some cases so that is a plus. They also allow you to increase drain intervals if proper oil filters are used. Stay away from Fram filters due to endcap internal construction (paper). AC, STP, Mobile One, Hastings, Amsoil SDF filters are some of the best. Since Amsoil and Mobil One don't make oil filters for my 2500HD yet, I have used STP. I just got 3 of the Hastings brand sold by Amsoil in last week. The oil filter reports can be viewed by using a search engine for oil filter tests and they show cutup filters, analysis of each. This was not done by Amsoil by the way so take it for what it is worth. Sorry for the long post. Craig

[thenewkid64]

I am a firm beliver in the benifit of synthetic oil (Mobil 1 is my choice).

I do not reccomend that you treat your engine/oil like this.

My wife had a 93 Toyota Tercel that we bought with 68K on the clock. The car used no oil, and was well maintained wen we bought it. Round trip daily drive to work for her was 85 miles each day. At some point the car developed a coolant leak. Long story short she drove the cooling system dry, and started wondering what that strange noise was the car was making. Pulled over and shut it down. At this point she called me and asked "should I just call the junkyard?". I said no, let it cool and I will be there in 30 min. By the time I arrived a good samaritan had helped her to refill the coolant and she was sitting in the car with engine idling and the AC on full blast. Needless to say I had the cooling system leak fixed, and drained the Mobil 1 out of the engine. It looked burnt, but flowed like new. New filter new oil and NO DAMAGE. The car did not burn oil and was no worse for the wear. When we traded it in it had 130K on it.

[ALANSD]

I appreciate the input on synthetic oils.( I deleted my thread on oil preferences since this one was posted)
I have been told not to change over to synthetic in an engine that already has a fair amount of miles on it.. but I would think it would make no difference, and the life would still be extended.
I hope to change to Mobil 1 in my AS and my newly purchased Saturn tow car, which has low miles on it.
My dad was a Mobil dealer and was selling Mobil1 and using it when it first hit the market back in the 70's. I have to say also that I have had a number of almost 200k mile autos using regular dino oil (usuallly Pennzoil or Valvoline) changed every 3- 4000 miles. I will still go with the synth although-
What does one do with the used synth oil for recycling? Is it accepted with the other oils?

[BobbyW]

It is accepted anywhere oil can be left for disposal.

-BobbyWright

[davidz71]

Alan,
I have heard for years that you should not put synthetics in vehicles with high mileage and questionable condition but the arguments center around 2 areas:

1. Old gaskets that have cracked and the synthetic leaking through the tiny cracks. Gaskets have changed over the years for the better.

2. High mileage vehicles which have worn valve guides or cylinder rings which allow even dino oil to be burned off.

It doesn't make sense to run synthetic oil if it leaks on your driveway or the highway. If the mechanical condition of your engine is poor thereby allowing synthetic to leak or be burned in the cylinders, why use it?

You should start synthetics early after breaking an engine in with dino oil, say 3-5,000 miles. I know, Corvettes are filled from the factory with Mobile One. I still think that engines need a breakin period for everytning to seat properly and synthetics are not the quick way to do that. If your engine has been fed dino oil, the oil changes have been made every 3,000 miles and the engine has not been abused, then I would expect you could put synthetics in even after 70,000 miles with no problem. This is mere conjecture on my part because I started putting synthetics in a '92 Chevy 4x4 shortbed that a guy put a fifth wheel hitch in. His friend said he pulled 4 horses and didn't feel it had enough power. I guess not with a 5.7, 5 speed and a 3.42 rear. A 4.10 is what he should have been using. I don't know how long he towed horses but I bought the truck at 38,000 miles and started synthetics at the first oil change by using the Amsoil dual bypass filtration system. I ran 18,000 miles before changing all oil and it was never black (9 K, full flow filter change, add 1 qt, go 9 K then change both full flow and bypass filter). My oil was always a deep golden brown. The truck was totalled by my son at 143,000 and did not use oil. Now you know why I am a believer in synthetics. Other positives: I only had to change oil every 18 months, I took less # of old filters and qts. of oil to the recycler as well as make less trips to that place. Costs are down over the time period considerably.

Bottom line, even if you used a single premium filter and changed every 4,000 miles, you are helping your engine. Craig