Amsoil & change intervals

[Mike Poore]

There's lots of us using the stuff, and I think it's a good product. THEY say change every 20,000 miles, or some such, Ford says change every 5,000 miles, some shop guys say every 3,000. I like 5,000 just because it's easy to keep track, but are there data supporting one view or another?

[RF Overlord]

Uh-oh, you've started an oil thread...RF's gonna be all over this...oh, wait...that's ME... :rolleyes:

I'll let Don (Amsoil Dealer) give you info on Amsoil products specifically, but changing ANY oil (dino or synth) at 3,000 miles is a huge waste of natural resources and a huge contributor to pollution. A quality dino oil should be capable of going 5,000 miles, while synth oils are good for double that, at least. For some very detailed and impressive data supporting that view, check out the Paradise Garage Synthetic Oil Life Study ( http://neptune.spacebears.com/cars/stories/oil-life.html)...

I currently change mine at 5,000 miles, but once the car is off warranty, I plan to extend that.

*EDIT* The Bunny Lady reminded me I should add that going beyond the manufacturer's recommended intervals, even after the warranty expires, should only be done in conjunction with regular oil analysis, to determine the actual safe interval. Once that interval is established, then analysis needs only be done periodically. Once the warranty is up, I plan on extending my OCI to 7,000 miles, and having another analysis performed...the last analysis, with 5,150 miles on the oil, showed that I could have gone quite a bit longer.

[Bigdogjim]

Changing oil is way cheaper than changing an engine.

I have seen way too many engine fail only to find out the owner "never" had time to change it.

[Cobra25]

I only have one thing to say, the cleaner the oil is the cleaner the engine will run and the longer it will last. I wouldn't go over 5000 miles on a oil change no matter what kind of oil you are useing.

[RF Overlord]

Changing oil is way cheaper than changing an engine.


Jim is, of course, correct...my point is that blindly changing your oil at 3,000 miles without determining if it's actually necessary is a myth perpetuated by the oil and "quick-lube" industries, for obvious reasons. For most people, it's simply habit. If you look at the maintenance program of any large fleet, you'll see that they've probably done extensive analysis to determine the optimum OCI for their vehicles, and I'd be willing to bet VERY few indeed determined that 3,000 miles was optimum.

All of this is "YMMV"...for some, 3,000 miles may in fact be an appropriate interval...I'm just saying that for many people, a longer interval would be just as satisfactory, with less expense and waste, especially if synthetic oil is used.

[rayjay]

Not mentioned yet is type of driving you do. Mine falls into the severe service catagory. My daily round trip to work is a hot 6 miles. On the days when I'm doing just the commute, the engine never fully warms up, especially in the winter. I've never had my oil analyzed, but I can tell you, for me the 7500 change out cycle on Amsoil was too long. Thats with a filter change in the 3500-4000 mile range. The oil was black as coal and very thin. I now go 5K between changes with full synthetic oil. Once the engine is broken in I only use full synthetic, usually Mobil 1. I may look into having the oil analyzed, that makes sense.

[RCSignals]

*EDIT* The Bunny Lady reminded me I should add that going beyond the manufacturer's recommended intervals, even after the warranty expires, should only be done in conjunction with regular oil analysis, to determine the actual safe interval. Once that interval is established, then analysis needs only be done periodically. Once the warranty is up, I plan on extending my OCI to 7,000 miles, and having another analysis performed...the last analysis, with 5,150 miles on the oil, showed that I could have gone quite a bit longer.


Sure, sure, implicate The Bunny Lady

[Amsoil_Dealer]

Sure, sure, implicate The Bunny Lady

I thought the Bunny Lady's comments were right on.....It is a good thing she looks after him.... :up:

Amsoil claims 25,000 miles with a filter change at 12,500 and frankly I don't think they add the proper qualifiers to that statement. They really do need to educate the dealers and the public that oil analysis at the filter change is absolutely essential. I have tested the product (ASL 5W30) personally in my Crown Vic and 15,000 -16,000 is all I could get out of it. The synthetic oil life study RF references says 18,000 was all Mobil-1 had and they are still testing Amsoil. This being the case 10,000 mile intervals are very realistic.

I am testing the 5W20 right now and will post my results when they are available. The 5W20 has a 7500 mile recommended drain interval vs. the 25,000 drain interval of the ASL 5W30.

The driving duty is a big Factor as Rayjay says. Even in his case though 10,000 should be realistic. Color of the oil has very little to do with longevity. As the oil gets black it is merely doing it job. Even thoough his oil is black at 5000, it probably has lots of life left in it.

My advice remains consistent. I do not recommend extended drains past 5000 miles for cars under warranty simply to avoid hassles should anything happen down the road. Anyone who wishes to extend their drain interval should have the oil analyzed by 7500 miles to be sure everything is working as expected. ALL SC'd or otherwise modded cars should have the oil analyzed at 5000 miles max.

Don

PS: I have Oil Analysis kits in stock for immediate delivery. $20.00 delivered includes sample kit, instructions, lab fee, etc.

[Tallboy]

your oil change interval will be in direct correlation with your knowledge and understanding of the inner workings of the internal combustion engine. and, since this could go on forever, let's just leave it at that.;)

[Mike Poore]

I start it up in the morning, drive out of the garage, go 27 miles ~60 and shut it off. Then do it all over again in the afternoon. One traffic signal in Emmitsburg, with 50-50 chance of catching that. (6 mi.) Usually there's a line of guys waiting for my cars when I turn 'em in at about 125K. In the 35 years I've been doing this, I've never replaced the brakes on any of 'em. I think the '73 Montego GT / 351SCJ was the coolest, ...or perhaps the '97 Cobra

[Amsoil_Dealer]

I start it up in the morning, drive out of the garage, go 27 miles ~60 and shut it off. Then do it all over again in the afternoon. One traffic signal in Emmitsburg, with 50-50 chance of catching that. (6 mi.) Usually there's a line of guys waiting for my cars when I turn 'em in at about 125K. In the 35 years I've been doing this, I've never replaced the brakes on any of 'em. I think the '73 Montego GT / 351SCJ was the coolest, ...or perhaps the '97 Cobra

That is pretty easy duty. The fact that you go 27 miles is a whole lot better for the car than 2.7 miles. Which product are you using?

Per my post I stated "I am testing the 5W20 right now and will post my results when they are available. The 5W20 has a 7500 mile recommended drain interval vs. the 25,000 drain interval of the ASL 5W30."

If you are using the XLM 5w20, 5000 drain intervaks are probably best. If you are using the ASL 5W30 you can go 10000 miles with no sweat provided the car is past the warranty.

73 Montego GT 351....That car is worth some money today.

Don

[Mike Poore]

We're also Amsoil "dealers" and see the wild claims they make concerning oil change intervals. Before that we used Mobil 1. The main thrust of my question was to learn if there are independant data from folks who test this stuff. I've seen some very good info about oil filters, but since one of my ham friends who worked in Mobil's test lab shared data about 15 years ago, I havn't seen anthing that seems other than advertising hype in recant years. Guess I'll stick with 5K, if for no other reason, it's easy to keep track.

[Amsoil_Dealer]

The main thrust of my question was to learn if there are independant data from folks who test this stuff.

There is data out the ying yang on all sorts of products at;

http://theoildrop.server101.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=forum;f=3

Don

[Mike Poore]

Holy Tar pit, Batman, that's more information about ANYTHING, than I've ever seen before! These guys are like the fellow who went to see the woods, and got hung up on bark! I'm paraphrasing, but Tallboy said it best: Just drive and enjoy the damned thing. Bottom line? The way I drive, 5,000 between oil changes with quality synthetics, exceeds service requirements by a good margin. 'nuff said!

http://theoildrop.server101.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=forum;f=3

Don[/QUOTE]