Amsoil OE Synthetic

philh wrote:

jerem0621 wrote:
I collected a sample of the Amsoil in a sealed glass container and have set it aside for the Oil Analysis. (the kit is not back yet) I will change the oil in about 5,000-7,000 miles and collect a sample of the PYB oil so we can compare the two.

Same test.. similar conditions.

Jeremiah

I did the same thing with a custom designed oil that makes Amsoil look like cheap mud.

funny thing, Mobile 1 Extended Life actually had LOWER metal wear rates. Snake oil salesman tried to convince me that his product permanently changed the molecular structure of the metal.

BITOG rocks the world :)

I changed the oil in my wifes Edge Sport today using Mobil One Extended Performance. Oil cost $8.98/quart and I plan to run it the full 10k interval this time after a couple of short intervals to flush out break in wear metals.

proxim2020 wrote:
I did Amsoil in my truck from day one for the first couple of years. I started to question is it worth it when it was time to renew my membership with Amsoil. I started comparing a ton of UOAs over on BITOG. Turns out Walmart's Supertech Synthetic is a pretty dang good oil. Some were ranking it up there with the overpriced Royal Purple. I switched over and immediately noticed the Hemi tick was finally gone. It was very clear with the Amsoil. A little over 80k later, everything is still humming along just fine on Supertech. I got the bike off of Amsoil and moved that over to T6.

IRC, Supertech is the same as Shell.

Hemi tic is suspected to be a stuck valve retainer that no longer rotates bringing fresh oil to cushion and lubricate. Some oils seem to do a better job on unsticking the retainer.

jerem0621 wrote:
I collected a sample of the Amsoil in a sealed glass container and have set it aside for the Oil Analysis. (the kit is not back yet) I will change the oil in about 5,000-7,000 miles and collect a sample of the PYB oil so we can compare the two.

Same test.. similar conditions.

Jeremiah

I did the same thing with a custom designed oil that makes Amsoil look like cheap mud.

funny thing, Mobile 1 Extended Life actually had LOWER metal wear rates. Snake oil salesman tried to convince me that his product permanently changed the molecular structure of the metal.

BITOG rocks the world :)

Ductape wrote:
Re your comment about the engine sounded different when you installed the Scamsoil ;)

I've been maintaining several 4 liter Nissans which have a terrible (IMO) bit of engine programming in that they go to 2k RPM on a cold start. Tends to clatter at times. I swear I can hear them quiet down with fresh oil.

I'm less sure that if someone recorded engine startup and played it back if I could identify fresh vs old oil. Could be placebo effect.

Aw hey, that's ok, these 4.0 VQ Nissans are "noisy" just by nature. There's a lot of metal cam chain running around in there, and the variable valve timing mechanism rattles, etc. Nature of the beast. Mine has always clattered briefly on start up anyway, from when it was brand new. There is a young fella at our local Nissan dealer shop that builds various hot rod versions of this and other Nissan engines, and he told me that this is simply a noisy engine. Said don't worry about it....thrash it. And so I have.

....sorry Jeremiah....kinda hijacked your thread off in the wrong direction....:)

Re your comment about the engine sounded different when you installed the Scamsoil ;)

I've been maintaining several 4 liter Nissans which have a terrible (IMO) bit of engine programming in that they go to 2k RPM on a cold start. Tends to clatter at times. I swear I can hear them quiet down with fresh oil.

I'm less sure that if someone recorded engine startup and played it back if I could identify fresh vs old oil. Could be placebo effect.

gmw photos wrote:
Jeremiah, what was the difference in cost to do an oil change between the Amsoil and the Pennzoil ? Just curious, because in all honesty,whatever that difference is, in the overall cost of operation during the life of the vehicle, I think it's negligible.

The cost for the Amsoil was about $7 per quart and the Pentastar requires 6 quarts...plus the oil filter at about $7.00 ish. So it was right at $50.00 for the Amsoil OE and filter. You can get better prices on the Amsoil OE by becoming a dealer or a preferred customer.

The Pennzoil was $21.00 for 6 quarts plus 7 for the oil filter so right at $30.00.

All in all,you are right, the cost is insignificant.

I am doing this for the Data on the UOA's to compare the Amsoil vs Conventional...

Thanks!

Jeremiah

BenK wrote:
For most folks...regular, approved/certified/etc engine oil is just fine

But for those who driver HARD, the higher spec of synthetic is worth it...or
for those who are willing to pay and know the difference...it is in both the
base stock spec and the additive package spec. Key or one of the biggies is
the viscosity modifier spec

More pleats is out of context without the depth of those pleats...given the
material is the same.

Pleats are a way to increase the surface area, but a pleat vs another pleat
is incomplete without the depth & material spec (porosity...filter max size
particulate, GPH, etc)

I personally do not like the lower viscosity...especially the first numnber's
viscosity value...but...I live in a warm climate area...even when I skied
a lot, didn't want the lower viscosity oils

Quietness or noise will show up later..when the miles do their thing on
wear of the valve train parts...or...not...

Ben, I'm generally in agreement with most of what you post here, however, regarding "thin" viscosity oil, I'm going to respectfully disagree. As a disclaimer, I will admit that over the years ( many years ago ) I have used a lot of Castrol GTX 20W-50 in various water cooled and air cooled motorcycle engines, and a few cars/trucks. I'm also old enough, and was lucky enough to have spent time on a crew working on "super modifieds" ( the precursor to Sprint cars ) and I've poured a lot of good old Kendall GT1 straight 50 back in the late 1960's. Point is, I too am one who has used a lot "heavier" oils.

However, in today's world, light vis oils rule. As an example, in my Nissan VQ series engine, there are some "very tiny" oil galleys, and if a person runs a heavier oil, you are almost assured of starving some parts of oil until the oil is fully warmed up. Nissan is adamant about 5W-30 in this series engine. Not necessarily synthetic, but for sure on the weight. So my "compromise", since I am essentially forced to use light vis oil, is to not only do that, but I up the game to synthetic.
Working so far.

EDIT. PS....before anyone goes and starts making quotes about how certain "racing teams" use a certain oil....yada, yada.....my comment is, don't even go there. That's a different world, those engines are built for different purposes, and assembled to different tolerances, and besides the oil gets "changed" very, very often. It really just does not compare well to street use, even towing use.

Jeremiah, what was the difference in cost to do an oil change between the Amsoil and the Pennzoil ? Just curious, because in all honesty,whatever that difference is, in the overall cost of operation during the life of the vehicle, I think it's negligible.

For most folks...regular, approved/certified/etc engine oil is just fine

But for those who driver HARD, the higher spec of synthetic is worth it...or
for those who are willing to pay and know the difference...it is in both the
base stock spec and the additive package spec. Key or one of the biggies is
the viscosity modifier spec

More pleats is out of context without the depth of those pleats...given the
material is the same.

Pleats are a way to increase the surface area, but a pleat vs another pleat
is incomplete without the depth & material spec (porosity...filter max size
particulate, GPH, etc)

I personally do not like the lower viscosity...especially the first numnber's
viscosity value...but...I live in a warm climate area...even when I skied
a lot, didn't want the lower viscosity oils

Quietness or noise will show up later..when the miles do their thing on
wear of the valve train parts...or...not...

Little update for everyone.

In my profession I am a business analyst and its driving me crazy that I don't have data to compare the Amsoil OE vs the Pennzoil Conventional that is used at the factory on these Pentastars.

I can't claim one is better or the same or worse than the other without the data.

With that said. I picked up 6 quarts of Pennzoil conventional (PYB, Pennzoil Yellow Bottle) to replace the Amsoil OE and a new Fram Oil Filter (gasp, but they make a darn good cartridge filter) today. Chrysler lets this oil go 8-10k miles before the OLM goes off so I am not afraid to run this.

I double checked my log and its been 7,060 miles since the last oil change. So the oil wasn't as "used" as I thought. No worries, I like refreshing oil sub 10k anyway.

So, here is a shot of the PYB Oil and the filter.



Here is a shot of accessing the oil filter housing... I remove the air intake as the 30 seconds or so I takes to remove it makes it so much easier to access the oil filter housing.



I used a Wix oil filter with the Amsoil OE... Here it is laid side by side with the Fram. Perception is skewed a bit as the Fram looks longer in the picture.. it is not. The end caps on the Fram have no significant lip compared to the Wix. I am not afraid of the element moving as the end caps are connected by a plastic cage that travels down the center of the filter.



Something that surprised me is that there are many more pleats in the Fram Filter than the Wix. I know the wix is used but it had those distortions in the pleats when I first bought it. Interestingly.. the Fram should have more surface area to filter the oil.

Quick tip for those who change the oil in their Pentastars. Once you remove the drain plug and after the gush of oil slows to a trickle make sure that you let the trickle completely stop. My Pentastar will trickle out an additional .5 to .75 quarts with just a small trickle.

So.. now that the oil is changed.. The Amsoil OE is out of the crank case and the Pennsoil PYB is back in.. whats the plan?

I collected a sample of the Amsoil in a sealed glass container and have set it aside for the Oil Analysis. (the kit is not back yet) I will change the oil in about 5,000-7,000 miles and collect a sample of the PYB oil so we can compare the two.

Same test.. similar conditions.

Earlier in the thread when I filled with Amsoil OE I said that I could hear a difference in the motor. I am not sure that this statement was accurate as the motor sounds the same after PYB oil fill and a quick 15 mile drive.

Earlier in the year I had the pleasure of renting a 3.6 Pentastar powered Dodge Journey for work and while I had it I parked it next to my Van, turned both vehicles on and tried to hear a difference between the two. The Pentastar in the Journey with conventional was actually quieter than my Pentastar in my Minivan.

So, no claims of oil eutopia or anything like that from me. I want to see what the data says. Once I get the results of my UOA with the Amsoil.. I will post back to this thread.

Thanks!

Jeremiah