Amsoil 5w-30 vs Amsoil 10w-30

[irollturbo]

FWIW...The Amsoil 0W30 thickens in my 4-cylinder Volvo after a 14K, 1 year mile run. Same result two years in a row. Everything else looks really good though, so I'm not all that worried about it.

However, I'm thinking of dropping back to a 6 month, however many miles interval. The car only takes 4 quarts of oil and it hardly seems worth turning things in a science project over $30!

 

[Jay]

quote:

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Originally posted by Mike:

...All this complaining about thickening is much ado about NOTHIING...

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Actually, the thickening is the central problem to Amsoil's whole marketing case. Amsoil attempts to justify their expensive oils by selling consumers on the idea of long drain intervals. To make the math work out, consumers must lengthen the OCI far beyond the vehicle manufacturers' recommendation. If you do this however, the oil becomes so thick that you're giving the savings from the long OCI away in extra fuel costs.

 

[Mulaka]

Amsoil guys keep telling me that their oil doesn't stray from its grade. Which is it? This site is confusing the **** out of me. I have a new truck and I am running Amsoil 5w-30, but I keep hearing different things from different people here.

Bottom line guys, should I keep using it or switch to M1 extended performance?

 

[TooSlick]

My experience has been that you'll see very little thickening in non-turbocharged, four cylinder engines....

For example, the last batch of the Amsoil 5w-30/ASL I ran for 12,000 miles/1 year in my 2.4L Tacoma pickup tested out @ 10.9 Cst, which is actually a bit thinner than when I put it in. The Series , 5w-30 tested out @ 12.1 Cst after 15,000 miles and 13.3 Cst after 21,000 miles and two full years of use. The Series 2000 tested out @ 11.2 Cst after 12,000 miles and two full years of use. This was under mainly highway driving conditions in the warm, Alabama climate....

I recommend change intervals of 15,000 miles/1 year, with a filter change and topoff halfway through. Stick with that and I think you'll satisfied with the protection and performance you get in almost all cases.

TS

 

[Patman]

quote:

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Originally posted by TooSlick:
Paul,

Run any oil for 10k-15k in a V-8 engine without any makeup oil and it will thicken to some degree. I'm still waiting for some brave soul to try a 15,000 mile change interval with the Castrol 0w-30 in ANY domestic V-8 (your pick). I'm willing to take wagers right now it will thicken out of grade

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That's an easy bet though, since GC is 12.2 cst, so it only needs to thicken up by 3% to become a 40wt.

 

[TooSlick]

Patman,

That's exactly right - and its the same reason why Amsoil technically thickens out of grade in some applications, even if the # of thickening percentage wise is very moderate.

One reason I give you GC 0w-30 guys such a hard time is that I'm continually trying to promote the use of extended drain intervals, regardless of which synthetic oil you use. Here you are running an ACEA, A3/B4 quality, PAO/Ester synthetic - thats used for long drains in Europe - and everyone is changing the stuff after 4000-7500 miles in the vast majority of cases. I can tell from looking at the data that the GC 0w-30 will last significantly lower than that. Specifically in the case of your LS-1 - with a 7.5 quart sump - you ought to be able to run the stuff twice as long as you are and still have some TBN reserve. Isn't this the same engine that allows drain intervals up to 15,000 miles when using Mobil 1? I certainly think the GC 0w-30 compares favorably to the Mobil 1, 5w-30/10w-30 in the tests I've seen....

Ted

 

[Patman]

Yes, the Corvette from 2001 to present does allow for 15,000 mile intervals in it's manual, and most people are using Mobil 1 5w30 since it's the factory fill. However it also uses the oil life monitor, so most owners will find it counting down to zero much sooner. And they'd be smart to follow that monitor. Based on what I've seen, 95% of Corvette owners don't go beyond 3k on their oil! Some do it every 2k!!

I do believe in extended intervals, however I do think 15,000 miles (with any oil) is pushing it too far in an LS1/LS2/LS6 motor. I'm confident GC could go 10k in these motors and not be at the end of it's life.

GC costs less than Mobil 1 (and much less than Amsoil here) so you are still getting awesome value for the money even if you change it at 6-10k (which by your standards is a short interval, but most people I know consider that pretty long)