Amsoil Signature Series dark after only 2 weeks

[JAG]

After the above pictures, 2 drops of water were added to each oil cup, then the oils were heated to between 115 F to 200 F for about an hour. The water drops remained at the end of the hour but some of it evaporated. The drops remained quite clear in the M1 and murky-looking in the Amsoil, indicating more miscibility with the Amsoil. The water caused some white fallout to occur in both oils. This is known to occur due to some additives reacting with the water, and falling out of solution. It's not a good thing but it happens. I didn't take photos of that but I can still take them if requested.

After that, the steel blocks were cleaned and dried, then a layer of walnut oil was put on each block, then 2 drops of each already tested oil. The following pictures are from after heating them up to as high as 300 F for an hour.

 

[JAG]

As you can see, a lot more varnish formed in the M1 oil. I’d estimate that it formed at least 4 times as much varnish mass as Amsoil did. The block that Amsoil was on was so sticky that I could pick it up by just sticking a finger on top of it and raising my finger. The block that Amsoil was on was not sticky and the oil still flowed reasonably well. I continue to be very impressed with Amsoil SS 5W-20.

 

[JLTD]

Interesting stuff. Posting again to bring to the top of my list.

Edit: but after some re-reading it seems like the Amsoil started darker than the M1,
so might have darkened less than it seemed?

 

[JustN89]

This is a really interesting thread. Thank you JAG for going through all this effort! Between this and the VOA posted by parshisa I do think it's an excellent product.

 

[JAG]

Thanks guys. The colors of the oils were very similar at the beginning of the test. By the end, I think M1 was darker. There was less M1 than Amsoil on the steel block by the end, making it look less dark than it really was. The oil spots on the paper (not easily seen in the photos) indicate M1 was considerably darker than Amsoil.

One interesting thing I didn’t point out before can be seen in the last photo of both steel blocks. The bottom half or so of the blocks got a black color during the first stage of the testing. It has no observable thickness and is not a deposit or classic rust. It’s like gun bluing but blacker. I think it was a reaction between additives and the steel on the hotter bottom halves of the blocks. When I viewed it under a microscope, it had some pretty shades of dark blue. The oil was covering the entire surface of the blocks during that stage, so the lack of that coloring on the top is NOT due to lack of oil there.

 

[JAG]

Here is a little update. I tried dissolving the varnish scraping as well as the varnish on the steel block with acetone. It did not seem to do any cleaning or dissolving. Acetone is a relatively polar solvent. The question I tried to answer is what fluid can clean/dissolve that varnish? I will likely try something else. I’m not sure yet what it will be. Here is a picture of what I tried to clean. I already tried Valvoline Premium Blue Restore 10W-30 which also would not dissolve the varnish.

 

[JAG]

Just changed the Amsoil mix that dark so quickly. Due to being busy, the OCI was longer than I wanted it to be, at 3500 miles. It was extremely dark when I changed it. I put in Valvoline Premium Blue Restore 10W-30; the oil meant to clean with a lot of ester content. It will be interesting to see how this goes.

Back to the steel block and varnish I mentioned in the above post. I soaked it in Amsoil Engine Flush and the varnish swelled up considerably but stayed together despite swirling the solvent around with it. When I wiped the solvent-soaked steel block with a paper towel, the varnish completely came off with little effort. So I believe the Amsoil Engine Flush to be an effective (not perfect but nothing is) solvent of engine deposits. I’m not a fan of the recommended procedure of adding the recommended amount right before the oil change and just idling the engine. I don’t think it gives it enough time and temperature to do much cleaning. What I did was add a much smaller amount and do some errands, so it got hot for a relatively long time. I stopped the engine around 4 times while in stores, so that let the solvent soak and drain down multiple times. I think the volatile components of the flush get sucked through the PCV and may soften them. Just a theory...did not test it.

 

[Artem]

Risky move by driving around with it in the sump. Either it helped or it did nothing at all because of the small amount you added.

 

[JAG]

I added only around 0.1 qts, which is 2.5% of the oil mix, so the effect on viscosity was safe, especially since the recommend viscosity is 5W-20 and I was using a near equal mix of 5W-20 and 10W-30.