Amsoil SS 6.8k, 15' Fusion, 2L EB 120k

[ssamaroo01]

This OCI with Amsoil SS has left me a little disappointed. I expected to see better wear numbers or even a higher TBN from such an expensive oil that claims 25k OCI and has many people raving about it. It was no better than Motorcraft FS that cost about $3.50 a quart and this was one of my shorter OCIs. I am currently running the last of my Amsoil SS stash. I'll try either Magnatec or Edge for my next OCI.

 

[StevieC]

Given the viscosity slip and lowered flash point I would say you have more than 1% fuel dilution and that is the cause of the not as great as it could be, performance. Blackstone numbers are interpreted fuel numbers not actually measured.

Other than that the wear numbers are fine considering your trend.

Your Si and Insolubles are higher than they should be so you might want to also check your air filtration system.

 

[addyguy]

Not fair to condemn an oil with that much fuel in it. Given the dilution, the results are pretty good.

Also, TBN loss is not linear - it can go to a low number, and stay there for a long time but still be protecting.

IMO, this counts as 'severe service', in which case your guarantee is 15k...or less. would have done 10k easily.

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

I agree with addy and Stevie... there's nothing wrong with Amsoil, and you could have run it longer with no issues. Look at my TBNs below... increasing mileage every time, the 82k sample was Mobil but all the rest are PUP.... TBN stays for a very, very long time if everything else is OK. 3.7 is still an extremely healthy number. I would have no issues running that oil to at least 12k in your car, probably 15k. Every time I lengthened my OCI I was worried it would show the oil was in distress... but as you can see it never really materialized. Did you have a lot of idling and/or cold starts and short trips?

 

[ssamaroo01]

StevieC - I've noticed the higher si values too but I figured that was common for this car since it was close to the universal average. I do realize that the fuel dilution is high but fuel dilution has always been the case. I can always smell fuel in the oil at every oil change. I'm not saying that the oil isn't good or that wear increased, I just expected better out of it based on all the positive reviews I've heard about it.

addyguy - I'm not condemning the oil. It did its job and performed just as well as the Motorcraft FS and Pennzoil Ultra Platinum that I've used in the past. My point was that it performed very similarly to the oils used before. All of the oil changes came from the same car so fuel was present in every oil change. Was the amount of fuel the same? Probably not. Amsoil was approximately $60 for this oil change while PUP on sale and Motorcraft 5 gallon box were both about $22 for that same 6 quarts. I just wanted to give it a try to see how it stacked up against other oils that I've used. This is only a single data point so I am running the same oil (last of my Amsoil stash) and I'll send a sample to Blackstone for analysis. Again, I am not condemning the oil. This is my first impression after getting the results back. And as for the TBN, I realize that it is non-linear and maybe that isn't a fair comparison but I compared it to the other TBNs that were recorded on the results sheet.

 

[ssamaroo01]

SubieRubyRoo - I didn't say that there is something wrong with Amsoil or that the TBN was low. I just meant that my expectations were higher for Amsoil. It performed well, just like PUP and Motorcraft. The 105k and 113k OCIs were PUP and before that was Motorcraft. I will probably start extending my oil changes on this car like you are doing. For now, I'm comparing different brands. I don't really do short trips with this car or idle much either. My main drive is to work, which is over 30 miles each way and mostly highway. I do have cold starts, being that I live in the north east, but if you look at the dates of the other oils and compare the winter months to this OCI, they are comparable. After this experiment, I probably won't buy Amsoil again because the same results can be had with less expensive oils. However, I am still waiting to see the results of my next oil change.

 

[buster]

I'd ditch the Amsoil in this situation and move to a different oil. The TBN is not linear, however the past UOAs looked ok too. Nothing against the Amsoil it's just not worth it here.

Long drains are only ideal in certain situations.

 

[ssamaroo01]

buster - I agree with you.

 

[SatinSilver]

I'd give Magnatec 5w30 a try in that application.

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

OP, I think you may have some misconceptions. Now, I've had plenty of "discussions" with Stevie about Amsoil, and I will always like PUP. But I think you need to realize that on a short OCI (yes, 7k is very short for a syn) all of the oils will look more similar than dissimilar. Amsoil SS is marketed as an extended-drain oil, which means it should maintain viscosity and TBN longer than your other oils. I have a feeling if you were stretching these to 15k or beyond, you would start to see much bigger differences.

IMHO, if you're staying 7-10k, use the Motorcraft blend and save some money. If you're in the 10-15k range, PUP is plenty. Longer than 15k, I would definitely give the Amsoil a hard look. Also, to make sure you're getting an accurate sample, make sure you've driven the car for at least 30 minutes at a good speed/load, then go home, wait about 10-15 minutes and drain it. This will help boil off any fuel.

 

[ssamaroo01]

SubieRubyRoo, I think I get what you're saying now. Synthetic oils will produce similar results at short OCIs, but this oil should continue to be within spec at longer OCIs when other oils would be "worn out."

 

[diyjake]

Originally Posted by SubieRubyRoo
OP, I think you may have some misconceptions. Now, I've had plenty of "discussions" with Stevie about Amsoil, and I will always like PUP. But I think you need to realize that on a short OCI (yes, 7k is very short for a syn) all of the oils will look more similar than dissimilar. Amsoil SS is marketed as an extended-drain oil, which means it should maintain viscosity and TBN longer than your other oils. I have a feeling if you were stretching these to 15k or beyond, you would start to see much bigger differences.

IMHO, if you're staying 7-10k, use the Motorcraft blend and save some money. If you're in the 10-15k range, PUP is plenty. Longer than 15k, I would definitely give the Amsoil a hard look. Also, to make sure you're getting an accurate sample, make sure you've driven the car for at least 30 minutes at a good speed/load, then go home, wait about 10-15 minutes and drain it. This will help boil off any fuel.


This is a very good explanation!

 

[OVERKILL]

Given the significant fuel dilution, despite the long drives indicated, I'd refrain from doing extended intervals, it would seem this vehicle is simply not a good candidate for them. This also means that oils that target extended drains are going to be of no real benefit, as noted by other posters, so I'd focus on using a quality oil at a reasonable interval and perhaps keep an eye on that fuel dilution.

 

[buster]

Originally Posted by ssamaroo01
SubieRubyRoo, I think I get what you're saying now. Synthetic oils will produce similar results at short OCIs, but this oil should continue to be within spec at longer OCIs when other oils would be "worn out."


Hypothetically, yes. With fuel dilution though I'm not so sure. Like Overkill said a long drain synthetic may not be of value in this application.

 

[StevieC]

I'd get a more accurate fuel number though... Blackstone has been proven time and again to be off a good amount. Maybe do Polaris or something for your next report.

 

[Env1ous]

I just put in some 5w-30 Castrol Edge in my 3.5 ecoboost. I will do a UOA after 3k miles and see how it is doing

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted by StevieC
I'd get a more accurate fuel number though... Blackstone has been proven time and again to be off a good amount. Maybe do Polaris or something for your next report.


I'm completely ignoring the Blackstone fuel % figure and going by the hit flashpoint took FWIW.

 

[buster]

Yeah the flashpoint took a beating in most of these UOA's.

 

[StevieC]

What leads me to believe the fuel number is grossly inaccurate is the UOA of my father inlaws Caravan that had a lot of fuel in the oil and the flash point and viscosity hardly budged so if it moved this much this sample the 1% number has to be grossly inaccurate given how well Signature Series generally handles fuel dilution.

 

[ARB1977]

Following the olm roughly 7500 miles oci using SS 0W20. The 1.5LT in our 18 CRV is prone to fuel dilution and it smells like it. Although there's very minimal rise on the dipstick.