Ruralmedic - I agree with much of what you say....but feel some of your facts are misleading.
Amsoil, like other custom blenders, put they requests out to bid, to several refineries...for their base oils. Their bid it for base oil that meets their specifications! All synthetic base oil, is not the same. Mobil...or Chevron, or Exxon....decide if they want to make the product Amsoil has requested...and what they will charge for it. If they buy from Mobil, it may or may not be the same PAO Mobil uses. Mobil's refineries are a separate porfit center and sell to Mobils blending facilities, whatever they order.

Concerning the NOACK volatility test...as of last yr, Amsoil was the only U.S. producer that meet the min standards of this test. This test is valid and is emphasized much more heavily in Europe than in the US...due to much higher prices over there. I have heard of no changes at Redline that allows them to now pass the NOACK evaporation test. Nothing on their web page either. Has this changed?


RJ

 

Pros: Synthetic

Cons: Amsoil is not API certified and I do believe Cummins and Dodge both want you to use API certified oil in your Cummins engine.

Switch to Royal Purple it is API certified and it is fully Synthetic.

Makes you wonder why Amsoil refuses to submit their oil for API certification, it just might be a warranty buster one day.

 

API is not Govt. It is a private organization...and they charge for certification. Joe A., Pres of Amsoil, told me he would not pay when his oils have met or exceeded every new API classification that has ever come out....long before they were published. I Can't blame him for that!

I'm not connected w/ Amsoil in any way.

RJ

 

DodgeRam is correct about Dodge/Cummins requiring API certified oil if you want your warranty.
A friend of mine was denied warranty on a oil leak a few years back after he told them he was using Amsoil. It was an expensive leak too, the timing gear case, cost him $1500.
API does make a difference and some Amsoils are certified, just not the diesel grade.
It just makes me wonder if Amsoil is being stupid or if they have something to hide.

 

When I switched from Rotella 15w-40 to Amsoil full synthetic on my old '92 D-350 CTD, I saw an obvious reduction in water temps and a slight gain in mileage. I've been towing a race car trailer about 20,000 miles per year for many years so I had a lot of info to compare with before and after. I will be using Amsoil in my 2004.5 also after it's broke in better after 15,000.
Lower temps and better mileage means less heat from friction and wear.

The engine and driveline people I deal with have also seen less wear on the race car parts with Amsoil.

 

That way you never grow your sales.. save on qualification/save on quality??

 

TY diesel, you are correct - Amsoil's short sighted business practices really limit their ability to grow. It's like they are afraid to compete with the big boys, so they keep using the cop out of either 'we don't want to pay for api' or the very tired 'we have so much zddp antiwear additive that we can't meet api'.... BS to the 10th degree. I use and enjoy a few different amsoil products, and I love them. I think the company and their business practices are a joke.

 

Obviously you haven't been to "the convention." Wanna take a guess who foots the bill for the big banquet?

 

Talked to a guy today that has a 95 CTD reg cab 5 speed with 350,000 miles on it. He loves his truck. We talked for quite awhile about our trucks and he said he runs Amsoil in it. He said that he changes the oil every 50k but changes the Amsoil filters at 25k. He said the first time he ran it he had oil analysis done and it didn’t show that he needed to change the oil even at 125,000 miles . He told me that when he was in Idaho the oil pressure went to 0 he was 20 odd miles out from town and it was 12° outside and at night. This was when the truck had less than 100k on it. He drove it all the way to town with 0 oil pressure when the turbo bearing went south. No other problems with it since BTW he is a heavy equipment operator and does not sell Amsoil.

 

I agree with Ruralmedic about Schaeffer... I have been running their product for about 1 year and have been really happy. I have run many oils especially in my race car and I saw an 18 degree drop in temp just from oil change and it was not a 1 time occurance... I am not an expert and can't really explain the result of the different tests... But I can explain my test! It works better!

OilGuy

 

Forgot to mention he said he is getting 21 mpgs.

 

I agree that Amsoil is, in essence, a pyramid scheme that sells sythetic oil to gullible people. Yeah, it may lower temps. I think syn works well in the diff & tranny. For the money, I believe that fleets run rotella or dello. Why?
Becase it works, costs less, meets Cummins standards. At the end of the day, they should know.
Again, outside of excessive heat or cold, syn seems to be an expensive obsession fosterd by Marketing types that flim flam most cosumers, becase it feels good.
If it was so good, Cummins would make some positive statements to its merit. As far as I know, they do not.
Save the money, buy Rotella or Dello, stick to the matenance schedule, or get your oil checked often. At $25 for 4k miles, it is surely cheap insurance.
My $.02!

 

I've run Rotella, Rotella synthetic, Amsoil and now Mobil Truck and SUV. I prefer synthetic and change my oil one per year which is about 6000 miles for me. I started using the Mobile Truck and Suv mainly becasue its API certified. I don't want any warranty issues. the other is that I can buy it off the shelf and it cost less the amsoil. Using the mobil synthetic will not hurt my truck and even if there is a advantage to using amsoil I can't see it and it's not worth givjing up API certification. If ferrari, corvette, and other high end cars require mobil synthetic for warranty then it's good enough for me.

I agree with their business practice. Smoke and mirrors. Why not get API certification? They would make a lot more money. Also, why can't they get it on the shelf of the autoparts stores or anywhere for that matter? Both of these would easily make up for the cost of certification. They seem to have an excellent oil. Its hard to compare when they won't compete in the same playing field with the same rules (API) as the other brands. Leaves some doubt about their product.

 

The fleets don't care about longevity. Most truck fleets trade in trucks every 2 - 3 years. I plan on keepin my Cummins until it dies.
Cummins doesn't want an engine to run forever, either... if they did, they'd be out of business.

I have first hand experience w/ Amsoil, I will ALWAYS run amsoil, and will NEVER use mobil1. That stuff is crapola.

 

Oh, and as far as cost goes, if you buy your Amsoil from here:
http://www.lubricationspecialist.com/
You can usually get it for the same price or less than Mobil1!!! Don't go by his online prices... give him a call. I've bought 2 cases of quarts & a 2 1/2 gal jug of the 15W40, a case and a 2 gal jug of the 75w140 gear lube from this guy. He moves so much vulume, that he charges LESS than the price you'd pay if you had the preffered customer card from Amsoil.