# Amsoil.



## PolarisX (Dec 17, 2017)

I'm gonna say this before someone selling Amsoil comes in - know this. Amsoil MEETS or EXCEEDS Dexos1 Gen2 which is required for our cars. However they DO NOT have an actual license. What that means is if you roast your engine, and they ask for proof of oil changes, you may find yourself in a bad position. Before anyone gets excited and says they don't ask, they do, I've done that song and dance with GM before when the 2.4 in our Malibu burnt up an exhaust valve. I've also had to play this game with another Pontiac that kept eating cam phasers. Yeah yeah, I've seen the LSPI test, and I know about the special base stocks, and how they won't pay for D1G2 because it's not needed. Good for them stick to your guns or whatever.

Is Amsoil good? Yeah, I'd run their Signature Series stuff, but I wouldn't do an extended interval with the LE2 engine. So it's kind of pointless- why? See below.

The LE2 and other T-GDI engines often have issues with fuel dilution into the oil. Not like port injected cars either, its considerably more. It's not uncommon at change time to have a noticeable smell of fuel in the oil. Whats that mean? Long intervals MAY be hard to achieve if your oil has too much fuel in it by 5, 6, 7k miles. You may find people who claim its not possible - that fuel 'evaporates', or that whatever fuel in there isn't of concern. I do not like the idea of fuel in my oil. These engines are hard enough on oil as it is between being DI, having a timing chain, and turbo. I don't need fuel thinning out the oil anymore, fuel isn't a lubricant. Point? There is no advantage to running a extended interval oil if its going to just collect fuel.

But wait, there is more.

Even more confusingly is the rate of fuel contamination depends on your driving habits and some slight luck. Luck? - yeah luck. You know how some people can own an identical engine, and one will burn oil and the other won't use a drop? It's because no two engines are made exactly the same. That coupled with how no two people drive the same make it a guessing game, unless you want to send your oil off for analysis. Not just once either. Winter time is much worse with cold idling, warming up, and the car running richer longer. It may also change as the engine ages and parts like piston walls, and rings wear and break in. I've seen a few reports for the LE2, a few that were pretty contaminated and a few that weren't. I've seen Honda 1.5T, Ford Ecoboost, and Skyactive engines - all with dilution, some over 5%.

My take on it? I run Castrol Edge black bottle 5w30 and change it every 5k with a UPF64R filter. I know I get get it on a whim, the filter not so much, but those are easy to stash without taking up space. I can do a whole change pretty cheap, and its even cheaper if you forgo the UPF64R which can be expensive unless you stock up when you find them cheap.

The 16.5 in my signature had dealer Dexos Synthetic for every change except the last one when I switched it to Castrol. Stock pistons, runs like a top at 60k. Oil was done every 5k on the nose though. If you wanna do your car a big favor, run 91/93 octane in the Gen2s, every time.


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## Farmerboy (Sep 2, 2012)

I don’t sell Amsoil, I just use it. But no matter what oil you use, the higher the starting Tbn, the more it can absorb before loosing lubricity.


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## Thebigzeus (Dec 2, 2018)

Farmerboy said:


> I don’t sell Amsoil, I just use it. But no matter what oil you use, the higher the starting Tbn, the more it can absorb before loosing lubricity.


I thought tbn had to do with acidity? That equates to lubrication?


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## Iamantman (Sep 24, 2018)

@PolarisX well said.

It seems strange that people would opt that route (unless they are a dealer trying to sell it) when you can just change it when the manufacturer recommends to save 1 oil change per year? That just seems like a huge and very unnecessary risk to take.

I've been using mobil 1 Ow20 syn and a PF64 but I'm probably going to switch to the UPF64R and go Amazon basics from here on out. The price on those filters will come down once they become less and less of a "specialty" filter and are just standard stock. And everything I've seen and read on that Amazon oil sounds like it's a great oil and significantly cheaper than the regular brands. Actually I just checked Autozone.com and they're both the same price, so that might already be starting to happen.


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## PolarisX (Dec 17, 2017)

Thebigzeus said:


> I thought tbn had to do with acidity? That equates to lubrication?


TBN is Total Base Number and does exactly that, its ability to neutralize acid. Nothing to do with lubricity. Also TBN doesn't decrease linearly during an oils service life and, just because an oil has a higher or lower starting TBN doesn't give an indication to what it will be at the end of a service interval. It depends on the methods used to achieve that TBN number and how they can hold up. TBN isn't a direct math equation, or a show of durability. I really only find its use at the end of an interval on an oil analysis to show ONE aspect of how the oil did.

TBN won't tell you about fuel contamination, sheer, or if the oil really did its job. It only tells you if its capable of neutralizing acids.


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## Fireworks234 (Jan 4, 2018)

PolarisX said:


> I'm gonna say this before someone selling Amsoil comes in - know this. Amsoil MEETS or EXCEEDS Dexos1 Gen2 which is required for our cars. However they DO NOT have an actual license. What that means is if you roast your engine, and they ask for proof of oil changes, you may find yourself in a bad position. Before anyone gets excited and says they don't ask, they do, I've done that song and dance with GM before when the 2.4 in our Malibu burnt up an exhaust valve. I've also had to play this game with another Pontiac that kept eating cam phasers. Yeah yeah, I've seen the LSPI test, and I know about the special base stocks, and how they won't pay for D1G2 because it's not needed. Good for them stick to your guns or whatever.
> 
> Is Amsoil good? Yeah, I'd run their Signature Series stuff, but I wouldn't do an extended interval with the LE2 engine. So it's kind of pointless- why? See below.
> 
> ...


So what is your recommendation on getting oil analysis done? Is this something everyone should keep track of? If so, how often? Also where would one get these analysis' done and how much should they cost?

Sorry for all of the questions but it's something I've always been curious about especially with how much my oil smells like fuel by the time it needs changed.


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## PolarisX (Dec 17, 2017)

Fireworks234 said:


> So what is your recommendation on getting oil analysis done? Is this something everyone should keep track of? If so, how often? Also where would one get these analysis' done and how much should they cost?
> 
> Sorry for all of the questions but it's something I've always been curious about especially with how much my oil smells like fuel by the time it needs changed.


Never apologize for asking an honest question.

Personally I'd skip the test, follow your manual, change at every 5k with a Dexos1 Generation 2 approved oil. There is a reason our manual specifies a shorter interval which increases total cost of ownership technically. They wouldn't have done it if they didn't have to.


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## Farmerboy (Sep 2, 2012)

One reason the manual recommends shorter intervals is because they recommend inferior oil. At 30,000 mi. a yr I would change 6 times. Now I do it twice. ?


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## PolarisX (Dec 17, 2017)

Farmerboy said:


> One reason the manual recommends shorter intervals is because they recommend inferior oil. At 30,000 mi. a yr I would change 6 times. Now I do it twice. ?


D1G2 and SN+ and soon SP standards are some of the best changes made to oil in the last 10 years. To say its inferior is not correct at all.

I don't really care what interval you run or whatever, but don't spew non sense so you feel good about running Amsoil.


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## Pumpkin pie man (Feb 23, 2020)

No matter what oil I use. I still plan on changing oil every 5k miles.


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## PolarisX (Dec 17, 2017)

Pumpkin pie man said:


> No matter what oil I use. I still plan on changing oil every 5k miles.


Comes down to how much you want to pay for an oil change then. I'm all out of information and opinions.


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## Pumpkin pie man (Feb 23, 2020)

PolarisX said:


> Comes down to how much you want to pay for an oil change then. I'm all out of information and opinions.


You have been very helpful. Thank you


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## Farmerboy (Sep 2, 2012)

PolarisX said:


> D1G2 and SN+ and soon SP standards are some of the best changes made to oil in the last 10 years. To say its inferior is not correct at all.
> 
> I don't really care what interval you run or whatever, but don't spew non sense so you feel good about running Amsoil.


There are several oils out there that surpass the minimum Dexos standards that they don’t feel compelled to pay the licensing fees. Amsoil is only one of them. They were all producing these products before GM developed the dexos standards.


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