Anyone here use Amsoil?

[jeebis44]

I have heard nothing but good things about this stuff and am considering a switch. I have been using Valvoline Maxlife 10W30 lately,with either a mobil 1 or NAPA Gold oil filter and it seems to help with the worn valve stem seals in my 110K mile old 318- I really need this engine to last me as long as possible and I heard that using Amsoil is the way to do this- however I have also heard that synthetic oil (expensive) will just seep right past worn gaskets and be wasted. This engine has abour 150 PSI on all cylinders and consumes about a quart every 3K miles. Is this a good switch?

[jeebis44]

Anyone?

[dewme5]

I don't prsonally use it, but i too have heard nothing but good stuff about it. I don't think it's going to be your solution. It's also going to get quite expensive to burn that stuff away! They suggest about 1 year, or 12,500 miles on one oil change, with a filter change every 6 months (6,000 mi) But, that's going to be on an engine in good shape.. if your engine is not in the best running order, you are going to need more frequent changes. just getting more and more expensive. (about $120 retail for a full oil change). And throwing all that money into a stock? 318, would be wasting money that you could be using towards a good build up on the motor of your choice.

Stick with what you normally use, change it at least every 3000 miles, or 3 months.. (if your oil is looking dirty, do it more often). That will keep your engine running a long time.

oh yeah.. if your valve stem seals are worn... change them! Cheap and easy to do! took about an hour to do mine, with only hand tools. (pull all your rockers and plugs, put a long length of rubber line into the cylinder thru the spark plug hole, bring the cylinder almost to TDC, so the line puts pressure on the valves, and use a hand turn valve spring compressor.. )

[6pakman]

iv never used it, but viagra works pretty good for me!

[skydome]

I couldn't beleive when we started using synth in the demo derby motor. It hasn't seized once in the last five years. We used to use straight 50 mineral oil(always fresh). The thing would only run so long after the rad got broke until it stuck. We've been using Mobil1 and suspect Amsoil to be just as good or better. Amsoil does make a fantastic 2stroke oil called 1oo:1. Thats it. You mix it 100:1 and run it in anything.No stink, no smoke, its the best. I also run Mobil1 in all my 4stroke small equipment,mowers, etc. and love it. They run great, use less fuel, and stay cooler.
Hope this helps.

[gotcha]

More info.

Got nothing but good things to say about Amsoil.

Use it totally in all my performance vehicles. Ran the 2 stroke in my outboards and dirt bikes for years. 100 to 1. Nothing better.

Use the racing oil, trans fluid, and rearend oil. Picked up a full tenth in Sure Grip rearends over standard gear lube. Love the stuff.

[MJD]

Downside to putting synthetic in a high mile motor:

- If it uses oil now, it will get worse. Synthetic is a really good cleaner, all internal varnish, etc will wash away and this can cause increased oil consumption.

- Chances are oil leaks will develop, also due to the fact that synthetic is a really good cleaner.

Upside to using synthetic:

-Less friction= Better fuel mileage and cooler operating temperatures (not always, but usually), and more power.


My two cents based on experience, you decide.

[451Mopar]

I use redline gear oil and manual transmission gear oil in my cars, but for the engines I usually use Moble1 or Castrol Syntech.
They do keet the engines really clean and they seem to keep extend the life of the sensors on the new cars.

On a old high mialage engine the synthetic oil may cause problems (higher oil useage and leaking gaskets.)

If you haven't done it yet, why not replace the valve stem seals with the heads on the car? All you need to remove is the spark plugs, valve covers, rocker shafts, and valve springs.

Use clothes line inserted through the spark plug hole to fill the chamber, move the piston up to hold the valve in place and use an overhead valve spring compressor tool to remove the valve springs, then just remove the old valve stem seals (if they are even still there) and install the new ones. All you really need for parts are valve cover gaskets and the new valve stem seals. If your like me you probbably have extra valve stem seals laying around from old engine rebuild kits anyhow

[jeebis44]

Thanks for the input guys. I've decided to replace the valve stem seals and give the synth. oil a try. If it doesn't work I'll just go back to using dino juice. I did some research and the Amsoil oil filters look really nice- twice the oil capacity of normal filters and supposedly better filtration than mobil 1 filters. I'm also going to try Amsoil tranny fluid- I'll let you guys know how it works out.

[tooomuch2]

Anything else is well... Not Torco...

Best oil out there.

[ARCHER1GA]

I have an 88 318 in a ram that now has 200,000 miles about every 30-40k miles I run full synthetic valvoline 5w-30 for one oil change and decrease oil consumption from 1 qt in 1500 mi to 1qt in 2500 mi started when truck had 100k mi. Only seals replaced were valve cover gaskets at 70k no major oil leaks.