AMSOIL Extended Drain Question

[FrenzyFlip37]

Hello everyone!

After reading several different tests, and reviews, I have pretty much convinced myself to switch to AMSOIL. Now, i remember reading somewhere that the 5S-FE engine was somewhat more prone to sludge.

Now, I was thinking of putting in the 0W-30 oil, since we have pretty cold winters here, plus the fuel millage increase. This oil is advertised as:

Normal Service(3) – Up to 35,000 miles or one year, whichever comes first.
Severe Service(4) – Up to 17,500 miles or one year, whichever comes first.

So my questions were basically,
-Is this a good oil viscosity for the 5S-FE? Considering the weather here, or should i go with 5W-30 instead?
-Would you recommend the extended drain interval? I was planning on going by the "severe service" interval, not the normal. I ask this, because of what i mentioned earlier, reading that this engine was somewhat more prone to sludge. AKA, would it be death to the engine to go this long with the same oil? Also, is it safe?

Thanks in advance for your time

Cheers
-joseph

[Hajoca]

Not to nit pick, but which series of Amsoil are you planning to use?

In the past 4 years
I use Esso XD3 Extra (Was $21/gal) 0W40 and 0W30 for 15,000 to 20,000 km intervals, with filter change only at 5000 km or so intervals.

Keep checking the PCV system to make sure it is venting crankcase fumes properly.

But before doing that 15k interval I used Delvac 1 ($35/gal) and did oil analysis at 6000 and 10 000 km interval to see oil condition.

Since XD3 is now costing $35/gal it is not a good choice. Will be switching to Rotella 10w30 for summer and reluctantly back to XD3 0w30/40 or something else this winter.

[carsrus]

Not to sound cocky or anything, but theres no oil change that will last you 20k km. Pushing and oil change to 15k miles isnt probally the smartest idea either.

Yeah sure, theoretically the oil will still be lubricating stuff at that point, but the additives will be long gone. And this is something else to consider, what about the filter? An oil filter will at most last 10k miles (17,000 km).

Oil when it comes down to it, is oil. I would rather change normal synthetic twice then change the amsoil only once since it cost twice as much. If you do go to a longer oilchange time, make sure you change the filter out at least once.

And if you have a highermilage engine (75 + thousand miles) you can develop leaks and oil usage.

[flyeri]

The oil will still be slick after double that mileage and long afterwards but it will be full of contaminants long before a year is up. Also, as stated, additives will be of little use by then. I like synthetic but in a reciprocating engine it gets dirty just like dino oil or cheaper synthetic. Now if you had a turbine engine that would be different.

If this was a racing engine the expensive oils would possibly be of advantage. But it would only be used for one race, not to extend the life of the oil. I have no scientific facts here so just my opinion from lots of experiences. Just use some blend of synthetic/dino or straight sythetic and change oil and filter at 5000 miles max. If you drive stricltly on the highway 35-45,000 miles a year you can probably go a few more miles between changes. An oil analysis is not a bad investment either although I don not know if you need to do it every oil change.

[FrenzyFlip37]

Not to nit pick, but which series of Amsoil are you planning to use?

If I did go with the 0W-30, it would be
http://www.amsoil.com/storefront/sso.aspx

Even i only pushed the oil to double the normal drain interval (10,000km) i would already be saving money. And even more so if the oil lasted beyond that. At my local canadian tire, Mobil 1 goes for $9.75 / Liter, where as AMSOIL goes for $13.99 / liter. Not that big of a difference if you ask me, for a big increase in oil quality it self.

I would definitely be using either the AMSOIL Ea brand filters, that they say can also go the length of time as the oil, the 25,000 miles. Or a normal filter every 5000km, while simply topping up the oil.

Thanks for the input, I didn't even think about the additives being drained if used that long. I will definitely be cautious pushing it any further than 10,000km. May even consider oil analysis.

And also, 0W-30 or 5W-30? 5W-30 is what i've been normally using, but I have heard good things about the 0W-30.

Thanks again for your time

Cheers
-Joseph

[flyeri]

10000km is quite different than 10000 miles. Thats not too many miles. I'm just stuck on the 3000 mile number and can live with 5000. I really don't care about saving a few $$ in this area. Let us know how it goes.

[Stillrunning]

Extended drain intervals can ONLY be determined through the use of used oil analysis (UOA) for your vehicle and driving conditions/location.

I have tried Amsoil and Redline but found my oil analysis results were no better than using off-the-shelf, and cheaper, Mobil 1, in fact my Mobil 1 results have been the best yet. I am doing yearly 6k oil changes with new filter at 6 month, proved out through UOA; I could probably go longer. I can recommend the 0w-30 grade in any brand as I use it in all my vehicles.

Synthetic is way too expensive to use with normal dino oil change intervals. You can use any brand synthetic, I just happen to choose Mobil 1 because I can get it at Walmart. Better filtration will help more than synthetic.

[islandboy57]

Naturally if you go for an extended OCI - whether it be wtih AMSOIL or Mobil1 EP - you should still be changing your oil filter every 5-6K miles/5-6 months or whatever you prefer. IMO, I'd rather just have completely new oil in my engine.

My car is my baby (just ask my friends!) but I can't justify switching to something like AMSOIL or even Royal Purple. Psychologically I start feeling antsy once I pass the 5-6 month mark because I feel like my car is running on old oil. So.. It's cheaper and easier to just use whatever synthetic brand I can get it WalMart.