Synthetic Gains

[jcp123]

True...but it's not the 25k interval you can get from AmsOil (thought at $7/quart for the Mobil, is it cheaper than AmsOil?). How does Royal Purple stack up in all of this? I'm just today starting to think about switching so...I know nothing about Royal and AmsOil.

[koreberg]

amsoil not too much more if you can find somehwere to buy it, I was looking at having to ship it, and oil is heavy. With shipping for oil to do all my cars I was looking at twice the price for amsoil. Since I only drive about 4000 miles/year on my car and about 6000 in the van I decided it was not worth it. Everyones situations are different maybe it will work for you.

From what I have heard royal purple uses a different base I believe base V. That base supposed mean you need to do shorter change cylces. It is supposed to be great for high performance applications, but not for long term engine wear.

This is just what I have read from various googled searches. It is kind of difficult to search for oil info without finding amsoil propoganda.

[jcp123]

There's an AmsOil dealer not too terribly far from me, so no worries on that front. Sounds like it's the stuff I'd want...

[msirach]

A friend of mine has sold it for over 10 years and other friends have used it as well. I've used it for almost 5 years with about 170,000 miles put on 4 vehicles with out any problems. Here is a link to company info: http://www.amsoil.com/company.aspx

[SlowHands]

I've used Amsoil on and off for almost 30 years... omg I'm getting OLD... have always had very good performance with their products, in my Amphicar (which I still have), several Volvos, a Subaru, a Toyota, a Mercury Sable Wagon, and now TorqueNada. Their waterproof synthetic grease has been awesome in the Amphicar, and I know others that use it in trailer bearings. I typically saw about a 3-5% gain in mpg with synthetics in engine, trans and rear end, although with the Subaru I think it was more like 10% (1979 4wd Subaru station wagon)

[WorkingOnWise]

Hi everyone,
Just my two cents on synthetic oil durability, and so also on oil change intervals.
I have been a mechanic for a lot of years, and have always heard the whole 3k interval creed.
Well, If you use junk as the base for an oil, it will surely be worthless as a lubricant in short order.
However, if the base stock and additive package is right, the oil can outlast the machine it is protecting.

When I was in the Navy, I was an engineer. The lube oil in the main engines (4 GE LM2500 Gas Turbines) and the mail reduction gear had never been changed. It was constantly filtered using a centrifuge, and tested daily for visual quality, and quarterly a sample was sent to a lab for analysis, iirc, but it wasn't changed. The levels were monitored and topped off as needed, but the oil, which was a synthetic in both, never showed signs of failure, so there was no need to replace it. The ship was first commissioned in 1979, and I was on it in 1989-1991. The oil was 12 years old and still in service, and the ship had been around the world! Seeing that,

I would not have a problem with never replacing the (High Quality Synthetic) oil in my cars engine, as long as the filters were replaced regularly, and a quarterly analysis was done to prove it's true condition.

FWIW
Keith

[xcel]

Hi Keith:

___Possibly so but with the cost of an analysis more then the $20 - $25 for 5 quarts of oil (if you use 5 quarts?) and a $3.00 SuperTech, why not just change it at 12 – 20K and never worry about it.

___Turbine oil at the Generating facility I used to work at was similar. Weekly full analysis and inspection and through (2) 1,200 MW output turbines as well. With > 5 year change interval, it always looked great!

___Good Luck

___Wayne

[brick]

I guess I'll chime in since I just got an oil analysis back today. I changed my oil (M1 synthetic) a little before 7,000mi and figured it would be pretty well beaten up given that I drove the living hell out of the car through two road trips. Of course it came back in great shape. What the tech wrote to me was that this oil just isn't going to "wear out" in the conventional sense of the word. The only thing that will happen to it is that it will become contaminated with gas, water, or insolubles that need to be removed. (Quote: "If these [Prius] engines ran CNG, there's a good chance the oil would last forever.")

Right now I'm looking at a minimum 7500mi change interval, and I'll probably wind up in that 12-15000mi range. And while I agree that the cost of analysis might seem a bit much, to me it's worth it. My engine is under warranty and if anything happens, this gives me proof-positive that my responsibility (keeping it maintained) was fulfulled. It's also important to note that oil analysis doesn't just tell you the condition of the oil. Rather, the condition of the oil is a very good indicator of the overall health of the engine. Problems with air filtration can show up as excessive silicon, issues with bearings show up in copper and aluminum (and probably other things). Problems with the fuel system might show up as a low flash point. So it isn't just the oil change interval that you're learning about. To me, it's worth it to know how the engine is wearing now so that I can take note of trouble brewing down the road. And personally I do not recommend an extended change interval to someone else without recommending analysis given that all engines are not created equal. That's just how I view things.

[xcel]

Hi Tim:

___Are you running Mobil1 0W-20, 5W-20 or 5W-30 nowadays? The TBN for Prius’ on 0W-20 look great after 5K so I am hoping you are running 0W-20 to put all the non-sensical questions about 0W-20 for the Prius-I and II to bed.

___Good Luck

___Wayne

[brick]

I've been running 5W-30. I've considered moving over the the 0W-20 but I just don't know enough about it to make an informed decision ATM. My main concern is making sure I have the right oil in there for this climate, which is to say obscenely hot for a good chunk of the year. Truth be told it's probably just as well that I've run the "recommended" viscosity consistently for a while. Now that it's broken in and I've gotten a good chunk of mileage vs. habits vs. driving conditions data, switching over to 0W-20 after another change or two might give the added benefit of meaningful FE data on top of wear performance. At the very least I'll keep up with what I've got until it's been a full year in SC and maybe consider a switch at that point?