anyone running amzoil 20/50w synthetic ?

[BLUNT]

3 months ago a friend told me his motor used far less oil after switching from mobil1 to amzoil. last octoberfest i drove from minnesota to watkins glen and back and used 2 qts of oil along the way at a constant 4k on the freeway.

ive switched to amzoil 20/50 and took my 02 on a 3600 mile trip to vintage and a few other stops and used zero oil. and i ran it at a constant 4k the whole way. ive done nothing different to the motor and i did not rebuild it. but rather did rod bearings and timing components during the resto. it seems unlikely to me that a different oil could stop oil consumption but what else could it be??

[m-racer]

I run Amsoil in all of my newer BMWs and my truck. Also made the switch to Amsoil 20/50 in the E30 M3 (from Mobil 1) a couple of years ago with great results. That engine is a 2.3 like yours but with cams, etc. I was using a qt every 1k or so. With Amsoil the oil use is about .5 qt per 5k (my change interval during normal driving). My experience with Amsoil on the older cars is that it also has less tendancy than other synthetics to leak through old seals. I am not a chemical engineer, so don't look for me to give you the technical reasons, but that is definitely my experience. I am still on Kendall for the break-in on the 2.5 that is in the 02, but when it hits 5k or so, it will be on Amsoil as well.

[napa02]

I'm using Amsoil 20/50 Racing oil. I went the the racing route because of the zinc content.

I did not notice any oil consumption differences, but my oil burning is minimal anyway...

[BLUNT]

I'm using Amsoil 20/50 Racing oil. I went the the racing route because of the zinc content.

I did not notice any oil consumption differences, but my oil burning is minimal anyway...

i notice the standard 20/50 synthetic stated "extra zinc" on the bottle. do you know if the racing version has more zinc than the standard 20/50??

[Dave3x72tii]

(nt)

[Guest Anonymous]

Not sure but could your worn rod bearings have caused more oil splash up into the cylinders thus using more oil?

[BLUNT]

Not sure but could your worn rod bearings have caused more oil splash up into the cylinders thus using more oil?

i wasnt clear in my initial post. during my resto i did rod bearings etc and freshened up the motor. after i started driving it i just switched motor oils and nothing else to realize far less oil consumption

[jimk]

Steve,

It's the flashpoint or volatility of the oil in your case and in most is why you use less. Most oils flash when they hit the cyl wall at the upper end where the metal surface temps are high. You also run on an oil film there where with others it runs dry with more wear. That also is the reason for the wear in the upper 1/4 of the ring stroke.

The holes in the oil ring groove are drain holes for the oil that is wiped by the oil ring to get back down to the pan. They also fill with varnish when miles get high on an engine but will not with Amsoil and in some cases actually wash clean with it's use when converting from other oils. Some of the oil loss can be attributed to "oil pumping" in the rings because with closed oil drain holes the rings flood.

I've see honing marks almost to the top of the ring stroke in 80+K miles cylinders with almost no deposites behind any of the rings.

I'm getting around 4700 mi on 10W-40 (also high zinc) and am down about 1/8 qt since I left for the MidAmericafest (a 1600mi round trip).

[BillWilliams]

AMSOIL is the best if you can afford it.

There are ratings for organic oil, synthetic oils and AMSOIL has its own.

[jimk]

AMSOIL is the best if you can afford it.

There are ratings for organic oil, synthetic oils and AMSOIL has its own.

You are confused. Amsoil does not have it's own ratings. They are all API ratings. You are confused with the garden variety lisenced API oil packages where I could buy some base stock and mix in a pre-lisenced API package of additives and go to market without having to conduct the API rating tests. It's garden variety and the cheap way out.

Amsoil produces products superior to the API lisenced oils and pay for the API tests on their oils. Amsoil does sell some cheaper XL oils with licensed packages primarily for the quick change markets but are only good for 7500 miles. I have run their upper grade oils as far as 35,000 miles with oil analysis and the oil was still good to go.

Amsoil products are cheaper per mile than the lesser oils changed often. I compare it to tires. Is it better to buy cheap tires and change them often? You get what you pay for. So people dont believe in long life oil changes. Some things are based on fact and others on belief. So, when should I start having trouble? I am at 165K on my truck, a daily driver, that gets an annual change whether it needs it or not.

[BillWilliams]

I am usually confused but not this time. Just meant to infer that AMSOIL is far superior to the other oils and thus needs its own rating scale

[kbmb02]

I'm using Amsoil 20/50 Racing oil. I went the the racing route because of the zinc content. I did not notice any oil consumption differences, but my oil burning is minimal anyway...

If you - or anyone here - is using the Amsoil 20/50 oil in a race car, please share any information regarding success (or not) and how often you're changing it.

I'm currently running the Brad Penn 20/50 synthetic, no issues thus far but am always on the lookout for what's better...

[jimk]

I am usually confused but not this time. Just meant to infer that AMSOIL is far superior to the other oils and thus needs its own rating scale

Thanks Bill, I understand you now.

Jim

[ray_]

Actually you meant to imply that.

;-)

Heheheheh!

Cheers,

Ray

I am usually confused but not this time. Just meant to infer that AMSOIL is far superior to the other oils and thus needs its own rating scale

[napa02]

I'm using Amsoil 20/50 Racing oil. I went the the racing route because of the zinc content.

I did not notice any oil consumption differences, but my oil burning is minimal anyway...

i notice the standard 20/50 synthetic stated "extra zinc" on the bottle. do you know if the racing version has more zinc than the standard 20/50??

actually upon further review, I'm using 15/50 racing. I went the racing route because of the zinc, I did not compare it the 20/50, but usually the racing/diesel oils are higher in zinc content due to the fact they designed for cars with no catalytic converters. Plus the Amsoil website suggests the 15/50 racing for older flat tappet set ups, those are the applications that really benefit from the high zinc.