Q. How long have AMSOIL lubricants been on the market?

A. AMSOIL introduced the first synthetic motor oil with an API (American Petroleum Institute) Service Classification in 1972. Since that time, AMSOIL has varied and expanded its product line.

Q. What are AMSOIL Synthetic Motor Oils?

A. AMSOIL Synthetic Lubricants are fuel efficient, extended life lubricants manufactured from select synthetic base stocks and special purpose additives. These lubricants provide improved overall performance characteristics when compared to conventional petroleum oils.

Q. What are AMSOIL Synthetic Blend Motor Oils?

A. AMSOIL Synthetic Blend Motor Oils are a blend of synthetic fluids and petroleum oils. They are combined to form an all season motor oil that demonstrates many of the performance features of synthetic lubricants.

Q. Can AMSOIL Motor Oils be used in any engine?

A. Certainly, AMSOIL Motor Oils may be used in any mechanically sound gasoline or diesel fueled engine. Basically, that means they are excellent for use in any vehicle’s engine.

Q. Will AMSOIL Motor Oils void the warranty of a new vehicle?

A. Absolutely not! Manufacturers’ warranties are based upon the use of oils meeting specific API Service Classifications, for example, SJ/CF. (AMSOIL lubricants meet the current API Service requirements and, thus, are perfectly suited for use in any new vehicle without affecting the validity of the new vehicle warranty.)

Q. Are AMSOIL Motor Oils All-Season Oils?

A. Synthetic oils are made to protect and perform better than petroleum oils at both high and low temperature extremes. That’s why every jet engine in the world is lubricated with synthetic oil. AMSOIL Motor Oils have extremely low pour points and flow readily at extremely low temperatures for easier winter starting and significantly reduced engine wear. At high temperatures, no conventional motor oil can compare to the overall protection AMSOIL Synthetic Motor Oils provide. That’s extremely important for today’s turbocharged and small, non-turbocharged engines!

Q. Will using AMSOIL Motor Oils increase gas mileage?

A. Tighter government regulations and increases in engine manufacturers’ demands are calling for more fuel efficient lubricants. AMSOIL Motor Oils reduce friction and drag better than petroleum oils, resulting in significant fuel economy increases. In a recent 1.2 million mile demonstration, AMSOIL Lubricants showed a 4.5% increase in gas mileage. Other tests have shown increases of as much as 15% under certain weather and driving conditions. Yet, because every vehicle is different, as are driving habits and conditions, it is difficult to accurately project an exact increase.

Q. Are AMSOIL Motor Oils compatible with other motor oils?

A. Yes. AMSOIL Motor Oils are compatible with all other synthetic or petroleum motor oils.

Q. Why are AMSOIL Motor Oils capable of extended drain intervals?

A. AMSOIL Synthetic Motor Oils are highly resistant to the destructive effects of heat, and do not break down like petroleum oils. This means that AMSOIL Motor Oils can provide much longer drain intervals than conventional lubricants.

Q. Will AMSOIL Motor Oils decrease oil consumption?

A. Yes. When used in mechanically sound engines, AMSOIL Motor Oils can reduce oil consumption. Under test conditions, a reduction of as much as 42% was demonstrated for prolonged periods. However, this should not be taken to mean that AMSOIL Motor Oils are “cure-alls” for engines that consume oil because of mechanical problems.

Q. Is there a recommended procedure for changing to AMSOIL Motor Oils?

A. There are no special requirements; however, in older vehicles or those with high mileage, it may be advisable to use AMSOIL Engine Flush first. This will ensure that the engine is clean and free of any accumulated contaminants which might have an effect on the service life of AMSOIL Motor Oils. In all cases, it is good judgement to install a new AMSOIL Super Duty Full-Flow Oil Filter (SDF) every time you change oil.

Q. Should Oil Additives or After Market Products be added to AMSOIL Motor Oils?

A. No, they are not necessary! AMSOIL Motor Oils are properly formulated under the strictest Quality Control procedure to provide superior lubrication performance.

Q. An individual has posted a message on an Internet message board that said AMSOIL motor oils "lack sufficient EP additives" and the quality of the product has dropped" in the last few years.  Due to lack of EP additives and the the drop in product quality he "wiped out bearings, pistons, rocker bushings, etc."  He also said that AMSOIL Super Duty Oil Filters are inferior to "Wix (Napa) filters that costs half the price!"  Is there any truth to this?

A. No truth whatsoever. AMSOIL INC. has continually improved the performance of its products over the years. The best performing oil we've ever made are the oils we make today. In addition, new technology has allowed us to improve performance as the introduction of our Series 2000 oils demonstrated. Our standard products outperform the competition and the Series 2000 products blow them away.

First of all, extreme pressure (EP) additives are not typically used in motor oil. EP additives are usually found in gear lubricants. These types of additives usually contain sulfur compounds that activate at higher pressures and temperatures than found in engines. In an unactivated state, these compounds react with gases, water and other by-products of combustion to form acids that are corrosive to bearing materials found in engine components.

Engine oils typically use antiwear (AW) additives to prevent metal-to-metal contact within an engine. These are commonly zinc and phosphorus compounds (zinc dithiophosphate or ZDP). These additives are different from EP additives because they activate or bond with metal surfaces at lower temperatures and pressures and do not form corrosive acids. EP additives are intended to withstand higher pressures and temperatures than found in engines. AW additives offer more than enough protection for all engine conditions without any of the harmful side effects of EP additives.

AMSOIL INC. has always used higher quality and a higher level of additives including zinc and phosphorus than most motor oils on the market. The attached tables compare the content of zinc and phosphorus of several popular motor oils for passenger car and racing applications. These additive contents were determined using spectrographic analysis. Results could be verified for accuracy by submitting unused oil for analysis to any independent oil analysis laboratory.

Quantity of AW additives alone, however, will not make one lubricant perform better than a competitive lubricant. It's the combination of blended synthetic basestocks with a perfectly balanced package of the highest quality additives that allows AMSOIL to consistently outperform the competition in all aspects, including wear protection.(NOTE: Perfectly balanced means that using an aftermarket oil additive will not improve and may actually harm the performance of AMSOIL motor oils.)

The following results from Four Ball Wear Tests will demonstrate how effective AMSOIL Synthetic Motor Oils are at wear protection compared to other popular oils. The Four Ball Wear Test is a lubricant industry standard (ASTM D 4172) test that compares relative wear prevention characteristics of new lubricants at specified conditions.

AMSOIL products clearly offer better wear protection than competitive synthetics and much better protection than conventional oils. Engines can fail due to mechanical problems even when using AMSOIL. AMSOIL Motor Oils, however, in over twenty-five years have never caused an engine failure. If you ever hear someone say AMSOIL caused their engine, bearings, pistons, etc. to fail, they are wrong.

Federal Mogul Corporation, a manufacturer of engine bearings, pistons, connecting rods and other engine parts, studied over 7,000 case histories of bearing distress and engine failure and never found engine oil to be the cause of a failure. Dirt, the number one cause of engine failure, was found to be responsible for 43.4% of failures, and insufficient lubrication, the second most common cause of failure, was responsible for 16.6% of failures. Insufficient lubrication is the general term used when not enough oil gets through to the engine to lubricate it (lack of oil volume).

Some causes of insufficient lubrication include oxidation, oil thickening, sludge, cold temperature related dry starts, etc. These, however, are also areas where AMSOIL motor oils out perform the competition. If an engine breaks down with AMSOIL motor oil in it, it would have broken down sooner using another oil! That's fact! 

In regard to AMSOIL Super Duty Oil Filters being inferior to Wix (NAPA) filters based upon visual inspection, AMSOIL Filters have an inner beauty that's not visible to the human eye. Unlike the person who made these comments, the Society of Automotive Engineers recognized that filter performance cannot be evaluated by visual inspection. Therefore, they created the industry standard SAE HS806 test for evaluating oil filters. The SAE HS806 test evaluates particle removal efficiency and contaminant holding capacity which are the two main functions an oil filter must perform. As you can see from the following charts, AMSOIL outperforms the competition in both areas.                       

The Super Duty Filter has a finer filtering media, more dirt holding capacity, heavier-duty construction and a 6-month/12,500-mile change interval recommendation which is the highest in the industry. Change a Wix (NAPA) filter two to three times as often at half the price and it will cost more. There will also be more and larger particles of dirt in your oil at all times if you don't choose the AMSOIL Super Duty.