Amsoil v Mobil1

[Joe C.]

Characteristic......Amsoil 100% Synthetic 10W-40.......Mobil1 15W-50

Price/qt.............................8.60............... ...........................4.70
Viscosity Index....................169...................... .....................154
Kin Visc @ 100C (cS)............14.6.............................. ............18.1
Kin Visc @ 40C (cS)..............90.5............................ ............131.2
HT/HS @ 150C.....................4.3...................... ......................4.5

[Edward J.]

Re: Amsoil v Mobil1

Joe, I use both type syth. oils, my 72 flat tappet small block needs the zinc that Amsoil has, and my 2002 has the mobil 1, both are great oils on my list, Amsoil was the pionner of the syth oil. yes its more money but I like the extra protection(zinc).


I know there have been many-many posts on oil recently, and I think that its only a once a year thing for my cars so there worth every penny.

[Stephen B.]

Re: Amsoil v Mobil1

Comp Cam now markets both High Zink oil and an additive for conventional oil.Comp Cam is a leader in their industry and I have to believe they've done their home work.I don't know what the price is on these products.They attend all large events this Summer like Goodguys,Super Chevy,NHRA events and The Street Rod Nats.Contact them ,their easy to talk with.
Stephen Barrett (21558)

[Jephrey S.]

Re: Amsoil v Mobil1

I suggest you find a lot of free time and start reading here:

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums...Board=1&page=1

Unfortunately, with most everything else on the internet, you should take most of what you read there with a grain of salt. This NCRS forum is one of the few places where doing this is not so critical (but still a good idea.)

I was very, very concerned with running my OEM (Castrol 5W30 synthetic) oil to 15,000 miles on a new engine in my BMW 335. That is how I found that website. There were tons of horror stories about oil life in the bi-turbo N54 engine to be found there. I run my BMW on a normal day to and from work as hard as some of the weekend warriors on that website do at a racetrack. After 15,360 miles, I had an oil sample sent to Blackstone Labs for analysis by Terry Dyson himself. The end result was that I still had some oil life left and the other numbers were fine.

I now am running Mobil 1 European Formula 0W30 synthetic, but the bottom line of what I think I know from reading that website and my lab analysis is that today's oils are so much better than they used to be, as long as what you use meets whatever specification is required you should be fine. I still have personal perceptions that I have developed over the years and I doubt that these will ever completely go away.

I tried running synthetic oil in my tired old corvette engine for one entire test drive. I had oil leaking from places I never thought about being an external oil path. I switched back to dino oil and all of the leaks went away. The same was true for the transmission except for all of the leak paths were normal. It will be running synthetic oil the next time the engine gets refreshed (after break-in) though.

[Dick W.]

Re: Amsoil v Mobil1

Comp Cam now markets both High Zink oil and an additive for conventional oil.Comp Cam is a leader in their industry and I have to believe they've done their home work.I don't know what the price is on these products.They attend all large events this Summer like Goodguys,Super Chevy,NHRA events and The Street Rod Nats.Contact them ,their easy to talk with.
Stephen Barrett (21558)

I am sure that you will pay a premium for the Competition Cams oil vs what you can buy at your local Wally World, Carquest, Advance, etc. As has been posted here many times, "diesel oil" has as much or more zinc that you need in the older cars.

[Duke W.]

Re: Amsoil v Mobil1

The engine oil requirements for vintage engines are different than modern "roller everything" engines. If you missed the engine oil article in The Corvette Restorer a couple of years ago, it's reprinted in another club online publication starting on page 3.

http://www.westcoastwillys.com/WCW_Sept08_small.pdf

Duke

[George J.]

Re: Amsoil v Mobil1

Duke,
one thing that I have been wondering about regarding the zddp number is this: is the concentration of 1100+ important due to the zddp being used up over time, and starting with 1100 assures that after, say 5,000 miles, there is still enough left to still provide acceptable wear protection, or is it that you need 1100 all the time to provide the required wear protection from day one and that the zddp stays at that level throughout the life of the oil, with some small breakdown/dilution?
If you have answered this, I apologize, since I know you are tired of these oil questions, but I have read your article and posts, and don't see the answer or are completely missing something. I am not so proud that I would discount being ignorant enough to not understand something about oils that is right in front of me.
Thanks,

George

[Stephen B.]

Re: Amsoil v Mobil1

I am sure that you will pay a premium for the Competition Cams oil vs what you can buy at your local Wally World, Carquest, Advance, etc. As has been posted here many times, "diesel oil" has as much or more zinc that you need in the older cars.

Dick
As stated earlier I don't know the price of Comp Cam Oil or their Zink additive ,but I will find out next week and post it.My understanding when I last talked with them was that the addative was compatable with any oil. If that is the case that would give you the most flexibility at an affordable cost.
Stephen Barrett (21558)

[Patrick H.]

Re: Amsoil v Mobil1

If that is the case that would give you the most flexibility at an affordable cost.
Stephen Barrett (21558)

The point of Dick and Duke is that the most flexibility at an affordable cost is to buy the latest CF spec oils at your local stores and use those. The "zinc additive" or "ZDDP additive" are just feeding on the paranoia that current oils are "not good enough" not based on actual science.

Think "snake oil" and you're on the right track.

[Duke W.]

Re: Amsoil v Mobil1

Duke,
one thing that I have been wondering about regarding the zddp number is this: is the concentration of 1100+ important due to the zddp being used up over time, and starting with 1100 assures that after, say 5,000 miles, there is still enough left to still provide acceptable wear protection, or is it that you need 1100 all the time to provide the required wear protection from day one and that the zddp stays at that level throughout the life of the oil, with some small breakdown/dilution?
If you have answered this, I apologize, since I know you are tired of these oil questions, but I have read your article and posts, and don't see the answer or are completely missing something. I am not so proud that I would discount being ignorant enough to not understand something about oils that is right in front of me.
Thanks,

George

Good question, George, and I'm not sure if I ever answered it directly.

Yes. In fact all engine oil additives are consumed with use, and the base stock oils slowly oxidize, which is why oil changes are necessary.

The level of additives in typical 15W-40 C-category oil are more than adequate for up to 7500 miles of normal service in a basically healthy engine with a properly functioning PCV system.

Back when I used some of my cars as daily drivers, I changed the oil and filter every 5000 miles, which was two to three times per year, and I changed the oil on the weekend cars every year and ran them a few hundred to a couple of thousand miles per year.

Since I'm now retired, don't have to commute, and all the normal businesses I need to visit regularly are walking distance. I'm am down to 500 miles or less on the cars and am letting the oil/filter go two years.

At one year and 500 miles the oil still looks new. All the engines are tight with no significant blowby or oil consumption. They all have well functioning PCV systems, which purge contaminates out of the crankcase before they can condense, and when I do drive them, I always make sure that they are run for at least a half hour to get everything thoroughly warmed up, which will help purge any condensed blowby that gets into the oil during warm-up.

People ask me why I don't drive my cars more often. Notwithstanding hating traffic (Once you don't have to commute it becomes harder to tolerate.) I give them my tongue-in-cheek response.

"Do you know what the worst thing is you can do to an engine"?

"No."

[Answer] "A cold start!"

Duke

[Dick W.]

Re: Amsoil v Mobil1

The point of Dick and Duke is that the most flexibility at an affordable cost is to buy the latest CF spec oils at your local stores and use those. The "zinc additive" or "ZDDP additive" are just feeding on the paranoia that current oils are "not good enough" not based on actual science.

Think "snake oil" and you're on the right track.

[Duke W.]

Re: Amsoil v Mobil1

The point of Dick and Duke is that the most flexibility at an affordable cost is to buy the latest CF spec oils at your local stores and use those. The "zinc additive" or "ZDDP additive" are just feeding on the paranoia that current oils are "not good enough" not based on actual science.

Think "snake oil" and you're on the right track.

Actually, "CF" is an obsolete C-category oil. The most common available is CJ-4. CI-4 is great if you can find it.

Until recently, Walmart's house brand, SuperTech, was CI-4, but the last time I was there a month ago I noticed that it's now CJ-4.

At about $8.50 a quart, it's a good deal - just as good as the national brands, but a buck or two cheaper per gallon.

Duke

[Joe C.]

Re: Amsoil v Mobil1

Just one more in the vast array of metrics, used in evaluating motor oils, is the Four Ball Wear Test. These tests can, of course be manipulated, vis-a-vis marketing strategy. The ASTM developed this test to simulate cam and follower loading and wear.
Here is a glimpse at the madness............we report, you decide:

http://www.synthetic-motor-oil-chang...s-redline-oil/

[Dick W.]

Re: Amsoil v Mobil1

Just one more in the vast array of metrics, used in evaluating motor oils, is the Four Ball Wear Test. These tests can, of course be manipulated, vis-a-vis marketing strategy. The ASTM developed this test to simulate cam and follower loading and wear.
Here is a glimpse at the madness............we report, you decide:

http://www.synthetic-motor-oil-chang...s-redline-oil/

Redline, just another overpriced highly marketed oil. No better for a street engine that the CI or CJ-4 oils that you can buy at Wally World, or the gyp joint of your choice

[Patrick H.]

Re: Amsoil v Mobil1

Actually, "CF" is an obsolete C-category oil. The most common available is CJ-4. CI-4 is great if you can find it.

I Googled latest specs and CF is what popped up.
So much for Google...