Got yourself a nice new vehicle? And you want it to last a really long time? Here's what we recommend.
For gasoline engines, the first five hundred to one thousand miles should be driven on the factory filled oil. At this point we recommend changing that oil and filter to your choice of Amsoil synthetic motor oils and Amsoil high efficiency oil filter. Changing the factory filled oil and filter early removes contaminants and particles left from the manufacturing process
Now you may wonder why so few miles, what about break in? The fact is with modern metallurgy and manufacturing techniques break-in really doesn't take as long as it used to. Without being to technical, break in has as much to do with how many heat cycles (how many times the engines been hot and cold) as does the number of miles driven allowing the parts to "wear in." Put the synthetic in at five hundred to one thousand miles, your engine will be just fine and live much longer too!
Recommended drain intervals for gasoline passenger vehicles: Amsoil XL-7500 series motor oils: change oil and filter every 6 months or 7,500 miles, whichever comes first.
Amsoil original long drain synthetic motor oils:change oil every 12 months or 25,000 miles, whichever comes first. Change Amsoil oil filter at six months or 12,500 miles, whichever comes first.
Series 2000 0W/30: change oil every 35,000 miles or one year whichever comes first.
Can I just put Amsoil in the engine right away? Yes, you can and many engines come factory filled with synthetic oil. However because petroleum motor oil has lower film strength it is actually better for breaking in the engine than synthetic.
Converting new vehicles with diesel engines:
Just like gasoline engines diesel's should have the factory oil and filter changed at 500 to 1,000 miles except at this point they should be refilled with a petroleum oil. The oil and filter should be changed again at 3,500 to 4,000 miles with a petroleum oil. Because of the break in characteristics of diesels five thousand to six thousand miles is optimum for converting a diesel engine over to Amsoil.
Recommended drain intervals for diesels. (Ford powerstroke, Dodge Cummins, GM Duramax) Amsoil 15W/40 and 5W/30 heavy duty diesel motor oil (and we do mean HEAVY DUTY)! Change oil once a year or every 15,000 miles, whichever comes first. Change Amsoil oil filter every 6 months or 7,500 miles, whichever comes first.
Can I use any brand of oil filter? Yes, but you will have to change the filter at your manufacturers recommended interval where as the Amsoil oil filter is both more efficient(in micron particle size it will filter out) and has more capacity (holds more grams of contaminants before needing to be changed)
Synthetic oil flows far more freely than petroleum oil so you can get it through a far more densely packed oil filter than you can a petroleum oil without starving the engine far oil. That's why we highly recommend our filter. It just a lot better than the average mass market oil filter and you don't have to change it as often.
What about Amsoil by-pass filtration kit? The Amsoil by-pass filter is an externally mounted filter that offers sub-micron particle efficiency, literally giving you analytically clean oil all the time. Dramatically reducing wear over standard full flow filters and making it possible to extend drain intervals even longer-in some cases a lifetime fill!
If you are the kind of driver who trades in a vehicle every two or three years, paying the cost of installing a by-pass filter wont help you any. However if you own a business or fleet or are an individual who drive very high miles and keeps a vehicle till "all the juice is squeezed out" so to speak, the installation of a by-pass filter can make a lot of sense.
What about the transmission and differential(s): Their is essentially no need to wait. Automatic transmissions, manual gearbox's and differentials can be changed right a way.
Automatic transmissions are most easily changed on a fluid exchange machine which thoroughly replaces all of the transmission fluid including whets in the torque converter removing the vast majority of contaminants at the same time. If you want to do it yourself see the section "twelve easy steps to changing my transmission"
Converting higher mileage vehicles:
Engines with 20,000 to 30,000 miles usually need nothing special. Simply choose the Amsoil motor oil of your choice, drain the old oil, pour in the new and install a new oil filter and your set!
Engines with higher mileage would benefit from using Amsoil engine flush. This product is a blend of special solvents, and powerful detergents (the same detergents used in our motor oils but a much stronger dose)! that are added to the old oil before it is drained. The engine is allowed to run for about 20 to 30 minutes (don't drive it with flush in the oil)! This washes loose a lot of the varnish and crud that builds up with petroleum oil and gets it out of the engine when you drain the old oil.
While it is not strictly necessary to flush any engine since Amsoil motor oils themselves are very detergent and designed to keep new engines clean and to clean up old dirty engines over a period of miles. Using Amsoil engine flush will reduce the time needed for the oil to clean up the varnish and build up in your engine and help keep you from using your first oil Amsoil oil change just to clean up the engine.
Converting really high mileage engines:
Very high mileage vehicles may still be good candidates for conversion to Amsoil synthetic if they have been well maintained and are in good condition.
If you have no visible oil leaks or oil burning/consumption try this: drain the old oil and change the filter. Install new petroleum oil and a new oil filter and drive the vehicle till it is thoroughly warmed up. Now add the Amsoil engine flush and use according to directions on the can.
Flushing the engine with new oil and filter will give you the best possible flush. The new oil and filter can hold more contaminants and give you a cleaner engine. Drain the oil/engine flush, change the filter again and install the Amsoil motor oil of your choice.
As the newly installed Amsoil synthetic motor oil continues the process of cleaning the engine, deposit's; some of them microscopic will be removed leaving microscopic voids. Over a period of time the additives in Amsoil will fill in and reseal these voids. This process can take a few hundred to several thousand miles depending on the mileage and condition of your engine.
During this phase some engines will have slightly elevated oil consumption till the engine is cleaned up and the voids filled. This is normal and only last for the time needed for the oil to condition and clean the engine.
Most people don't even notice this phase and usually oil consumption ends up being much less because Amsoil synthetic motor oils are so much less volatile than petroleum oil (does not evaporate at high temperatures)
The "synthetic oil's cause leaks myth": Synthetic oil does flow more readily than petroleum oil does so if you have a leak it will tend to leak from it more freely. This however is caused by an all ready failing seal. Not by the synthetic oil itself.
Petroleum motor oils are notorious for forming what's know as a "false seal" Varnish and crud will build up around a failing seal and help keep a more viscous petroleum oil from leaking. Synthetic oils that are highly detergent will clean off the build up and expose the all ready failing seal. There's your leak!
For this reason we suggest that our oil's only be used in mechanically sound engines. If you have a leaking seal replace it prior to installing Amsoil motor oil.
We have also seen many cases where older engines are starting to seep oil because some motor oils have poor long term seal compatibility. Exposure to these low grade oils causes the seals to harden and seal poorly.
All motor oil, synthetic and petroleum alike contain chemicals as part of the additives that are added to the oil that are there to keep engine seals pliable and to cause mild swelling so the seal works properly.
The additives in Amsoil motor oils are so good at conditioning engine seals that there have been many cases where engines with slight oil seeps sealed back up after a few thousand miles of driving. That being said if the seal is shot all you can do is get it fixed, no oil will fix it ours included.
My oil's getting dark. does it need to be changed? Oils turn dark as they do their job of lubricating and cleaning an engine. You cannot look at motor oil with the naked eye and tell it's serviceability. This can only be found out by laboratory analysis.
Many times we have sent a sample of oil that was almost black to the lab for analysis and the lab said the oil was in good condition, suitable for continued use. So never mind the oil's color, if it's turning dark-good, it's just doing it's job!
