Price Drop

Amsoil will be lowering their prices on March 1, 2009. When is the last time you heard about a price drop on oil related stuff. I will keep you posted.

Visit my other site to stock up and save.

First ride of 2009

Well I know that I was a slacker last season and stopped posting in January, maybe this year I will be better.

I went up with pretty much the same group as the last post. We went to St. Helen for a one day ride. We took off Saturday night, sort of, my trailer decided to break a ground wire and get a flat before we even left so that made us get off to a late start. Sorry guys, it won't happen again.

Once on our way all was well. We picked up some beverages once in St. Helen and made it to the house. Greg, Steve and Jonathan had to do some work on their sleds. Greg had a little crossing the tracks issue on his last ride so he had to reset the toe and replace a hand guard bracket. Steve had an issue with his ring gear for his electric start. It came loose for the second time so he was checking that stuff over. Jonathan had to replace some fouled plugs.

We got up Sunday and started our ride, it was cold, around 8 for a high. We made it a whole 10 miles and Jonathan's 2005 Adrenaline had issues. His engine light kept coming on and that was pulling timing. He decided enough was enough so he rode it to a crossing and we headed back to get the truck and trailer. Once loaded we figured that we better eat so we stopped at a restaurant in St. Helen, Hen something. I wish I could remember the name but it was the slowest service I think I have ever had. The food was good but not that good.

The three of us took off again for a ride and Jonathan headed to Houghton Lake to get the codes pulled. Greg, Steve and I head towards Lewiston. For the most part the trails were good, they was one section that was terrible. Hadn't been groomed in days.

Once past that section is wasn't too bad. The snow was silty feeling which made extra snow dust and made your sled handle looser. Steve found out how loose when he got lost in Greg and my snow dust coming into a very poorly marked corner and put the Renegade up on its side. Luckily he did not get hurt and the sled survived. We do ride kind of like psycho idiots most of the time so sooner or later we will all make an error, hopefully nothing serious. We did have the usual issues with people not wanting to be passed, if you have people come up behind your group and you see them, let them go by. We had a couple of new Phazers in front of me, the rear guy was clueless, he didn't bother looking back and was all over the trail. The lead clown saw me and thought the would get all racy, want a joke, pull the 80 hp thing off to the side and let the faster guys go by. I am sorry if it hurts your pride but try to be courteous. Fast guys get reamed out all the time online for riding fast or being dangerous. By you playing blocker or just being an idiot is worse in my opionion. Why should I have to ride slow just because you are. Pick up tthe pace or move over, it not that hard to figure out.

So overall it was a good day, we out 160 miles on and made it home at a reasonable time. We did 140 of it in less than 4 1/2 hours, not bad considering the one bad section. I hope to get up there again soon. I have been using the VV Mapping software for my Garmin GPS and I must say that I am still very impressed. It had every trail, back road, gas stop and fire road that I crossed. It even showed you how to get out of the sad town of Roscommon. Its hard to believe that a town in the Northerm Lower can afford to be so unfriendly and unaccomodating to snowmobilers in this day and age. The local chamber of commerce should be up in arms and do something about it.

Well until next time, be safe and sober and have fun.

AMSOIL Synthetic Oil Products Frequently Asked Questions

How much does Amsoil cost?

Opens in New Window Amsoil Cost

Can AMSOIL Motor Oils be used in any engine?

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.

When is the best time to switch to AMSOIL?

Switching a vehicle to AMSOIL synthetic motor oil is fairly simple, but there are a few things you need to be aware of. First, if you have a brand new vehicle we recommend that you run a short cycle of petroleum oil on a gas engine passenger car or light truck (typically 500 miles) and approximately 5000 miles on a diesel engine before installing AMSOIL. This doesn't mean that you can't install AMSOIL sooner, as many OEM's install synthetics as a factory fill, it simply means these are our recommendations based on our extensive engineering studies and knowledge of this topic. Check out this page for more information on Switching to Amsoil.

Should I use an oil additive like Slick 50 when using AMSOIL

Absolutely Not! AMSOIL has long discouraged motorists from using any kind of aftermarket lubricant additive. After all, AMSOIL synthetic lubricants use the finest quality synthetic basestocks and additive systems. AMSOIL motor oils are formulated under the strictest quality control standards to provide superior lubrication performance. Additives cost money and only detract from the quality of AMSOIL motor oils.

A perfect example of why AMSOIL discourages use of aftermarket additives is the Federal Trade Commissions (FTC) recent lawsuit against zMax auto additives, seeking to halt false and misleading advertising and gain refunds for consumers who purchased the products. According to the FTC, the enhanced performance benefits zMax claims its products provide are totally unsubstantiated, and in the same tests cited to support performance claims, motor oil treated with zMax actually produced more than twice as much bearing corrosion than motor oil by itself. They further allege that the three different zMax products - an engine additive, a fuel line additive and a transmission additive - are nothing more than tinted mineral oil.

The complaint states that since at least May of 1999, zMax has aired infomercials promoting its Power System, a $39 package of three additives to be used in the engine, fuel line and transmission of automobiles. The infomercials are quite convincing, even going as far as featuring testimonials from various consumers and race car drivers making such claims as, I was averaging about 22 miles to the gallon on the highway. I installed the zMax and so I jumped right up to about 28 miles per gallon and zMax guarantees a minimum of 10 percent gas mileage increase. Other advertising claims zMax with LinKite has the scientific, CRC L38 proof it takes your car to the Max! and Why zMax Works - Cuts carbon build-up on valve stems 66%; Lowers wear on valve stems 66%; Lowers wear on piston skirts 60%; Reduces blow-by leakage 17.7%; Increases combustion efficiency 9.25%; Lowers fuel consumption 8.5% - Results of an independent CRC L38 test.

The CRC L38 test is a standard auto industry test which measures the bearing corrosion protection properties of motor oils. According to the complaint, in early 1997 an independent testing facility performed two CRC L38 tests of the zMax products. The results showed motor oil treated with the zMax additives produced more than double the bearing corrosion as motor oil alone. According to the FTC, the defendants eliminated the bearing corrosion results, as well as all other negative results, to produce one report from the two sets of tests, using this report in its infomercials and on its website.

The FTC charge alleges that zMax did not possess and rely on reasonable substantiation for the following product claims: increases gas mileage by a minimum of 10% reduces engine wear reduces or eliminates engine wear at startup reduces engine corrosion extends engine life reduces emissions They also allege that the defendants falsely represent that the results of the CRC L38 test prove that zMax: increases gas mileage reduces engine wear extends engine life lowers fuel consumption by 8.5% lowers wear on valve stems by 66% lowers wear on piston skirts by 60% cuts carbon build-up on valve stems by 66% Finally, the FTC charges that zMax does not have substantiation for the representation that the testimonials and endorsements shown in zMax advertising are the actual and current opinions, findings, beliefs, and/or experiences of those consumers; and the typical or ordinary experience of members of the public who use the product. The lawsuit against zMax is the latest in a long line of FTC charges against auto additive manufacturers. The FTC has previously halted allegedly deceptive advertising by the marketers of Dura Lube, Motor Up, Prolong, Valvoline, Slick 50, STP and other major brands of engine treatment systems.

Slick 50 Engine Treatment STP Engine Treatment Valvoline Engine Treatment Dura Lube Super Engine Treatment Dura Lube Advanced Engine Treatment Motor Up Engine Treatment Prolong Super Lubricants zMax Auto Additives

Which 30 Weight Oil Do I Use - What is the difference?

AMSOIL 0W-30, 5W-30 and 10W-30 synthetic motor oils are ALL 30 weight oils. The answer is that ANY one can be used regardless if your vehicle owners manual says to use, for example, a 5W-30. "W" means winter. In winter weather the 0W oil will flow like a 0W oil, and the 5W will flow like a 5W oil and a 10W will flow like a 10W oil just until the engine warms up.

In order to understand the differences one has to first understand that the numerical values given to these various weight oils are strictly empirical numbers. For example, 0W does not mean that the oil has no weight. That is one of the reasons why we say it is strictly an empirical number. In order to determine the differences between the three oils one has to look at the kinematic viscosity of each lubricant. The kinematic viscosity is essentially the amount of time, in centistokes, that it takes for a specified volume of the lubricant to flow through a fixed diameter orifice at a given temperature.

Let's compare the kinematic viscosity of the three AMSOIL lubricants:
AMSOIL 0W-30 is 57.3 cST @ 40 deg. C, & 11.3 cST @ 100 deg. C
AMSOIL 5W-30 is 59.5 cST @ 40 deg. C, & 11.7 cST @ 100 deg. C
AMSOIL 10W-30 is 66.1 cST @ 40 deg. C, & 11.7 cST @ 100 deg. C.

As you can see from the data above the kinematic viscosities are extremely close. Therefore, whether you use the 0W-30, 5W-30 or the 10W-30 is strictly a matter of choice. With the small differences in kinematic viscosity you would be hard-pressed to detect these differences on initial engine start-up without specialized engine test equipment.

All three oils are excellent motor oils and ANY one can be used in a vehicle which requires either a 0W-30, 5W-30 or 10W-30 oil as well as in several other engine applications including an engine which recommends a 5W- 20 oil.

AMSOIL Series 2000 0W-30 Severe Service motor oil is one of the best synthetic lubricants AMSOIL manufacturers for gasoline engine passenger vehicles and light trucks. The molecular and chemical technology used to develop this oil was derived from AMSOIL's Racing Oil. It is a 35,000 mile/1-year motor oil. This is the same oil used by numerous police vehicles and severe duty fleets nationwide. In fact, many national racing teams use the 0W-30 for the qualifying event, then they change to the AMSOIL 20W-50 Racing Oil for the race. The extra horsepower and friction reduction from the 0W-30 often assists a race driver in attaining a better starting position. In fact, we know exactly which race teams use it, but cannot disclose that information.

This leads to the next topic: many people also ask us if the 0W-30 is too thin a viscosity oil for high ambient temperature operation. The answer is absolutely not! Thicker viscosity oils are not always necessarily better since in addition to its' various engine lubrication functions, an oil must also effectively transfer heat. Only about 60% of an engines cooling is performed by the engine coolant, and only on the upper half of the engine. The remaining 40% of an engines cooling is performed mainly by the engine oil.

Although a vehicle that is recommended to use a 30 weight oil can also use a 40 weight oil, it is usually not needed. You will gain absolutely no benefit from using a thicker viscosity oil if it is not needed. The only time we recommend a 40 weight oil, such as AMSOIL's 10W-40, to a customer in a passenger car or light truck application is if the vehicle's engine is excessively worn and consumes oil at a higher than normal rate or if the vehicle is being used for very severe duty, high load, high temperature applications.

Will adding other motor oil to my engine affect my drain-intervals

Adding another brand of motor oil will reduce the amount of AMSOIL in your engine which will shorten the life of the AMSOIL motor oil. Using another motor oil will require you to change your motor oil much sooner than Amsoil recommends.

How does a synthetic oil decrease friction and improve gas mileage and performance

Synthetic oil molecules are more resistant to contaminants. They are generally smaller, and more consistent in physical size. Amsoil synthetic oil provides less stress on your engine providing superior gas mileage increase & additional horsepower. Reduced friction makes engine bearings rotate easier. This saves energy & conserves fuel. Using AMSOIL will save enough per year in fuel savings to pay for all your vehicles lubrication needs.