kaboom10

I have Amsoil full synthetic ATF in my power steering. Put some AutoRx in it to clean it out before changing it. I could tell an immediate change and improvement They even have an inline filter available that u put in the return line.

Tobygot

You might want to check with FORD but AMSOIL's website shows that my 2004 Expedition takes ATF and NOT power steering fluid. From what I've found online, if you use ATF when your vehicle calls for power steering fluid you will cause damage. But some vehicles use ATF and not power steering fluid.
You can look up what your vehicle calls for on AMSOIL's website.
Click on Contact us
Click on Technical Support, Product Application and Service Questions
Click on Online product application guide

BigRedXlt

any tips or suggestions to make changing the power steering fluid a little easier?

jb3

First off, I just sold my 06 Chevy Crewcab duramax diesel and purchased my first Ford F-150. Although the pulling power is not there (didn't expect it to be), the truck is definitely better built and is so much nicer to drive!

I run Amsoil products in all of my vehicles and in my race bike (motocross). In fact, I became an independent dealer of the products because of the way it has held up in real-world situations.

That being said, extended drain intervals are possible with synthetic oils simply because they do not breakdown as easily as conventional oil. Just a few years ago, the typical 3k mileage oil change was justifiable. However, with modern advances in oil, that rule no longer applies. In fact, a lot of manufactures are stating longer drain intervals in the owners manual.

As Kattumaram stated, the biggest issue is with filtration. The oil's job is obviously to lubricate, but to also clean your engine. If the oil on your dipstick looks very clean, either your engine is spotless or the oil is not working properly. Although Amsoil warranties their filter and oil, I would be cautious of going to long on one filter.

The way Amsoil filters are designed, they clean the oil extremely well. However, when the filter reaches max capacity, it goes into by-pass mode. Basically, the engine still receives the oil, but is unfiltered at this point. Depending on your driving conditions, it could be sooner or later than the recommended intervals.

As far as the Nascar thing, Mobil-1 definetly has a tight market there. Great oil. Amsoil is involved in racing such as off-road trucks, snowmobile, motocross, etc.

Your truck will run smoother, quieter, and be very economical with Amsoil. AND, it is all covered under warranty.

To each his own, but for me, AMSOIL !! (p.s. if I couldn't get Amsoil, Mobil-1 would be my next choice)

RangerGress

Oil is very misunderstood.

Oil is complicated. Everything that you think you know is probably wrong. Certainly everything I thought I knew turned out to be wrong.

The center of oil knowledge on the web is www.BobIsTheOilGuy.com, or BITOG as it's known. Don't expect to really understand anything just casually perusing there for an evening tho. I've collected a bunch of useful info at: http://www.Gressorg/Home/Cars/TrackT...l%20Debate.htm Think of that as cliffnotes, even if it's oriented on 20yr old BMW race cars.

All AMSOIL oils that I know of are terrific, but only some of them are right for you. A few of the Mobil1 oils are terrific, but probably none of those are right for you. Pro teams that really do run M1 use blends that are nothing like you find in the store. Caveat: M1 does have a race line of oils that are available for retail sale.

Don't get trapped into the simplistic idea of "good" oil vs. "bad" oil. There's lots of different oils, lots of different good oils, and some oils that are right for your engine and usage habits. To pick the right oil you have to know what you are doing.

What the OEM specs isn't necessarily what's best for your motor. In the OEM spec recommendation committee there's more accountants and lawyers then engineers. Sometimes the engineers win an issue, sometimes not. So use the OEM recommendation as a starting point, but also attempt to understand the science. That may give you reason to diverge from the OEM recommendation.

A big problem with oils that have modern certifications is the lack of a zinc phosphorus additive called ZDDP. The EPA has reduced the amount that oil co's could put in their oils over the past 20yrs. ZDDP is important for the protection of cams, rockers and tappets. The EPA did this because it felt that ZDDP was hard on Cat convertors, which is another story. As a result the top ends of motors don't last like they used to. This is just one example of the little understood complexities of oil.

Almost all AMSOIL oils have plenty of ZDDP. Of M1's passenger oils, the only one I know of with decent ZDDP is 20W50, and that's too high a visc for our motor.

Oil Change Interval (OCI) can vary wildly for different cars and usage. OEM's are specing long OCI's because many of them are now paying for it. In order to last that long oil's have to have lots of detergents. More detergent means less slippery stuff. Consider that when selecting the OEM's approved oil.

Anyone that wants to do extended OCI's, say over 10k miles, should get periodic oil analysis from an oufit like Blackstone. They go for $25 ea. Me personally I'd go for 7500-10k with a top quality oil like AMSOIL or Redline. Less with something of lessor quality.

I think that the current darling of BITOG, in terms of value, is Pennzoil Platinum. It could use more ZDDP tho, so you might want to consider adding some engine break-in additive or General Motors "EOS". I've only been an F150 owner for 2 days now so I don't yet know spit about our engine design

Kattumaram

Here is an excellent treatise on lube oils by lube engineer, Kit Sullivan. He quickly dispells the many myths that abound about engine oil...an excellent read:

http://www.lincolnsonline.com/tech/00105.html

Notice his comment about Wal-Mart's Supertech full synthetic oil, then the caveat about the oil later in the article.
FYI: I was using Wal-Mart's Supertech filters for a while, and they looked and were good. Recently, however, its supplier has been changed and the quality of construction has taken a dump. I won't use them at all; I stick to Motorcraft for all filter applications.

RangerGress

That's a good article but it's only a short overview of a couple issues.

Points worth making about the article: Lots of folks believe that the feds over reacted by reducing the ZDDP content of oil certs. I don't have the background to have any personal opinion on it.

When he was talking about types of lubrication he was simplifying. He didn't mention the kind of lubrication that occurs with cams and rockers. That kind of lubrication is dependent upon a sacrificial layer of material....there's no cushion of oil there. That makes cam lubrication an issue of oil chemistry, not the oil's physical properties like visc. That's why ZDDP matters.

When he wrote that article the latest oil cert was SM, but now it's SL. SM oils allowed 1100 ppm ZDDP, but SL allows only 900 ppm. I'm pulling this off of the top of my head, but the #'s are close. ~1300 is considered optimal. 900 is a complete nogo. I've pulled apart 4 old BMW engines in the last year and they all had worn out cams.

Re. gas mileage improvement with lighter oils. Kit's dreaming. There is certainly a hp advantage to running a lighter oil but it's small. Small enough that very few club racers dabble in it. A single hp just isn't worth risking a motor's bearings for most folks. But if you really want to do it, look into Redline oil. Their oils have really good high temp shear #s so you can get away with a little less visc. Yet their street oils have enough detergent in them for decent oil change intervals. There's other oils with unusually good high temp shear #'s, but the others that I know of are race oriented and therefore don't have much detergent

Some general points not directed at any post in particular.....

When someone says I use <brand X> and it works great for me, burst out laughing and walk away. Oil is chemistry and physics, not childish assertions like to the affect that their motor isn't dead yet.

It can be hard to get good scoop on oils. Some manufacturers like Castroil don't publish much info on their oil. That's to be mistrusted. Other info on manuf websites is old because the oil chemistry can be changed at any time. And if you do find good hard data on an oil, last year's data may not be this year's oil.

Re. Oil filters. There's been a fair amount of independent testing lately. The really good ones are Purolator Pure One, Bosch, Mann, Wix and Mobil1.

RangerGress

Oil filter addendum. I just read that Purolator makes Motorcraft filters and they use the same high quality filter material as their Pure One. So I'd use whichever one is cheaper

TimelessR1

Before I owned my f150, I had a 4runner, which i used a Amsoil bypass/filter kit on. It allowed me to keep the synthetic oil in my truck longer, and i just made sure i changed the filters on a 3-5k mile interval. Also the kit allowed me to relocate and mount the filters in a much easier spot to change them...didnt even have to lift the truck to change filters anymore!

http://www.amsoil.com/storefront/bf.aspx

1Aauto

I've heard good results from using it but haven't used it myself yet.