Volvo synthetic lubricants = Amsoil

[lawn psycho]

I did my drive fluid and oil changes yesterday.

Interstingly, the bottles are shaped just like the Amsoil bottles.

Not earth shattering news but something to consider if you come across Amsoil at a better price than the Volvo branded oil.

[OCDACTIVE]

Originally Posted by lawn psycho

I did my drive fluid and oil changes yesterday.

Interstingly, the bottles are shaped just like the Amsoil bottles.

Not earth shattering news but something to consider if you come across Amsoil at a better price than the Volvo branded oil.

I use amsoil for everything. may be a bit more expensive but worth every penny.

[lawn psycho]

Originally Posted by OCDACTIVE

I use amsoil for everything. may be a bit more expensive but worth every penny.

I agree and do the same with all my lawn equipment. Clean oil is probably the single most important part of engine maintenance that one can do. Unfortunately I have to order it online as there is no one close to me that sells it that I am aware of.

[robmac]

To save a couple of bucks buy directly from the Amsoil store dot com. Much better pricing going direct and alot of monthly specials you can take advantage of as well.

[lawn psycho]

Where/how do you find out about the monthly specials?

[robmac]

I get emails on specials when they are on products I normally purchase,you can also when looking for fluids when you get to pricing it'll give saving options. I just bought a 55 gallon drum of oil and it was alot less expensive than if I bought it from Windward Petro. I use the same oil in all my vehicles and the boat so I don't mind buying in bulk.

[Belmont Resident]

We buy a 30 gallon drum of injector oil every 2 years for the sleds.
I've been running it in all our car's, trucks, my baja, lawn mower, atv's and even use the 2 cycle premix that goes in every 2 stroke reguardless of mixture. Mix up one gallon of gas for chain saws, weed wackers, blower which normally have different mixtures.
Switched over to Amsoil on my forst oil change on the KLR 650 and my milage went from 44 mpg to an even 50 and has stayed there since.

[ApS]

Originally Posted by lawn psycho

"...I did my drive fluid and oil changes yesterday...Interestingly, the bottles are shaped just like the Amsoil bottles..."

1) They are unique bottles. (I buy from a neighbor).

2) But Red Line synthetic lubricants are a favorite among auto-racers. (And my own vehicles' gearboxes).

3) Synthetic oils don't depend on fossil oils in their manufacture.

4) The very-popular Mobil 1 is made of "products of both foreign and domestic production".

Red Line and Amsoil are "Made in the USA".

[VitaBene]

Originally Posted by Acres per Second

1) They are unique bottles. (I buy from a neighbor).

2) But Red Line synthetic lubricants are a favorite among auto-racers. (And my own vehicles' gearboxes).

3) Synthetic oils don't depend on fossil oils in their manufacture.

4) The very-popular Mobil 1 is made of "products of both foreign and domestic production".

Red Line and Amsoil are "Made in the USA".

Good info APS, thank you

[NHBUOY]

...I use Red Line exclusively as well...The only problem with the gear oil is that the quart containers DON'T have the same thread/cap size as my lower unit hand pump...I have to pour it into a "standard" quart oil container...Small work for superior protection & performance tho...My 3.6 V8 300 h.p. Rrrevinrude gained 11 h.p. @ prop shaft after JUST changing to Red Line...For a total of 326 Prop shaft horsepower...Summit Racing carries it...FYI..

[fatlazyless]

Have been told that 4-stroke outboards from all makes; Yam-Hon-Suz-Merc are designed for traditional oil, and not synthetic. Talking about the 5-qts or so for the outboard's crankcase. I use the 5qt/$15 Wal-Mart price in the big yellow bottles from Valvoline, (20w-40 or something?) because I like the name Valvoline and the color yellow, and then recycle the old oil and old oil filter at the Meredith transfer station! Both Shep Brown's and Y-Landing sell the factory oil filters which are only about two dollars more than a similar Fram oil filter at Wal-Mart so I spend the big money on a factory filter. Plus, Wal-Mart's Fram filters are designed for cars, and not outboards, if that even makes any difference?


Plus, I go through Mystery Oil like it was cheap red wine, and have been told that using Mystery Oil in the gasoline mix is a NO-GO for engines using synthetic oil, because the two do not mix together. Sort of like water and oil; synthetic oil and Mystery Oil.

Anyone put any Mystery Oil in with the crankcase oil, and not just into the gasoline? Mystery Oil is some type of a detergent and makes the engine insides clean of the evil sludge!

[Belmont Resident]

According to many owners manuals none of the motor manufacturers recommend using anything but their oil. Some even go as far as to say it voids the warranty. Not True.
Synthetic is and always has been proven to be far superior oil than any conventional oil. And should anything happen they first have to prove the oil was the cause, and also prove you were not using the recommended oil. Of course if the recommended oil is one color and yours is different then that’s a no brainer.
Now that being said the most important part of your oil lubrication system is the filter.
That is actually more important than the oil because it takes out all the debris that accumulates inside your engine. The best oil in the world is not going to do much is you run a cheap oil filter. Fram just happens to be one of the cheapest filters you can put onto your engine, both in cost and performance. Break down and spend the extra $ and go for Wix or Hastings. You will spend more but you’ll get more.
Someone once said to me. Take a used Fram filter and compare it to a high end filter after both have been removed. The cheaper filter will always be significantly lighter because it has not captured as many particles from you engine.
Amsoil recommend and sells the high end filters.

[lawn psycho]

Over here in Southern Maine, many of the NAPA dealers carry AMSOIL. It's cheaper than the dealer and much cheaper than ordering online.

For the filters, I just use the Volvo Branded filters. I was told by the NAPA dealer that FRAM actually makes the AMSOIL filter. I have no idea if that was an accurate statement and never researched it.

The nice thing about buying SAE30 synthetic is that is what 99% of lawn equipment engines so there's always a use for it. I can buy 8 quarts of SAE30 for $60 at the local NAPA guy.

[VitaBene]

Meredith Napa carries Amsoil products.

[Belmont Resident]

All of the filters sold by Amsoil are high quality and rated for at least 25,000 miles.
Fram filters are one of the cheapest in both quality and price that you can buy.
I had to check the Amsoil web site just to be sure but I believe you will find they are Wix or Hastings filters as well as other high end manufacturers of quality oil filters.
You probably will never see these at Wallyword or VIP.
The best oil in the world is only as good as its filtration. Oil is worth squat if you are not getting the particles out that wear down the moving parts inside your engine.

[lawn psycho]

I don't doubt the filters are probably better than typical OEM stuff. However, the local NAPA dealers typically don't stock the filters which means ordering online. That's why I stick with the easily available stock filters.

When I do the math, my equivalent boat run hours compared to a car is something around 1200-1500 "car" miles per season. This is why some marinas actually change the oil every-other year. It's hard to argue that logic when you use AMSOIL and a top rated filter. I still change the oil every year.

The Mobil 1 oil filters are highly rated as well.

[Belmont Resident]

I do my oil changes every other year but I do change my filter every year and top it off.
Mercury decreased the filter housing size on my 496 so I went to the filter from the 500hp which is huge, twice the size of the current OEM.
The larger the filtration surface the better the filtration and smoother less restricted oil flow this equates to better lubrication.
Also you cannot compare a boat to a car unless you run the boat at low rpm’s all the time.
My boat generally operates at between 3500 and 5000rpms and usually at or above 4000.
Most cars operate efficiently around 2000-3000rpms while my diesel truck is down under 2000 most of the time. Boats run at higher rpm’s so the wear and tear is much greater than that of automobiles.

[lawn psycho]

Originally Posted by Belmont Resident

I do my oil changes every other year but I do change my filter every year and top it off.
Mercury decreased the filter housing size on my 496 so I went to the filter from the 500hp which is huge, twice the size of the current OEM.
The larger the filtration surface the better the filtration and smoother less restricted oil flow this equates to better lubrication.
Also you cannot compare a boat to a car unless you run the boat at low rpm’s all the time.
My boat generally operates at between 3500 and 5000rpms and usually at or above 4000.
Most cars operate efficiently around 2000-3000rpms while my diesel truck is down under 2000 most of the time. Boats run at higher rpm’s so the wear and tear is much greater than that of automobiles.

My boat planes out at ~2800-2900 rpm and is where I spend most of my time driving it. I can't recall but am pretty sure I never even went WOT this year.

Changing the filter every year and the oil every other is probably a better plan of attack. I know that my oil after one season of use looks just about the same as it does coming out of the bottle. Not even close to being black.

[4Fun]

I don't think it's really the RPMs that make a boat engine wear different than a car it's the constant load. It only takes a fraction of your engines power to push your car down the highway but it takes a ton of power to just keep your boat on plane.

Compare how far your boat coasts to your car. That gives you an idea how much harder the boat engine is ALWAYS working.

I agree the oil looks almost new when I change it in the fall too. It's a pretty clean environment your boat runs in....

Originally Posted by lawn psycho

My boat planes out at ~2800-2900 rpm and is where I spend most of my time driving it. I can't recall but am pretty sure I never even went WOT this year.

Changing the filter every year and the oil every other is probably a better plan of attack. I know that my oil after one season of use looks just about the same as it does coming out of the bottle. Not even close to being black.