Amsoil Products ATF, MTF, Gear Oils

Gotcha. My reference to 5k change interval applied to the basic 0w20 amsoil synthetic oil at half the cost of signature series. I'm sure either oil/change interval would perform quite well, just wanted to see what you would do if it was your truck and you planned on reaching the 300k milestone

 

If you off-road, driving the desert, or tow regularly, the 5K interchange is recommended by Toyota master techs, The issue being scoring caused in a cylinder heads by debris that inevitably sneaks its way in. Again, this only applies to hard usage.

used to use redline stuff in my 95 Pathfinder, only complaint was that it didn't taste very good. Ran the truck great though

 

But my sommelier touted the Red Line as having hints of oak, vanilla and cherry, while the Amsoil has more astringent tones and a cutting taste, with high notes of citrus but finishes clean.

If I may interject about your longevity question, I highly recommend using the signature series, particularly if you want to preserve the integrity of your nice pro to the greatest extent possible. I replaced the head gasket on my '04 IS300 5MT and when I cracked open the head, the engine was extremely clean for being at 185k miles. I changed the oil every 9-11k miles and used the EA filters. I wish I still had the engine photos. I used Amsoil SS 5W30 for the life of the vehicle and Shell 93. I am convinced that using premium fuel at least every couple of fill ups and quality oil with plenty of detergents and micrometal additives keeps your engine cleaner and the seals in better shape for the long haul. This is just my subjective imposition into the subject/your question though. I hope you enjoy your truck, I can't wait for my O/R!

 

Premium fuel won't do anything as far as cleaning your engine goes, the additive content is the same across the brand. It really only makes a difference if you're running high compression and need higher octane to prevent premature knock.

 

@Pablo8 i got the firearm cleaner spray but not the lubricant spray, was there a back order?

 

It may be just the LV warehouse. Is there any indication on the paperwork?

 

I didnt see any paperwork

 

That tells me (most likely) the lubricant is close behind. Hopefully it arrives tomorrow.

 

I use amsoil 20/50 for weapons lubricant and have been for yrs

 

All of you who use and like Amsoil engine, gear, and weapons lubes (I agree it is the VERY BEST available), truly need to take notice of their MP and HD MP (metal protector and Heavy Duty Metal Protector).

For corrosion prevention and water dispersants they can't be beat. They are NOT lubricants. But they are so good they will protect bare metal in saltwater!

My two cents from a voice of experience.

 

I concur.

 

I'm up for an oil change in my truck ('05 with 135k) and never really thought/cared about oil brands before, but I want to keep my truck running for a long time.
I don't mind paying more for good stuff but am I doing more harm than good by switching to synthetic oil now? Bonus if it lengthens my oil change interval but again, mainly want to put good oil in my engine.

 

You will not harm anything by switching to synthetic if it is already in good shape. There is rumors that if you have a lot of sludge from lack of properly timed oil changes (5k mi or 1 yr which ever comes first according to toyota specs) the synthetic may clean it out too much. If you have changed your oil on time I wouldn’t worry about it. I switched my work truck (tundra w/ the same 4.0 v6 as 2nd gen tacos) over to synthetic at ~330k and it has been fine.

 

Yep, this could be the situation. Using petroleum oil will cause sludge, varnish, coking, etc. the very first time it is brought up to temperature. Doesn't really matter the oil change interval - except that longer is worse with petroleum. (None of that applies to synthetics.)
Let's take it further though.
There is a documented procedure to follow when there are very many miles already on it with petroleum oil being used:
- Buy a cheap (inexpensive) filter and replace the existing filter with it --- but do not top off the oil level.
- Add a can of engine flush (the oil removed with the old filter allows room for this).
- Run the engine for 15 minutes (or what the directions on the flush dictate). Idle only, do NOT drive it.
- The flush will clean out the sludge and will take it to the cheapie filter.
- Drain the oil/flush mix and remove the (now prolly plugged!) filter. *
- Add in Amsoil and install an Amsoil filter and operate with confidence!

Know that sludge can actually plug flaws / holes in gaskets & seals. Cleaning the sludge out might expose those flaws (you see a drip / oil leak / etc.) Synthetic does not harm seals and will not cause a leak.
In fact, Amsoil composition has a "seal sweller" built-in and it will truly enhance oil seal & gasket performance. True statement - look it up.
But still be mindful of a seal flaw showing up after the removal of any sludge. Repair the seal / gasket straight away if one is bad.

* I witnessed a Jeep with only 100 miles after an oil change follow this procedure and the oil "glooped" out slower than molases when he drained it.
100 mile old oil and it was like gooey mud from so much sludge built up in the engine. Don't know how many miles total on the engine, but it had been run on petroleum oil only until the owner learned of Amsoil (which was the only API certified synthetic back then). He was so very happy to get Amsoil!

 

This is great advice! Like I said I am pretty much up on my oil change interval (got the blinking light a couple days ago) and have been convincing myself to jump on the Amsoil bandwagon. I've put a fair amount of miles on my truck (bought it with 105k 2.5 years ago) so I'd imagine it did some sitting over the past 15 years, and I'm not so sure what the prior owner(s) did.

 

Any reason that I shouldn't use the OEM oil filter with the Amsoil synthetic oil (the OE stuff)? I'm planning to use the engine flush as part of my change process, but have a few OEM filters on hand. If the amsoil filters are that much better, I could switch, but wouldn't mind using what I have.

 

The oem filter isn’t gonna hurt anything. I wouldn’t extend the drain intervals much with the oem filter, the amsoil filters will filter more than the toyota filters. If you already have them I would use them up then switch to the amsoil filter. I prefer installing the EaO34 filter since it is larger capacity than the OEM replacement amsoil filter.

 

Put in my first order... Engine oil, some degreasers and of course gun oil!

 

Thanks!!

 

Hey @Pablo8, I see that you generally suggest 75w-110 gear oil for the rear difs. I just ordered some 110, but after reading some more I'm not sure if I should have gone with the 140. I'm in SoCal and we see temps in the summer above 110. I've got a decently heavy truck with full armour and a 300 lb camper. What are your thoughts?