Re: Amsoil synthetic oil

[Brendan <bman@swva.net>]

At 05:16 PM 11/4/97 -0500, Phil & Judy Rose wrote:
>I recall some previous postings have made positive statements about using
>Amsoil synthetic oil. That happens to be the brand recommended by my local
>Audi garage. They say that the initial use requires that a special
>"flushing" operation be done. As I understand it, a proprietary cleaning
>additive is dumped into the old oil and run for a specified interval. This
>is followed by a change to the Amsoil synthetic and special high-efficiency
>filter.

I'm curious about these flushing procedures as well.  I asked our local
foreign/specialty car shop a few questions about switching to synthetic
oil.  I'm considering using Redline in my car.  Among the comments he made
were these:

1)  Do not switch to synthetic oil until after the break-in period.  He
recommends not switching to synthetic until roughly 50,000 miles are on the
motor.

2)  Do not use engine flushes when switching if the car has been well
maintained and the oil has been changed regularly.

3)  (good) Synthetic oils suffer less from vaporization, which can help
reduce oil consumption between changes.  He was clear in pointing out that
burning and leaking oil were not the only types of oil consumption.
Although another mechanic (whom I distrust) responded to this by saying
vaporization was the same as burning oil, I disagree.

I also asked him about change intervals (specifically with Redline oils).
He recommends a change roughly every 7-8,000 miles, or when required by
seasonal change.  He changes the (Redline) oil in his car twice a year to
accomodate seasonal temp ranges.

I'm interested in comments as well.  And I should point out, I'm not
specifically endorsing or recommending Redline over other brands, it just
happens to be what this particular mechanic carries and prefers, so it's
the brand we discussed.  References to that specific brand are intended
only to clarify that we were discussing a particular brand, since I think
everyone will agree that there are differences between brands of synthetic
oils.

Brendan