Right to repair is about making it easier for independent mechanics and owners to fix cars without being locked out by the manufacturer. It’s a policy topic the host is advocating for.
The automotive aftermarket is where you buy replacement parts or upgrades that aren’t made by the car maker. The host is talking about supporting that industry.
Amsoil is a company that makes engine oil and other vehicle lubricants. This episode uses them as the expert source for choosing the right oil for your truck.
Oil quality refers to how well an oil meets performance standards for lubrication, wear protection, and engine cleanliness. Higher-quality oils typically include better additive packages and meet relevant industry specifications.
Electricity refers to trucks powered by electric motors. Since they don’t use the same kind of engine oil as gas or diesel trucks, the oil discussion may be different.
Here, “overhead” means the oil has extra protection margin. It’s like having some extra buffer so the engine is less likely to suffer when conditions are rough.
“Winter weight” is the part of the oil grade that tells you how it performs when it’s cold outside. It’s about how easily the oil flows during cold starts.
The “W” part tells you how the oil works in cold weather. The number before it is about how easily the oil can flow when the engine is just starting up.
Term
Mopar lifters
Mopar lifters are the valve-lifter parts used in some Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep engines. The hosts are saying these can make a tapping noise and then fail more seriously.
“Lifter collapse” is when the engine’s valve lifters don’t stay properly pressurized. If the oil isn’t the right thickness for the conditions, the lifters can work less effectively and cause problems.
“40 weight” means a thicker oil grade. The idea is that a thicker oil can better protect parts when the engine is hot or under heavy use.
Term
020
“020” is shorthand for a very thin oil grade. The host is basically saying some engines used a thinner oil, and that choice can matter for how well the engine parts get lubricated.
0W-20 is a type of engine oil. It’s designed to flow easily when the engine is cold, and it stays thin enough when hot to help the engine run efficiently.
Additives are chemicals mixed into engine oil to make it protect the engine better. The hosts are saying that if you buy a good oil, it usually already has the additives you’d be trying to add later.
Phosphorus is a chemical element that can be part of some engine-oil additives. The discussion here is that too much of it can end up creating deposits in the exhaust rather than solving the problem people think it will.
“Lifter tick” is the tapping noise some engines make from the valve-lifter area. The hosts are saying certain additives might quiet it for a short time, but the noise can come back.
R&D means the company tests and engineers the oil so it works with the way modern engines are built. The point here is that newer engines may need oil that’s formulated specifically for their tighter tolerances.
Engine oil is mostly a base liquid, and then companies mix in extra chemicals to make it do specific jobs. The base oil is the foundation that affects how the oil behaves.
The crank position sensor tells the computer where the crankshaft is. If it detects something off, it can trigger a diagnostic code and affect how the engine runs.
Term
0W
The “0W” part tells you how the oil behaves in cold weather. Lower numbers mean the oil stays easier to pump when it’s very cold.
J 300 is a set of rules tests use to classify engine oil grades. If two oils share the same viscosity grade, they should meet the same basic requirements.
This is a way to describe how hard it is for the starter to spin the engine when it’s very cold. Oils that resist flow less at low temps tend to crank more easily.
Kinematic viscosity is a lab measurement of how thick the oil is at a set temperature. In the oil grade, the higher the second number (like 40 vs 20), the thicker the oil tends to be when hot.
Film thickness is the protective layer of oil between metal parts. Thicker oil can help keep that layer in place, but it doesn’t always fix the real cause of a problem.
Engine oils have grades like 0W-40. “0W” means it stays fluid enough for cold starts, and “40” means it’s still thick enough to protect the engine when things get hot.
These are additives mixed into oil so it doesn’t get too thin when hot or too thick when cold. That helps the oil keep doing its job across temperature swings.
Viscosity modifiers are additives that help oil stay the right thickness. They use polymers that change shape with temperature so the oil behaves more consistently.
The Chevrolet Silverado is a large pickup truck. People use it for things like towing trailers and hauling loads. The podcast mentions a 2021 Silverado 1500 because it’s being used for towing.
Term
20-weight
“20-weight” is a shorthand for a thinner oil grade. Thinner oil can help fuel economy, but thicker oil can sometimes be better for heavy towing or an older engine.
Oil grade tells you how thick the oil is, especially when it’s cold versus hot. Changing grades can change how the engine feels and how much fuel it uses.
Engine operating temperature is how hot the engine typically runs. Newer trucks often run hotter than older ones, and that affects what kind of oil you should use.
The breakdown point is when oil gets too hot and starts to stop protecting the engine as well. Synthetic oil is designed to last longer before that happens.
Synthetic oil is a type of engine oil designed to handle heat better. If your truck runs hotter than older ones, synthetic is often the safer choice because it holds up under load.
Conventional oil is the standard type of engine oil. The claim here is that it doesn’t handle extreme heat as well as synthetic, especially when towing.
The Arrhenius rule is a chemistry idea that says heat makes reactions happen faster. For engine oil, more heat means the oil breaks down faster, so oxidation speeds up a lot as temperature goes up.
A thermostat helps control how hot the engine runs by deciding when coolant should circulate to cool the engine. If the thermostat runs hotter or cooler, the oil temperature changes too.
The GMC Sierra EV is a pickup truck that runs on electricity instead of gasoline. Even though it’s electric, it still has systems that control temperature so it can work properly. The podcast mentions Sierra-related temperature/engine talk, which connects to how vehicles stay within safe operating ranges.
Shear stability means the oil can “hold its thickness” even when it’s being squeezed and stressed inside the engine. If it can’t, it can get thinner and protect less effectively.
Term
ad pack
An ad pack is the mix of chemicals added to oil to help it protect the engine. Different additive mixes can make oil last longer, especially when it gets very hot.
Term
light ends
Light ends are the more easily evaporated parts of the oil. When they boil off at high heat, the oil’s properties can change and it may not protect as well.
A hydraulic lifter is an engine part that uses pressurized oil to keep the valve timing/clearance correct automatically. If the oil can’t flow cleanly, it can make the lifter act up and cause ticking.
An oil passage is a built-in “oil hallway” inside the engine. If something blocks it, the engine parts don’t get proper lubrication and can wear out faster.
Oxidizing oil means it chemically breaks down from heat and dirty gases. When that happens, the oil can turn into deposits and protect the engine less effectively.
Blow-by is combustion gases leaking past the piston rings into the crankcase. It can contaminate and oxidize the oil, reducing its ability to protect engine components.
Brand
Pennistar
Pennistar is an oil brand mentioned by the host. They said it seemed to drain away after sitting, leading to a rattly startup.
Stiction is when parts that should move freely don’t move right away after the engine has been parked. Better oil can leave a protective film so the engine starts quieter.
The valve train is the mechanism that controls when the engine’s valves open and close. It needs oil so it doesn’t run dry after the truck has been parked.
Fleece is a diesel-performance brand the hosts mention as a partner for engine oil. They wanted an oil product made to match their diesel applications.
Turbo cleanliness means keeping the turbo from getting dirty with deposits. Cleaner turbo parts can help it keep working the way it should.
Term
extended services
Extended services means the truck is expected to go longer between maintenance intervals. The episode is linking that to how diesel oil products are designed.
Concept
light duty vs heavy duty trucks
Light-duty and heavy-duty trucks are different categories of trucks. The hosts are saying diesel changed a lot recently, partly because rules and technology differ by truck class.
Warranty issues are expensive repairs the company has to pay for when something breaks under the warranty. The hosts are saying diesel problems led to lots of those costs.
EV and hybrid are ways of powering cars that rely more on electricity than diesel. The point here is that manufacturers shifted strategies to meet rules and reduce diesel-related problems.
CAFE standards are government rules that push car companies to improve how efficiently their whole lineup uses fuel. The hosts are saying diesel was part of that equation.
Car
power stroke
Power Stroke is Ford’s diesel engine family. The hosts are saying it’s one of the top performers for power in today’s heavy-duty diesel trucks.
Term
PC-12
PC-12 is a future set of rules/specs for diesel oil. When the rules change, oil makers have to reformulate the oil to meet the new requirements.
Detergent dispersants are additives that help keep soot and other contaminants suspended and prevent deposits from forming on engine surfaces. In diesel oils, they’re especially important because combustion can produce more particulate contamination.
This means a synthetic oil made to meet the same kind of requirements as the oil your car maker calls for. It’s designed to work as a replacement without you needing to change your approach.
“Warranty sensitive” means you’re trying to avoid anything that could cause problems with your car’s warranty. With oil, that usually means using the type/spec the manual calls for.
“Fully licensed” means the oil has been approved to meet the required standards. It’s a way of saying it’s not just a random oil—it’s been validated for the intended specs.
“Spec missing” means the oil doesn’t fully meet the requirements your car needs. The host is saying their oils don’t leave out any required checklist items.
An oil life monitor is the dashboard system that estimates when your oil needs to be changed. It looks at how you drive and how hard the engine is working, not just the odometer.
Full synthetic refers to engine oil formulated from synthetic base stocks rather than conventional petroleum oil. Synthetic oils generally handle heat and oxidation better, which can support longer drain intervals when the oil meets the right vehicle specs.
API is an industry standard for engine oil performance. The point they’re making is that real certification usually involves testing and licensing, not just a label claim.
Term
SAE rating
SAE is a set of automotive standards that can show what an oil is designed to do and how it’s classified. They’re saying the important part is whether the oil truly meets the standard, not just what it says on the label.
“SIG series” is the name of a premium oil line being discussed. The host says it’s designed to last longer and be built specifically for what engines need.
“OEXL” is another oil tier mentioned in the lineup. The host groups it with the top product line, implying it’s meant for serious, high-performance use.
An oil analysis program tests your used oil to see how well it’s been protecting the engine. It can show whether the oil is still in good shape or if something is going wrong.
High mileage oil is made for older, higher-mileage engines. It’s designed to help reduce sludge and can help seals that have started to leak over time.
The BYD Seal is an electric car. In this podcast clip, it’s mentioned while the host talks about a product that’s supposed to clean and help protect engines. The focus there is on what the product does, not on how the car drives.
Fuel dilution means some gasoline gets into the engine oil instead of burning in the engine. That can make the oil less effective at lubricating the engine, especially with lots of short trips.
A plug-in hybrid can drive using electricity for a while, especially on short trips. If you rarely use the engine, it may not warm up fully, which can cause oil to get contaminated.
Term
OE
OE means the oil that matches what the vehicle was originally designed to use. The point is that if you start with the right spec, you can keep using it as mileage builds.
This is a heavy-duty Chevrolet pickup (the 2010 Silverado 2500 HD). The hosts are talking about a specific interior detail—an offset steering wheel—on that truck.
An offset steering wheel means the wheel isn’t centered when you’re driving straight. That can happen if the car’s alignment or steering setup isn’t quite right.
A shift fork is a part inside the transmission that helps move the gears into the right position. If it breaks, the truck may have trouble shifting or may not be able to drive normally.
Bilstein makes suspension parts, especially shocks/struts. The speaker says they installed new Bilstein shocks on their older truck and it drives better.
Tongue weight is how much weight the trailer pushes down on the hitch. Getting it right helps the trailer tow safely and keeps the truck from feeling overloaded or unstable.
LIVE
Welcome back to the Truck Show podcast, once again coming to you from the pod shed in Huntington Beach, California, and it's been a busy week.
If you're hearing this right now, most likely I'm in Washington D.C. for the SEMA Fly and Rally, and I'll be up there with a bunch of other enthusiasts speaking to lawmakers once again to promote the automotive aftermarket and looking forward to another great experience with our friends at SEMA.
I'm going to be doing land use and ADOS and right to repair, all that stuff. So we're going to be advocating for the aftermarket, which we, of course, love to do. And then after that, I'll be home for a couple days.
I don't even know if I'll be home. I think I'm going to a softball tournament because I got sucked into being one of the 8U All-Star coaches for my daughter's softball team.
So we're going right down to San Diego for a tournament. And then after that, I'm headed out to Overland Expo and Flagstaff, and I'll be busy promoting ORBA and do some OVR stuff out there.
And hopefully I'll get some podcast interviews. Wow, it's busy. So with so much going on, I figured we'd get right into this week's show because I'm actually about to go get on an airplane.
So hopefully you'll really appreciate it. If you've been following our Have You Heard episodes or paying attention to the automotive industry, you may have concerns about the abundance of engine failures and warranty issues across the industry.
There's the Panistar cams, there's the GM V8s, there's the Toyota V6s, all sorts of stuff. And if you go online, people are talking about, no, no, no, you need thicker oil and higher viscosity or higher quality oil.
Well, we say let's ask the experts. So on this episode, we're going to be welcoming back our friends from Amsoil. We're going to talk about oil viscosity, oil quality, and a few of their newer products to get you the info you need to choose the right oil for your truck.
And I'm really proud of this interview. It was really good. There's so much great information. I think you guys are going to love it. And before we get started, of course, we have to thank the people that make the Truck Show podcast possible.
The Truck Show podcast is proudly brought to you in partnership with Amsoil, and you know Amsoil, they're on the show. They make the best synthetics. Did you know Amsoil is more than synthetic oil? They make lubricants, greases, additives, filters, car care products, and merch.
We use Amsoil products to protect our rigs, and you can do the same by heading to truckshowpodcast.com and using our special link under the featured products section.
Do you need a knife? Then point your browser to kershaw.kaiusa.com. Explore their line of exceptional pocket knives. They have a huge selection of quality knives from EDCs and ones made in America. And yes, even automatics.
Score one for yourself today. If you want to treat yourself to the latest in adventure gear and upgrades for your vehicle, go to ovrmag.com and use the code at Truck Show podcast for discount on print or access to our digital library for one year for free.
Please help me to keep the Truck Show podcast free by supporting our sponsors or leaving reviews on Apple or Spotify. And don't forget to check the Truck Show podcast website for the latest deals.
We'll talk about trucks that run on diesel, electricity, and our gasoline.
The Truck Show. The Truck Show. The Truck Show.
It's the Truck Show with your host, Holman.
And happy to be your host, but I've got a plane to catch. Literally, since I'm doing this recording, I'm headed to the airport and I will be in DC for a week.
So I'll try and get you guys an episode while I'm out on the road, but we'll get this one out for you.
And without further ado, we welcome back to the show our friends from Amsoil, Eric, and Garrett.
And guys, I'm telling you, I think you're going to find this interview exceptionally informative and one you definitely don't want to miss.
Alright, I'm so excited to have our friends from Amsoil back on the podcast.
And as you guys know, Amsoil has been a massive partner to the Truck Show podcast for a number of years now and they just renewed for another year.
So we've got a lot of great Amsoil content coming your way.
So with me today is Eric Johnson and Garrett Gabot.
And you guys are both product development engineers.
One of you is a staff product development engineer.
The other is just a normal everyday product development engineer.
So I'll let you guys fight over the nuance and you guys can arm wrestle for who has seniority on this one.
But the point is, it's not often that you get two product development engineers from an oil company on a podcast where we can ask any question we want.
And Amsoil has been so amazing to give us the access to you two today.
So thanks for joining us.
I'm absolutely happy to be on the call.
And if there's an answer that I give you don't like, I'll just blame it on Eric.
Yeah, yeah, thanks for having us on.
Well, we'll just we'll just add it out all the answers I don't like and just put only what we like out there.
The magic of podcasting.
Alright, before we get started, I've got to play our jingle.
And I think on this episode we're going to do a deep dive.
Prepare to dive.
Hi Captain! Captain, we're too deep!
There's no such thing as too deep.
Okay, that was too deep.
Alright, so I don't know if we're going that deep today.
The nice thing about Amsoil is it doesn't make any of your machinery do those kinds of noises, which is why we love it so much.
So one of the things that is going on in the industry right now and it's been it's huge.
And one of the reasons I wanted to have you guys on is because this is a consistent message in my inbox and in the news.
We know that the OEs have had quite a bit of engine wear and engine failure in the last, you know, maybe five to ten years of really reliable engine platforms.
And it seems like viscosity may be to blame, may not be to blame, but it seems like they've gone for efficiency and they've gone to these lower viscosity oils.
And in that the durability and longevity has changed.
So now when you go on the internet, and these are the emails I get from people, they say, oh no, this generation of let's say,
the penistar that's chewing up cams or something like that.
Go back to the viscosity of the second generation or even, you know, GM with the 6.2 liter L87 engines, that's been a big one.
They've had all sorts of failures.
First it was, oh, well, there's some, you know, machining flaw or something going on in the manufacturing.
And then it's like, well, we were at 020 and now we're at 0W40.
So even there is some acknowledgement of, hey, higher viscosity might matter and add some durability.
Now the thing is with AMSOIL, you guys make a really high quality product.
I've been there, I've been to the lab.
I've seen all of the additives and what you put into it and it allows you some more flexibility.
I say that the biggest advantage is AMSOIL gives you overhead for, I guess, abusing your engine or gives you some overhead for heavy duty applications
or gives you some overhead in terms of protection and lubricity and those types of things.
And some people say we'll just put a higher quality oil in it and that will help.
Others say put a higher viscosity to make it a little bit thicker.
And then some people don't understand the difference between a winter weight, which is the W number at the beginning of the viscosity and the second number.
So I thought, can we have you guys on and let's have a viscosity discussion and talk about what you know about these engine failures,
what you hear from your customers and what you're doing on the AMSOIL side to create a product to mitigate that.
Absolutely. And you hit on a lot of good ones out there where people have the opinions of, excuse me, the 6-2 GM, I'm a GM fanboy.
I'll be the first to admit it.
So hearing the engines falling out of the sky, you know, dagger to the heart.
And I know it sucks to hear, you know, even the Mopar lifters, like I don't mind a Mopar at all.
So, you know, having the typical lifter tick and then having the collapse happen there.
And even the Toyota's, those 3-4's, the Turbo 6 that we're in, I believe it's the trucks, Lexus have that as well.
That one necessarily wasn't so much the, you know, a bad design.
I mean, it was just from what I knew about that was just some metal shavings.
Some type of swerve type in the engine.
And, you know, I don't know if they're going to pick up so much debris.
So when that gets sent around in there, circulates in beds on stuff and, you know, asperities in the engine that just, you need smooth surfaces.
And when you have those asperities, you're going to cause wear and those engines are going to go down.
So, but we can dive in just quickly to, you know, viscosity.
Yeah, let's level set for kind of the rest of the discussion on what is viscosity, what are the numbers mean.
And one of the engines you brought up was the Hemi Lifter Collapse issues.
And I've got a 392 in my Jeep and I use Synthetic AMS oil signature series and it's fantastic.
And I still do my oil changes every 5 to 6,000 miles religiously, even with a high quality oil.
Just because I always want to have fresh oil.
I know I'm on a heavy duty, severe cycle off-roading, heating it up, slow trail ride and then I'm on the freeway doing 80 and then I'm in stop and go traffic in Los Angeles on the freeway.
So I just want to point that out from a customer standpoint.
I'm that guy that probably uses the, you know, for my oil change interview, oil quality level above what I really need to.
But I love having that insurance and that feeling that I know that I'm going to mitigate as much as possible with these engines because I'm putting the highest quality stuff in there.
Yeah, no, and you hit on a good point of insurance.
Cheap insurance isn't very good, right?
But to bring it back to let's just say the viscosity.
So in simple terms, layman's terms of fluid resistance to flow, right?
How thick or how thin a fluid is is how you could look at it.
So in a lot of what that resistance comes from is internal friction, even in the oil.
And then when you add it to an engine now, you've got parts that move past each other and you get those moving surfaces, you get energy loss from fluid and drag and whatnot.
So what we can maybe maybe translate that now into what we're seeing with some of those issues speak to, you know, what GM's using with their current engines pre recall, what their recall solution was, if you want to call it a solution to certain engines needing to bump up to that 40 weight.
And we can move that into, you know, how the, you know, the Mopar lifter issue might be affected by your viscosity and your weights there.
But from what I know, the GM issue is they use 020.
I believe 020 crossed the board for a lot of their engines and that is that is somewhat of a thin fluid.
But it's not, you know, egregiously thin.
I mean, there's some there's some vehicles out there that are taken as your W8 now some of those partial, partial hybrids.
And a lot of what that comes from as you alluded to earlier Sean is fuel economy.
So you've got a thinner fluid that is less resistance on the engines able to spend more freely, right.
So what you have is the manufacturer built this engine in such a way that the bearing tolerances are pretty tight and, you know, bearing tolerance and what your engine oil weight is it's kind of it's more of an art form.
There is some science behind it but you know when you ask your, you know, if you look at, let's see an LS page on Facebook, everyone's like, oh, what will you run and you know everyone is this oil with this additive or no additive you know you get just within an hour there's 50 comments of, you know, everything in the kitchen sink.
So what you have is, you know, manufacturer selected the 020 for a specific reason I'm not trying to back the engineers.
But they for let me just engine in such a way I just want to interject really quick just because I don't want to move past this topic.
You mentioned additives and people online who will buy an oil and then they go and buy some additive package for it but the reality is if you pay more for the oil up front it has the additives in it.
And so you have people buy cheap oil and then an expensive additive where you could have just gotten Amsoil from the beginning and had all of that in your oil and I didn't want to move past that because I feel like people are cheap about the wrong things.
And in the end they spend more than what they would have just to have the right stuff out of the bottle in the first place.
Exactly you make a really good point and again that's another tangent we can just go on but some I'm not going to call out names I'm not going to that's not my standpoint here in the industry is not going to rag on anyone who uses a specific oil or specific additive but some of those additives just don't do anything.
All they are is a thick base oil. And so when you're, you say you've got six courts and your sump, and you put in five quarts of actual oil in one quart of a thick base oil you're just diluting your, your oil pan your, you know, what products you have in your in your oil pan so instead of, you know, having an actual good quality engine
oil that's supposed to do exactly what you need to for your engine you're just you're diluting it with something that is supposed to, you know, be a mechanic in a bottle and that's just it.
It's old, it's old thoughts that need to transition into the new future of hey you know what there's a lot of engine oils out there that are that are good, you don't need to advertise them.
It does nothing for you. And a lot of it, you know, there's a couple of additives out there and not going to say who but you know one has a absolute boatload of phosphorus that they add to it and all that's going to do is just going to burn off.
And it's going to clog your exhaust system and it's going to cause deposits. It does nothing for you in the long run. Will it potentially fix maybe a little bit of a lifter tick that you got going on right now for a little bit till it's cheers out and then in two 3000 miles your lifter tick is right back to where it was at.
You wasted your money and that's just how you that's just how you know you need an oil change up lifter ticks back time to time to change the oil and I've been to the lab by the way and and it was amazing.
I you guys when I visited Wisconsin and went to the lab and you pulled out all of the different vials of all the different additives so we could see the ones that were gels the ones that were powders the ones that were metallic the ones that were thick the ones that were thin.
I mean just vile after vile and you could just see how it's like a mad scientist putting things together and it just reinforced for me that you guys put so much effort into R&D and going back to thinking about the tighter bearing tolerances on a new v8 or something like that versus maybe an old school engine and having the right product for that and and formulating in such a way that anybody can grab that bottle and it will work for them.
I just I always am amazed at the people who buy that cheap oil and add just a cord of some sort of weird additive to it and I'm like just buy this stuff up front buy it.
You know in the beginning and don't you don't have to worry about that and I don't think people understand that there's a that those additives are usually just in a base oil that is sort of like a.
I guess the base oils there to contain the additives to mix in and spread around and I know what you guys do for base oils because I've seen the train cars that back into your facility and go through the vats and when you mix them and you guys are already buying a really high quality base oil there's a lot of companies out there who.
I won't name names but there's companies that that do certain marketing gimmicks to a really cheap base oil and raise the price and there's brands that people like oh I use this particular brand like.
That just has a dye in it that's not even a really good oil and there's a number of those types of brands out there that are playing at a price point near or close to Angel to capture that audience.
But the quality of the oil is nowhere near what you guys are doing I think that's the difference for me is I've seen what you do I know what you stand behind what your warranties are it's a fantastic product but it's also starts with really high quality base oil.
Yeah exactly and you hit on it to the the base oil is obviously the foundation that's that's anywhere from 80 to 90% of the fluid or the oil I should say is the base oil and you know you can think to like let's just for reference the synthetic blend.
Still out there in the market, we have one. A lot of people in a lot of companies I should say will throw out that they have a synthetic blend and the percent synthetic of that products 10% it's 90% of conventional oil so yeah you have a synthetic blend.
But it's just a marketing gimmick of it. And even, even down to how it's built to I mean you don't know, not all mollies the same. Right. I mean there's multiple different molly additives you can put into an oil that will do a little bit slightly different things.
Zinc isn't just zinc. Foss isn't just FOS and my FOS and phosphorus. So, again, to your point to the R&D behind it the testing and everything that goes into it will, we can come back post post summertime and talk about this next this you know our signature series as it as it unveils and we'll go into the testing that went into that, just to kind of show you and the listeners about you know what actually, you know,
we start from something and end with something and that that process is pretty unbelievable. It's really fun to be a part of. I'm excited to drill down on that but I know we're a little bit premature and there's some other things we want to cover but.
Yeah, so there's the wild tangent of the additives, the oils you don't need to add to your oil. If you just use a fully formulated good quality oil. But back to the GM the L87 what I what I'd like to kind of touch base on is there one solution so you have so you're having an issue or you think you're having an issue you bring your vehicle in.
They scanned with the code you don't have the code right it's a certain certain code I believe it's something with the with the crank position sensor notices if there's a little bit of some variance in your in your crank maybe a vibration or however, however they're monitoring it.
If you don't have that issue their solution and GM solution was to bump you to a 40 weight oil so 020 to 040. So we'll hit on the zero W right away because all that really tells you is it's cold weather performance.
So the W is essentially a winter rating what I want to preface to with this with the W and and have it be winter, just because maybe you don't live in an area that has snow or has air quotes winter doesn't necessarily mean you need to disregard what that number is.
Because even in, you know, my lab desert, you know, what can it get down to in the winter season there and get down 30 degrees, you know, it can get cold oil will flow incredibly different between 30 degrees Fahrenheit, and even 75 80 degrees Fahrenheit when it gets hot, you know, mid afternoon.
So even though you have, you know, you wouldn't consider yourself in winter, you know, negative 25 f like we get here in superior Wisconsin quite a bit that that temperature swing isn't isn't linear, it's exponential.
So one thing to think about too is, is with the 020 to 040, they are going to perform the exact same or they should, if you have a good quality oil that's being built properly, they're tested and they need to pass the same j 300 standard put out there in the market for a zero W.
So you got your cold crank so effectively that's how you could consider that is if you're going to start your vehicle starter engages the flywheel spans over so how hard that oil, or the resistance that oil feels when you're spinning the engine over, you get that cold crank number so the lower the
number of the better, right. I know a lot of companies will put their cold crank number out there. So that's kind of a fighting battle so who's got the best cold crank right.
That's a good indicator of, you know, your oils, low temp performance, and it's viscosity index so the 020 to 040 the zero W they're the same exact at that cold temperature they should be.
Now, when it comes to the final number. So the viscosity rating at temperature 212 F, you've got 20 and 40. So those are going to be different.
So 20 weight, it's kinematic viscosity measured in Santa Stokes is anywhere from about seven to nine on the scale and then 40 weight is 12 and a half to 16 three I got my little notebook here my ready referenced any engineer out there you got your field notes.
So I always have that one handy on me. So people might think that is like a two to one type ratio like oh 40 is like as a 20 not quite it's really just depends on how the oils built. So, you know, usually at Amsoil.
You can see if you've got a range of like seven to nine, you know, you don't want to build on one end or the other you try to hit that sweet medium so, you know, between seven and nine to eight between 12 and 16 and 1314 right.
So it's not quite a two to one ratio not quite double that viscosity so if anyone says oh they're just doubling the viscosity well not really.
And all they're trying to do really is just increase increase the film thickness and try to get a little more cushion in that crank that might be oscillating inside the bearings and in all reality.
It's a band aid to what the issue is. I don't think it's a true fix I don't want to go on record saying, you know, they're doing it wrong.
But I could just see where the direction they're headed.
And I don't know if it's going to be a long term solution. I don't think I don't think we've been to that.
Long enough with GM recommending this to fully see if anyone else who, you know, hey I didn't have this issue. I got 20,000 miles on my engine. I'm running zero 40 it's been 100,000 miles I'm still doing good.
We haven't been there yet to see if that uptick in the scoffing providing just a little bit of a thicker oil film.
You know, is making it for them. So that's kind of my, my 30 second shake on it is, is, you know, bumping that up.
Yep, you're getting some ticker oil film you're going to lose you lose some fuel economy, right, thicker oil is going to take a little more energy to move.
But at the end of the day, it will see, you know, time will tell if this is going to be a for sure solution for them.
One of the questions I have is, is you're you talk about building oil. So how do you change in, you know, without going too deep or too proprietary or anything.
But maybe in layman's terms, how do you go from a 020 to a 040? Like what is the property change or what are the additives like what allows one oil to be X, you know, at at 212 and another to be why at 212.
Yep, it's a, it's a good, good question. So a lot of it starts in the base oil, you can get certain types of base oils, how they're treated, they can come in a little bit on the thinner side, a little bit on the thicker side.
And then effectively, just to really make it more layman's terms, it's effectively the viscosity index, improvers of the viscosity modifiers.
And that's just the polymer chains that you add to the fluid to either thicken it or thin it, per its temperature.
So, if you've got, think of like, like your phone cord, you took and just ball it up in your hand, that's what the polymer does when it's, when it's cold and what a viscosity index improver viscosity modifier will do will kind of smoothen that out for you as it heats, as it heats up.
So, you've got the way that oil works when it's cold and hot that polymers kind of helps regulate it throughout that temperature swing. And that's very, it's the very broad way of looking at it from us from that standpoint.
So again, as I alluded to earlier, 80% of the build is the base oil. So you can kind of say, hey, you know, if we're going to build this, you know, such to say, 20 weights to the 40 weights, more than likely, I'm not the chemist per se, but it's got very similar base oil.
When you get north of a 40 weight, that base oil kind of changes. You're going to get a different type of stock from your supplier. And that's how you're going to kind of start building out those, those, those products.
If you've got a,
So I would say that's, that's the easiest way to explain it.
If you've got a use case where you're more severe duty and towing, does it is a thicker viscosity or higher viscosity oil, something that's recommended or should you always stick to the manufacturer's recommendation knowing that some of it could be skewed because of fuel economy requirements and may not be optimal for every user.
Is there some wiggle room in there? Cause I, you know, you go online and people go, Oh, I tow, I stepped up, I went from a, you know, 530 to a 540 or whatever. Well, that's not the manufacturer recommendation.
And then the argument is, well, they're only doing that for fuel economy. I want to have durability. Is there something to be said for that?
You could split it either way, right? The manufacturer is building this engine in such a way and a lot of the constriction is, is the fuel economy. That's what they're getting pushed the most.
So if you, let's say for instance, I mean, my dad's got a 21 Silverado 1500 to 53. He tows, he tows a little bit with it. We have a small utility trailer. You got a camper.
He has an enclosed trailer. He runs 020 all the time. And the reason being is because that's just what the manufacturer recommends for him.
If you wanted to bump to a 530, let's say there's some guys out there that, you know, I just, I don't trust the 020. They just in their mind or not trusting it.
Maybe the engine's a little bit older. Everything's loosening up a little bit. You're not going to have an issue going to that 530 at all in that engine.
But when you bump up to like 040, you're going to need your fuel economy. You're going to have to, and you're going to work a little bit more.
It's going to be a little more heat in the engine, right? You know, you're working a little bit more.
And you see that too with, there's some videos out there of guys who, not going to name names, but they'll put, they had a dyno and they started putting more and more quarts of oil in the engine.
And you can see the power started reducing. The temperature was coming up. The pressure was coming up. So a ton of thick oil isn't going to be your answer if you're towing and hauling.
At the end of the day, it's what the manufacturer recommends is what you should use, bumping up a grade, not going to hurt you exponentially.
Especially if you feel like, you know, at the end of the day, it is your vehicle, right? It is what you want to run.
But for me, I run what the manufacturer recommends. And if I, you know, if you have a rebuilt engine, built yourself, what have you, whatever your bearing tolerances are, that's what the oil you should use for your bearing tolerances.
And that's more of an art than a science on those bearing tolerances, because you can, you can get really pokey if you want on that.
But no, at the end of the day, if there's a, if, you know, someone's saying, oh, I don't have 20 weight in my GM, I want to put, you know, 30 weight in, you could easily do that.
You might not see anything substantial. Maybe a little fuel economy reduction in there. We definitely saw it with the 20 to 40 for the L87.
But no, for the most part, you're, you're fine bumping up one weight if you really wanted to.
You brought up the old school guys. And so this is a little bit of a side tangent, but I think it's worth covering just because we're in the neighborhood.
And that is, you get a lot of guys who come from an older truck, and they may be used to their temp gauge running being 180, 195.
And then they get into a new one and they're seeing 205, 209, 215 regularly.
And that's one of the reasons there's a couple of things happening there.
One is today's engines typically run hotter for emissions.
And that's why it's required by a lot of new truck in SUV manufacturers to have a synthetic oil, because the breakdown point is so much higher on synthetic versus conventional oil.
So there's people go, oh, the manufacturer says synthetic, but I don't want to put that. I'm just throwing money.
No, the reason is because your engine today runs hotter.
And there's, I've seen it many times. Somebody buys a new truck. They're like, it's overheating.
It's like, well, is steam coming out? No. Is your needle in the red? No. What's your temp?
Well, it's, it's, it's 205, it's 210 and you're going and it's just, that's just the state of where we're at with engines today, especially in trucks.
392 runs a lot hotter than Hemi's used to back in the day.
And so I think it's important for people to realize if, if your manufacturer is specking premium and you've got a vehicle that the consistent operating temp is, you know, the 205, 215 range, you need synthetic oil in there.
Because when that oil heats up under load, pulling a trailer, pulling a grade, you're going to be breaking down conventional oils pretty quick.
We're, I don't remember what it is. It's somewhere north of, I think 300 degrees that synthetics can typically still perform out without breaking down.
Were you starting that in the mid 200s on a conventional? Does that sound about right?
Yeah, that also is more of a, more of a tougher question to answer.
And to your point, the, if you want to get real nerdy, I know we love getting nerdy on the show.
Anyone out there have heard of the Arrhenius rule?
That is for every 10 degrees centigrade that you increase the temperature, your oxidation rate doubles on your oil.
So if you're running, you know, a conventional back in the day, I had 187 degree thermostat in my 2000 GMC Sierra, five, three at the time.
That thing consistently 187, that's where it's temp set.
I got a 13 Chevy out front right now, same five, three, but that's two 12 all day.
So, you know, you're about 20 degrees different in temperature, right?
So if you look at the Arrhenius rule, every 10 degrees Celsius, you know, roughly, you know, that's about doubling the oxidation rate of the engine oil in my old GMC to my current Chevy, right?
And to your point, back in the day, things ran a little bit cooler nowadays, there's emissions and there's efficiency too.
It's complete fuel combustion as well in that engine.
If you have a hotter engine, fuel goes in, boom spark, you're about 20 degrees warmer, you're going to get a better combustion and more fuel usage.
That hotter running engine and your oil, unfortunately, is going to pay for it in regards to its oxidation rate.
So it's funny you bring that up because that was something that not a lot of people realize is that just small temperature swing can double the oxidation rate of your oil.
So to your point, you know, if you've got a synthetic that's running up to 300 degrees Fahrenheit, that's really hot, that's warm.
They'll live, they'll survive, but for how long?
It's just so dependent on the build of it.
You know, was it, you know, what type of a shear stable, you know, added as it have, does it have, you know, some cheaper ones?
It has some more expensive ones.
You know, is the ad pack in it? How is the ad pack built?
You know, is there some things that some light ends are going to volatilize off so much to that 300F that it's really tough to put a number to, you know, is 300 okay?
Yeah, but for how long?
It's really tough to get there.
And if you're running 300 degrees Fahrenheit oil.
Yeah, you got other problems.
You got other problems.
Yeah.
Yeah, more, more of my point was just that you have that overhead, right?
So again, we're talking about that insurance and, and it goes back to why quality synthetics matter and why you print, you know, pay more for a bottle versus something else.
It's because that additive package and that base oil matters and it's going to give you the best performance.
And, you know, when we talk about, and when we talk about performance, it's not just, you know, you're zero to 60 times, but it's also performance in terms of durability, longevity of the oil.
Change intervals, all those things come into play when we think about oil performance.
It's not just the performance of the vehicle.
It's how that oil is performing and protecting your vehicle.
Correct. Exactly.
Yep.
So I know there's some other conversations.
I don't know if you're familiar with some of the penistar questions about them eating cams and people, you know, going to the gen two viscosity, rolling back to that on the current gen three engines.
Yeah, so the mole part lifter switch you have, it's a hydraulic lifter, just like what, you know, GM, you know, GM's got lifter tick too.
The mole part is known for it as well.
And what you have is not necessarily it's the oil's fault with this engine, but what those lifters are is they're very sensitive to the lubrication system.
So I'm unfamiliar with mole power, how they have, you know, if there were their pumps located, how long it takes oil to get up to the top of the cylinder head there to help help those lifters open.
What you have is effectively if you get, you know, a dirty oil up in there, you get a chunk of debris in there is going to block your oil passage.
Your lifter is not going to open and close like it's supposed to collapse and move.
And what you have then is the roller on the end of that could seize up and then you've got sliding wear now on your cam rather than rolling.
So the nose of that cam is going to take the brunt of that.
It's going to start wearing that one down, you're going to get a little bit of a tick, you got a little bit more space in there now.
And then effectively that's just going to keep progressing further and further and further.
So there's, you know, there's some, there's some ways to get around that is just, you know, obviously high quality oil, high quality filter, you know, monitor your oil as well on some of those engines.
If you see an uptick in, you know, the types of metals that are common in the upper side of your engine.
So you have the aluminum, the coppers, that kind of that kind of thing.
If you're monitoring, you're seeing a lot more of that.
That could be a sign that that might be something going on up there to look for the look for.
So I don't, I don't want to necessarily point to the mode part and say, ah, design flaw.
But, you know, there's ways to, you know, help mitigate that and that's keeping your oil clean using high quality oil and using and believe it or not a high quality fuel as well.
You know, if you're using bottom barrel fuel, you're going to deposit more and that gets directly in the engine.
The rings, rings on an engine on a piston are not perfect.
They can be dang near perfect, but they're not perfect.
You're going to get blow by in the, down in the crank case and that's going to oxidize your oil and then you're pumping that up back up top.
That's so important.
Today with oil prices and gas prices where they're at, I think that's incredibly important because people are probably cutting some of their budget and getting a lower grade gas just to get by.
You're going to have to pay for it in other ways and that could be, you know, quality of oil or oil change intervals.
One thing I'll say is when I owned a Pennistar and they sat for a week or so, you'd get that rattle on startup because everything drained out of the top end.
And there's some snake oil devices out there that say, oh, we have a check valve and we keep all the oil.
I won't go down that road, but it's not really how that works.
But what I would say is when I switched over to signature series, because you guys have, I guess it would be better.
Stiction or better film.
I noticed that when the vehicle stopped and was parked for a while, I didn't get that clatter on startup from the valve train because there was still lubrication left over up there.
And so that's one of those things that I could tell immediately just from that.
And I just felt so much better about starting it up after it was sitting because I didn't have to worry about the top end being dry because the AMSOIL seemed to have a layer of lubricant that stayed behind as, you know, things drained away.
Yeah, exactly.
And again, only this was in July or August.
Fun things that we could have discussed.
We'll have you back.
We've got more to talk about.
Yes, I will come back and we can we can bring this up because I've got some fun data to share regarding what I would say is is oil staying put, but protection in the area where oil isn't, I don't want to say prevalent or present.
But to your point, you know, you shut your engine off, you wait for a week or so for whatever reason, and you sort of back up that oil is drained down, maybe evaporate it off a little bit.
So we can we can touch more on that.
I'm putting that in my notes right now for next time.
We're going to we're going to tackle that and we'll bring that question back to you.
I did notice that you guys have a new partnership with fleece.
So moving on over to your diesel oils, you guys make some really fantastic diesel products, your four to one additives.
Awesome.
You've got great diesel oil.
You've got a whole lineup and fleece is one of those great names in the diesel performance world.
So maybe we can touch on that here.
Yeah, yeah, for sure.
No, fleece is awesome.
The guys over at fleece are great.
And we're proud to partner with them, right, you know, to two American companies, family companies, right.
And fleece really wanted a engine oil, they wanted to partner with someone to provide them high quality engine oil.
So that's where that's where the freedom series came from that line of oils.
So it's a break in oil.
And I believe there's four, four main viscosities there.
So what that oil is, is it's designed specifically for turbo truck applications.
So not over the road, no extended dream, no, you know, extended services with limited spec availability.
So just for those, those equipped fleece vehicles.
So the turbo cleanliness was big for them.
You know, handling the set to the diesel engine, because you know, I mean, you put fresh oil in a diesel and you start it in four seconds later, it's already black.
Some of those instances with good wear protection.
So they worked with us, we worked with them, provided them a really good product for their line of already really good products.
So it's just, it's just adding to a great product line.
So it was a fun little joint venture that we had with them.
And it kind of gave us the freedom series is kind of a fun word because it took the small shrinking chemical box that we know is the diesel, you know, space and we were able to expand on that a little bit with not having that, you know, to be tied down to, you know, the severe service or excuse me, extended services or the spec availability.
Yeah, I think, you know, the diesel world has changed the most probably in the last five years.
I think part of it is the light duty, like really light duty, not the super duties and whatnot, but the light duty engines going away for emissions also with over regulation and the technology not really being up to snuff.
You had a lot of reliability and durability issues with the after treatment and then going to low sulfur fuels, which changed, you know, a lot of issues with blowing up, you know, pumps and sending shrapnel through the fuel injection system.
I mean, all those things have really turned a lot of consumers off of diesel and the manufacturers obviously were tired of paying for the warranty issues and said, well, we're going to go EV and hybrid.
So we don't need diesel to pump, you know, pump up our cafe standards.
But you look at the modern diesels in the, what we would call on the consumer side, heavy duty trucks.
And it's amazing the power output and the capability of a modern Duramax, the new Cummins 6-7, of course the power stroke, which I think is the class leader in power output.
I mean, I'm not one to say like, that's enough power, but you drive a super duty and you can spin the tires in the first few years if you want to just leave it in the light.
I mean, it's silly.
It's unbelievable.
Yeah.
It's fun.
What do you guys, you know, what's the strategy behind oil for today's light duty, heavy duty, heavy duty trucks.
So that class of the Fords, the Chevy's, the Rams and the fact that they're towing over 30,000 pounds, their payloads are incredible.
You know, I mean, they're just, it really seems like that has to do everything from daily driving as well.
There's a lot of people take their kids to school, you know, a five minute drive and never even gets up to temp and they park in their driveway and it's like, you know, 102 degrees or something like that.
The cast iron block never even got warm.
How do you guys create an oil for today's diesel truck customer that wants to drive it like a minivan, but then also tow their, you know, their toy hauler behind it and head out to, you know, here in California.
You might be glamorous for the weekend or the river with a boat on the back or something.
It's got to do all those things.
It does.
Yeah.
And there's no one size fits all shoe to this, right?
But, and I hate to sound like a broken record, but it just comes down to the base oil that or 80% of that product is the base oil.
So you start off with a good base oil and you can really build from there.
Right.
So, and, and I think we all know that there's some new standards coming out for the diesel market.
It's a PC 12 set chemical box is just, it's just shrinking down.
And a lot of it is, is emissions regulated.
And what you have is reduction in, I believe, I believe knocks, there's reduction.
So particulate matter.
So I made some of the main diesel things that's coming down.
So that that chemical box really shrinks.
So you have to look in other directions on where can I get, you know, my anti my anti where added is where can I get my detergent dispersants.
And you kind of spread that out a little bit.
And how you build it.
So again, there's a PC, PC 12 is on the horizon.
Definitely in our wheelhouse and you know, work is going to be, you know, starting on, you know, so what's going to come new there.
But again, it just comes down to the base oil, you know, figuring out that additive package, doing the bench test doing the work to figure out, you know, what, what works well here.
What works well there.
And again, it's a lot of like our sick series passenger car, you know, the gas line, you know, the long term engine cleanliness, the anti where and then hitting that extended drain interval as is where, you know, where we where we live where we play.
And how we built their diesel oil and that's not going to change.
So these future new specs, you're going to have the best of the best in our model for this diesel market.
Well, you guys kind of have a saying at Amsoil and it's, you know, you hear good, good, better best, but Amsoil is always best, best, best.
You guys are always driving to hit that target of best in every category.
But then when you look at your lineup, you've got some value products that have the Amsoil branding on it.
And then you've got some really specialty ones that are like specific to hybrids, specific to high mileage.
And you go all the way up to sick series, which is like the Mac Daddy of engine oil.
So how does Amsoil make best, best, best at all those different price points are in those various, you know, niches and and still keep that quality and that Amsoil promise because I mean, I want to always have Amsoil in my vehicle.
And it might be, you know, a little bit more appealing to go, Oh, here's one that's, you know, a few dollars cheaper, a bottle, maybe I want to go with that.
What's the trade off?
What are the features and benefits when you kind of do that product walk through the lineup?
Yeah, great question.
And great to bring up too, because I do get, I get that a lot.
I see that a lot on any social media posts.
Yeah.
Is it really Amsoil?
Yeah.
Yeah.
So started off, we have our OE line.
So Amsoil OE and OE, we have that set up for original equipment.
So it's an original equipment replacement synthetic for, you know, people who want to follow like a manufacturer recommend guideline.
Like you don't care about extended drain intervals, you know, you want something that is, you know, people warranty sensitive.
So this is going to be a fully licensed product.
There's going to be no spec missing on the OE or the XL.
It's going to be used.
There's going to be a multitude of uses.
It fits in that chemical, that tight chemical box of, hey, this is going to be your values, the primary driver on this one, right?
So it's designed to do exactly what the owner's manual recommends.
So if you're changing your oil at, you know, say, like these new Chevy trucks, I think it's 10,000 miles, 7,500 miles or oil life monitor, right?
OE is going to be your person.
You know, you don't drive 25,000 miles here.
You hardly drive at all, right?
You know, that might be an area where OE would shine for you.
But it's still a full synthetic and it still adds 100% full synthetic package.
Yep.
Yep.
It goes toe to toe with any oil out there still.
So very good oil, but it's got that value as the primary driver.
And then next in line that we have, if you want to do the best, best, best, working your way up is the XL.
So it's effectively balancing that, the performance and a drain interval for that added insurance above OE, below signature series.
So we have XL at about 20,000 miles or one year.
And that also is people who want that warranty in mind.
So you want, you know, you want the extended drain, but you also make sure you got your specifications covered for whatever your vehicle has.
So just to say Dexos one Gen three.
Yep.
XL's got you, but you don't want to change the oil life monitor.
You want to double it, you know, go to 20,000 miles.
Boom.
XL's your guy to do that.
And you're talking about, so when you talk about specs, like there's the one knock that you could say Amazon has consistently on the forums is like, oh, well, it doesn't have the, you know, the API or excuse me, the SAE, you know, rating on it, maybe.
But there's reasons for that, especially on SIG, you guys blow the additive package out of the water so that you wouldn't even meet that standard because you so far exceed it.
And so some people might go, Oh, well, it says on the back, it meets these, I guess the APIs or it meets these specs from manufacturers and you can read the back of the label.
But it's like, where's that certification stamp that you would have had to pay for to get it, the lab test it, then you have to license it.
And that would just make your oil more expensive.
And people don't realize that on your really high end oils that don't have that it's because it's too good, I guess is the way to put it.
You, you took the words on my mouth.
SIG series, I don't want to say it's overbuilt, because it's built absolutely perfect.
But it's got that it's the extended drain, and it's got that I don't want to say minimum compliance but, you know, we took the chemical box and said it went away with it.
You know, we want the best oil.
And we find that we are suitable for use and some of these we don't have that license right. We're not paying that royalty.
We're not going to bow down to some of the specification owners that say, yep, you know, if you're going to sell 100 gallons of this, I'm going to want X dollars or X cents per gallon.
That's that's just not, you know, an area where we're going to play.
So again, SIG series is going to be that well built product.
It's not going to have things you it's going to have everything that you need.
And it's going to have everything not everything you don't need right it's not going to be a bunch of random stuff thrown together it's it's purpose built and engineered for anything that you might need.
And it is the best of the best.
So that would be, you know, that's how I would effectively lay out our tiers of oil so you got OEXL and SIG series being that top flagship product.
So we we build to the industry limits, but we also go beyond them.
And that's where that's where we have that suitable for use.
And the licensing really isn't there for that product.
Yeah, I think it's still going to do exactly what you need it to do.
I think that that that's one of those things is once people understand kind of what your philosophy is and the way you back it up people go, Oh, well, then I'm screwed if I use this before my warranties up and they go you use the wrong oil in it.
No, Amso will back you on that.
If you have an engine failure running their oil, you can provide the the receipts show that it was in it.
You guys also have an amazing oil analysis program as well.
And you guys stand behind your product 100%.
So I know that's one of the things where you basically take it from the onus, you know, on the consumer.
And if the dealership questions it because of a specific failure or specific issue, because of your oil being involved, Amso steps in and we'll say no, no, no, we've got all the data.
All the signs we will take care of this.
Yep, exactly.
We are.
We guarantee our product, regardless of if you have brand new or not.
Our oil our filter we stand behind it 100%.
No questions asked.
And then to your point about the oil analysis.
And I think I alluded to it before too with maybe the Mopar checking those lifters checking that top end where well analysis is an absolute great tool to check not only how your engine is doing.
But understand how the oil is doing as well.
And it's a dual it's a dual purpose tool that you know you can look and see hey you know what my engines doing absolutely great oil still doing good I've got that confidence to keep going and we've got a fantastic technical team that's on the oil analysis side of our business.
So I have complete, complete trust and faith in them to keep our analysis program going and help all the customers out there that want to move forward with oil analysis and get into it right.
It's something that people might feel as a daunting task to take an oil sample, not at all.
When you go to change your oil or opportunity to grab an oil sample and there's proper ways to do it.
And our team can help help lead that for any customers that are looking towards that direction.
Let's go to some of your niche products like high mileage so high mileage is interesting to me because a lot of times you let's let's take it out I haven't owned the car maybe it's a secondary bought it use cars maybe use car for my daughter's first car or something it's got 100,000 miles on it.
It's got maybe a questionable service history and but I want to run the best stuff in there.
You don't know what's been in there before so there's a there's a couple things high mileage obviously is built a little bit different but it's also helps clean out a lot of the stuff that has that might be in the engine like you're actually sort of scrubbing the inside of the engine and making sure you get it back to a point where it can be as efficient as possible so maybe talk us through that a little bit.
Yeah, no, and make a good point and kind of how and kind of the direction we headed with that so high mileage isn't necessarily like a step up or down through the OE Excel six series family line.
We kind of have it designated just off to the side if you if you look a minute to your selection is off to the side.
So, designed for you know slightly older engines and as you might not know what oils ran in them before.
Usually designations 75,000 miles kind of a market standard.
You know, but as those engines get older, they consume more oil, you got the sludge the carbon build up, maybe it's leaking.
How we built high mileage kind of addresses those situations that's the only and it's build. So you got some boosted detergency.
And then you've got conditioners built in to help swallow seals back up so those two things in combination with hate to say it again but a good quality base oil and a proper other additive package build.
It's kind of where high mileage really shines.
And we historically when this product was first launched, it came out before different very popular new oils coming out where it.
I don't want to say the two words the R&R but we had that we had that squared away a couple years ago before someone else jumped in and the marketing kind of took the toll on that one.
So but no it boosted urgency will seal conditioners it cleans up engines we've got data on our website that shows the dirty up sequence of using a low grade oil for a couple hundred hours and then boom switch to Ansel high mileage and you can physically watch the graph come down with our data and see the
So it's a it's a it's a great product. I use it a lot in my truck because I've got about 120,000 miles on my truck so it's a perfect perfect niche area for me with that product and also on that that side of the niche products but and the family is our hybrid line.
This one was kind of a unique one something that wouldn't have mattered to trucks a while ago and all of a sudden now you know toyotas, you know Ford, you've got, you've got e-torque hybrids on the Rams.
There's a lot of all of a sudden you're looking around and hybrids are popping up in the truck and SUV market all over the place.
Exactly.
So who would have thought hybrid oil on the truck show podcast. Yeah, right. Here we are. So it's similar to how high mileage was thought about is what is the issue. What do we have for issues with hybrid. How can we, you know, come to a solution on what people are experiencing out there.
So the way hybrids built is to help with fuel dilution because what you have is a lot of cold engines, cold engines right start up more fuel, get them going. They don't get as hot. The fuel doesn't burn off right.
And another thing you have is moisture. The engine does not get up to temperature. So you see a lot of corrosion in some of these hybrid engines. So a lot of corrosion inhibitors in this oil.
Especially the plugins where you start with a full battery every day and maybe you have short commutes. You may only see the engine when you're on the highway. You may be, maybe you have 25 miles of range and your commutes 10 miles and you never run the engine unless the algorithm says it needs to run or the AC is on on a high load day or something like that.
And I have people who have hybrids who are bragging, oh, I fill up once a month. And I'm like, man, you should go drive that thing some more.
The oil looks like milky soup. You need to change.
Or all those, you know, you'd be like my wife, I love you, dear, who takes her plug in hybrid and immediately is like leaves the neighborhood with wide open throttle with a cold engine. And you know, I'm just thinking, man, the inside of that engine is not happy. That's why we lease our cars.
Yeah, yeah. No, so you hit it, you hit it exactly right as engines just don't get up to temperature and there's some inherent issues with that and it's fuel dilution, condensation.
So we build it for corrosion inhibitors and to handle that extra extra water and that fuel. So again, I sound like a broken record but high quality base oil and added his blended engines right for that product.
All right, so I'll ask you one final question. This this one might be a little bit a little bit sticky, but I'm going to throw it out there anyway.
If you have run Amsoil your entire life of your vehicle, do you need to think about at 7500,000 miles of switching over to high mileage?
Let's say you've been running OE or XL. I'm going to assume that if you run signature, you just keep signature all the way down to the end.
But if you're in some of those more entry low intervals style oils, is that a natural progression or if you've been with Amsoil your whole life, your engine probably doesn't need to swap oils.
You're good sticking with what you've been doing.
You're going to be good sticking with exactly the oil that you use, whether it's OE or XL, even SIG, you're going to be fine throughout the life of that engine.
So when I bought my truck, I got it with, I think it was 80 some thousand miles. The first thing I did was high mileage.
And I've gone back and forth between high mileage and SIG and in my truck and no leaks, no issues.
So from few, my wife has a Subaru and I've run SIG in that since I've started and I'm going to continue to run SIG and that's at 77,000 miles now.
So the 75,000 miles and the high mileage to your point, you can run it consistently, you know, whenever you want.
That mileage interval is just kind of thrown out there to kind of help guide you in a direction of, oh, you know what, that's leaking a little bit, a little bit older.
I'm not sure was running this before, you know, I'm looking to get, you know, that little more value driven product.
I'm going to throw the high mileage and that's kind of where that one shines.
But no, if you've had, so you started with OE and years past 95,000 miles, you're totally fine and continue with OE.
Awesome. I mean, this is, this is so great to have you guys on and to have this type of insight.
These are all the questions that I think we asked.
There's the questions that the forums or AI tend to give you some different answers.
So it's nice to hear from the experts and just really, really appreciate your time today, guys.
Yep. Thank you, Sean. I do appreciate that you have us on here. It's fun.
All right. Well, we're going to do it again because, well, we got to talk about that special upcoming product that we've been teasing on this.
And that's the reformulation of six series. And it's one of my favorite oils that goes in my Jeep.
Every oil change and I change it way too often because I love that thing.
And I can't wait to hear what you guys have done because like you said, it's made perfect.
So if it's even more perfect, then that's even more awesome.
It's hard to beat perfection, but I think we did it.
All right. Awesome. All right. Well, we'll catch up with you guys soon and really appreciate you coming on and making time for us.
Awesome. Thanks, Sean.
Thanks again, Garrett and Eric from Amsoil for the education.
We'll have you guys back on when the next upcoming announcement goes live.
And I'm really excited to find out more about the announcement coming down the pike because it's a product I use a lot.
So I think before we go, I want to have a quick check in on the Podshed Insiders group.
Join the Podshed Insiders. Why not?
We're having fun with all that's being said, hooting and hollering in the online shed.
We're having fun talking trucks and other totally rad and random stuff.
No matter where you are, hang out in Holman's backyard.
Join the Podshed Insiders. Why not?
That's right. Why not? What do you have to lose? You're already on Facebook.
You probably follow a bunch of stupid sites anyway or groups.
It's probably like Tennessee twerking and North Carolina squat and Texas barbecue and more.
I don't know. So just add Podshed Insiders to that and see what the guys who are listening have to say.
We've got a few good ones. We've got Chad Chase recently posted the...
I guess he reposted Dole Men's Center talking about the 2010 Silverado 2500 HD with the offset steering wheel.
So there's some funny comments in there and a lot of laughing reactions.
Ron Williams passed by my favorite thermometer in the world and let me know that it's still working.
But fortunately, Ron says it'll be the last to be passed by for a while.
His dad lived in Mesquite, recently passed away, so condolences to your family, Ron.
But thanks for posting up the thermometer for us.
And then Chris Alter is still trying to fix all the things in his yard.
So apparently the shift fork on his Hummer H3 broke off and he replaced it with a metal one.
And Ryan Kikulu says he decided he needed a new truck, so he picked up an 18 F-150 with 66,000 miles.
Shared that with the group.
Our friend from Hollister, Rich, who owns the construction company, Rich Holdaway,
he has a big fleet of vehicles and he says,
New Bilsteins on Old Walter, so it's old, looks like a GMT 800 truck, GMC.
And he says it drives like a dream now.
So anyway, if you've got some free time and you're already on Facebook,
why don't you pop into the Podshed Insiders and show us a picture of your truck,
ask us a question, or send us something stupid you found on the internet that'll make all of us laugh.
All right, well, I got a play to catch, so that's going to do it for this episode of the Truck Show Podcast.
Please send me your thoughts by emailing the show TruckShowPodcast at gmail.com.
The Truck Show, the Truck Show, the Truck Show, whoa, whoa.
And of course, we're always on social at Truck Show Podcast or at Sean P. Holman.
And if you want to be part of the show, you want to hear your voice on the show,
please leave us a message, five-star hotline 657-205-6105.
And I miss you guys. I haven't had that many voicemails in a while.
Give us a review of what you're driving or tell us what's on your mind.
Or did the kids pop wheelies on the e-bike in front of you
or is the guy with the too much tongue weight blinding you with his headlights?
Something's got to be bothering you, right? We'll get it out.
We'll be your therapist here on the Truck Show Podcast.
All right, don't forget to join the Facebook group, The Pod Shed Insiders.
I mean, there's a lot of stuff going on in there. It's awesome.
All right, before we go, I got to thank our sponsors, Amsoil, for those of you who love your vehicles
and want the best synthetics, oil change kits, car care products, anything for your truck.
Amsoil.com is where you should go, but where you should really go is truckshowpodcast.com
to the featured products page, drop down, go to Amsoil.
We have a link. It's our link where we get credit for your sales and things like that.
So that would be really awesome. If you're already buying Amsoil to run it through our link,
we'd really appreciate it. Also, awesome knives at a great price.
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As always, I hope you enjoyed this episode.
As much as I enjoyed putting it together, look forward to doing it again real soon,
probably from a hotel room in Washington, D.C.
Some vehicles may have been harmed during the making of this podcast.
It's gonna be a good day, Tater.
Yeah.
Yeah, buddy.
Yeah, buddy!
Hey, driving in the forluse.
Outline!
Dude, that was painful.
About this episode
Amsoil engineers join the host for a deep dive into why oil matters so much in modern trucks, from viscosity and base-oil quality to oxidation, wear, and fuel-economy tradeoffs. The conversation ties newer engine failures to thinner factory fills, explains why thicker oil is not a simple fix, and covers diesel formulation, hybrid-specific needs, oil analysis, and high-mileage products. The episode also closes with listener truck updates and a reminder to share feedback in the Facebook group.
Take a deep dive with AMSOIL engineers Garret Gibeau and Erik Johnson on oil viscosity and formulations, the recent rash of new vehicle engine failures, and which synthetic oil you should put in your truck. The Truck Show Podcast is produced in partnership with AMSOIL, Kershaw Knives, and OVR Mag. Don't forget to check out truckshowpodcast.com for special offers from our friends and sponsors.
