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AMSOIL Expands Signature Series Line

AMSOIL 0W-20 (ASM), 5W-30 (ASL) and 10W-30 (ATM) Synthetic Motor Oils join AMSOIL Signature Series 0W-30 to round out the new Signature Series line. Signature Series 0W-30 is now identified by product code AZO. Product code SSO will be discontinued and is only available while supplies last.

In addition to being reformulated to meet the latest API SN Resource Conserving and ILSAC GF-5 industry specifications, the new Signature Series line features all-new packaging and represents the very best motor oils AMSOIL has to offer, allowing motorists to take advantage of maximum extended drain intervals. In the interest of consistency and clarity within the Signature Series line, all four motor oils are recommended for drain intervals of up to 25,000 miles/one year, whichever comes first (15,000 miles/one year in severe service conditions).

The new Signature Series line is replacing the previous formulations of the AMSOIL top-tier oils as inventories dictate; orders will be filled with the older formulations and packaging until inventory is depleted, which may occur at varying times for each viscosity. The former Signature Series 0W-30 formulation (SSO) is available while supplies last.

Three Tiers of AMSOIL Quality AMSOIL Offers a High Quality Synthetic Motor Oil for Every Customer

Formulated for Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM)-recommended drain intervals.	Formulated for up to 10,000-mile/six-month drain intervals, or longer when recommended in owners’ manuals or indicated by oil monitoring systems.	Formulated for up to 25,000-mile/one-year drain intervals.
AMSOIL OE Synthetic Motor Oil helps provide better wear control, improved high- and low-temperature protection and increased fuel economy compared to conventional oils. The oil drain recommendations for many of today’s vehicles extend well beyond the traditional 3,000-mile interval. AMSOIL OE Oil provides excellent protection and performance for the entire length of the original equipment manufacturer’s recommended drain interval.	AMSOIL XL Synthetic Motor Oil provides better wear control, improved high- and low-temperature protection and increased fuel economy compared to conventional oils. Formulated with extended-drain boost technology, AMSOIL XL Synthetic Motor Oil provides superior performance for up to 10,000 miles/six months, or longer when recommended in owners’ manuals or indicated by electronic oil life monitoring systems.	AMSOIL Signature Series Synthetic Motor Oil delivers extraordinary lubrication in all types of automotive gasoline engines. Combining the industry-premier synthetic technology with AMSOIL premium additives, AMSOIL Signature Series Synthetic Motor Oil exceeds the higher performance demands of modern engines, withstanding the stress of higher horsepower, higher heat and complicated emissions control systems. Signature Series Synthetic Motor Oil is engineered to outperform competitive conventional and synthetic motor oils and delivers long-lasting performance and protection for up to 25,000-mile/one-year drain intervals.

What is a Synthetic Lubricant?

AMSOIL Inc. was the first company in 1972 to come out with an API , SAE 100% Synthetic 10W40 motor oil. Since then AMSOIL has been the first with Synthetic 2-cycle oils, automatic transmission fluid, gear lube, diesel oils and more. In 1975 Mobil-1 introduced its first synthetics and very good products they are. Now, of course, companies such as Quaker State, Castrol, Pennzoil, Valvoline, Esso, and Shell have synthetic oils.

I'll give you a short background on myself, so you know how I come by my experience. My name is Don Stefanik and I am the owner of Southern Ontario Synthetics. I was a mechanic working on small engines, lawn and garden tractors, snowmobile 2-cycle engines, right up to big four wheel drive farm tractors. I also drove trucks for several years and as such also looked after the maintenance of them. I also farm with my brother and look after the maintenance of our farm equipment. I am an associate member of The Society of Automotive Engineers, I subscribe to Hart Lubricants World, and National Oil & Lube News. I have been an AMSOIL dealer since 1993.

One of the first questions most people ask me is, What is a synthetic? Very simply, a petroleum lubricant is made up of long chain carbon molecules, just the way Mother Nature put them together. A Synthetic lubricant is made of short carbon chain molecules. The word synthetic comes from synthesis, and by definition means the production of a substance by the union of chemical elements, groups or simpler compounds.

Let's look at petroleum briefly. It comes from crude oil, which is refined into base stocks by separating molecules according to physical characteristics such as weight, and separates unwanted materials from desirable ones.

These base stocks contain impurities of various types and amounts, such as wax crystals and sulphur compounds. These cause the base stocks to be less stable, providing molecular targets for heat and chemical degradation, hence, the short lifespan or duration of usage for petroleum oil.

Petroleum lube manufacturers are trying to overcome some of the base stock limitations using sophisticated hydro-processing methods to make very high viscosity index oils.

This creates a very paraffinic oil, which performs better in high heat and load parameters, but still has very poor cold pour or cold pumpability characteristics. Not good on those cold winter days.

Even these VHVI oils still leave varnish and other engine deposits as compared to the pure synthetic base stock oils. These VHVI oils also are still less oxidatively stable than synthetics, which, of course, leads to the lube degrading quickly.

The other limiting factor of petroleum oils is the additive package the petroleum manufactures are willing to design into their oils to keep them price-competitive for your (normal?) oil change of 5000 km for light vehicles. Or 100 to 250 hours for diesel farm tractors.

Now, back to synthetics. Most of the base stock chemicals that go into blending synthetic lubricants are made from dibasic acid esters, polyol esters and polyalphaolefins. These are all built from short carbon chain molecules.

A bit of technical trivia here. Mother Natures long carbon chain molecule has about 250 atom unions and is very elongated and many-branched in its structure. The synthetic short carbon chain molecule has only about seven atom unions and is very tightly packed and of very uniform construction.

These points, I am told, are the molecular areas that are attacked by the forces of heat and physical load stresses, as well as chemical and other contaminants from combustion byproducts.

This is one of the major factors that allow synthetics to outperform petroleum lubes. Of these synthetic base stocks, Polyalphaolefins offer about 240,000 different choices, while there are only about 120,000 different esters to choose from.

So, you can see how a synthetic lubrication manufacturer can pretty well custom design an oil to do precisely what's required of it. Following are some of the attributes or operating properties of synthetics over petroleum oils: Many viscosity grades available, high service temperature stability, low temperature flowability, high oxidative and thermal stability, excellent viscosity temperature behaviour (no thinning with high load and long use), very good seal compatibility, excellent friction reducer, hydrolytic stability (keeps rotating metal devices separated) , low toxicity, good biological degradation and excellent corrosion protection.

Now that you have a properly blended custom-designed synthetic base stock, all you need is a more technically advanced additive package. This is another area where synthetics have it over petroleum oils. Because most synthetic manufacturers are designing a higher priced and performing oil, they tend to spend more money and put more effort into designing a superior additive package.

This superior additive sets one oil apart from another in performance, such as friction reduction or fuel efficiency gain, temperature stability and elongation of oil drain.

Here is a general list of the additives needed for a complete lubricant.

Surface protective additives

Corrosion and rust inhibitors prevent rust agents from reaching metal surfaces and neutralizing acids.
Detergents keep surfaces free of sludge, varnish and carbon deposits so they can be filtered out.
Dispersants keep insoluble contaminants in suspension and also keep contaminants from agglomerating into a large mess.
Friction modifiers change the coefficient of friction, forming a slippery film on metal surfaces.

Performance additives

Viscosity modifiers reduce rate of viscosity change with temperature by expanding with heat to counteract thinning.
Pour point depressants are for low temperature flow. Synthetics usually don't need these because they're wax free. Wax crystallizes out at low temperatures and causes flow problems with petroleum oils.

Lubricant protective additives

Anti-oxidants retard oxidative decomposition by deactivating materials which lead to oxidation reactions.
Metal deactivators reduce the pro-oxidation effect of metals by forming an inactive film on metal surfaces.

There you have what makes a complete and superior operating synthetic lubricant that will:

Reduce your annual cost of lubricants.
Reduce your annual fuel bill with better fuel efficiency.
Greatly extend your oil drain intervals.
Reduce the amount of waste oil you need to dispose.
Reduce wear in your vehicles' and equipment's power train and hydraulic systems.
Greatly extend the life of your expensive equipment.
Reduce service costs and time, especially in the busy seasons.
Reduce cold start engine wear.
Reduce operating temperatures.
Keep rubber seals, O-rings and internal hydraulic hose linings in next to new condition because there's no wax or varnish.
Reduce lube inventory because of fewer oil changes.
Greatly reduce engine oil consumption.
Greatly reduce exhaust emissions when used with fuel additives.