AMSOIL 10W-30 Excels in API Sequence IIIF Test

Foreword from the President of Amsoil, Al Amatuzio

There’s excitement in the air among AMSOIL Dealers and here at the AMSOIL home office... (from) ... the phenomenal results our 10W-30 (ATM) achieved when run through the API Sequence IIIF test.

This is a very stringent test, normally lasting 80 hours, and is designed to measure oil thickening, oil consumption, wear, and piston deposits in high temperature service. It was performed by an independent testing facility, and our 10W-30 soon became the talk of the lab. That’s because instead of stopping the test at 80 hours, we requested it be run three times longer, for an unheard of 240 hours!

How significant is this? We know of no other oil that has been subjected to this test for that long, and the lab technicians had never heard of it being done before, either. It’s difficult enough for an oil to pass the test at 80 hours, and very few oils, only good synthetics, could pass at double that, or 160 hours. But to run an oil for 240 hours under those stringent test conditions was totally unheard of. My son, Alan, who oversaw the testing, said it was generally agreed, based on the extended test data, that our oil could have continued to run another 80 hours and still have achieved similar outstanding results. The oil performed that well!

When you read the test results... (below)... pay particular attention to the green graph showing viscosity increases. The competitive oil selected by the lab was one they knew was a good performer in this test, and it did well for the 80 hours the test is normally run, but at 120 hours you see it sharply increase in viscosity. Meanwhile, the AMSOIL 10-30 remains almost unchanged through the 240 hours of testing. This is why our oils perform so well during extended drain intervals. They stay in grade, even under the most severe service. This extended service test is proof positive of that!

Alan indicated that even after this severe extended test, the engine was in excellent condition. He said even the machining marks on the cylinders were still prominent. There was absolutely minimum wear and virtually no deposit formation.

AMSOIL 10W-30 Excels in API Sequence IIIF Test

TEST PROCEDURE

Testing is conducted with a 1996 model Buick 3800 Series II, water-cooled, four-cycle, V-6 engine. The test engine is an overhead valve design (OHV) with a single camshaft operating the intake and exhaust valves through pushrods and hydraulic valve lifters in a slider-follower arrangement, and it has one intake and one exhaust valve per cylinder. Induction is performed through a modified GM port fuel injection system with the air-to-fuel ratio set to 15:1.

Running unleaded gasoline, testing begins with a 10-minute initial oil leveling procedure before slowly working its way up to test speed, temperature and load conditions. Testing continues at 100 bhp, 3600 rpm and 155° C oil temperature for 80 hours with oil checks performed every 10 hours. Kinematic viscosity increase and wear metals (Cu, Pb and Fe) are evaluated at every 10-hour interval.

At the end of 80 hours, all six pistons are inspected for deposits and varnish, camshaft and lifters are measured for wear and oil screen plugging is evaluated.

TEST RESULTS

Even at three times the standard test length, AMSOIL 10W-30 performed three times better than the test limit in the area of kinematic viscosity increase, and it excelled in all areas of the test. AMSOIL 10W-30 Motor Oil kept viscosity increase, wear, deposits and varnish to a minimum. The pictures below demonstrate the superior protection provided by AMSOIL Motor Oil throughout 240 straight hours of Sequence IIIF testing.

While conventional motor oils tend to thicken and lose their lubricating effectiveness, AMSOIL Motor Oils are formulated to maintain their viscosities over extended drain intervals. The results of the Sequence IIIF test clearly demonstrate the long drain capability of AMSOIL 10W-30 Motor Oil. Even after being subjected to a triple length Sequence IIIF test, AMSOIL 10W-30 performed three times better than the standard test limits. The competitor's motor oil shows dramatic viscosity increase in less than half the time.

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