[BIF]

The subject says it all...

What's it made of?

Personally, I think it must be those awful Garbanzo beans (chickpeas) that people are trying to make me eat....or maybe Lima beans (which make me retch). Other possibles include brussel-sprouts, peanut butter, celery, cornbread, or thin air.

There, now that I've mentioned nearly every food I despise (except for the thin air one...I'm actually kind of fond of that)....my next question is this: If we can make it, why do we even have to buy any of it from the Middle East?

Okay, go ahead...discuss amongst yourselves!

 

[ralphmc1]

This is not the most detailed information, but is hits it quite close, and is understanble:

follow the link to this site:
http://www.amsoil.com/products/asl.html

Ralph

The subject says it all...

What's it made of?

Personally, I think it must be those awful Garbanzo beans (chickpeas) that people are trying to make me eat....or maybe Lima beans (which make me retch). Other possibles include brussel-sprouts, peanut butter, celery, cornbread, or thin air.

There, now that I've mentioned nearly every food I despise (except for the thin air one...I'm actually kind of fond of that)....my next question is this: If we can make it, why do we even have to buy any of it from the Middle East?

Okay, go ahead...discuss amongst yourselves!

 

[BIF]

Hi, Ralph:

Thanks for trying to help, but your link was DOA. But it offered a clue, so I went to the Amsoil website at http://www.amsoil.com for research. All I could find was this FAQ question:

Q) What are AMSOIL Synthetic Motor Oils?

A) AMSOIL Synthetic Lubricants are fuel efficient, extended life lubricants manufactured from select synthetic base stocks and special purpose additives. These lubricants provide improved overall performance characteristics when compared to conventional petroleum oils.

"select synthetic base stocks" Huh?
"special purpose additives" Say that again?

I don't know about you, but this is suspiciously obtuse and decidedly useless to me. I'll keep looking, but this isn't a good sign. I'd like to find a simple answer to my simple, albiet tongue-in-cheek question. If their website would just say whether it's animal, vegetable, mineral, or spiritual (at this point, what else could it be?) that would help answer my question, or at least it would form the basis for further research.

 

[tjl]

The subject says it all...

What's it made of?

Group I, II, and III base stocks are made by hydrocracking and processing mineral oil to varying degrees, with the categories defined by sulfur percentage, saturates, and viscosity index. Group III base stocks have the highest viscosity index and are the most heavily hydrocracked and processed of these base stocks.

Group IV consists of polyalphaolefins, and group V consists of others not in group I through IV (generally esters). Polyalphaolefins and esters are made by "building up" from simpler hydrocarbons.

In the US, group III, IV, and V based oils are marketed as "synthetic" oils.

 

[ralphmc1]

This is not the most detailed information, but is hits it quite close, and is understanble:

sorrrry about that for some reason the link got flaked....
:roll:

Here is the correct link: http://www.amsoil.com/products/asl.html

Ralph -- 04/21/04 10:44AM

follow the link to this site:
http://www.amsoil.com/products/asl.http ... s/asl.html

Ralph

The subject says it all...

What's it made of?

Personally, I think it must be those awful Garbanzo beans (chickpeas) that people are trying to make me eat....or maybe Lima beans (which make me retch). Other possibles include brussel-sprouts, peanut butter, celery, cornbread, or thin air.

There, now that I've mentioned nearly every food I despise (except for the thin air one...I'm actually kind of fond of that)....my next question is this: If we can make it, why do we even have to buy any of it from the Middle East?

Okay, go ahead...discuss amongst yourselves!

 

[moocatdog]

... the most heavily hydrocracked...

I once had a blind date who was completely hydrocracked.
Drive happy,
Moo

 

[Daniel]

Group I, II, and III base stocks are made by hydrocracking and processing mineral oil to varying degrees, with the categories defined by sulfur percentage, saturates, and viscosity index. Group III base stocks have the highest viscosity index and are the most heavily hydrocracked and processed of these base stocks.

Group IV consists of polyalphaolefins, and group V consists of others not in group I through IV (generally esters). Polyalphaolefins and esters are made by "building up" from simpler hydrocarbons.

In the US, group III, IV, and V based oils are marketed as "synthetic" oils.

So if all this stuff is made from mineral oil, then the bottom line is, it's just another way of processing petroleum. Better for engines, maybe, but still petroleum. Is that correct?

 

[tjl]

Group I, II, and III base stocks are made by hydrocracking and processing mineral oil to varying degrees, with the categories defined by sulfur percentage, saturates, and viscosity index. Group III base stocks have the highest viscosity index and are the most heavily hydrocracked and processed of these base stocks.

Group IV consists of polyalphaolefins, and group V consists of others not in group I through IV (generally esters). Polyalphaolefins and esters are made by "building up" from simpler hydrocarbons.

In the US, group III, IV, and V based oils are marketed as "synthetic" oils.

So if all this stuff is made from mineral oil, then the bottom line is, it's just another way of processing petroleum. Better for engines, maybe, but still petroleum. Is that correct?

Group IV and V base stocks are not made from mineral oil, but the process of making them out of other stuff requires energy inputs, which can come from burning oil as fuel.

Regarding the implications of oil imports, the use of motor oil does not have a particularly large impact on oil imports, compared to the use of oil fuels (like gasoline or diesel, or variants of those like home heating oil, jet fuel, aviation gasoline, etc.).

 

[silverbullet]

I bought a '75 Corona (Top of the Toyota line then) & put Amsoil in it at 12,000 miles. Changed the filter every 3-5,000 miles depending on the driving I did. I changed out the oil at 95,000, because my distributor was out of business & couldn't find another one. The oil that came out was not thick or junky. That was 25 years ago. I just wonder with the different engines we now have if it would stand up as well. Back then there was no Al Gore- Internet (He hadn't invented it yet) & my distributor said not to totally drain & I didn't til 95k. Oh well times change & profitability does too. I was happy with the product & will probably start using it again.

 

[Big Detriot Iron]

My two big Ford engines

I switched to Mobil1 when I had about 50 thousand miles on them. One now has over 200,000 and the other is approaching that. Neither use oil and run as well as they did when new. I change oil once a year and filters every 6 months(since nearly none of my miles are city or stop and go driving. I watched a program where a Valvoline researcher was telling of the properties of synthetic over patrol oils. Under normal temps(outside of overheats due to coolant loss etc) it don't break down like normal oils. I love the stuff and will use it in my Prius when I get one, but only after a 5000 mile breaking period.