Beware - Amsoil does NOT have an ATF meeting ULV specs

[HammaMan]

There's a couple YT vids popping up showing guys putting amsoil into the F150 transmissions. Amsoil DOES NOT have a product that meets ULV fluid specifications. There's 4 ULV fluids available in the US, 2 of which are ford and GMs. Do not put amsoil's current products into the 10r80 as it's out of spec by +50% on viscosity. You can find several threads on various forums people trying to use amsoil with poor results.

Valvoline ULV
4.45 - cSt @ 100°C

Ford Mercon ULV
4.5 - cSt @ 100°C

Amsoil Signature Series Fuel-Efficient ATF
6.3 - cSt @ 100°C

Other ULVs that meet spec
RAVENOL ATF ULV D-M (German company)
HPL ATF TEAL 4.6 - cSt @ 100°C

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[FORDTEXAS]

some people ride the amsoil train too hard lol

 

[Calson]

When I owned a diesel powered pickup the Amsoil diesel motor oil had the worst additive mix of any oil being sold. It was on par with the Wal-Mart oil. More than 75% of the diesel motor oils had a superior additive mix and were far better for the life of the engine.

For ATF and similar lubricants it is smarter and safer to use the manufacturers' products which are not going to damage the seals. This is very important for the internal seals in an automatic transmission.

Amsoil spends a great deal of money on advertising and only the STP company has spent more with its hype of its "racers' edge" product.

The one premium lubricant company whose products are actually very good is Red Line. They are not better than many products that cost half as much but at least one is not paying more for an inferior product.

 

[Eighthtry]

Having been a highly successful Amsoil dealer with one client, which was me (I have owned 4 to 7 cars at a time starting in 1982. I am down to 6 cars at the moment and about to get rid of two more). I am buying their 5/30 signature oil and what preceded it by the 30 gallon barrels just for me. Also Amsoil filters by the case. I never did have a client. I dropped my dealership for 2024 because I am not putting the miles on them like I once did.

Ran it 320,000 miles on my 1990 Taurus SHO. Ran it 175,000 miles in my 2005 Cadillac CTS V. Ran it 208,000 miles in my 2010 CTS V. Ran it 335,000 miles in my 1985 Suburban. Ran it 203,000 miles in my 2011 Yukon Denali. Each of those had two things in common. First, they never had an engine change or rebuild of any kind, and they NEVER used the first drop of oil between my 10,000 oil change/5,000 mile filter change intervals. (Well, a couple of exceptions did use 1/2 quart every 10,000 miles). No smoke never. I was never afraid to red line one. In fact my 05 CTS V went 170 mph at 170,000 miles. (It seemed like a good idea. Not smart. But I am a guy). I routinely redlined my 2010 V until I finally replaced it with my 2018 Z06. I have to be careful with it as there is no telling where it will be going given its torque and hp.

I also used grease, manual, and auto transmission fluid. Never lost a transmission. Ever. The SHO and both V's were standards, but everything else got the proper Amsoil automatic transmission lube. So I believe.

That being said, they only recently began to professionally advertise. It was long overdue for those guys that actually work it for a living.

I obviously have limits on what I used it in. All American V8s. My one SHO V6 was a Ford block. It was Yamaha on everything else. I tracked that one at 280,000 miles and have the pictures to prove it..

In my experience if Amsoil puts something on the market it is and was quality. Of course my purchase range was narrow. But still, I believe. At some point they might become complacent with their positions in the market. Corporate America is littered with ruined, failed, or companies mismanaged. It can happen to them all because they are run by people with different skillsets and different agendas. But Amsoil is running on all cylinders at the moment.

Oh, I forgot about my 74 455 Olds Cutlass Salon. Bought it new and still have it. I felt it should have a lot more power, so I rebuilt a perfectly good motor at 90,000 miles to get another 200 hp out of it. That 195 factory hp just didn't cut it. It is a little strange as it is the exception to the above. It will use oil and in my mind enough that it should smoke, but it does not smoke at all, on start-up or flat out acceleration. It does not leak. 20/50. I cannot explain it. But it is nice to have something that will run.

I will say that if I am forced to use something else, I would choose Castrol.

OK, time to pick me apart. I have earned it at this point.

 

[HammaMan]

They do have a new "synthetic blend" motor oil that's quite reasonably priced. It uses a vegetable oil and its additive pack bests most of the mainstream full synthetics and certainly bests the OE oils.

Intentionally starts where they get into its details -- at 44 minute even it's compared to what appears to be ford's synthetic blend.

 

[Pedaldude]

some people ride the amsoil train too hard lol

The ‘it’s more expensive; so it must be better’ mentality/market is hard to break.

I must say though, I do use the Amsoil website a lot for looking up oil/fluid capacity on cars I work on missing the owner’s manual.

OK, time to pick me apart. I have earned it at this point.

With a fastidious approach to maintenance; most cars would be lasting 2X-3X as long as they are.

It doesn’t help that most of the recommended service intervals are totally bullshit and a lot of the things that are said are in conflict with one another. Most people are seeing what manufacturers describe as ‘severe duty’ without even knowing.

Most cars on the road have never had a single transmission fluid or coolant service and usually it’s the second or third owner that gets to junk the car because it overheated or the transmission is done. Some cars haven’t even had an oil change and it’s just crazy how poorly a majority of the population treats one of their most expensive purchases. I’ve even tried to explain to people why you need to bleed brakes and other simple things. I’ve offered to show acquaintances how to do simple maintenance for free but they know better and then wonder why their five year old car is falling apart when I have ten and twenty year old cars that drive like new!

Most of the people arguing about oil are going to be fine regardless of what they choose. I usually just get the cheapest decent oil and then try and stick with it for whatever vehicle I use it on. My last truck I would use Mag1 oil because I could have it delivered cheaper than picking up anything local. For my 4Runner; I’ve been using the Pennzoil Platinum full synthetic that I pick up when it’s on sale and for my F-150, I just use the Ford branded stuff and I change it out every 3K miles or 12 months; whichever comes first. For my Lincoln Navigator, I used the Walmart Supertech because it only gets driven about 500 miles per year for the last few years, if that!

For transmissions, transfer cases and engine coolant. I try and get the factory branded stuff when I can because it’s the most sensible option for a service that will only be done every three years or so and there’s too much to go wrong. I learned that the hard way using generic coolant on one of my old classic SAAB 900s which required Mercedes coolant because the generic stuff would interact with the head gasket material and result in a blown head gasket after only a few weeks.

 

[FORDTEXAS]

The ‘it’s more expensive; so it must be better’ mentality/market is hard to break.

a ton of YouTube content broke that consensus a long time ago.. lol

 

[Eighthtry]

My whole goal in life is to not think. About anything. It hurts my head and disturbs the wife.

 

[FaaWrenchBndr]

Having been a highly successful Amsoil dealer with one client, which was me (I have owned 4 to 7 cars at a time starting in 1982. I am down to 6 cars at the moment and about to get rid of two more). I am buying their 5/30 signature oil and what preceded it by the 30 gallon barrels just for me. Also Amsoil filters by the case. I never did have a client. I dropped my dealership for 2024 because I am not putting the miles on them like I once did.

Ran it 320,000 miles on my 1990 Taurus SHO. Ran it 175,000 miles in my 2005 Cadillac CTS V. Ran it 208,000 miles in my 2010 CTS V. Ran it 335,000 miles in my 1985 Suburban. Ran it 203,000 miles in my 2011 Yukon Denali. Each of those had two things in common. First, they never had an engine change or rebuild of any kind, and they NEVER used the first drop of oil between my 10,000 oil change/5,000 mile filter change intervals. (Well, a couple of exceptions did use 1/2 quart every 10,000 miles). No smoke never. I was never afraid to red line one. In fact my 05 CTS V went 170 mph at 170,000 miles. (It seemed like a good idea. Not smart. But I am a guy). I routinely redlined my 2010 V until I finally replaced it with my 2018 Z06. I have to be careful with it as there is no telling where it will be going given its torque and hp.

I also used grease, manual, and auto transmission fluid. Never lost a transmission. Ever. The SHO and both V's were standards, but everything else got the proper Amsoil automatic transmission lube. So I believe.

That being said, they only recently began to professionally advertise. It was long overdue for those guys that actually work it for a living.

I obviously have limits on what I used it in. All American V8s. My one SHO V6 was a Ford block. It was Yamaha on everything else. I tracked that one at 280,000 miles and have the pictures to prove it..

In my experience if Amsoil puts something on the market it is and was quality. Of course my purchase range was narrow. But still, I believe. At some point they might become complacent with their positions in the market. Corporate America is littered with ruined, failed, or companies mismanaged. It can happen to them all because they are run by people with different skillsets and different agendas. But Amsoil is running on all cylinders at the moment.

Oh, I forgot about my 74 455 Olds Cutlass Salon. Bought it new and still have it. I felt it should have a lot more power, so I rebuilt a perfectly good motor at 90,000 miles to get another 200 hp out of it. That 195 factory hp just didn't cut it. It is a little strange as it is the exception to the above. It will use oil and in my mind enough that it should smoke, but it does not smoke at all, on start-up or flat out acceleration. It does not leak. 20/50. I cannot explain it. But it is nice to have something that will run.

I will say that if I am forced to use something else, I would choose Castrol.

OK, time to pick me apart. I have earned it at this point.

you kind of missed the point, AMSOIL does not have an ULV spec transmission fluid.

 

[Eighthtry]

you kind of missed the point, AMSOIL does not have an ULV spec transmission fluid.

Well, that was not intended when I began. You are dead right.

 

[Babbage]

I wonder what this means?
"

Notes:	(1) The WSS-M2C949-A specification recommended was developed by Ford and GM. Products meeting the specification are available under the DEXRON ULV and MERCON ULV tradenames.

As seen on this page: https://www.amsoil.com/lookup/auto-...-pickup/3-5l-6-cyl-engine-code-8-998-j-turbo/

Edit: I don't run this, I have used their motor oil, strange why they list the spec on that page...

 

[Aonarch]

I love Amsoil, but yeah stick to Ford fluid for the trans.

 

[HammaMan]

I wonder what this means?
"

Notes:	(1) The WSS-M2C949-A specification recommended was developed by Ford and GM. Products meeting the specification are available under the DEXRON ULV and MERCON ULV tradenames.

As seen on this page: https://www.amsoil.com/lookup/auto-...-pickup/3-5l-6-cyl-engine-code-8-998-j-turbo/

Edit: I don't run this, I have used their motor oil, strange why they list the spec on that page...

You linked to motor oils. Their line about meeting spec is like their advertising, just not true. A trans fluid that's 50% thicker DOES NOT MEET ULV SPECS. Period

 

[JohnTrigger]

It appears they do have a ULV now AND they don’t still say to use the blue cap ATL (LV) stuff anymore…

https://www.amsoil.com/p/amsoil-signature-series-ulv-100-synthetic-automatic-transmission-fluid-ulv/

 

[HammaMan]

It appears they do have a ULV now AND they don’t still say to use the blue cap ATL (LV) stuff anymore…

https://www.amsoil.com/p/amsoil-signature-series-ulv-100-synthetic-automatic-transmission-fluid-ulv/

The fact they even marketed it as such is a turnoff for me. The ONLY thing they have is competitive cost for the time being assuming you can use gallons on the nose. Their marketing tactics are pure dogshit.

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