Switched to Amsoil now this happened
 

Have a 540 bulldog with blower , 6lbs boost, intercooler, 400 hrs on motor, switched from Merc oil to Amsoil............ 1st time out my friend running next to me notices a slight smoke plume trail behind my boat, after pulling boat out I notice more soot than usual on the transom, What gives? Any one ever have these symptoms right after changing to a synthetic oil?.............. checked oil level after the day of running no noticable amount of oil used

Someone else on here may give you a more exact answer but I do know that Amsoil has many different kinds of marine and non marine oils that get pretty specific on which ones work best for certain engines ie high zinc, low zinc, roller lifters etc. Seeing that you are running a blower I would get ahold of a Amsoil rep that knows his stuff and see what's best for your application.

So why did you switch? I mean, was there a reason?

seen it happen in cars before...400 hours is equivalent of a high mileage car...when you switch to synthetic,they start pumping oil...you switch them back to regular oil and the problem disapears

Which Amsoil product are you using? They make more varieties than just about anyone. I have switched high mileage vehicles from refined oil to synthetics with no problems. The only time you may have a problem is when you have an excessive amount of sludge and varnish built up from a low detergent oil and switch to a high grade synthetic which will loosen up the sludge and varnish and open up clearances. I once worked on an old 265 Mustang that had so much sludge that oil couldn't get to the valves. Once I cleaned it up it smoked like a mosquito fogger. Tell us the product code and I can tell you if you are using the ideal product for your application.

I switched at the recommendation of a good mechanic thats been working on my boat, Amsoil Dominator racing oil 15-50. I will run the boat this week end and see if it gets any better. If it's just cleaning out the crud I would think that would be a good thing. Right?

depends on the ammount of crud. If there is alot it can clog the oil pickup (worst case senario) but if you've been good on oil intervals, you should be fine

Thisislivin is very correct about his statements as the esters used in the syn oils help remove / clean certain deposits & sludge that was built up. Overtime some older seals that are not as plyable as they use to be can leak because of the cleaned up deposits & sludge around them. This cleaning process does not happen right away either.

260 or 289:drink:

I stand corrected it was a 260, 265 was Chevy.

Dominator 15-50 is the best stuff out there. I would try and use a larger filter if you can fit it and change it frequently for the first couple of oil changes. I recommend staying away from racing filters they pass too much junk. Let us know what filter you have and how much room and we can possibly cross it to a larger version.

just messing with ya:drink:

I use Rotella in the motor, but, I have used Amsoil in the outdrive and in several tow vehicles, works very well, and I have had several other friends and co workers have great results with it, however as an earlier post stated they DO make several different marine oils. The Dominator stuff is supposed to be VERY good I am told.

It appears you are all more expert than me on this matter. I can only speak from experience.
Interestingly I was told by a reputable source that because of the less friction with the use of synthetic oil, roller lifters actually slide instead of the rollers turning as designed. I guess that are a lot of people on both sides of this argument.

Also I had a 1996 Mercruiser 350 Cubic inches that I beefed up with an Eldebrock Performer intake manifold and cam that would not hold decent oil pressure using synthetic oil.

Also I had a ZZ502 502HP (bad choice for marine application) that I had the same issue with.

Also back in the day I had a 66 Mustang GT 289 four barrel which I replaced with a 289 Cobra dual aluminum high rise, solid lifters, and centrifical advance distributor which hated the first synthetics that came out.

The best oil for me always has been non-synthetic Mercury oil in terms of holding oil pressure after the motor has been beat on. My Mercury guy tells me that Mercury beefs up this oil with some descent additives.

:popcorn:

I have two similar motors as yours : 540s, dart heads and brodix intakes with EFI and a pair of vortech chargers pushing about 6 lbs boost.

They have run Amsoil 20w50 from day 1 (after break-in) and have had no issues whatsover. Hours are 175 right now.

when you say more suit than usuial,do you mean black on transom,because that is probibally from being rich ,not from different oil.i know a lot of people use synthetic oil in their boats,i use brad penn 20-50 in my boats and i highly recomend it.

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I use Joe Gibbs oil or Kendall 20w50 w zink

+1. I did run amsoil dominator and now run Joe Gibbs Hot Rod Oil per my builder. He said he runs it in all his high performance motors whether it be drag, circle, pulling, or marine. Supposed to be high in zinc

Why is zinc important? Does it also apply to everyday engines?

Rotella T in all my boat motors and the couple Volvo drives that I have.

Yes, high in sink. I don't know the technical qualities of it just came highly recommended from my engine builder also. Ive always used it in my short track engine's no failures yet I twist that 9200 its a 360 w/ a spec 2 barral carb. change the oil every two races. 75 laps per night so 150 3/8 mile laps.

Zinc and phosphorus are anti wear additives. They are called reserve boundry lubricants and come into play only when you lose full fluid film protection. They help prevent metal to metal contact/wear. They also serve double duty as an anti-oxidant in your oil, preventing your oil from thicking up from oxidation.

Z&P are consumable in your engine, meaning that as you run your engine, the % of Z&P goes down. This is just one of the reasons why we change oil with some regularity. These additives as well as detergents and other additives all wear out and must be replaced.

Ken

google ZDDP and u can read for days. Zinc & Phos additives in the auto world have come way down to max 800 ppm and for the last 4 years also in the marine apps - the new oil recomended for marine Catalyst system only. It hurts the catalyst substrake over time causing failures (not to get into great lenths of tech here) is the main reason for the lower levels of these 2 anti wear additives.

I asked a Holly / Weiand tech about using synthetic oil in their blowers. They DO NOT recommend synthetic BECAUSE it makes the seals leak. What does everyone think about leaking valve seals?

On my avalanche I switched to Synthetic (If I remember correctly it was Amsoil) gear oil in my front end and had both axle seals leaking within a month. Trying to do my gears a favor and this is what I got.