Recent content by Alex_V

FWIW - I recently did valve covers on a early-Ecoboost F150 (2010?) that would generate such a strong oil smell as to make ME (not usually bothered by such smells until other people are passed out of have to leave from eyes burning, etc.) dizzy while driving it, but no signs of drippage under...

'18 Grand Caravan @ ~120K currently, regularly burns about 1.5 qts. over 8-10,000 mi. between OCI's with mostly Valvoline synthetic. Oil filter housing just started seeping over the last OCI. :(

'16 Sentra sedan w/1.8 + CVT. Car recently hit a deer in the front-left and was repaired, but some of the wiring and plugs in that region are visibly worse for wear. Complaint: blows fuse #28 in the fuse block right next to the battery, 10A that according to the wiring diagram goes directly...

I don't have a strong aversion to the Civic but I vote Corolla for longevity. Seen too many neglected, high mileage 1ZZ's still running like a sewing machine - well, all the Toyota engines of that era.

I have two customers with 4th gen Honda Odysseys. Both vans live a typical life of lots of around-town, sub-15 mile trips. No other complaints about the vans except the danged alternators - one failed at 99K, the other at 114. The Honda dealer is an hour drive away, and the OG alternators are...

I've been using ESP 0w or 5w30 in a '15 Sprinter 2.1L I maintain, never less than 15K mi. OCI but sometimes more like 20K. I've been servicing it since something like 80K miles, now at 180K and I've never pulled a UOA but that engine is happy as a clam and has needed less work than I expected...

Should they have needed changed once already before the 76K at which I did the work? And replaced the plugs, of course.

What was your oil choice and change interval? I filled this one up with M1 EP 5w30 over a Wix 51334.

Just R&R'd the head and put it back together. It's the sister of a regular customer that was on her way here for Christmas from 600 mi. away - options were to leave it here to fix>come back and drive it home, or pay to ship it back home just to pay more $$ to have it done there. Once I...

2016 Hyundai Tucson 1.6 T-GDI and 7-speed DCT trans., 76,000 miles. I recently tore down this engine to fix a burned valve, which I learned these engines are known to do at varying not-high mileage after diagnosing a misfire which revealed 0 compression on #4 cylinder. I have no idea how...

From limited first hand experience - I think there's decent ones and really not-good ones. It seems like the Theta and Gamma engines are just a liability, and my casual observation is that Kia/Hyundai are usually selling a car with equal or greater features than the competition at an average...

Follow up, and some insight on the Hyundai Gamma T-GDI engine. Confirmed one exhaust valve slagged, also this wear at 6:00 and 12:00 on all four cylinders - probably why these engines have such bad oil consumption issues. After getting it back together and driving a little bit to shake it down...

Very interesting roster, but each really does have merit. I owned a '03 T&C from 185K to 235K - about once a year I'd spend $3-600 on parts, give it a "spa day(s)", and go again. It wasn't in especially good shape when it was given to me, but none of the work I did was heavy repairs or...

The "diesel additives bad for gas engines" sayers are ignorant of the science. Rotella 15/40 or 10/30 if oil pressure is strong and you wanna look for it a little harder.

No threshold of mileage it'll make any difference. Use it and fuggetabahttit.