Recent content by Drew99GT

I really wanted to try the Valvoline EP but went with Aisin FZ. I ain’t paying $25/ quart! Seems to shift and drive just fine, but it always has.

It has a drain plug. Pretty easy to do. I decided to do the cycle through the gears technique instead of driving it between drains. Worked good. 2nd drain came out as dirty as the first but the 3rd was fairly clear. Lots quicker this way.

Im about to do a 3rd trans drain and fill on my 16 Mazda CX-5. I always do 3 drain and fills since you can’t get all the fluid out with just 1. Question: I know the pump in the trans circulates the fluid…. Is it sufficient to just drain, refill, start the vehicle and cycle the gears, and...

Huh, mine does the same thing. 5.25 quarts and it’s full in the dipstick. Even after checking the next morning. Have driven it in cold weather for a few weeks and now it’s almost half a quart over. Smells like fuel.

The drivetrain on the older Cx-5s is darn near bulletproof and 2016 seems to be the most reliable year. I’ve had newer ones as loaners and they weren’t nearly as peppy as my 2016. I did get a 21 turbo as a loaner when some warranty work was being done and I’d get a turbo hands down, but I...

Since the engine is warm and the rings are closed up, I wound think idling an up to operating temp engine wouldn’t dilute fuel at all.

I have a 2016 Cx-5 and it’s been great. The AWD has never left me stranded in snow, it’s peppy, handles really good. Great fuel mileage. BUT….. and this is a complaint many have. It’s not comfortable. At all. It rides rough (and that’s with 17s, can’t imagine how bad it’d be with 18s or...

Lake Speed has indicated oil has to be at least 200 degrees for an extended period of time to boil off fuel, so I don’t think that any extended idling helps cause it just doesn’t put heat in an engine. Particularly the oil. On the test in the video, they got higher temps after 5 minutes of...

That and selling a rebuild in an engine when a crate motor would be thousands less!

For sure, but this test proves that idling to try and get heat in the engine and “warm it up” in cold weather is probably gonna increase engine wear as fuel dilution increases. Best practice is start, let it stabilize a few seconds, then light throttle and low load/rpms until engine temps get...

Good ol Dave! I know, but the test was interesting! Read the reviews for Dave’s Auto Center. Not good!

Granted, this is a diesel I think, but should apply to gas engines as well, particularly GDI. Summary. They tested 3 cold starts and idled for 15 minutes, tested the oil, then started and drove 3 times for 15 minutes. Results? 50% more fuel from idling. Lake Speeds reasoning is ring gap...

I think the main benefit to boutique oils is extended drains. Most modern synthetic oils at WM are gonna provide the same overall protection of changed on an appropriate interval. For vehicles that sit and get driven rarely, especially for shorter trips, changing more often seems to me to...

According to this Reddit post, Shell confirmed this. Sorry if it’s been posted before, couldn’t find it. https://www.reddit.com/r/AskAMechanic/s/kTtM5oWR5j

This is why I started adding 2 quarts of 5w-30 to 0w-20 in my CX-5. I just did an oil change at 3500 miles and it was like straight gas draining out. Lots of fuel dilution. And I have about a 10 mile highway commute each day. In fact I blocked off half the grill to block the radiator so it...