Recent content by Jcp123

Yeah, the sub-$3k market is hard. Got my Civic with 168k for $2500...it was at a dealer, so it included TT&L. Won’t say it’s perfect, but it’s pretty darn good, after three years I’m in for around another $600 for an alternator, battery, belts, an O2 sensor, thermostat plus the lower thermostat...

The tstat in my wife’s Town and Country 3.6 Pentastar went bad at around 98k, so for whatever reason this sounds like a thing. I cheaped out and got an AutoZone one - not sure who made it - and burped it back up with “universal” coolant. Bad idea? Maybe. She’s at 103k and so far no problems. I...

Interesting, thanks!

I’ve been a trucker for most of that time...100 miles out to the yard, car sat for four weeks, 100 miles back for my week off. Maybe a few errands in that week off. Mine’s been the only car which takes 5w30 for a while, I prolly shoulda grabbed a bunch of 5w20, but I had no need for it when I...

Not sure. Depends how the wind flies I suppose. Probably needs to be within 5-10 miles?

351c is the lesser-known hero of Ford’s V8s. Keep that sucker going!

If you were near the coast...don’t underestimate how much the coastal breezes can put as much salty stuff on your metal as it can. Even out in California, my circle of Mustang folks had someone living in Santa Cruz, a beach town, and they had some horrible rot which they readily put down to the...

Maybe? Oh the joys of used cars.

Back in my teens, my Pa was awesome in allowing me to explore my interests in auto maintenance. He had a 2000 Passat. Me being just ignorant enough...I pulled the trans plug instead of the engine oil plug. We happened to have an especially service-oriented VW dealer where we lived, and...

Maybe a quart and change out of my ‘97 Civic’s 5-speed. Two quarts of Honda MTF back in. I was worried my synchros might have been going, so I wanted to do the fluid change. Got the genuine stuff at a premium price (my local dealer is hella high on parts prices), plus crush washers for the drain...

Yeah I figured that might need to be over there. Had a life change, so thought I might try to consolidate both questions a bit.

They come with the service, which again I get at around 50% off, so I wouldn’t be buying them on my own.

Hmm Supertech flew under my radar. I’m not necessarily looking to scrimp; I don’t mind paying a few bucks for something a little better. Let’s play a game: for $50 or so at Valvoline, am I getting anything better than I would for $45 plus my time and energy picking out oil and filters myself...

Good to know. If there are any other quality concerns about Valvoline filters, I’d love to hear about it. Likewise if there are any standouts in the mid-quality filter arena.

So, I started to get nerdy about oil and filters back around 2015. At the time, I had determined that Pennzoil Platinum was the gold standard for oil. And due to a fluke, I hoarded what my store had available in 5w30 (24qts) at $0.80/qt (!). Now that I’ve exhausted that stash, I have a few...