Recent content by mark pruett

  1. M

    Question on Calculus for a middle schooler

    That's what I was thinking myself; Algebra II and Trig are the primary prerequisites for Calculus I. Geometry's sort of a side-line math course that doesn't really build on, or much tie into other math courses at the high school or college level. I also would have him hold off on physics until...
  2. M

    Oil for older B&S engines

    No, I'm not. The SAE requirements are viscosity specs- 30 means it has a minimum viscosity at 100C of 9.3 cSt, a maximum viscosity less than 12.5 cSt, and a HSHT value of 2.9 or higher. That's IT. Nothing to do with viscosity improvers, cold weather performance, and so on. The 10w spec is a...
  3. M

    Oil for older B&S engines

    Those sorts of charts have never made a lot of sense to me. Isn't a SAE 30 a SAE 30? As in, all three of those oils will be within the same viscosity range at operating temp? Why is the 10w-30 only rated up to 40F? What's so magical about 40F? Beyond that, the SAE viscosity specs are actually...
  4. M

    Gave Up On Valvoline - Havoline?

    My guess is that Saudi Aramco bought the back-end part of Valvoline because it was good oil. They most likely want to improve their lubricant manufacturing capability as well as increase it globally. Making the oil worse doesn't really figure in to that. As far as "keeping the money in the US"...
  5. M

    Truck stalls when coming to a stop & severity of gasket leaks.

    Turned out that between new plugs and some kind of intake cleaning, it cured that weird stalling right up.
  6. M

    AC issue... not sure exactly what.

    My pickup's AC has started doing something a bit strange- it'll run cold about 4/5 of the time, and then for no reason that I can tell, shift to blowing tepid/warm air for a minute or so, then it goes back to blowing good and cold for another 4-5 minutes. I'm not low on refrigerant according...
  7. M

    Do you stretch any maintenance items beyond the OEM Service Interval?

    I'm guilty of not paying much attention at all to some of the intervals on my pickup. Their definition of "severe service" includes basic operation of a vehicle in any North Texas city, and has a bunch of absurdly low intervals for some things. I'm not about to change my rear axle oil every 15k...
  8. M

    Truck stalls when coming to a stop & severity of gasket leaks.

    I don't know what they used, but it's a professional shop with a great reputation, so I doubt it was a $12 bluetooth dongle or anything like that. They said no codes and they couldn't get it to do it or even to get it to idle funny. They suggested a throttle body/intake/fuel system cleaning and...
  9. M

    Truck stalls when coming to a stop & severity of gasket leaks.

    My pickup (05 Dakota) will occasionally stall when I come to a stop after driving at a moderate or faster speed. More frequently it'll have a low idle for a second or two but not actually stall. What might cause this? Do far mecha haven't spotted anything obvious - they're saying plug...
  10. M

    Changed battery, now odd starting problems

    Sure enough, that did the trick. I let it idle for a while, and drove it around on all the errands for the past few days, and it's starting up just fine without needing to touch the gas pedal now.
  11. M

    Changed battery, now odd starting problems

    So I finally had to change my battery in my pickup (2005 Dodge Dakota, 3.7L V6, auto transmission). Through some quirk of manufacturing, this particular battery lasted six years, rather than the usual 3 or so that they seem to last here in Texas. For the past few months it had been starting...
  12. M

    Texas Refinery Grease

    I don't know anything about the greases, but it does amuse me that "Texas Refinery Corporation", who manufactures that grease doesn't have an actual refinery within about 125 miles of where they're located, and the closest one is actually in Oklahoma, not Texas.
  13. M

    Do Some Oils Ever "Feel" Better To You?

    KY oil? I didn't know they had oil in Kentucky. But their jelly tastes terrible.
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