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It’s reassuring to know that both labs match. Unless there’s coolant or other contamination I wouldn’t draw any conclusions from a 4K UOA on a new car. My anecdotal experience is that the Ford IOLM has very little or no margin of error built in. So if you are going by the IOLM bring your own...

Not a gun nut. I have a cheaper Marlin 12 gauge pump that I sort of inherited from my Dad. If it came to that I want to be the guy with a shotgun anyway. If there’s a door between us, I want the sound of a shell racking into the chamber as a non-lethal deterrent.

Can’t draw too many conclusions with a mere 5k sample. On the other hand, not a lot to complain about is there? If you go much longer pony up for TAN. I had a 9k run with a fabulous 4.0 TBN. Turned out TAN was 5.0. It happens.

There’s no clear delineation between gasoline and the next slug of whatever going down the pipeline. The stuff in between is called “transmix” and gets rerefined. I don’t know how it would happen but a little contamination that way maybe?

Definitely is higher octane. In my car you could practically feel the engine ratcheting down the knock sensor. Ran very well. I assume it has some solvent characteristics so it might be useful to run a tankful immediately in advance of an oil change. But basically, I think it’s immoral to put...

I’ve had wax buildup. So far as I know it doesn’t hurt anything.

The main factor is time. It’s almost like countdown device My experience on the 3.7L is that it doesn’t like inactivity. It actually seems to reward you for a few days after a long trip. I never tried to pull a trailer at high rpms in mountainous terrain, but more heavy duty use didn’t seem...

AAA has quality control. They are really there. They hire observers who randomly and secretly go out to the call and see how it is handled. Not just once in a blue moon, either.

Never admit to illegality in print.

“Help you complete your return.” Not “money back guarantee.” In the used car world the dealer gets the car back and keeps your money and calls it even.

Also the guys who think that maintenance begins and ends with conscientious oil changes. I used to be one. The car basically caved in around the purring, M-1 maintained, engine.

That’s what I did on my 3.7L Ford F-150. It was accurate, but surprisingly , there was almost no margin of error. 25-30% oil life remaining on the IOLM is about right if you want to be conservative but not anal. But yes. We tend to argue with the UOA, don’t we?

8k down to 7k. 3.7L F-150. Deliberately ran IOLM almost all the way down (9,200 mi) and tested. The oil was barely OK. Too close to failure for comfort. 25-30% oil life remaining is about right. Also use EP oil now that it’s out of warranty .

I’ve gotten to like my white vehicle well enough. I don’t get hung up on these things. All things being equal, I tend to default to a more offbeat color if I can. Just to be a little different.

I don’t think my F-150 even has a change interval. From a statistical standpoint it’s probably even money that a contaminant would be introduced during the change causing failure or that the system would fail for lack of a change. As we all know, BITOG posters never screw this stuff up. This is...

I see Ford “Lobo”s (F-150) from time to time. When I was a kid Mercedes had a plant there and you would see Ponton type 1950s style Mercs for years and years. The big brand in those days was Chrysler. I suppose it was the Lago Alberto plant near Mexico City. For whatever reason the quality...

My containers have radically changing chemistry compared to actual soil. The very rich stuff I started with in May is substantially depleted in October. (Yes, the phosphorus drops more slowly than other nutes although it was still significant.) I can at least keep the Ph adjusted all by myself...

She had tremendous chops. She could sell a song. In this case she showed restraint to good effect. The temptation for a singer with a big voice and great range is to torture the song to show off. She held back (compared to what she could do) to very good effect.

It’s just a hotly competitive segment. You don’t have to pay the Toyota tax for a great vehicle. The thing about any decent truck that critics overlook is that you can get good service out of it literally for decades. The same vehicle goes from first to second to third car to hand-me down in a...

Maybe every six seven weeks. Used to be almost every week when new. Covid slowed it down. Cost me money to stop being so diligent. I used to stop by the coin op after my ski excursions and get after the undercarriage with plain water. I immediately parked the car for several weeks instead when...