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Castrol Syntec Black Bottle. 150ml of Ceratec (let the additive bashing begin!). Replaced with M1 AFE. I'll probably stick with that as long as I can find it cheap.

First UOA from my Mazda 6 and the 2.5 doesn't fail to impress. The engine is mostly driven on highways and open back roads. I could extend the OCI to 7500mi and the warranty would be fine. However, I am rotating the OEM tires every 5k to make them last as long as possible, so it is just easier...

Cut open a OEM Mazda 1WPE-14-302 with approximately 5k-ish miles on it. I was worried about the shift from a Japan manufacturing to Thailand, but after inspection it appears that my fears were unfounded. It is a stout little filter and the filter media uniformity and structure are above...

After a lot of thought and research, I decided that I needed a dash cam in each of our cars. I feel like with the technology that is now available, it is cheap insurance. Particularly since we live in a town of horrid drivers. I decided to buy one for the Mazda first since I drive it far more...

Don't think anyone has posted this development in the saga yet... http://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/201...-oil/375205001/

I saw this and thought that if it is big enough to score a wine bottle, it ought to fit any oil filter. Thoughts? https://www.massdrop.com/buy/kinkajou-bottle-cutter

This last weekend I changed the MT gear oil in the Mazda. I had about 9k miles on the car at the time. You might ask why I would do this on a new car. Well, the Aisin manual in the car has a reputation for being notchy, especially into 2nd, so I thought I would try to smooth it out. I filled...

So the wife loves having a cordless stick vac for quick pickups. Our Hoover Linx's battery went on the Fritz, so she got a Dyson V6 on Black Friday last year. While I'm not a big fan of these toy vacuums, she likes them so I don't fight her on it. Part of the reason I didn't just replace the...

Here is the factory filter off my Mazda. Tokyo Roki, made in Japan, 4.5k miles. Looks and feels pretty stout to me.

Howdy Everyone! I thought I would share this. I recently purchased a 2017 Mazda 6 6M and I wanted to get the paint corrected and sealed as soon as possible. I went ahead and did some other work at that same time. Below is the process and the photos. Enjoy! Wash - Griot's Brilliance Wash Clay -...

So I just purchased the Mazda in my signature. I'm starting to think about how I want to maintain it and I wanted to see what everyone thinks about installing an oil catch can. Since the Skyactiv is DI I was wondering about the merits of an oil catch can. Since DI motors are known for oil...

So, when it comes to automatic transmissions I am semi-literate. I know enough to know that I don't trust them. Now I've got a strange problem that I would like to run by you guys. My 2013 RAV4 in my sig has started to shift strange. I drive 120 miles round-trip from Lynchburg to...

Here is my most recent UOA for the 2013 RAV4. Definitely seems like the longer trips and the warmer weather are treating the oil better. Most of these miles were highway. I commute 120 miles round trip during the week and have some trips to New Jersey, Richmond, etc in there. The only strange...

Winter months probably account for fuel dilution. Everything else looks good. This is with TGMO 0w20, FU, and Liqui-Moly. Replaced it with 3 quarts of TGMO and 2 quarts of M1 0w40. Caterham blend!

Here is the recent oil change from my 2013 Toyota RAV4. This is my first extended oil change, having just come off of the ToyotaCare free maintenance not too long ago. I'm not sure where the elevated silicon came from, it still had the factory air filter in it (replaced after the oil change)...

Just took a XG9972 and some Mobil1 EP 11k miles in my RAV4. I'm waiting on the oil analysis of that run, but for now here is the filter. Very please with the results... From the back, the filter media still looks remarkably clean:

The Odyssey has 23k miles on it and the original Michelin MXV4s were shot. There was a little bit of tread left on them, but they were absolutely awful. Their traction in the wet and snow was nearly non-existent. After some shopping around, I ended up with a set of Cooper CS5 Grand Touring...

Hello All! My wife and I are flying home to California at the end of this week for Christmas. My dad is getting on in years and has some health problems, so I was going to change the oil for him in his 2001 Mexican Beetle (on a 1967 pan). It is a stock 1600cc air-cooled engine with EFI. I think...

I have posted here previously about some work that needs done on my Audi A6. You can look at it here. Well, after much contemplation I decided that I wanted something newer and more versatile. I have a couple rental properties and an CUV would come in handy hauling things like microwaves...

The Ody (see sig) now has about 17k on it. Right now, the OEM Michelin Primacy MXV4s will probably make it to 25k. I've been rotating them every 7.5k, but even then they are wearing like I would expect OEM tires to wear... FAST. Even though I can push them to 25k, I may end up replacing them...