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Sample Date..............10/1/08 Miles on oil:..............6,504 Oil.........................Red Line Grade.....................5W-20 Miles on Car:.............113,862 Make up oil:..............6 oz Aluminum:................1 Chromium:...............0 Iron:......................7...

Last week I received from Blackstone Labs among the very worst UOA results I have every seen for any car, let alone one of my own cars! I made several important mistakes in allowing things to get this out of hand, and maybe this can serve as a useful warning to others as to what can happen if...

I've cut open a handful of filters in the past few years and it's always a pain in the butt. Oil gets everywhere and the filter slips around in your hand as the hacksaw grabs and pulls it. Anybody have a way to make this a simpler task? I'd like to do it every time but it's just too much trouble.

"[paraphrasing...] it used to be that everybody wanted great quality, now everybody has pretty good quality; everybody wants the right features, but everybody's really pretty close on features: what's really going to matter is great design. People will make their purchasing decisions, at least...

I was reading this article, posted as a link in another thread, http://www.camarohomepage.com/ls3/ and got to the parts where it talks about the piston/bore clearance being negative. That's right, the piston is installed into the bore with a 2 micron "interference" fit - no clearance at all -...

Okay I've finally decided to get some photos online. I've been talking about the deposits on our 325i's top-end here for years. This photo is from halfway through two A-RX clean/rinse cycles at around 230k miles. It looked the same before the A-RX and looks the same now at 312k miles: This is...

I've wondered about this for a long time. Many cars, when they get stinking hot from being driven in hot weather, give off this smell from the engine compartment that is hard to describe, but my best attempt would be to say that it is a pungent, "chemical" sort of smell, maybe something that...

This oil is still in. The car just turned over 310k on a drive to Montana and back, including some very high speeds through Wyoming, so I will be interested to see what the analysis looks like when I change it out at around 10k. I did use silicone sealant on the oil pan gasket at 301k so that...

I've ordered two bottles of Auto-RX after deciding to try it in the auto trans in my "new" '97 CR-V. Apparently the trannies on these can be somewhat problematic, not as bad as the infamous Honda V-6 trannies, but problematic. Mine shifts and works perfectly, except that I have noticed that...

I have another thread going elsewhere about fluids for our new (used) Honda CR-V, but will post this coolant-specific question here. I'm not really up to speed on coolant chemistry/compatibility issues. Folks on the Honda boards make a big deal about the blue coolant. "Must use blue." Is there...

Hello folks! We just bought a nice clean first-generation Honda CR-V over the weekend. With 105k on the clock, and having actually been owned by a little old lady, I'd say it's barely broken-in, and it appears to be mechanically very good and I'm looking forward to very likely 100k+ miles of...

Woohoo Red Line oil! I was NOT expecting particularly good numbers on my first Red Line run, but it looks like the stuff did good! With one exception (more on that later) the oil has given me wear numbers, over a decent number of miles, that look like they came out of a barely-broken-in Toyota...

The was the OCI from he1l. First I put some Bars Stop Leak in the oil to attempt to cure a leak that turned out to be a leaking pan gasket (now fixed). That accounts for the 1.5qt of top-up oil during the OCI. That was just the beginning, though. In an ongoing experiment with fuel system...

Do you use a funnel when adding oil and other fluids? If so how do you make sure the funnel is clean, and how do you clean it again after you use it? Some funnels have open/close valves or corrugated tubing to make them bendable... even harder to clean, maybe almost impossible. The last thing I...

My understanding is that in normal engine operation the predominant and desirable mode of lubrication is hydrodynamic. That is, a measurably thick film of oil is maintained between components and no contact occurs. In some proportion of normal operation, however, the hydrodynamic capabilities of...

The problem is that this is becoming a difficult size to find and selection is very limited. I do want to stay with the stock size because the slightly tall tire matches up well with the overall suspension and handling on my car, which is an old E30 BMW 325i. However, I would like to find a...

I've been re-reading some of the AEHaas articles where he makes what I feel to be convincing arguments that thinner oils have many benefits and few drawbacks in the vast majority of driving conditions. One argument I haven't found convincing is that there is an inverse relationship between...

Those who've seen my posts over the years may remember that I've tried A-RX (two clean/rinse cycles) in this engine and reported no change in any performance or appearance aspect. I've also run MMO in the oil for brief periods to attempt some cosmetic cleaning. The engine runs great and has good...

I picked up a bottle on sale at Wal-Mart and haven't been able to find much info here or elsewhere on it. I found the MSDS that said something like "Additive Package" 20-45%, a little Naphtha, tiny bit of Naphthalene, the balance "Hydrocarbon Solvents." No mention of amines or other compounds...

This oil was run from 9/07 through the end of January in my old E30 BMW. I'd reckon this oil saw just about everything in terms of weather and driving conditions except midsummer heat. I tow frequently with this car, usually motorcycles, and the first half of the OCI saw many day trips through...