Are we really accomplishing anything?

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quote:

Originally posted by zam:
I'm wondering what all of the talk on this board is really accomplishing. Before you flame me though realize I do not intend to criticize anyone. I'm an oil freak too and I read all the posts here. My only point is it seems that for all the posting everyone pretty much agrees that if you change your oil and filter ever 3000 you'll get a long life out of your vehicle.

Let me give an example of what I'm talking about. I have a friend who's 88 Crown Vic with the 5.O liter V-8 has 220,000 miles on it. All he's ever done is change the oil every 3000 with a Wix filter. To top it off he has always used the oil that's in his dad's farm bulk tank. Mobil Delvac 1300 straight 30 weight. He's never read this board. He even uses the 30 weight in the Winter!!

The Crown Vic runs like a top on its original motor and tranny. So, is the board really accomplishing anything....?

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Hear, hear!!!!! I agree with you 100%!!!! I, too, believe in mineral oil and changing it every 3,000 miles. I also believe in using straight 30-weight even though I keep getting shot down for advocating use of 30-weight.

But to be fair, frequenting this board has modified my approach a little. Now, I'd use an oil as thin as a 5w-30 in the wintertime. I would never have put 5w-30 in my engine before I frequented this board.
 
I'm sure I'd still be getting good service from my car if I ran cheap dino & changed every 3K. I drive 510 miles a week just going to work & back. I ran my last two intervals at 6K & 9K w/BobZoil, excellent analysis results on both. I'll probably go 11K on this run. Saves time, money, & wear & tear on my aluminum oil pan drain plug threads
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(already has a single oversize self-tapping plug in it). Car now has 136K on it, I plan to drive it to at least 250K.

Yes, I could probably run supertech oil & Fram filters every 3K & do well- but where's the fun in that?
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beats me, i chng oil at 6000 miles, i use mob-1 and a o.e.m. filter toy,suz,and hyundai. my dad uses k-mart 10w-30 and a k-mart filter changes every spring and every fall regardless of miles 175k on a 92 dodge dakota v6, dont use any oil, dosent blow any smoke. maybe hes lucky or iam throwing my money down a rathole.
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Well, let's say your car uses 4 quarts of oil.

A typical dino oil costs $1.25/qt, so that's $5 for 4 qts. Add $5 for an oil filter, and that's $10 every 3,000 miles.

If you shop around you can get Mobil 1 for around $4/qt (especially if you buy a jug on sale at WalMart). $16 for 4 qts plus $5 for a filter and that's $21.

So you're paying roughly twice as much, but I'd say that with a good synthetic, the vast majority of people could safely use the maximum oil change interval recommended by most auto manufacturers, typically 7,500 miles. That's more than twice the 3,000 mile interval.

So with synthetic, there's less time wasted changing your oil, and you get the same amount of engine protection (usually better) for about the same price.
 
No question about it, 3000 mile oil changes useing the cheapest SL rated oil you can buy is more than adequate BUT consider the unexpected! A busted radiator hose or broken belt while your cruising the highway and you'll wish you had the added protection of a synthetic. You never know when the added heat resisting capabilites of a synthetic might make the difference between no damage at all and a totally fried engine.
With most decent cars at over $25000 + insurance, registration ,gas, tolls, etc.etc.etc. the extra cost of synthetics sort of fades into the big picture as not being a really big deal.
If you're driving an old clunker or a "throw away car" (like a hyundai or kia) ,yeah, synthetics are like flushing money down the toilet.
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wow ed, wish i could afford to call my hyundai a throw away car. for me its top of the line, and has to last 100k at least.and iam keeping my fingers crossed i can afford another new hyundai, when the time comes. a throwaway car? to me thats something that costs less than a dime, inch long, comes out of a gum machine.
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quote:

Originally posted by Ray H:

quote:

Originally posted by joee12:
NAYSAYER
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HEATHEN
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UNBELIEVER
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BLASHPHEMER
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Shoot, I was feeling very complemented until I came across your disclaimer,
quote:



Just Kidding
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Rats!


Actually Ray, it was aimed at Zam. But take this anyway you "Infidel Defiler"
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Oh and by the way Ray, just kidding
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-Joe
 
Found this site while searching for the 'holy grail' on how to reduce my oil consumption.

Tried the 'cleaner' then a 10w30 HM oil but that did not seem to help much.

Now using 15w40 which looks promising;even got rid of the noise(piston slap? valve tick?) during cold start when using lighter weight oil. Might run an analysis on this oil sample & next.

Most likely stay with this grade/brand oil and change every 3k;might buy the fram sure drain to make changes faster tho. For the winter , I might go with 5w40 Mobil1 and just double the change interval.

Got some good info on gear lube and MC oil as well. So, I say thanks to all the participants
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[ April 03, 2003, 08:06 AM: Message edited by: pinoy99 ]
 
quote:

But mostly we're nerds who like to talk about oil.

Yup... that about sums it up!
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I would love to go to Extended drains on my 3.4L Grand Am. However, I won't do it.

GM's are known for leaky intake gasket. Let's say I fill the crankcase with M1, and plan to run it for 7500 miles. Suppose my intake gaskets decide to start leaking 100 miles into this interval. I would never even know anout it until I did the UOA at the next change. I wouldn't want to drive 7500 miles with trace amounts of coolant getting into my oil. I'd rather change dino oil at 3k-4k miles... it's cheap insurance.
 
There's a lot of good tech on this board besides oil drain intervals; if you can't find something relevant to your interests or situation, you ain't trying.
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Definitely, using any ol' oil and filter with changes ever 3k will get you a long way (I've seen 150k and 175k before finally selling the cars). But for some people frequent oil changes are annoying and wasteful. I consider frequent oil changes a waste of resources: financial, ecological, labor, and time. I don't want to do an oil change at 3k any more than I want to drain and refill the tub halfway through my bath. Or replace my tires when the tread is halfway used up.

So whether all this talk is accomplishing anything depends on your motivation. If you're happy with the status quo then there's not any reason to improve it. If you're looking for something better then you might find it here somewhere.

Cheers, 3MP
 
quote:

Originally posted by zam:
Let me give an example of what I'm talking about. I have a friend who's 88 Crown Vic with the 5.O liter V-8 has 220,000 miles on it. All he's ever done is change the oil every 3000 with a Wix filter. To top it off he has always used the oil that's in his dad's farm bulk tank. Mobil Delvac 1300 straight 30 weight. He's never read this board. He even uses the 30 weight in the Winter!!

The Crown Vic runs like a top on its original motor and tranny.
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My question is does it really run like a top?? Has he ever had emmissions tests? Does it even pass. Usually after about 100,000 miles cars run on dino, have a hard time passing.

What about compression, tests? What about any oil burning or smoking on startup?

Why do I ask this. As a matter of fact I was behind a guy (I was on my motorcycle so I notice alot of things)the other day in a newer model Mercury, Marquis(like the crown vic model) Anyhow when he took off from the stop light a big cloud of blue'sh smoke comes out the tail pipe, I thought it odd for such a late model. I could give you the exact year, but I'm guessing mid 90's

So anyhow, my addition to this post, is that if you can extend engine life while maitaining more effient running engine, by using better lubrcants/filtration then you will save money and the environment in the long run.

I think it is pretty hard to Kill an engine, but it's not very hard to have one run poorly to the point of inefficiency.
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quote:

Originally posted by zam:
I'm wondering what all of the talk on this board is really accomplishing. Before you flame me though realize I do not intend to criticize anyone. I'm an oil freak too and I read all the posts here. My only point is it seems that for all the posting everyone pretty much agrees that if you change your oil and filter ever 3000 you'll get a long life out of your vehicle.
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I agree. It really depends on what floats your boat. Unless you have a real interest this board and its topics are not relavent to the real world for most people. Has it provided great info yep, has it made my cars last longer or will it, honestly don't know.
 
quote:

Originally posted by Drew99GT:
Long dran intervals are nice and all, but just don't work when you drive 3 miles to work and back every day in 15 degree weather.

Why not?...with the right oil. On my Mobil1 15w50 analysis, which was throughout the winter, I went 5k miles and was fine. Probably could have gone a few thousand more. I had a 5 mi trip in the city every day to work.
 
quote:

Originally posted by Ed:
No question about it, 3000 mile oil changes useing the cheapest SL rated oil you can buy is more than adequate BUT consider the unexpected! A busted radiator hose or broken belt while your cruising the highway and you'll wish you had the added protection of a synthetic. You never know when the added heat resisting capabilites of a synthetic might make the difference between no damage at all and a totally fried engine.

If you're driving an old clunker or a "throw away car" (like a hyundai or kia) ,yeah, synthetics are like flushing money down the toilet.
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I have had more than my fair share of catastrophic cooling system failures. On some of these occasions, it was on a very busy freeway with no shoulder and no turn-off for miles. Had to keep on going. For part of the event, the car was completely dry, both in coolant and motor oil (the latter just boiled off in the intense heat). No engine damage whatsoever. Never had the heads off, never even had the valve covers off. The oil? Mineral Castrol GTX.

Even before I started to drive, Dad was worse than me as far as blowing up cooling systems in cars. He, too has never had to have engine work done. In his time, synthetics were not on the market.

It may be true what you say about synthetics giving extra protection in tough conditions. But I have no reason to believe modern mineral oils give any less protection, esp. when used for only 3,000 miles.
 
quote:

Originally posted by novadude:
... I would love to go to Extended drains on my 3.4L Grand Am. However, I won't do it.

GM's are known for leaky intake gasket. Let's say I fill the crankcase with M1, and plan to run it for 7500 miles. Suppose my intake gaskets decide to start leaking 100 miles into this interval. I would never even know anout it until I did the UOA at the next change. I wouldn't want to drive 7500 miles with trace amounts of coolant getting into my oil. I'd rather change dino oil at 3k-4k miles... it's cheap insurance.


So you're running UOAs every 3k-4k mile drain? Then why not get better protection for longer intervals with a synthetic & simply run the same UOA frequency? If you're not running UOAs every drain, then you're probably worse off than running M1 for twice the distance. "Trace amounts" of coolant may not be detected visually, so you'll still never know if all you do is dump the oil. And if it is visible you'll see it when you pull the sample, or even earlier as you regularly check the oil.
 
If you plan on keeping your 3.4L Grand Am for any length of time, it would be wise to go ahead and have the intake gasket set replaced BEFORE you see any signs of it leaking. I'd say 95% of owners on www.grandamgt.com have the leak. Most strat out leaking to the outside of the motor under the thermostat housing. You can usually see a puddle below the thermostat housing. If the gasket fails all at once, you'll be **** out of luck and might need a new motor.
 
Well, I've learned a lot about oil that I didn't know before...

Found a site with some very (and some "not-so") knowledgeable people...

Bought some Auto-rx and am in the process of cleaning two vehicles...
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Made my neighbor buy some for his Mercedes...

Found out about a cooling system additive that sounds like that system's version of Auto-rx...

Confirmed what I did know about oil, ATF, gear lube and filters (well, for the most part, anyway!). The answer is still "Yes: 3K dino oil & filter changes do WORK!" for some people.

Read a lot about oil analysis, used & virgin...

All in all, time well spent!
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The reasons for using synthetic IMO are simple:

Cold weather protection
Better protection for performace cars (Engine revs)
Keeping wear numbers at lowest possible
Towing boats etc.
Keeping engines clean
EXTENDING DRAINS.

I think these are great reasons to use synthetic oil.
 
I don't agree with zam that nothing is being accomplished at this web site. I try to take the best possible care of my car at the least price. I want to use products that actually work. And I have an interest in motor oils and car care (I guess I could call it a minor hobby, along with all of my major hobbies). Many of the people who come to this web site seem to know a lot about motor oil, oil filters, etc. Some apparently actually work for oil companies. Every product that seemed to be well thought of at this web site that I have tried has actually worked. Perhaps any decent SL rated motor oil will get the job done if it is changed every 3000 miles, but is it not worth it to find out what may well be the best conventional motor oils? The quality difference between the best conventional motor oil and the worst may be greater than many think. Perhaps enough of a difference to mean thousands of more miles for the vehicle. Let me give you an example. I found out at this web site that XXXXXXX oil may not be the greatest. I don't know if that is true or not-I am not an expert on motor oils. But if an oil I have been using is not as good as I think it is, I want to know-and I want to know what may well be a better quality oil. I would rather have that better quality oil in the crankcase of my vehicle, even if the difference is slight. I discovered fuel injector cleaner at this web site that I can say actually made a difference in my car. I discovered Auto-RX at this web site. I think that this web site does a tremendously important service to people who have no real way of determining what motor oils, oil filters, etc., are really any good.
 
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