Never changing oil - Stories

[Jim 5]

Originally Posted By: ekpolk
Originally Posted By: wannafbody
If Toyota continues to be that stupid with warranty claims they'll be the next GM


Done judiciously, what they're actually doing is earning super-loyal customers who will never even think of buying another brand again.


My family was for years die hard GM/Ford/Dodge people. After my dad's first toyota pickup in '89 and a company that takes care of its customers rather than denying basic warranty claims/known problems, they have purchased only toyotas ever since.

I agree with EKPOLK.

 

[wavinwayne]

Originally Posted By: webfors
...Big giant clueless dummies is all I can think of when I read these stories.


The masses are...

 

[SuperDave456]

It makes you REALLY think about buying a used car.

Or at least doing a few short OCI's right after you get one to see what comes out.

 

[StevieC]

I got a story to top it all! My uncle (dad's brother) calls him up yesterday and says that his '92 2000 Eagle GTX (Mitsubishi 4 cyl engine) has failed the emission test miserably and he needs his help to make it pass. (2 years ago it just squeaked by)

So my dad says ok, bring it over... So he brings it over and my dad goes out and starts checking things to find the source of the problems...

Well I just couldn't not have a look at it too because I know how little my uncle does in terms of maintenance.

So I'm havin' a cup of coffee in the drive way while my dads checking it and here is the story.

1) The car has over 340K KM (212K Miles) on it and the last oil change was done at 227K KM. That's 113K KM (70K Miles) on this oil!!!!!

Now the car does burn oil but the original filter has been on there that long and it was in really bad shape and leaking. (Uses Pennzoil YB)

So my dad changes the oil with fresh oil and filter. He had to practically destroy the filter to get it off it was so bad.

2) My dad checks the spark plugs which have barely any center electrode left in them. So these are changed.

3) The PCV is barely functioning and has quite the junk built up on it. So this is changed

4) The Air filter is almost plugged solid and has leaves and pine needles in the air box. So this was replaced and cleaned out

5) The throttle body looked like someone sprayed it with black spray paint and had a very gooey residue on it. (there's a surprise). So this was cleaned

6) The Oxygen sensor (up stream) wire had touched the exaust and burn't and was not functional. (Gee I wonder why the CEL was on)

7) The Cap/Rotar needed replacement and 1 wire was definitely grounding out on the side of the engine housing so all this was replaced.

So my dad puts in a can of engine flush (GUNK) and takes it for a drive. Then comes back and drains the oil out and refills. The stuff looked like Nutella (chocolate toast spread) coming out. He then refills with fresh oil and a fresh filter and starts the car up.

The car now runs like a million bucks and is scheduled for it's emission retest next week. My dad told him to take it out on the highway and do an Italian tune up a couple of times over the next week before the test.

The oil sludge that came out of that engine stunk and made me nautious... Was really gross, and yet the car kept on running!

My dad gave him $#!@ by the way...

 

[jigen]

I like those 90's Mitsubishi engines. They can take a beating (obviously... based on the last post).

 

[Asterix]

Originally Posted By: occupant
*the front brakes were down to 3/32 thick...and I'm not talking about the pads...I'm talking about the ROTORS...the pads were nonexistent, even the rivets were sheared off. I dropped one pad on the ground from a 4' height whilst turning around to ask my wife something, and it shattered into six pieces!


This is why I like Virginia's yearly safety inspection. I know the car next to me has had its brakes and tires looked at by somebody at least once a year. Fine, drive your engine out of oil and get stranded, but at least I know you can stop safely.

Asterix

 

[webfors]

Geez.. if a car can go 70k miles on the same oil, get a tune up and an engine flush, and be on it's merry way.... what the heck are we wasting our time and money on!!?? I could push my oci's of PP to 20k miles and the car would probably still last forever.

 

[lancerplayer]

Originally Posted By: webfors
Geez.. if a car can go 70k miles on the same oil, get a tune up and an engine flush, and be on it's merry way.... what the heck are we wasting our time and money on!!?? I could push my oci's of PP to 20k miles and the car would probably still last forever.


After reading these stories, I wonder the exact same thing.

 

[Challenger71]

Because you want your vehicle(s) to run at peak efficiency thats why. Even though the stories of these vehicles seemingly miraculously survive the beatings, just imagine the stress it has to cope with on a daily basis. It's akin to Russian roulette.


Originally Posted By: webfors
Geez.. if a car can go 70k miles on the same oil, get a tune up and an engine flush, and be on it's merry way.... what the heck are we wasting our time and money on!!?? I could push my oci's of PP to 20k miles and the car would probably still last forever.

 

[John_K]

My wife, before we met while she was in college, bought a used Chevette from her boss. She had problems with it despite low mileage.

One day several months later, she heard her boss say to someone "yeah, I change the oil in my cars every 25000 miles whether it needs it or not!" My wife was horrified and wished she had asked. No wonder she had problems with it!

This is why I buy new cars and keep 'em forever if possible.

John

 

[Patman]

With all these engines somehow miraculously surviving on extremely long oil change intervals with conventional oils, it makes you wonder how long they would last with a synthetic oil that is specifically designed for long drains like Amsoil or Mobil 1 EP? I wouldn't be shocked if they could go 100k between oil changes and still survive (I'm sure the UOAs wouldn't look pretty but I bet the engine could still be functional) Anyone here want to try this test?

 

[afoulk]

My dad used to work with a guy that had an old plymouth barracuda with a slant 6 (The Leaning Tower of Power!). Anyways, apparantly he put about 20,000miles on a year, drove up to the Pocono's every weekend during the summer, and only changed oil once a year. it apparantly went 280,000miles before giving up the ghost.

On a side note, I think it would be neat to get an update on these people that neglected their car so bad that it needed a new engine...I wonder if it was enough to make them change their ways for if they still don't bother checking or changeing the oil.

 

[ekpolk]

Allright, afoulk's post is enough to make me 'fess up. Well, it wasn't really me, my parents were the perps. As I've mentioned here before, as an early teen, I found myself at the dawn of my interest in car things. Somehow, I was dimly aware that cars were something you were supposed to take care of, and well, they didn't. I'll never forget opening the "oil filler" ("filler" would be a misnomer in this case...) on their 73 Dart, with the 225 version of the Slant-6. I still remember thinking that the rich, deep coating of shiny black stuff all over the valvetrain was some sort of "grease".

Obviously, I've learned a thing or two about cars since '75. I hope.

But anyway, that car ran pretty well, other than some pretty annoying "dieseling" that was common with these carbureted workhorses when you tried to turn them off. The car caught fire and burned in front of the town Burger King -- oh the indignity of it. That was in 1979, IIRC. Cause of the fire was likely the dieseling.

 

[afoulk]

We used to have a couple Plymouth Scamps with the 225 slant 6's over the years. Sometimes we has problems with vapor lock when they sat for alittle while after running them good. The 71 that we had needed a head at one point...it didn't have the newer style hardened valve seats and burnt an exhaust valve due to the unleaded fuel. Only other problems we had with them were oil leaks and cracked exh. manifolds. I remember my dad adjusting valves on them quite often (solid lifters). To this day, I miss the 71. My mom drove it for 13years, and then it was given to me as my first car. It had 198,000 on it when we sold it. Didn't burn any oil (just leaked a lot) and ran great. My dad used nothing but Pennzoil YB or Valvoline conventional in it. Not sure what weight though. Mechanic at the garage my dad always went too bought it and drove it for a couple years, don't know what happened to it after that. The body was junk though, the subframe was even starting to rust out. It was such a simple car though....lap belts with a chest belt that could be tucked up into the head liner if you didn't want it, those huge air vents under the dash that you could fit a 6pack in, hi-beam switch on the floor where it belongs, and my personal favorite, the manual foot operated windshield washer pump! And not one [censored] warning sticker on the whole, entire car! Ah, the good old days

Ofcourse I miss the IH Scouts we used to have too

 

[StevieC]

I will let you all know if the Mitsu passes the emission test.

 

[johnd]

I had a '78 VW Rabbit that eventually went 300K before i sold it in 1988. The valve guides passed so much oil that I had to add so much that it never got dirty looking. I finally just quit changing it and changed the filter about every 3-4K. Eventually I got new valve stem seals and oil consumption went to "0" and I went back to regular 3K oil changes.

 

[KrisZ]

The difference between the neglected cars and well maintained ones is how the drive and operate.

Sure, some cars will run forever without any maintenance, but they will most likley run like khrap. Most people that neglect their cars don't care how the car runs, as long as it's moving is good enough.

Personally I can't stand a poor running car, I'd rather have a well runniing "beater" than a 2-3 year old car that's been through treatments as described in this thread.

 

[Trvlr500]

I worked at a gas station back in high school in the late 70's and the mechanic told me a story about a guy with a Cadillac who hadn't changed the oil in 100,000 miles.

It seems the car was running poorly so he brought it in for a tune up and after finding out how long he went without changing the oil they recommended an oil change. They "drained" the oil (in globs), put some tranny fluid in it and ran it for about 5 minutes. Drained and re-filled and the guy shows up to pick up the car and says,"Well, I guess it's good for another 100,000!"

At the same gas station one of the guy's I worked with went on a trip. While he was gone his girlfriend decided she would do him a favor and change the oil on his Pinto.

She filled the engine up until she could see the oil in the fill hole. He gets back and hops in his car, tried to start it up and blew every seal right out of it.

 

[Trvlr500]

I had a Dodge Dart with a slant six in it back in high school. Had it re-built for $400. A "prayer motor" to be sure.

I beat that thing for about 40,000 miles and never changed the oil or the filter. Just added "Good as Gold" reclaimed oil when it needed it fo .29 a quart. I even manged to "total" two extremely hopped up Camaros in a high speed chase in it. They were chasing me. I out-drove them with 6 people in the Dart. A long story I can't go into.

I thrashed it off road and got it airborn on road so many times the engine only held 4 qts instead of 5 and the gas tank only held 12 gallons instead of 18 when I had it hauled off to the junk yard because a front wheel bearing welded itself to the spindle because of no dust-cap.

It still ran perfect.

 

[Jim 5]

I love this thread! Keep 'em coming.