Oil Change & Maintenance Habits

[SMB]

I do not know whether to post this topic here or in the Humor section.

Here is what my friends say about OC and general maintenance.

Friend #1:
Says never to mix synthetic and dino oil. His mechanic says that the engine cannot handle it. He switched to synthetic forever and will not go back to regular dino oil.

Friend #2:
He has this famous saying:" Don't work for the car but let the car work for you." God knows what it means. He almost hit me when I replaced my old 12 year-old spare tire, which was never been used before and looks brand new! I gave it to him. He replaced only one rear pad out of 4!

Friend #3:
Also thinks that once you switch to synthetic, cannot go back. Thinks that timing belt replacement is a complete rip off. He is trying to sell his rusted out 91 Geo Prizm for $1,000 for 3 years now. Even a $100 is too much for his car!

I can go on and on but this is a general idea about their thoughts. I am sure you heard some of it before.
Amazingly, all of their cars are still running until this day with very minimal maintenance.

 

[Colt45ws]

If its a non-interference engine, the only thing that will happen if the timing belt breaks is the car will need to be towed and have a new belt installed. If its an interference engine, it will need to be towed and have a new engine installed.

 

[river_rat]

Well that's a credit to the engineers, metalurgists, and assemblers that they still run.

 

[Herz]

my friend drives his astro van with a broken transmission only in 1-2nd gear.

 

[KLowD9x]

If the spare looked new and was not rotting, why replace it?

I wouldn't hit you, it's your money, but if it holds air and looks fine, what's the problem?

 

[maximus]

Some people are ignorant. I bet your friend changes his synthetic at 3000.

 

[FZ1]

You need new friends.

 

[gfh77665]

Originally Posted By: KLowD9x
If the spare looked new and was not rotting, why replace it?

...but if it holds air and looks fine, what's the problem?



Big problem. I learned the hard way about 10+ year old spares that looked "perfect", twice. Trust me, you will be MUCH better off not getting stranded if you don't have a "perfect" old spare that fails a few miles after you need it! Learn from my 2 mistakes!

 

[fdcg27]

+1
I had an old Michelin XZX that had been driven only a few miles from new mounted on the RT FRNT of the Aerostar back in early spring. The right front tire it replaced looked really ugly, as a result of the Aerostar needing tie rod ends, actually a cheap and easy fix and the alignment was reasonable as well.
My plan was to run the old 185-14, left over from either my Vanagon or one of the W123s, through fall and replace all four tires before winter.
Within 5K, the tire developed a broken belt. It had been stored in the garage and still had its mold flashing. Nonetheless, it had aged into uselessness.
I replaced all four in early July, instead.
The moral of the story is that one should be very wary of an old tire, regardless of how little use it has seen.

 

[StevieC]

Originally Posted By: FZ1
You need new friends.
+1

 

[H2GURU]

Friends #s 1&3 read their owner's manual as this is Toyota's stance... use one or the other no problem ,but, NO CONSTANT SWITCHING between SYN and regular oils.

 

[Kestas]

Originally Posted By: river_rat
Well that's a credit to the engineers, metalurgists, and assemblers that they still run.

You're welcome!

 

[FZ1]

Lol.

 

[Eddie]

Find new car friends

 

[SMB]

they are good friends. actually if they need help with car trouble they come and ask me for advice. i told them about the BITOG website and that i get a lot of information from here.

and yes the tires will go bad even if they look good after a few years. when i replaced my spare it had some dry rot for some reason.

 

[caravanmike]

Originally Posted By: SMB
He replaced only one rear pad out of 4!


oh my gosh!!!! i am speechless!!!! does he give the other three pads to the new owner when he sells it?

 

[SMB]

Originally Posted By: caravanmike
Originally Posted By: SMB
He replaced only one rear pad out of 4!


oh my gosh!!!! i am speechless!!!! does he give the other three pads to the new owner when he sells it?


Yes. Buy my car and get 3 new rear pads!

 

[SMB]

Originally Posted By: Onmo'Eegusee
If its a non-interference engine, the only thing that will happen if the timing belt breaks is the car will need to be towed and have a new belt installed. If its an interference engine, it will need to be towed and have a new engine installed.


I checked online and his car has an interference engine. He had to change the timing belt since the water pump was leaking badly. But even after telling him that, he does not believe me or his mechanic regarding timing belt replacement.

Thank god i am not like that! also thanks to the internet forums, including BITOG!

 

[Bruce T]

I was laughing at the phrase, "Don't work for the car, but let the car work for you." Sounds like a lazy excuse to avoid any routine maintenance. Instead, how about, "Treat your car right, and it will treat you right?" That makes a lot more sense.

Never mix dino and synthetic oil? What nonsense. It won't hurt at all to leave some petroleum oil in the engine before adding synthetic oil. The worst approach is running a solvent-based engine flush first, since the undrained solvent will destroy new oil.

The generally recognized standard is to replace tires at 6 years. What if the tire has seen little sunlight as a spare tire? Still don't run it past 10 years old. These are not arbitrary numbers. They're based on a major rise in failure rates. Failure = crash. Possible death. Lazy cheapskates will get themselves and others killed! See the link below:

http://www.safetyresearch.net/Library/SRS046.pdf

 

[Bruce T]

Here is what Tire Rack says about tire aging (See Parts 1 and 2):

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=138

Determining the age of a tire:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=11