OMG!>10K Oil Changes/ATF at 70K-Advice Please!

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ULVER

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A gal I know, bought a 1995 Ford Escort recently, from a dealer. I checked the oil and transmission fluid at the lot for her. Both were healthy looking, especially the transmission fluid, with a rosey-pink tint and no odor.

After getting the vehicle home, she happened to find a service receipt from a Firestone. It showed the last oil change, at 77K. The car has close to 90K on it now. I tracked down the owner, who happened to be a clueless asian gentleman.

He explained to me, that he had the oil changed every 10,000 miles!
shocked.gif
The only transmission fluid change was around 70,000!

Again, so far, the car is running fine.

I was thinking of immediately doing a quart of engine flush, drain, and then fill with Mobil 1 5w30 with an OME filter. Even though the transmission fluid looks fine, I was thinking of a new filter, and a trip to one of the fluid exchange machines.

Is it possible this vehicle might have actually lived through such poor service?

Comments quite welcomed...Thanks!
smile.gif
 
Do a couple of 1500 mile changes with conventional oil then switch to synthetic, but the first synthetic change should be short around 4000 miles. You can then go 6 months/ 6000 miles with M1.

Another alternative is to try Auto-RX.

I wouldn't worry about the transmission.

Daily Drives:
-2003 Toyota Tacoma PreRunner XtraCab, 2.7 Liter , Mobil 1 Synthetic 5w30.
ODO 10900Miles.
-1995 Toyota 4-Runner 3.0 V6, Mobil 1 Synthetic 10w30.
ODO 91900 Miles.
http://community.webshots.com/user/amkeer
 
Standard interval for Hondas is 10,000 mi and they have about the same oil capacity. Ford Focus is 12,500 mi in Europe although they have better quality oils on average. 1.9L Ford is not known to that be that hard on oil. If it was mostly highway mi it should be fine. If it was mostly city look out.

I suggest Auto-Rx for the flush (Do a search) and a good quality conventional 10w30 such as Castrol GTX. If she wants to continue with 10,000 mi oil changes she should consider a top quality Synthetic such as 0w30 German Castrol Syntec or 10w30 Amsoil ATM.

Gene
 
I would do an oil analysis on the 10K oil just to see where it stands. You might consider doing an Auto RX treatment too. Otherwise, as long as it runs fine, I wouldn't worry about it.

I have an 87 Nissan Sentra that was neglected (before I had it) with 10K+ OCI's and it runs great after a little TLC.

You don't suppose the dealer also changed it before it went on the lot, do you?
 
I hate to break the news, but most average folks don't even think about their ATF, let alone have it swapped under 100K. 70K would be normal....

10K on the oil seems a bit much, though seeing how most people are somehow brainwashed by the Iffy Lube thing (again not that 3K is harmful to the engine, but some oils in some cars are still fine a t 3K miles
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)
 
Don't flush the trans. If you're worried, do a pan drop/filter change. A flush could cause problems.

As for the engine, I'd definitely RX it.
 
quote:
Originally posted by Jack from Charlotte:
Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't a gallon of Mobil 1 roughly the same cost as a '95 Ford Escort?
Click to expand...
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This car potentially has a lot of miles left on it, though, despite being a beater. Some RX, followed by a switch to M1 could get the owner well into the 200k range for a helluva lot less than a new car payment. Then again, dino might do the same, but I'd do the M1 for added insurance.
 
quote:
Originally posted by Matt_S:
Don't flush the trans. If you're worried, do a pan drop/filter change.
Click to expand...
The "filter" in a Ford Escort transmission (which is actually a Mazda transmission) is basically a windowscreen.
 
quote:
Originally posted by Matt_S:
This car potentially has a lot of miles left on it
Click to expand...
They're reliable, inexpensive cars for those who don't feel a need to impress anyone. Plenty of inexpensive parts for them at the nearest wrecking yard, too, in the unlikely event that something breaks.
 
How about a compression test to see if there are any issues? Maybe remove the valve cover to see how dirty the top end is? Then develop a program to fix what is wrong.

Diagonse - research - fix.
 
quote:
Originally posted by Pablo:
10K on the oil seems a bit much, though seeing how most people are somehow brainwashed by the Iffy Lube thing (again not that 3K is harmful to the engine, but some oils in some cars are still fine a t 3K miles
grin.gif
)
Click to expand...
Jiffy lube is a good thing to prevent 10k oci abuse
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I'm a connsouir of used cars. 10k oci with mobil 1 would scare me off too. no telling if it was city miles
 
My '84 Chevy asks for 7500 miles or 1 year between changes... Of course, under "the normal driving conditions". What the manual says? Chances are it's just normal maintenance, and in the worser case it may not be too much of an abuse.

Considering the extensive idle periods I never waited 7500 miles though, and most of the time I happened to change it because the the 1 year period was due at an early mileage. I'd also check for the dates of the receipts.
 
Thanks for all the imput.
smile.gif
So far so good. The car is a lug and noisey, compared to my Police Interceptor, but it seems to be running/shifting fine.

Interesting how a Ford found it's way, to a trade-in at a Mazda dealership. Ironic it has a Mazda engine/transmission, too! The dealer agreed the transmission fluid looked fine. They went ahead, and changed the oil/filter as a courtesy.

The brakes have been done. The rad flushed and filled. I think besides the timing belt sometime soon, we'll get her some new plugs and wires. The oil will be changed at 3K, from now on!!!
shocked.gif
 
quote:
Originally posted by brianl703:

quote:
Originally posted by ULVER:
Ironic it has a Mazda engine/transmission, too!
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Only the 1.8L engine was made by Mazda. The 1.9L was made by Ford.

I don't believe the 1.8L engine was available in 1995.
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'95 was the last year the Mazda 1.8L was available in the GT version. The LX and Base version for that year shared the 2.0L from Ford.
I used to own a '93 Escort GT and, for a econobox, it was a great little car.
 
quote:
Originally posted by GimmeTorq:
'95 was the last year the Mazda 1.8L was available in the GT version. The LX and Base version for that year shared the 2.0L from Ford.
I used to own a '93 Escort GT and, for a econobox, it was a great little car.
Click to expand...
The 1.9L didn't become the SOHC 2.0L until 1997, when they did a restyle of the Escort/Tracer (and added that oval climate control/car stereo thing). Physically, the SOHC 1.9L and SOHC 2.0L look very similar. The 2.0L says "SPLIT PORT 2000" on it which is one way to tell the difference. No Escort/Tracer prior to 1997 ever came with a 2.0L from the factory, though I've heard of people putting the SOHC 2.0L in place of the 1.9L. It adds nearly 20HP, and SOHC 2.0Ls are quite cheap at the wrecking yard, so it can be a cheap horsepower upgrade.

In 1997, there also became available, as an option (on the ZX2 at least) a DOHC 2.0L called the Zetec which was first used on the 1995 Contour/Mystique. You can't mistake the DOHC 2.0L for the SOHC 2.0L--they look quite different.
 
quote:
Originally posted by Pablo:
though seeing how most people are somehow brainwashed by the Iffy Lube thing (again not that 3K is harmful to the engine, but some oils in some cars are still fine a t 3K miles
grin.gif
)
Click to expand...
Originally posted by ULVER:
The oil will be changed at 3K, from now on!!!

Hmmmm........Partially used info?
 
quote:
Originally posted by brianl703:

quote:
Originally posted by GimmeTorq:
'95 was the last year the Mazda 1.8L was available in the GT version. The LX and Base version for that year shared the 2.0L from Ford.
I used to own a '93 Escort GT and, for a econobox, it was a great little car.
Click to expand...
The 1.9L didn't become the SOHC 2.0L until 1997, when they did a restyle of the Escort/Tracer (and added that oval climate control/car stereo thing). Physically, the SOHC 1.9L and SOHC 2.0L look very similar. The 2.0L says "SPLIT PORT 2000" on it which is one way to tell the difference. No Escort/Tracer prior to 1997 ever came with a 2.0L from the factory, though I've heard of people putting the SOHC 2.0L in place of the 1.9L. It adds nearly 20HP, and SOHC 2.0Ls are quite cheap at the wrecking yard, so it can be a cheap horsepower upgrade.

In 1997, there also became available, as an option (on the ZX2 at least) a DOHC 2.0L called the Zetec which was first used on the 1995 Contour/Mystique. You can't mistake the DOHC 2.0L for the SOHC 2.0L--they look quite different.
Click to expand...
Yep, you're absolutely right. I meant to say 1.9L instead of 2.0L.

Cheers
 
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