oil change interval

[Don Y]

Ditto. I like having a look under the hood/car routinely just to get an idea of anything that *might* be happening there (out of sight, out of mind?)

It's also sort of a pleasant puzzle to learn more effective ways of doing these sorts of things.

E.g., on my car, to change the back plugs, it's far easier to pull the front wheels off and go in through the wheel wells than to try to work around the exhaust manifold, etc.

Likewise, SWMBO's old vehicle was easier to remove the oil filter by turning wheels right and reaching in *front* of rightmost wheel to (just barely) get your had on the filter. Trying to do so from above was a fool's game (firewall too close).

Out of the dealer, SWMBO's vehicle had a noisey headliner. Hell, car is just a few days old, let *them* fix it! Got the car back with grease stains, extra screws in the cup holders, etc. Doesn't do much to build confidence in the SERVICE you're getting!

[Don Y]

Growing up, it was just something you *did* to keep *your* car on the road. What teenager can afford "service visits"??

Ha! Sounds like Boston in the late 70's (78?). Parking on the street is a hazzard!

When we bought our recent vehicle, it was almost insulting to hear how caught up they'd get on "what can you afford", "how will you be paying", "will you have a trade-in", etc.

"We can buy any car on the lot, CASH. Now, do you want to *sell* us a car? Or, do you want to keep to your script??"

Prior to visiting each dealership, I'd research the vehicle(s) we wanted to consider, download their owner's manuals, etc. I don't want to rely on "them" to misinform me!

[sms]

Also, it's usually faster than taking it to a place where they will do a proper oil change with a proper filter.

[clare]

If you know how much oil the vehicle takes with a filter change you never need to add oil either. My truck holds 5 US quarts (4.73 Liters, or 1 imperial gallon)) with the standard filter, and 4.5 liters with the shorty filter.

I just pour in the proper amount of oil, and start the engine.

[clare]

Not to mention situations like when the Toyota Tercel first came out and lube shop drained the transmission instead of the engine, then added 4 quarts of oil to the already full engine. Car was low on power and smoked badly - transmission was shot by the time the customer got to our dealership to complain. We had several variations of that situation in the first year- - - - .

[clare]

That only happens on "terminally neglected" engines.

[Don Y]

Yes. We buy the oil in 5q containers with the "gauge" on the side and just pour out what the car will take. But, putting it all in the engine results in at least a pint "high" -- the oil that would have to get *pushed* into the filter.

It's relatively easy (and better for the engine) to just fill the filter from that same premeasured batch.

[clare]

Standard equipment oil to coolant oil coolers on MANY vehicles today use an "oil filter adapter"

[clare]

Not recycled oil back then. Sometimes it was inferior oil - but when I worked at the service station we still had the bulk tank and the glass jars - and the bulk tank was filled with the top quality havoline engine oil, just like the bulk grease dispenser had the top-line Marfak grease. Exactly the same stuff that came prepackaged, but at about half the cost.

[clare]

Referred to around here as a "polish tune-up"

[clare]

They had to be - because you were ALWAYS working on them.

[clare]

$tellite or induction hardened seats were used with leadfree gasoline. A secret for keeping old original engines running with leadfree gas is to put as little as 1 guart of AvGas in the tank every

5 or 10 tanks of fuel. That's all it takes.

[clare]

I'm using synthetic on both my 2003 3 liter Taurus and my 1996 4 liter Ranger. I change the oil twice a year. Thr Taurus has 96000km, the Ranger has 337,000km.

Do the math. I'm using the premium synthetic from Canadian Tire (formula 1)- 5w20 for the winter and 5w30 for the summer. It is produced by Shell and is virtually identical to the Shell "formula" 100% synthetic oil.

[clare]

Sometimes twice BEFORE it got out of the driveway - - -

[Muggles]

17 year mini van

I'm just happy the old girl starts every day.

[Tekkie®]

[e-mail] posted for all of us...

That is a name I haven't heard in a long time...

[clare]

It's been a LONG time since I was an apprentice mechanic - - - -

[rbowman]

That's probably always had detergent oil.

[Muggles]

I dunno. I was told to put 5w30 oil in it.

[clare]

Never been a non-retergent 5W30