synthetic motor oil

[gfretwell]

General term for any of those "miracle in a can" things they sell people

[clare]

The oil litterally turned to coal or diamonds in the oil galleries,killong the engines. Was a serious issue on Chrysler 2.7, Audi /VW 1.8T, Toyota 3.0, Saab turbos, and a few others.

If caught on time it was just slurge, which could be remedied. Once it turned to coke, there was nothing you could do except change trhe engine. Sometimes hot tanking the block would allow a rebuild, if it had not grenaded or spun a bearing.

[clare]

Drive a trabant or Gogomobile, DKW or old Saab Sonet and you never need to change oil OR top it up!!

[clare]

My first car - 1961 Morris Mini 850 -got 50mpg of gas and 25 miles per quart of #50 with 2 or 3 cans of STP in it before I rebuilt it. When I took the exhaust off and stood it in the corner of the shop thick tarry oil oozed out the tailpipe.

[clare]

Most is made from dinosaur squeazings - some from dini-farts (natural gas) and some from vegetable oil

[gfretwell]

I had a LeBaron that was eating a quart of oil per tank of gas at around 150k. It wasn't dripping and it wasn't smoking. I was not sure where it was going.

[Wade Garrett]

+1 on my trusty '66 Beetle.

When I eventually sold it (back in the 70's), one of the clerks in the company where I worked wanted to buy it. I warned her about the oil burning and gave her a really righteous near-give away price on it. I cautioned her emphatically and repeatedly to check the oil at every gas up- telling her what would happen if she didn't.

A month or so after she bought it, she marched into my office and demanded her money back because the engine had seized up. When I asked her about checking the oil, predictably she admitted she hadn't- saying she didn't think she really needed to despite my warnings.

I told her I was sorry but since she hadn't taken care of the vehicle and done what I literally told her to do a half dozen times- including even writing it on the bill of sale, the problem was hers, not mine.

Not surprisingly, opinion around the water cooler ran against me- slick talking white boy taking unfair advantage and ripping off a "sistuh."

[Tony Hwang]

You broke a rule. Never sell anything to friends/relatives. Don't even give something free.

[Shade Tree Guy]

Over the last 20 years I've fixed up or sold outright 3-4 cars and a Chevy G-20 van, usually with newly rebuilt motors or valve jobs. Quickly found that I also "sold" lifetime free labor for any repairs needed as long as they owned the cars. FYI: I no longer accept "free cars" that just need a "little work"

[21blackswan]

my 2014 toyota avalon requires Synthetic oil [in the manual]

i'm surprised your Lexus doesn't require it...?

my last car, a 2003 avalon, didn't require it, and i tried it, but i wasn't driving much, so decided it wasn't worth the extra cost...

marc

[badgolferman]

It doesn't require it, but it's always had it.

My 2013 Lexus RX350 also doesn't require premium unleaded. Might have been the first year back to regular from premium.

[Tony Hwang]

LOL! IMO, shade tree grease monkey days are over now. Today's cars are more electronics than mechanics.

[Tony Hwang]

That is why Toyota 3.5L has lesser numbers in engine tech specs. They use that engine every where in their product line. I just take the car to dealer service whenever MID pops service reminder. Only thing I do is seasonal tire/wheel switch. Even this chore is getting harder dealing with 19" wheels. I use tire dolly now for the job.

[gfretwell]

Words to live by.

[gfretwell]

That is over sold. The fact is the only thing that changed is the shade tree mechanic needs a code reader or he has to go up to the auto parts store for a free readout. That actually made working on cars easier, not harder because 99% of the time, the computer will nail the bad part if it is computer related. The rest of the wrenching did not change much. The reality is, a lot of it like the good old "tune up" just went away. Plugs last pretty much the life of the car for most people and there are no points to burn. Timing is fixed and there is no carb to adjust. If they just put a little access door to check/add oil and water, you could bolt the hood shut.

[Frank]

My '66 Chevelle got 16 mpg and that was on turnpike driving.

My first, a 10 year old '49 Chevy used a quart of both antifreeze and oil every week. We did not measure mileage then.

[Frank]

Usually not a good idea to let them borrow things too.

[badgolferman]

When I bought the car I told them I didn't want the 19" wheels that came with it. I knew they cost more, have less options, and would ride rougher since they have less air in them. They switched the wheels/tires with an 18" set on another unsold RX350. So far I've rotated them twice myself. The dealer wanted a lot to do it.

[gfretwell]

My 67 was more like 8-10 on the beltway but I was turning about 4400 RPM It would do the first quarter mile in about 14.5 seconds tho.

(327 325hp with a Muncie M22 and 456 rear) It was actually the 350HP Corvette motor with the Holley dual feed, factory high rise manifold and low restriction exhaust.

This was an out of the box drag racer that was competitive in the street stock small block class, cleverly disguised in a convertible body with wood trim and no outward indication that it was bad. Except for the loping idle and the 2.25" exhaust pipes.

[TimR]

Crude oil, exactly the same stuff regular oil is made from. The process is slightly different though and the mix of "anes" is much smaller.