| Author | Message | ||
     Aesquire |
I've been car shopping, and the unfortunate reality is modern cars are highly computerized, and while a good home mechanic can still do a lot, things have changed. The basics, oil change, tires, corrosion control, are more important than ever. The odds are good any engine problem you have is because of a rusty ground. At $150 @ hour, being hands on with maintenance is actually potentially a big cost saver. Layers! The problem with brilliant engineering to pack all the parts of a drive train into a tiny space ( crush zones eat a lot of front end volume ) is accessibility is sacrificed. This used to be a particularly German vehicle complaint, but it's universal now. You need to carefully peel layers of anti-tetris 3D Puzzle, with plastic parts ( heat and oil aging them brittle ) unreachable fasteners, and wires with plugs. At least it's an excuse to get those ratcheting box end wrenches. Oil?! The basics are the same. Things need a steady supply of clean lubrication. But A. variable valve timing mechanisms are prone to clogging up and a light comes on. ( and your car runs like crud ) My brother's wife's & kid's ( newly bought, used,) Lincolns both needed new solenoid/oil powered/computer controlled/valve things. ( and the Navigator didn't show oil on the dipstick. ) Both were sludged up. On that Ford V-8 you need to remove a layer to remove the valve covers & change the part. Then seal things up including the new wire penetration of the valve cover. Then replace layer. Apparently, ( per YouTube search results  ) on Dodge Hemis the oil/VVT is a big issue. ditto Toyota, and every one else. B. The use of low tension rings for economy and emissions means sludge builds up in the ring groove and turns to rock, locking the rings and eventually scoring the cylinders. Proper Break In technique can help that a Lot. but... B2. The new standard for oil burning is up to a quart per 1200 miles. Your burn rate after Break In is real diagnostic data... It tells you how well the rings are seated. The oil control ring, especially. B3. With oil change intervals of 5000 miles, and ( for example...?! ) 5 quart capacity, burning a quart every 1200 = Uh, Oh. C. Cars with auto shutoff of the engine at stops, that restart the engine so often, will on some cars suck oil from the breather and dirty the intake etc. (Might be ) Worse with those ( Toyota Hybrid etc. ) that have a big honking starter motor/generator that spins the engine up to idle + rpm, then engages spark & fuel. Big Gulp of air in a still air passage spikes the vacuum. The suggested solution is run less oil, halfway down the happy band on the dipstick. That can work, but see B. Conclusion? Check your oil every week or fill up. Change your oil, religiously. Nevermind 10,000 mile intervals. Unless you're a compulsive oil feeler.  Become a compulsive oil feeler. I wipe the dipstick with my fingers and sniff, rub, look for metal particles and dirt. I don't taste, I'm crazy, not stupid. 5000 miles is book heavy duty oil change interval. That's easy to remember, too. Go 3000 if you're flogging it or off road or the oil looks dirty. End rant. Opinions, corrections? | ||
| Zac4mac |
I lost my sense of smell pretty much a decade ago so I taste my oil. Not much and I spit it out after, more sensitive than smell used to be. Z | ||
| 86129squids |
... just like a sommelier. Maybe cicerone.  | ||
| Tootal |
My 2005 Honda Element used a 1/2 quart of oil every 10,000 miles. It never got worse up to 160,000 miles. I sold it to a friend who loved it. Amazing engine. Since then I've heard of the ring stories and the VVT stories. If you have VVT always use the weight oil the factory recommends and 5000 mile changes are a good idea. Sludge is the VVT killer, or using a heavier oil. | ||
| Aesquire |
Mom's Prius runs 0W-16. What the heck? 0? Hydraulic fluid for the VVT and lubricant and coolant. Maybe hamster feed too. Not like my Mopar 360 that liked 20W-50 in summer, eh? Oil is critical like never before with less margin for errors. Oh BTW. Oil. Half way up the dip stick "good" band cold or top of band hot. Just learned how the Toyota 8 speed automatic fluid level is set. An overflow tube at a certain temperature as the fluid expands from heat. Ok, simple enough. And too much or too little and it's thousand$ in repairs. The good news is things have to be simple enough to teach mechanics in Botswana and Miami. Cookbook maintenance. OBD2 reader module and phone app, so you can watch the temperature as you lay under the car. Hit x degrees by the book and screw the drain plug in. And YouTube lessons with Caveat Emptor! I watched one on bleeding the injectors on my tractor and he was wrong. So go for the Factory guys & maybe a couple of different ones to catch the tricks. And Battery Filters????????!!!!!!! No kidding. High voltage battery fan filters. They get clogged, battery life goes to hades. Easy to check... ( Mom's is fine ) if you know it exists. | ||
| Aesquire |
And none of this changes the Old stuff. You still want the seat on tight on a Tube Frame Buell, before engine start. And always check oil warm, after running, because it can drain down. If you check it cold, and overfill, and start the bike with the seat off, the oil fountain is spectacular. As is the mess. Damhik | ||
| 86129squids |
Dang... my automatic ear sweat wipers just kicked in. | ||
| 86129squids |
"Not much and I spit it out after, more sensitive than smell used to be." Yeaahhh... just don't pull Vern's finger. | ||
| Aesquire |
I expect any oil thread to incite humor and zealotry. My creed, if you care, is Synthetic. I run Syn3 in my M2L Buttercup, because I was told it has the right additives for clutch and magnet glue. It's Castrol, & I've liked their products since I had a Suzuki GT380 2 stroke triple. In my cars I run synthetic whatever, and may change the oil between 3-7000 miles, depending on duty cycle. I sometimes just roll into the Lube shop before road trips. Feel free to brag, bitch, & testify to your favorites & habits. Oil filters, too! ( flame on! ) As to taste? Tastes like oil. Haven't developed the palate for diagnostic gastronomy. Usually smells like oil too, with notes of toasted metal. Mostly I watch for milkshake and metal and grit. | ||
| Teeps |
My 50 plus years experience has been that oil is oil; long as it makes the parts slippery. I change the engine oil every 3~5K miles or once a year. Use any oil that meets or exceeds manufacturer specifications and is least expensive. The name on the bottle is of little consequence in my experience. | ||
| Tpehak |
I do not put more than 2000 miles per year on my car, but I change engine oil each year according the user manual. My car has oil life reminder system, after one year of use when I change the oil has about 80% of life left according the car computer. | ||
| Mnscrounger |
For me oil change frequency is highly dependent on the value (both actual market or personal). I typically buy my SUVs well used, with low prices, high miles, and a bit rusty, so I can maximize the utility side of the sport utility. I keep them in good running order, and safe. But I know that the end value when I am done with it is ZERO. Every dollar I spend is a dollar I will never see back. every hour spent maintaining it is time I'm not spending on my preferred activities. I put good quality synthetic oil in, and check it regularly. At the consumption rate, whether through the rings or leaks, I am replacing most of the volume every 10-14000 miles. The filter needs to be changed now an then so before a big trip I go to the oil change place and have them do their full maintenance check of all things mechanical. in 34 years and 5 Suburbans practice I have replaced only one engine and two transmissions. Because my wife's current car is much nicer than what I drive. I encourage all regular recommended service intervals for her car. It wasn't always like this. During our younger years when all our spare money was spent on luxuries like food and clothes for the children, her cars were very much like mine, and under the same "maintenance schedule" as my vehicles. The bikes, ATVs, snowmobiles and the like are also a different story. I value them differently and their resale is intended to be preserved as best I can. Also, AAA will not come to help me on the trailside, and stranded on a bike is a whole different kind of suck. They get new synthetic oil and filters in every recommended hole at the beginning of the season, and all wear items are inspected and replaced as needed. | ||
| Aesquire |
Recall work on diesel exhaust valve thing. Rusted out lines on steering rack so new rack, on Caravan, last fall. ( sounds stupid, but there's no way to replace the lines without dropping rack, ( packaging!) so the dealers just replace rack & lines... Not even a part # for just the lines, & the connection at the rack rots too, so... ) Both front wheel bearings. And mounts with electronic wiring, all one unit. The days of filling grease in your hand & cheap parts are long over. And the radio some days only gets NPR, refusing to tune conservative radio or FM. $%&# Seriously. And there's the anti theft system so a junkyard exact replacement has to go to the dealer for recoding and computer file update... Long live Big Brother! ( but nobody steals stock radios anymore ) | ||
| Ftd |
In the last year I have bought a Tesla Y and a LiveWire. The lack of maintenance is appreciated as I get up in years. I still have a Road King and a Uly to keep me honest. HA | ||
| Aesquire |
The advantage of both All Electric and increasing numbers of Hybrid and Straight IC cars, is they are eliminating parts that used to be the common roadside problems. But you might notice half my litany of Woe above, are items that are the same in lots of cars, no matter the power source. The Current Rav4 hybrid doesn't have any belts, starters, alternators. AC & water pump are electric. ( and that may be a trend ) More and more cars are going to auto-shut-off-at-light-auto-restart and that's going to lead to more "demi-hybrids" where instead of a starter, there's a Motor-Generator and a small high voltage battery/capacitor just for the stop-start and a short power boost, "Electric Turbocharging". ( which it's not ) balancing that, Now you've got electric water pumps and electric AC and electric hatches, and doors, and steering and.. and... | ||
| 86129squids |
I bought neem oil for the cicadas... and they didn't show up here. | ||
| Hootowl |
Be careful using neem oil in your cicada. I hear it can cause permanent damage. | ||
| Hootowl |
Speaking of, I’ve had my model 3 for two years now, and all I’ve had to do is fill up the wiper fluid. | ||
| Aesquire |
Have you checked your battery filters? Do you have battery filters? I really like the Tesla, but budget and mission didn't match, this year. I might trade up, later. | ||
| Hootowl |
If there is a battery filter, it’s not scheduled maintenance. They used to want you to change the battery coolant every two years, but not any longer. The only scheduled maintenance is to have the brakes cleaned annually, if you live in a place where they salt the roads. Due to regen, the brakes are probably lifetime, unless you have a lot of track time. I only brake in an emergency. | ||
| Aesquire |
Ah! Mom's is air cooled. | ||
| 86129squids |
I speak Pig altin and derp. |
