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A Mechanic's Life - Tales From Under the Hood

3515 messages,  Last post on Jun 18, 2013 at 2:06 PM

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Messages Page 117 of 353

#1152 of 3515 Re: Here's a good one [stickguy] by roadburner

Feb 03, 2013 (5:58 pm)

Replying to: stickguy (Feb 03, 2013 5:47 pm)
Sorry for the confusion- I change it every 8,000.

#1153 of 3515 Re: Here's a good one [stickguy] by thecardoc3

Feb 03, 2013 (6:14 pm)

Replying to: stickguy (Feb 03, 2013 5:47 pm)
Quite a bit shorter than the newer ones that seem to be pushing 15K
 
Drivers habits can have a significant impact on the mileage that the monitor will allow. The more highway miles one drives, the longer the distance can be. Aggressive driving doesn't relay into a significant decrease in interval lengths, but frequent starts with short trips will knock it down fast.
 
FWIW my Ford escape gets has been getting to the 10% mark as early as 7800 miles and as late as 9000. I have run Mobil 1 in my Escape, but now that there is the WSS M2C945-B (Full Synthetic) I switched to it.
 
I do oil analysis on every other change to monitor how well the maintenance system is doing, so far so good. At 90% the oil hasn't even darkened but I average over 400 highway miles each week because of the teaching gig.

#1154 of 3515 Re: Here's a good one [thecardoc3] by Stever@Edmunds HOST

Feb 03, 2013 (6:31 pm)

Replying to: thecardoc3 (Feb 03, 2013 6:14 pm)
I always heard that the color of oil on your dipstick shows nothing about whether the oil is okay or if it should be changed.

#1155 of 3515 Re: Here's a good one [steve_] by thecardoc3

Feb 03, 2013 (7:01 pm)

Replying to: Stever@Edmunds (Feb 03, 2013 6:31 pm)
I always heard that the color of oil on your dipstick shows nothing about whether the oil is okay or if it should be changed
 
I haven't "always" heard about whether oil can be judged by color or not and taken without real experience I've seen people try and manipulate that statement both ways.
 
If your oil looks like roofing tar, it needs replaced. There is a viscosity component to what this oil "looks" like.
 
The oil in my Escape right now looks like it just came out of the bottle, except it's got 7000 miles on it, and the monitor just dropped under 20% left. By the time the next 10% clicks off next week the oil will still "look OK" and no doubt if I had an analysis done it would in fact still have useable life. But its going to be replaced anyway.
 
Do you see how many posts we did today in this thread?

#1156 of 3515 Re: Here's a good one [thecardoc3] by Stever@Edmunds HOST

Feb 03, 2013 (7:24 pm)

Replying to: thecardoc3 (Feb 03, 2013 7:01 pm)
If a mechanic pulled out my dipstick and said my oil was dirty just because it was black or just dark, I'd probably go ballistic on him (or her). (Amsoil) (Texlube)
 
Your oil is so clean from not holding the dirt in suspension, the soot must be sludging up the engine, lol. (The Dark Oil Myth)
 
Do you see how many posts we did today in this thread?
 
You're a popular guy, Doc.

#1157 of 3515 Re: Here's a good one [steve_] by thecardoc3

Feb 03, 2013 (7:42 pm)

Replying to: Stever@Edmunds (Feb 03, 2013 7:24 pm)
If a mechanic pulled out my dipstick and said my oil was dirty just because it was black or just dark, I'd probably go ballistic on him (or her).
 
So that's the only way?
 
http://www.fluidtesting.com/

#1158 of 3515 Re: Here's a good one [steve_] by thecardoc3

Feb 03, 2013 (7:55 pm)

Replying to: Stever@Edmunds (Feb 03, 2013 7:24 pm)
Your oil is so clean from not holding the dirt in suspension, the soot must be sludging up the engine, lol. (The Dark Oil Myth)
 
You can't believe everything that's on the net. There are some things that are correct there, and some that are quite dated and no longer valid.

#1159 of 3515 Re: Here's a good one [thecardoc3] by Stever@Edmunds HOST

Feb 03, 2013 (9:27 pm)

Replying to: thecardoc3 (Feb 03, 2013 7:55 pm)
Well, you were talking about how "clean" your oil looked. If it looks so clean why bother with a $20 analysis? The paper test you linked to isn't the same as looking at the dipstick or rubbing some oil between your fingers or putting a drop on a paper towel.
 
If you want more sources for my dirty oil post, I can give you Valvoline for number 3 (or was is #4?). How many more would you like me to try to dig up?

#1160 of 3515 Question for the DOC by MrShift@Edmunds HOST

Feb 03, 2013 (9:59 pm)

Is there an injector kill function on OBD-II cars if one cylinder is heavily misfiring?

#1161 of 3515 Re: Here's a good one [steve_] by thecardoc3

Feb 04, 2013 (4:28 am)

Replying to: Stever@Edmunds (Feb 03, 2013 9:27 pm)
OK so you gave us (me) a Valvoline page. Search dexos on that page, and scroll to the bottom. You will find a chart and the information in it is this.
 
http://www.valvoline.com/promos/dexos.jsp
 
Product Grade dexos spec Other specifications
SynPower 5W-30 dexosTM1 ILSAC GF5 API SN/Resource
                                                               Conserving, ACEA A5
SynPower 5W-30 dexosTM1 ILSAC GF-5, API SN/Resource
                                                               Conserving, ACEA A1
DuraBlend 5W-30 dexosTM1 ILSAC GF-5, API SN/Resource
                                                                Conserving, ACEA A1
NextGen DuraBlend
                  5W-30 dexosTM1 ILSAC GF-5, API SN/Resource
                                                               Conserving, ACEA A1
SynPower MST
                 5W-30 dexosTM2 API SN/CF, ACEA A3/B4-04,
                                                               ACEA C3-08, MB 229.51,
                                                               BMW LL-04,
                                                               VW 502.00/505.00/505.01
 
 Now learn how to read exactly what is there.
In 2004 ACEA updated their ratings format. They no longer use the single A1, A3, A5. The correct format is the ACEA A1/B1 or as you see just above with the SynPower MST ACEA A3/B4-04 which means it is the 2004 specification.
 
The "A" portion of the rating is for gasoline engines, and the "B" portion for diesels
 
ACEA A1/B1 is not a long life oil, it is a thin (North American) specification for year round use. ACEA A5/B5 is an extended drain version of the A1/B1.
 
ACEA A3/B4 is a "thick"(European) specification capable of year round use and extended drain intervals
 
Which of the following correctly displays the GM specification?
 
a. DexosTM1 b. dexos 1 c. dexos1 d. Dexos

Messages Page 117 of 353

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