I think it’s the lather-rinse-repeat syndrome. Someone is trying to get us to use twice as much oil as necessary. (Gee, I wonder who…)
When I get myoil changed, I get oil, filter and an engine lube. What exactly is an engine lube? Can I lube it myself. Sounds kinda kinky…
So if my car will last for 100K miles and I only get 3K a year I don’t have to buy a new car for 33 years! Alright!
AWB, that’s part of the fun,jack it up put it on stands,mmm that ones kinda rusty hope it holds, squirm under,squirm out to get the wrench,twist arm behind head to reach filter,pull wrench,take wrench off, readjust wrench,pull wrench 1/4 inch,repeat100 times till filter is loose enough to use hand.Here is a cool one did you know you are supposed to fill the filter with oil before screwing it on? Tilt the filter and the new fresh oil washes that black stuff off your arm.I now pay about $8 bucks with coupons and such includes lube too. I can’t even buy the oil and filters for that.(even easier is to do as rodd does drive 'er till she’s dry, then fill 'er up.No mess,no tools.)
c-man, (just caught that) grease guns is way fun.but get the one with the flexible tube oooh boy!
Frankie,beleive it or not,you qualify as ‘special cicumstances’. Once the oil has picked up some contaminants it starts to break down. so 3-4 months is a good figure. Especially if it is city,city driving is also severe driving conditions.
Don’t judge by color too much,it will be ‘black’ in a few hundred miles. That’s the idea Byz,I drive mine till there just aint any drive left. Something besides the engine takes um out first. 200k on an engine aint unusual for me. For the cost: benefits :: not doing it: possible cost, changing oil ‘too often’ is the most important maintenance you can do.(WheW! way long, I need to change the oil in the key board now)
“…”-Marx
Where do you guys get it done for $20.00?
Is that one of those stores that drops the oil in the ground in back?
$5 filter, $8 oil, $4 getting rid of old oil fee. Look it that, $17.00! $3 labor? Hmm.
Here in Lexington, you can get your oil changed for $20 just about anywhere. In fact, you can get it for less than $15 at a lot of places (Wal-Mart, Valvoline).
Dr. J
Bought a set of cheap tires and $12 oil change at Firestone,every 3(three months they send me a 'reminder’and a coupon for $8 oil and lube, Phram filter, Kendall oil, walmart is $12, Phram , haviline oil i think, $14 with Castrol. I sure can’t do it for 8 maybe $12 I buy oil on sale by the case. Discount house for filters. So 5 qts and a filter $8 at least. I do watch those guys though make sure they drain it all out,take filter off,and open filler cap befor replacing plug,make sure they dont use air wrench to remove and certainly not replace plug.make sure they put all quarts of oil in,one of my cars takes 4 qts,the others 5 qt. Then i bump the starter a few times without starting it.There aint no oil up top. let it idle a few minutes before I peel out of their garage. No old oil fees,in fact if i do it my self i can take it to any place that does oil changes.They have to take it.What the hay they don’t pay to have it hauled off.Depending on the market they might get paid for it. The re-refiners come get it.A lot of parts houses even take the old oil. Used oil is a resource not something to store in a hazardous waste dump.
“…”-Marx
Listen to mr john.
WATCH these guys. I work with 4 people (out of only 34 employed here) who have had to replace an engine because the jiffy/kwick/speedy-lube drained their oil and didn’t replace it before releasing the car.
Re-read the part about not letting them replace the drain plug w/ an air wrench. The next guy to try to get it out will thank you, and it may save you the $200 it costs to replace the pan.
Always bump the engine before starting (the whole thing is DRY). Even better, pre-fill the filter as mr j suggested in a previous post.
Once started, run at a fast idle (~1500rpm) until the oil gauge/light reads normal. If this doesn’t happen in 2-3 seconds, shut it down; something is wrong.
As a former auto mechanic, I’m saying “listen to this guy”.
When I said black oil means its doing its job that is along lines of when you put soap in water and see bubbles? The bubbles show its doing its job.
Also, quite a few times I caught them putting in too much oil. Why they do this baffles me and I wish they would at least look at the stick once its been running.
Well you’ve gotta look at the difference between the cars now and back then. Mainly that engines these days are mostly comprised of aluminum.
That must have been a tricky maneuver considering that removing the oil filter is messy enough once all the oil has been drained. I can’t imagine doing it with all the oil still in.
Oh handy reminded me, when you get home check the oil level,even if you counted the quarts or did it yourself. Might be a leak. I dig you, Handy and black oil is not a sign that the oil is worn out,now if it takes an hour to drip off the dip stick…Volt, there are some really weird places they find to put those things.I think it was a ford courier i had long ago (cursed be its name) that had the filter hidden under the weird plumbing that thing had a bitch to get to but up high and open end down! re; filling the filter, i read somewhere a new dad would sometimes come across disposable diapers with no tabs,instead of using duct tape like any real man, he took um to the garage. When he filled the filter he wrapped it with the pamper,held the whole thing as he tilted and started the filter. It soaked up the nearly quart that spilled, he folded it up and ‘discarded it in the approved manner’ ah shucks,thanx pmh. i am a fanatic about oil and filters. And remember when you are getting a’loss leader’ bargain those guys have no incentive to do a though job, ‘get it done and get it out’ And if they do screw up,and you get a scored cylender or seized cam shaft (if your lucky) they have 14,000 other reasons it happened.
“Something inciteful that some one else once said”- Suhm Wonn (1397-1334)
"That must have been a tricky maneuver considering that removing the oil filter is messy enough once all the oil has been drained. I can’t imagine doing it with all the oil still in.
"
Not really, I have done it when I didn’t have a filter when I was changing the oil and later got the filter. The filter is above the oil ‘liquid’ line so the only oil that comes out is the oil in the filter- so it is basicly the same process with no extra mess.
3K miles is not necessary. My race car gets lots of oil changes BECAUSE I have better things to do. I have had several cars go 200K+ with oil changes only every 6k+ miles. These cars were driven hard and in heavy capitol beltway type traffic.
After starting an engine I would let it idle normally, NOT high, untill the pressure comes up and then for another minute. Filling the filter is a good idea but not necessary if one cranks the engine for a minute with the coil disconnected. I’ll bet that many of the oil change places that use “no-name” filters, are using poor filters that don’t have anti-drainback valves. So the engine must fill the filter before protecting the engine before every start-up!
Kendall is very good oil, they are the only one’s still using pure petroleum, not parafin based oil. Ergon makes the base oil for many of the well known motor oils. Valvoline only buys their best base oil. If you want the best, go with synethitic.
What kind of race car? Just curious.
your humble TubaDiva
proud SCCA member, licensed worker
Not it my present car (Mazda MX-3 V6 GS), although you’re probably right for most cars. In my Mazda, the oil filter is facing straight down right behind the bumper.
I hope all you air-cooled Volkswagen people out there are ignoring most of the preceding and changing your oil religiously every 3000 miles and doing your own valves, too.
My old VW’s came with ‘automatic oil change.’
They would just drip all the time and thus just add more oil as needed.
It’s a design tip the Germans got from the British, as anyone who has ever spent time with a British Leyland product can testify.
your humble TubaDiva
And the batteries! The company motto: “Lucas – home before dark.”
No one is saying it is necesary every 3k,just that for the cost it is worth it. those ‘auto-changers’ are ideal places for re-refined oil,its not in there long enough to break down. Not just aircooled,especially them cause they run ‘hot’,but any 4 banger (or three if you got a SAAB) is spinning faster than a 6, way faster than an 8 so don’t go too long between. I have driven lots of 4 bangers great city cars and great milage,I got one now gets 20 mpg ,uh thats G of water, the leaky water pump’s harder to get to than the radiator cap.Tuba, did the english ever get the hinge and latch problems fixed? On my old mini, my brothers triumph, and some others i knew ,it was lift up HARD on the door to unlatch and latch. It was safest if you could get someone to close the door from the outside for you.
“Pardon me while I have a strange interlude.”-Marx
Just to let you all know, I haven’t changed my oil filter for the past 12,000 miles. I know I should change it soon, but I just don’t feel like shelling out $20 for someone else to put it on and I’m too lazy to change it myself.
“I’m not dumb. I just have a command of thoroughly useless information.”
– Calvin and Hobbes
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