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| Electronics Repair (sci.electronics.repair) Discussion of repairing electronic equipment. Topics include requests for assistance, where to obtain servicing information and parts, techniques for diagnosis and repair, and annecdotes about success, failures and problems. |
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#1
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Motor Oil
What is the best weight all season motor oil for Southeast U.S.A.?
I prefer Valvoline motor oil, no doubt other well known name brands are just as good.I have never used synthetic motor oil before.Also, I am thinking about flushing and refilling the brake system in my 1983 Dodge van.Should I refill with synthetic brake fluid? Van has original 142,655 miles. cuhulin |
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#2
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Motor Oil
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#3
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Motor Oil
I accidently posted my previous message in this newsgroup.I reckon I was
thinking I was posting in an auto related newsgroup. It sometimes happens that way,,, Somewhere West of Laramie. cuhulin |
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#4
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Motor Oil
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#6
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Motor Oil
In article , Damon Hill wrote:
wrote in news:17358-4B5CC131-1057@storefull- 3172.bay.webtv.net: What is the best weight all season motor oil for Southeast U.S.A.? I prefer Valvoline motor oil, no doubt other well known name brands are just as good.I have never used synthetic motor oil before.Also, I am thinking about flushing and refilling the brake system in my 1983 Dodge van.Should I refill with synthetic brake fluid? Van has original 142,655 miles. While as OT as it gets around here, I do my own servicing. For summer and all-year useage I go with 10w-40; if it gets pretty cold in your location in winter (down to zero), I'd go with a 5w-30 then. Wouldn't touch the 0w synth oils unless it gets really cold and the vehicle's outdoors all night. It used to be and still may hold true, 10W-40 made more sludge compared to 10W-30. Heavy duty deisel and other heavy usage hot engines required 10W-30 only. greg Synthetics stand up to temperature extremes better, but modern dead-dino oils are pretty good except in extreme cold. Lately I've had to go with the cheaper stuff, but I don't have temperature extremes here (Seattleish) anyway. I used Mobil 1 in the 70's at $5 a quart back then. Its hard to gauge effectiveness, but it can show reduced oil pressure and oil used to leak out the gaskets on my engine, so I stopped using it. Frequency of changes depends on your circumstances; I always change oil and filter twice a year. Some people say never change the oil, just the filter and top off, but that's just wrong... dirty oil is a time bomb waiting to crud your engine. I go with the Grease Monkey. The one I use does a good job, every 3K miles. Oil should be change if it sits long because it absorbs moisture and is less effective, but I have been known to get into the years category. |
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#7
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Motor Oil
In article ,
GregS wrote: I used Mobil 1 in the 70's at $5 a quart back then. Its hard to gauge effectiveness, but it can show reduced oil pressure and oil used to leak out the gaskets on my engine, so I stopped using it. Within reason, oil pressure doesn't matter. A thinner oil circulates more quickly and aids bearing cooling - an important part of its job. So if you got 50 psi with 'normal' oil and only 40 with a lighter weight one it matters not. Hence most modern cars don't have oil pressure gauges. Just a warning if it is too low. But oil leaks on older designs are common with the thinner oils. Some say the seal material may be attacked by synthetic too - but I dunno. Frequency of changes depends on your circumstances; I always change oil and filter twice a year. Some people say never change the oil, just the filter and top off, but that's just wrong... dirty oil is a time bomb waiting to crud your engine. I go with the Grease Monkey. The one I use does a good job, every 3K miles. Oil should be change if it sits long because it absorbs moisture and is less effective, but I have been known to get into the years category. The last time I knew of a car being used normally needing 3K oil changes was over 50 years ago. Things have moved on since. And oil does not absorb moisture. Brake fluid does. Moisture and oil produce that 'mayonnaise' stuff. If you're doing such short journeys this is a problem an electric car would be ideal for you. ;-) -- *Arkansas State Motto: Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Laugh. Dave Plowman London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. |
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#8
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Motor Oil
In article , "Dave Plowman (News)" wrote:
In article , GregS wrote: I used Mobil 1 in the 70's at $5 a quart back then. Its hard to gauge effectiveness, but it can show reduced oil pressure and oil used to leak out the gaskets on my engine, so I stopped using it. Within reason, oil pressure doesn't matter. A thinner oil circulates more quickly and aids bearing cooling - an important part of its job. So if you got 50 psi with 'normal' oil and only 40 with a lighter weight one it matters not. Hence most modern cars don't have oil pressure gauges. Just a warning if it is too low. But oil leaks on older designs are common with the thinner oils. Some say the seal material may be attacked by synthetic too - but I dunno. I would like a gauge and a warning lamp for the oil pressure. Also a lamp and gauge for the temp. That goes unnoticed many times. I know about some cars, like the old 280Z had lower pressure but high flow. Synthetic oils have ingredients that try to maintain seals or control the expansion of seals. Frequency of changes depends on your circumstances; I always change oil and filter twice a year. Some people say never change the oil, just the filter and top off, but that's just wrong... dirty oil is a time bomb waiting to crud your engine. I go with the Grease Monkey. The one I use does a good job, every 3K miles. Oil should be change if it sits long because it absorbs moisture and is less effective, but I have been known to get into the years category. The last time I knew of a car being used normally needing 3K oil changes was over 50 years ago. Things have moved on since. And oil does not absorb moisture. Brake fluid does. Moisture and oil produce that 'mayonnaise' stuff. If you're doing such short journeys this is a problem an electric car would be ideal for you. ;-) There is still mention of moisture in oil at various places on the internet. Brake fluid is really strange stuff. Nasty stuff. Many car warrenties call for 3K intervals or 6 months. |
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#9
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Motor Oil
In article ,
GregS wrote: The last time I knew of a car being used normally needing 3K oil changes was over 50 years ago. Things have moved on since. And oil does not absorb moisture. Brake fluid does. Moisture and oil produce that 'mayonnaise' stuff. If you're doing such short journeys this is a problem an electric car would be ideal for you. ;-) There is still mention of moisture in oil at various places on the internet. Brake fluid is really strange stuff. Nasty stuff. Many car warrenties call for 3K intervals or 6 months. Please tell me about any maker's warranty that requires 3K oil changes. Some are once a year for not much used cars - but most now two, if you don't reach the normal mileage for a change. Of course a dealer warranty on a used car might try and screw some money out of you - but that's a different ballpark. Brake fluid is usually changed by time rather than mileage as it does absorb moisture from the air. However I'd guess this in reality might vary from place to place. Not much moisture in some. ;-) In the same way as air filters might need changing more regularly if you use dusty tracks a lot. -- *Why is the word abbreviation so long? Dave Plowman London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. |
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#10
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Motor Oil
mm wrote in
: On Sun, 24 Jan 2010 15:52:49 -0600, wrote: What is the best weight all season motor oil for Southeast U.S.A.? I prefer Valvoline motor oil, no doubt other well known name brands are just as good.I have never used synthetic motor oil before.Also, I am thinking about flushing and refilling the brake system in my 1983 Dodge van.Should I refill with synthetic brake fluid? Van has original 142,655 miles. cuhulin The new transistorized motor oil was scheduled for release in 2009, but was postponed in order to include nano-transistors. You'll have to wait until July to get electronic nano-oil. Brake fluid won't be available until the start of 2011. A graphite-loaded oil was on the market back in the late 70s or so. Didn't last long; as I recall the problem was the graphite could block the oil filter. I tried it for one oil change and seemed to get improved gas milage, but then it disappeared off the market. Colloidal teflon fads come and go the same way, but long-chain hydrocarbon seem to be here to stay. Used synthetic on my Quad 4 engine (Beretta GTZ) but that little beast had other problems with head gasket seals and ignition module and so forth, so I don't know how effective it really was. After the third gasket failure, I junked the car. It was fun to drive but a hangar queen. --Damon |
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#11
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Motor Oil
On Jan 25, 12:05*pm, Damon Hill wrote:
mm wrote : On Sun, 24 Jan 2010 15:52:49 -0600, wrote: What is the best weight all season motor oil for Southeast U.S.A.? I prefer Valvoline motor oil, no doubt other well known name brands are just as good.I have never used synthetic motor oil before.Also, I am thinking about flushing and refilling the brake system in my 1983 Dodge van.Should I refill with synthetic brake fluid? Van has original 142,655 miles. cuhulin The new transistorized motor oil was scheduled for release in 2009, but was postponed in order to include nano-transistors. *You'll have to wait until July to get electronic nano-oil. Brake fluid won't be available until the start of 2011. A graphite-loaded oil was on the market back in the late 70s or so. Didn't last long; as I recall the problem was the graphite could block the oil filter. *I tried it for one oil change and seemed to get improved gas milage, but then it disappeared off the market. Colloidal teflon fads come and go the same way, but long-chain hydrocarbon seem to be here to stay. Used synthetic on my Quad 4 engine (Beretta GTZ) but that little beast had other problems with head gasket seals and ignition module and so forth, so I don't know how effective it really was. After the third gasket failure, I junked the car. *It was fun to drive but a hangar queen. --Damon HA! My Beretta had similar issues. The GM V6's were notorious for bad head bolts. I think just about everyone I've know that drove to the grave, ended with the head bolt issue. Usually the ignition modules were really tough in them though. I thought mine was the ignition module for ever, and it ended up being the fuel regulator on the fuel rail. I used gm coil packs to power my first testla coil. I just put a capacitor in series, to limit the current. Didn't even get hot.... Anyhow, oil.. I've done good with castrol. It's spendy, but I've never had any oil related issues with any of the cars and trucks that I've driven. I change the oil in my f250 about twice a year. I'd use whatever viscosity is recommended by the manufacturer. Might want to check with the dealer as well. Of coarse they may feed you some crap and tell you it's some special space aged lubricant from venus, that only they will be able to change for you. |
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#12
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Motor Oil
In article
, Sansui Samari wrote: I've done good with castrol. It's spendy, but I've never had any oil related issues with any of the cars and trucks that I've driven. I change the oil in my f250 about twice a year. I'd use whatever viscosity is recommended by the manufacturer. Might want to check with the dealer as well. Of coarse they may feed you some crap and tell you it's some special space aged lubricant from venus, that only they will be able to change for you. Most makers give the actual spec for the oil needed so you're not tied to one brand - although initially only one maker might supply the correct stuff. I run a BMW and they were quite early in having extended oil change intervals. But calculate the type of use the vehicle has when determining when this should be. Mine will do approx 15,000 with mainly highway use dropping to perhaps half that if journeys are short or more arduous. Using the specified oil. I read a one model BMW group with some 1500 members and there's no indication that sticking to those intervals shorten the engine life. Basically, worn out engines are unheard of - although cooling issues and plenty others exist on the engines used in this model which can be now 15 years old. But not worn bores, bearings, camshafts etc which would indicate insufficient oil changes. It's an interesting concept using a cheaper oil to a lower spec but the same weight and changing it more regularly. With three thousand mile changes it would have to be less than a third of the price of the proper stuff at best and that's before the hassle of getting it done. So to me just not worth it. I've not ever understood this US thing of changing engine oil far more often than the maker says. Do you also change transmission and final drive oil at the same rate? Coolant and brake fluid? Drive belts, etc? All those can and will give trouble if neglected - same as the engine. So logic says if you feel the maker has extended engine oil changes just to in some way stuff you this must apply to all such things. The reality is most modern engines if they don't break in some other way will last the life of the car without any major overhaul like a re-bore etc. Which means changing the oil more regularly is simply wasting resources and money. -- *Ham and Eggs: Just a day's work for a chicken, but a lifetime commitment Dave Plowman London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. |
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#13
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Motor Oil
On Wed, 27 Jan 2010 09:52:26 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote: Most makers give the actual spec for the oil needed so you're not tied to one brand - although initially only one maker might supply the correct stuff. I run a BMW and they were quite early in having extended oil change intervals. But calculate the type of use the vehicle has when determining when this should be. Mine will do approx 15,000 with mainly highway use dropping to perhaps half that if journeys are short or more arduous. Using the specified oil. I read a one model BMW group with some 1500 members and there's no indication that sticking to those intervals shorten the engine life. Basically, worn out engines are unheard of - although cooling issues and plenty others exist on the engines used in this model which can be now 15 years old. But not worn bores, bearings, camshafts etc which would indicate insufficient oil changes. It's an interesting concept using a cheaper oil to a lower spec but the same weight and changing it more regularly. With three thousand mile changes it would have to be less than a third of the price of the proper stuff at best and that's before the hassle of getting it done. So to me just not worth it. I've not ever understood this US thing of changing engine oil far more often than the maker says. Do you also change transmission and final drive oil at the same rate? Coolant and brake fluid? Drive belts, etc? All those can and will give trouble if neglected - same as the engine. In a sense it's the same, because it's trouble, but it's not the same in that those things don't have to be changed nearly as often to avoid problems. I'm certainly by far not the best maintainer of cars, but... I usually buy a car when it's 7 years old and get rid of it when it's 14 y.o. I also don't drive that much these days, but even when I drove 10 or 12 thousand miles a year, during that time, I've changed a belt only once**; changed a timing chain only once, when it broke; never changed the differential fluid (final drive oil?), never changed the brake fluid except what little came out when I bled the brakes, on two occasions*** The recommendation, except for the fancy expensive antifreeze, and only when not mixed with regular antifreeze, is to flush and change it every two years. I've only flushed about twice in the last 26 years, but I do normally change it every two years. It's about 2 years now and it looks brown and muddy inside. Probably partly because I had a little leak and put in two kinds of stop-leak. The stop must have worked though because I've only needed to add coolant twice in two years. I'll flush it in the spring. I've only changed transmission fluid twice in 38 years, and that was only when there was a problem and I was hoping the change would make the problem go away. People tell me it can. BUT, engine oil gets much hotter than any of these other things, and blow-by adds gas and combustion product contaminents to the oil, which I think can make the oil acidic. It should be changed more frequently. Of course I don't do that either. With my '88 Chrysler Lebaron, with a 2.5 liter 4 cylinder engine, it had a leak but I was depressed and never checked the oil, until, when I went quickly around a corner, the oil light would come on. Then I would add two quarts. I had to scrap the car 2 or 3 years later, but the engine was still good and gas mileage was still high. But it leaked everywhere and had body damage. In a different world it woudl have been worth fixing, but there were so many better cars for less than the cost of fixing half of the leaks. Also, there is a history of changing engine oil because the manufacture insisted on it to keep the warranty. When cars had 5 year warranties (maybe they still do. I've never had a new car), that meant people spend at least 4.5 years obeying the rules. Of course that becomes a habit for many. I had my 72 Buick Centurion with the 455 cubic inch engine for over 100,000 miles and it did well with this lousy treatment. The only engine problems I ever had was when I had a coolant leak and after 4 months I screwed up and ran the car without enough water. ** Back when cars had ammeters, my charging seemed a little low when I left NYC. I went all the way to Chicago, then Indianapolis, and was back to Pittsburgh when it looked really bad, or the lights were dimming. I pulled into a gas station just before the Turnpike and looked under the hood, and the belt was held on by literally a thread. A thick thread, but still less than a millimeter. When I tried to restart, the battery was totally dead. I think I went 1200 miles while putting less than I should back in the battery, and slowly draining it. I had a spare belt with me and I may have put it in myself, or maybe since it was dark, I had the gas station do it. ***(Once I was able to change the master cylinder without needing to bleed the brakes. I left the brake lines a little lose at the master cylinder, had someone push down on the pedal so that fluid seeped out, and tightened the lines before he let go.) So logic says if you feel the maker has extended engine oil changes just to in some way stuff you this must apply to all such things. The reality is most modern engines if they don't break in some other way will last the life of the car without any major overhaul like a re-bore etc. Which means changing the oil more regularly is simply wasting resources and money. I hope you're right. It's been 20 months since my last oil change. I had a fight with Jiffy Lube, which is only 3 blocks from here. (They claimed to have checked my PCV valve but I was watching and I know they didn't. (Not only that, the hoses were too stiff to do that without breakign the hose.) I wouldn't have minded if they hadn't done it, but lying to me about it is far far worse. (In fact, I woudln't have wanted them to break the vacuum hoses just so they could check it. When I complained he took my address and said "Maybe the company will send you a coupon." Ugh." Dave Plowman London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. |
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#14
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Motor Oil
In article ,
mm wrote: So logic says if you feel the maker has extended engine oil changes just to in some way stuff you this must apply to all such things. The reality is most modern engines if they don't break in some other way will last the life of the car without any major overhaul like a re-bore etc. Which means changing the oil more regularly is simply wasting resources and money. I hope you're right. It's been 20 months since my last oil change. [snip] Just to be clear I'm not saying oil changes ain't necessary. Just to stick to the oil spec and frequency the maker says. After all they designed the thing. On an older car this is usually once a year if you don't hit the mileage the maker says. What I was responding to was GregS saying he has it changed every 3k miles. Unless that coincided with a year it's plain wasting money. Unless he's running a '50 Morris Minor. ;-) -- *The statement below is true. Dave Plowman London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. |
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