Synthetic Oil Changes

[Jeffrey]

The only reason im big on oil samples is because my uncle was a mechanic on several nascar pit crews .a few of them
Religiously sampled oil and trans fluid.
The viscosity breakdown was surprising.

But we arent pushing our engines like that either lol.

I’m taking the Fifth.

Strongly agree, you must change engine oil, and probably tranny fluid, after a track day!

[budwom]

Transmission fluid is possibly a more meaty topic. Most transmissions now are sealed, there is no recommended way (from the manufacturer) to change the fluid. But if you expect to drive your car 100k+ miles, independent shops who specialize in your brand of car are apt to tell you that there are things you can do. Specifically, my non dealer Volvo specialist has a way to pull out 35-40% of the fluid, then replace it...then he does that two more times, at the end of which you have mostly new fluid.

As he told me, Volvo would rather sell me a new transmission than devise a way to change the fluid. Yeah, you might still get 150k+ miles without touching the fluid, but the replacement routine makes me fell better...so far, so good...

[wavedukefan70s]

Transmission fluid is possibly a more meaty topic. Most transmissions now are sealed, there is no recommended way (from the manufacturer) to change the fluid. But if you expect to drive your car 100k+ miles, independent shops who specialize in your brand of car are apt to tell you that there are things you can do. Specifically, my non dealer Volvo specialist has a way to pull out 35-40% of the fluid, then replace it...then he does that two more times, at the end of which you have mostly new fluid.

As he told me, Volvo would rather sell me a new transmission than devise a way to change the fluid. Yeah, you might still get 150k+ miles without touching the fluid, but the replacement routine makes me fell better...so far, so good...

The one thing i didn't check on my tundra
Was for a transmission dipstick .
I found out about 15k in in.was really disappointed and feeling like a idiot for overlooking it.
To be honest i would have bought a older
Tundra if i was paying attention.
You pretty much have to go to dealer .
They say 30k but i usually go at 44 k.
300 a pop .

You can do it your self but its a royal pain in the rear .
Id rather pay .

[duke79]

About 15 or 20 years ago (or maybe longer?), Consumer Reports magazine did a test on how often you should change your motor oil in your car. They used taxis in NYC for the test and with some of the taxis, they changed the oil every 3,000 miles and for the other group of test taxis, they changed the oil every 7.500 miles. After a period of time, when both sets of test taxis had been driven many miles, they then took apart the engines to check the various parts (pistons, valves, etc) that are lubricated by the motor oil to see if there was a difference in the "wear and tear" on the engine parts between the two groups. Their finding was that there was essentially no difference between the two groups of taxis (as far as they could tell). Consumer Reports' advice was therefore that most people could change the oil every 7,500 miles, without undue damage to the engine (with the exception, they noted, if you drove your car very hard or drove on a lot of dirt roads where the oil might get contaminated faster than normal). They mechanic mantra of "change your oil every 3,000 miles" certainly does no harm to your car but may waste some of your money.

[PackMan97]

Keep in mind, car repair places have two reasons to change your oil early and I'm not sure which is more important.

1) The more you get your oil changed, the more money they make.
2) I imagine if someone blew an engine because of a late oil change the lawyers would have a field day.

Most cars can absolutely go past the "recommended" intervals. It's all about your risk.

[wavedukefan70s]

We had a 64 falcon we painted with a paint brush.yeah it was ugly .never changed the oil (technically).
We chicken wired a soup can to where the filter
Was supposed to be . It leaked so we saw no need to change it .
It lasted a few years .somehow we hit something and the suop can came off .
Dropped all oil and she died.
I miss that car .

[Rich]

About 15 or 20 years ago (or maybe longer?), Consumer Reports magazine did a test on how often you should change your motor oil in your car. They used taxis in NYC for the test and with some of the taxis, they changed the oil every 3,000 miles and for the other group of test taxis, they changed the oil every 7.500 miles. After a period of time, when both sets of test taxis had been driven many miles, they then took apart the engines to check the various parts (pistons, valves, etc) that are lubricated by the motor oil to see if there was a difference in the "wear and tear" on the engine parts between the two groups. Their finding was that there was essentially no difference between the two groups of taxis (as far as they could tell). Consumer Reports' advice was therefore that most people could change the oil every 7,500 miles, without undue damage to the engine (with the exception, they noted, if you drove your car very hard or drove on a lot of dirt roads where the oil might get contaminated faster than normal). They mechanic mantra of "change your oil every 3,000 miles" certainly does no harm to your car but may waste some of your money.

I seem to recall hearing this was an advertising pitch by Jiffy Lube (or one of those quick lube places) in order to get people in more frequently and make more money even though it's a fairly arbitrary number and it just stuck in the public mindset, but this could be a conspiracy theory.

[PackMan97]

I seem to recall hearing this was an advertising pitch by Jiffy Lube (or one of those quick lube places) in order to get people in more frequently and make more money even though it's a fairly arbitrary number and it just stuck in the public mindset, but this could be a conspiracy theory.

We drive about 12,000 miles a year.

that's the difference between four oil changes a year at 3,000 miles or two oil changes at 6,000 miles. What's an oil change these days? $50. What is the value of your car these days? $15-30k for most of us most likely.

Mots folks aren't going to balk at paying an extra $100 in unnecessary maintenance a year if they think it's going to protect their vehicle just a little bit more.

[wavedukefan70s]

We drive about 12,000 miles a year.

that's the difference between four oil changes a year at 3,000 miles or two oil changes at 6,000 miles. What's an oil change these days? $50. What is the value of your car these days? $15-30k for most of us most likely.

Mots folks aren't going to balk at paying an extra $100 in unnecessary maintenance a year if they think it's going to protect their vehicle just a little bit more.

Its 100 here maybe cheaper at some places.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

We drive about 12,000 miles a year.

that's the difference between four oil changes a year at 3,000 miles or two oil changes at 6,000 miles. What's an oil change these days? $50. What is the value of your car these days? $15-30k for most of us most likely.

Mots folks aren't going to balk at paying an extra $100 in unnecessary maintenance a year if they think it's going to protect their vehicle just a little bit more.

Synthetic oil change is about $100 - maybe $85 with a coupon. To me, it's the expense, the time, and the unnecessary trip. I'm not out here trying to spend more money than necessary.

[budwom]

semi relevant aside: some years ago my wife had a consulting business, and she had a contract with one of those fast oil change chains to secretly assess their service by going there.

The takeaway: DON'T GO THERE! Yes, you may get away with it, some chains may be better than others, but their bottom line approach is to have highly inexperienced people change your oil quickly. That's a bad, bad combo.

Among the atrocities we ran into: one place added in our six quarts of oil without draining out the old oil. D'oh! One place failed to replace the oil cap, which would have led to oil all over the place.

One time I saw the manager furiously adding air to my tires which I knew were properly inflated at 32 lbs psi. The manager pointed to the sidewall of my tire and said "see it says 44 lbs psi ." He really didn't understand what the word next to it meant "maximum."

Go to a place with experienced personnel working at a normal pace.

[Acymetric]

semi relevant aside: some years ago my wife had a consulting business, and she had a contract with one of those fast oil change chains to secretly assess their service by going there.

The takeaway: DON'T GO THERE! Yes, you may get away with it, some chains may be better than others, but their bottom line approach is to have highly inexperienced people change your oil quickly. That's a bad, bad combo.

Among the atrocities we ran into: one place added in our six quarts of oil without draining out the old oil. D'oh! One place failed to replace the oil cap, which would have led to oil all over the place.

One time I saw the manager furiously adding air to my tires which I knew were properly inflated at 32 lbs psi. The manager pointed to the sidewall of my tire and said "see it says 44 lbs psi ." He really didn't understand what the word next to it meant "maximum."

Go to a place with experienced personnel working at a normal pace.

Here is my story (Jiffy Lube). ~11 or 12 years ago, I was heading for a 9-10 hour trip up to Ohio. Being the very responsible twenty-something I was, I went ahead and got my oil changed in advance. Drove up, all was good. Coming home, I made it about an hour south of Columbus before my car suddenly started making some horible rending/screeching noises coming from the engine. Hit the breaks and started to pull over, the minute I touched the breaks the car shut off. I don't mean the engine, I mean everything, digital odometer and all. So I manage to slow down and pull over without the help of power brakes or steering (probably started at around 70-75 mph). Had to pay a tow truck to drive down from Columbus, pick me up, and drive back (because I was in the middle of nowhere).

Anyways, long story long, the mechanic was pretty sure that Jiffy Lube must have accidentally unplugged the transmission fluid instead of the oil, re-plugged it, and then gone on with the oil change. Unfortunately, the transmission needs to be resealed somehow (not a car guy, don't know details here) and it did not appear Jiffy Lube bothered, so I was basically slowly losing fluid until it was bone dry at which point the engine ate itself (I think that's the technical term ).

I can't prove this, but the mechanic who performed the autopsy seemed fairly certain. I think my parents got like $150 for scrapping the car.

[budwom]

Here is my story (Jiffy Lube). ~11 or 12 years ago, I was heading for a 9-10 hour trip up to Ohio. Being the very responsible twenty-something I was, I went ahead and got my oil changed in advance. Drove up, all was good. Coming home, I made it about an hour south of Columbus before my car suddenly started making some horible rending/screeching noises coming from the engine. Hit the breaks and started to pull over, the minute I touched the breaks the car shut off. I don't mean the engine, I mean everything, digital odometer and all. So I manage to slow down and pull over without the help of power brakes or steering (probably started at around 70-75 mph). Had to pay a tow truck to drive down from Columbus, pick me up, and drive back (because I was in the middle of nowhere).

Anyways, long story long, the mechanic was pretty sure that Jiffy Lube must have accidentally unplugged the transmission fluid instead of the oil, re-plugged it, and then gone on with the oil change. Unfortunately, the transmission needs to be resealed somehow (not a car guy, don't know details here) and it did not appear Jiffy Lube bothered, so I was basically slowly losing fluid until it was bone dry at which point the engine ate itself (I think that's the technical term ).

I can't prove this, but the mechanic who performed the autopsy seemed fairly certain. I think my parents got like $150 for scrapping the car.

This is entirely consistent with what we found. They are clueless.

[wavedukefan70s]

Here is my story (Jiffy Lube). ~11 or 12 years ago, I was heading for a 9-10 hour trip up to Ohio. Being the very responsible twenty-something I was, I went ahead and got my oil changed in advance. Drove up, all was good. Coming home, I made it about an hour south of Columbus before my car suddenly started making some horible rending/screeching noises coming from the engine. Hit the breaks and started to pull over, the minute I touched the breaks the car shut off. I don't mean the engine, I mean everything, digital odometer and all. So I manage to slow down and pull over without the help of power brakes or steering (probably started at around 70-75 mph). Had to pay a tow truck to drive down from Columbus, pick me up, and drive back (because I was in the middle of nowhere).

Anyways, long story long, the mechanic was pretty sure that Jiffy Lube must have accidentally unplugged the transmission fluid instead of the oil, re-plugged it, and then gone on with the oil change. Unfortunately, the transmission needs to be resealed somehow (not a car guy, don't know details here) and it did not appear Jiffy Lube bothered, so I was basically slowly losing fluid until it was bone dry at which point the engine ate itself (I think that's the technical term ).

I can't prove this, but the mechanic who performed the autopsy seemed fairly certain. I think my parents got like $150 for scrapping the car.

1990 went to gene reed toyota in charleston sc. Got the oil changed in my 87 4runner. Went to leave got onto the edge of the main rd .light is on on the dash .they never put oil back in it.
They pushed it back and added my oil .
Luckily it didnt damage anything .
I got a bunch of free service coupons from that one .

[LasVegas]

One time I saw the manager furiously adding air to my tires which I knew were properly inflated at 32 lbs psi. The manager pointed to the sidewall of my tire and said "see it says 44 lbs psi ." He really didn't understand what the word next to it meant "maximum."

Go to a place with experienced personnel working at a normal pace.

Yeah, they always blast my tires full of air as well. Doesn’t really matter where I go. As soon as I get home I check those suckers and they are about to blow. It says right on the stupid door what psi to inflate to. No clue why it’s so dang hard!

[YmoBeThere]

1990 went to gene reed toyota in charleston sc. Got the oil changed in my 87 4runner. Went to leave got onto the edge of the main rd .light is on on the dash .they never put oil back in it.
They pushed it back and added my oil .
Luckily it didnt damage anything .
I got a bunch of free service coupons from that one .

So, you want the people that forgot to put oil in to do more work? Without compensation?

[budwom]

Yeah, they always blast my tires full of air as well. Doesn’t really matter where I go. As soon as I get home I check those suckers and they are about to blow. It says right on the stupid door what psi to inflate to. No clue why it’s so dang hard!

yes, they just have ZERO people with experience, including the managers. Anyone who has driven a car should know about the door stickers and inflation recommendations.

[Indoor66]

Personally, I like a firmer ride. I always inflate to 40 psi all the way around. That also improves fuel mileage by a couple gpm in a tank full.

[budwom]

Personally, I like a firmer ride. I always inflate to 40 psi all the way around. That also improves fuel mileage by a couple gpm in a tank full.

but depending on your tire's max capacity, you may not want to do that at 70 mph for eight hours...

[Phredd3]

but depending on your tire's max capacity, you may not want to do that at 70 mph for eight hours...

Unless it's 100 degrees out, that shouldn't be a problem at 40psi on 44psi max tires. Tire pressure due to friction on an average day increases only about 5%, according to my car's sensors, anyway. I checked periodically while in motion over a 2.5 hour trip and found that the pressure rose during the first 45 minutes or so, and then just mostly held steady. I measured on an afternoon that was mostly sunny and in the low 80s. Granted, n=1.

The biggest problem I've had with over-inflation is cup wear on the tires. Even with regular rotation, I've found it hard to avoid when running at 40psi. I've pulled my tires back to 38, which seems to still confer a slight mileage advantage, but greatly lessens the noisy tire wear problem. I like the road feel better at this pressure, too. The recommended pressures almost always just feel squishy to me.