oil changes

mdey

I have a 92 Ford, a 01 Dodge, and a 02 Chevy. All three owners manuals specify that the engine should be at full operating temperature before checking the oil. Why? Like all fluids, oil expands when it gets hot. What you are checking for is that the oil is at the proper level in the pan under driving conditions (a hot engine). If you check it when the oil is cold, it will read lower (slightly, but lower). If you overfill the pan, the crank shaft will splash in the oil, causing it to froth, and that is bad.

I suggest reading your owners manual on when to check the oil (cold engine or hot engine), and follow that advice. And consider one other point: on an extended trip, in which you purchase several tanks of gas, would you wait for the engine to cool to check the oil?

As for changing the oil, I prefer to start with a fully heated engine, allow it to cool for maybe an hour (just so I don't get scalded), then change the oil. I have nothing to base this on but my own common sense, which I hope is pretty good. I think the oil flows better and is far more likely to carry the bulk of the contamination in the system out with it if the oil is still warm and has not been standing for a while and no settling has occured (if settling in fact occurs, which I do not really know). In any case, it only takes about a minute for the bulk of the oil to return to the pan when the engine is turned off. A 30 minute wait should be more than adequate to get most of the old stuff out (IMHO).

gsleve

have to say I use a pump works off of vacum it evacuates all the air out of the pump and starts a vacume process I feel that this is a little better(my personal opinion) and have used it on numerous occasion, after the process I make sure (just to see) I open the drain plug and leave it off, each time I've done this, no drips ever formed, this was proof enough to me that the vacum process works well just on my pump, the time it takes to evacuate a 5qt sump is between 6-8 minutes. This process works well for me (just me relating my experience)my pump cost $70.00

mdey

I try not to overpost, but I do want to add my experience on oil change frequency.

My first two cars, a 70 Dodge and a 76 Plymouth, both died of engine failure largely due to the fact that at age 16 to 21 years, I had no clue how to maintain a car. I am married to a great wife who happens to have a father who retired from the Air Force where he maintained jets. He knows a few things about cars too and taught me a lot. I've learned a few things on my own too.

He recommended 5,000-mile oil change intervals and replace the filter every time. I used Havoline oil and Fram filters for years, but changed to Castrol and Motorcraft or AC filters in 1996 when I bought the first (and last) minivan. At the same time I switched to 3,000-mile oil and filter change intervals. Before the big switch, a 76 Mercury, 83 Honda, 85 Buick, 85 Ford, and a 88 Ford all started using some oil by the time they hit 50,000 miles. Some used a half quart between oil changes, some as much as two quarts. Not a lot, I know, but read on.

One other thing, usually by 100,000 miles, with one exception, fuel efficiency started to fall off and power seemed to start going away. Cars I owned became less enjoyable to drive, particularly at freeway speeds.

After making my change, a 92 Ford (still own with 136,000 miles), a 93 Ford (96,000 miles when traded), and a 96 Ford (108,000 miles when traded) all operated flawlessly throughout the time I owned them, and not once did I have to add oil to any of them. In fact, only one of them used any oil at all, and it was generally about a half-quart low when I changed the oil.

Subjective, I realize, and I can't tell you whether the change in oil and filter brands did the trick or the change in frequency, but I see a trend enough to tell me I am on a reasonable track. What I need out of my cars are two things: longevity and durability. Afterall, what good is an old car if it doesn't run worth a damn.

Take all of this for what it is worth--my experience in owning cars since 1979.

ywilson

That is a good idea. It would be very interesting to see. I bet the numbers would be surprising to most people. Think what would happen if all US auto manufacturers started to use only synth in thier engines. But, let's carry it a step further. With synth tranny fluid, power steering fluid, oil and gear lubes, just think if all American cars were totally synthed !!! I bet the savings would be outrageous and our petrolium dependancy would drop quite a large number of barrels per year. That is if they use true synth instead of the hydrocracked fake stuff.

opera_house_wk

It is a recycled resource and I have been told used to make asphalt for roads and for heating large buildings. Removing it has to be made up some how. It's not like used tires which are just collecting somewhere. Tire recycling I think is around 2%.

ywilson

I just bought and am going to install this product on my truck. With the concern for longevity and less use of oil, I have done alot of investigating and think this is the best way to go about it. Has anyone ever used this system or knows anyone that has? I would be interested in reading the remarks about this. I think that this will increase my engines life so I will have it awhile.

spokane

I agree that 3000-mile oil change intervals will usually prolong the life of an engine, although engine life differences may not be as dramatic as is your experience. The brand of oil and filter are surely much less significant than the oil change intervals. Further, the benefits of frequent oil change were valid long before 1979.

suvshopper4

re #s 95 & 95: Why not?

woodwjw

I use a frantz bypass oil filter.
I don't have any personal experience with the Amsoil bypass filter... a few friends have used them and their cars/trucks lasted longer than they wanted to drive them.

armtdm

Brake fluid. Well, never heard of this one. I hae heard of using tranny fluid in the oil to remove some build up but never heard of brake fluid. Nothing authoritative here, I just have no idea what brake fluid is make of and when there are other products out that that seem to do the job I hat to be the guinea pig. Nothing to go on but gut feeling. Sorry

vwracer

Read an article in newspaper today about car maint that said the average american changes their oil every 9000 miles. Don't know where these statistics came from.

OPERA HOUSE

A local group here in OKLAHOMA has developed a process to recycle 100% of a used tire. State is assisting in funding to build a full size plant to develope this process and hoping to be nation wide in 4-5 years.

opera_house_wk

A couple weeks ago I replaced valve cover gasket in Jeep due to sludge. PVC system apparently clogged for a couple of years. Washed the head with tranny fluid and kerosene. Gave a little Marvel Mystery for good luck. Most junk flushed down into the pan. After two weeks, I just drained this combo and poured old oil through extreamly fine filter mesh. Oil was black, I changed oil 2 weeks before gasket, but mesh caught only a couple specks. I was shocked. Something dissolved all this hard particle sludge!

I remember an article about using tire chips in asphalt to increase road life over 50%. The road building association fought a law tooth and nail to require something like 10% of new roads to have rubber chips in them. Never got passed. I think it stated that if 100% of road repair used then, only 30% of used tires each year would be used. Good luck.

bowser2

How do the car manufacturers determine what the appropriate interval is for oil changes?

swschrad

hee, hee, hee

fleetwoodsimca

Could you please describe what this kit is? At first I thought you were talking "remote filter" relocating kit, but apparently not. Thanks. My wife was an Amsoil dealer in the days of their diester base products, but I do not remember this accessory!

rayfbaird

Use a machine fuel injection cleaning. Prices I've seen vary from $80--$120.00. This quiets the engine and restores power.

jc1973

how long do u guys think i can go between oil changes i have a 94 pontiac sunbird and a 1990 ford van each manual says every 3000 miles with regular oil is it possible to go beyond it i do 50$ PERCENT CITY AND HIGHWAY DRIVING

fleetwoodsimca

You can't go wrong with the 3K miles period that your manuals recommend. I personally change oil and filters on 5 cars and trucks at the 3K interval. As you might guess, none of these get a lot of miles per year.
Why test fate? do your changes for yourself, and buy the oil on sale in case lots. Walmart and Kmart house brand filters are hard to beat, and they are very economical.

spokane

The mention of "by-pass" oil filter always calls to my mind the filtration circuits on many auto engines of the early fifties. With those, unfiltered oil was pumped to the engine bearings and the residual oil from the pump's pressure regulator passed through the filter and was dumped back in the sump. I believe the By-Pass kits sold today are all configured so that the OEM full-flow filter functions normally, but a second filter, with an extremely fine mesh is added to process a low-volume by-pass flow which goes to the sump. Thus, this system doesn't guarantee a reduction in maximum particle size reaching an engine bearing but, depending on the filter characteristics, could substantially reduce the average particle size. In practical terms, I don't know what the cost/benefit numbers are for these systems.

armtdm

Spokane is correct, plus the Amsoil by pass is an add on unit, separate dual filters and you need to have the space to place one.

ywilson

Sorry for the wait. I don't check this everyday. The bypass system consists of a dual mounting filter system. One filter is for the regular full flow and the other is a filter that filters the total oil capacity at a higher rate and much slower flow. It is mounted remotely from the stock mount. It provides filtration down to 5 microns and removes water that has formed via condensation within the engine. I have begun to pre-assemble the kit and it is pretty simple and straight forward. I will however have my truck guy install it for me. (Trick Trucks) I know a friend that uses this on his Dodge Ramcharger and the truck runs great with over 286,000 miles on a 318 engine. He was thinking of selling it but changed his mind because it is running so well. Now he has the bug to see how many miles he can get. I am using this because I am one that keeps my vehicles for a long long time. If I can get the results he and others have gotten I will be happy. The fluid changes will be around 20,000 miles. He has his oil analyzed and it remains good each time. He changes the full flow filter once every 10,000 miles and I believe he does the extra slow filter every 25,000 miles. He only changes when necessary or according to the analysis. I like it for it's apparant ability to increase a vehicles reliability as well as decreasing the frequency of oil changes.

fleetwoodsimca

Hey, about the time you don't think there's a surprise available, whaaaam! I am wondering how this bit of "double filtration" has escaped me over the years. Thanks to everyone who added some to the information. Maybe I'm not the only one "in the dark" on this topic. I have fiddled with remote filter kits used to get a filter into a handier place-- but there are pros and cons on them. I had one on my 1990 Ramcharger, but removed it when I got concerned about possible flow rate changes, etc.

frule

I had one of remote location filters on a 1993 Quest van.It gave me a BIG filter and a lever to dump the oil.I could change it without even jacking up the van.Just slid a pan under.BUT,it blew apaert one day(luckily on start up at home).

The Amsoil filter looks VERY robust.I got an info packet from an Amsoil dealer that had great color brochures on all their products.Check under "amsoil" on eBay to find a dealer and ask for the "prospective dealer" package(it's free).

It will also give the preferred customer,dealer, and msrp's of all their products.(Although you can buy their 5W-30 or 10W-30 for About $4.50 a quart postpaid on eBay)!

usual disclaimers,etc.

fleetwoodsimca

That sounds very much like the one I had. From the beginning, I did not install the lever dump feature, because it worried me as a potential catastrophe. Later, I got to worrying about the lines coming from the original filter location. Next thing you know, I jacked up my truck and removed the whole thing. To this day, I have a few pieces of the outfit around the garage. >:o]

frule

Was it a "perma-cool" or something?I have parts too!Maybe we could combine 'em and have a complete set-up:)

fleetwoodsimca

But only if we keep them at your house! Ha!
My kit was purchased from J.C. Whitney many years ago when I was living in an isolated rural area, and I have no recollection of the brand name. It seemed like a great idea for a while, but as I indicated, I got concerned about rate of delivery of pumped oil, hose breaks, pressure drops, dry start ups, you name it. I removed it thinking that my engine would appreciate it!

brorjace

If you are looking for oil coolers and remote filtering kits, single and dual for both transmissions as well as engines, try:

www.summitracing.com

--- Bror Jace

adc100

I also considered this concept and especially the Amsoil thing. But when you realize that a good synthetic oil like Mobil 1 or Amsoil can take you 200K with minimum engine wear- and that was in the mid 90's with yesterdays filters (changing every 15K) Whats the point?

I also worried about reliability of the systemand flow restrictions. Lets face it these add on systems are not tested for millions of miles on each different engine. Hey - thats just me. Not saying I am right.

frule

fleetwoodsimca,Yes,J.C.Whitney!

adc100,Another consideration:the amsoil unit calls for about $70 per year in filters alone.I drive a vehicle about 12K miles yearly.I can buy a lot of new oil(synth or dino) and filters (STech or Mobil 1) for that kind of $$ and not worry about all the extra plumbing and it's inherent problems.