Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see the latest vehicles!
Popular New Cars
Popular Used Sedans
Popular Used SUVs
Popular Used Pickup Trucks
Popular Used Hatchbacks
Popular Used Minivans
Popular Used Coupes
Popular Used Wagons
Comments
Also, I have 12,000 miles on the car. Any comments on switching to Mobil 1 on the next oil change? Any comments on a good oil filter now that the AC high quality filter has been discontinued?
If you will keep it a long time and want to maintain perfect performance I'd use it. Otherwise regularly scheduled changes with regular oil are fine. M1 is going to cost you big with the 8 quart change. I do it myself and that has to save me at least $30 each time. The biggest difference is probably the flowability in the cold. It gives protection much quicker on cold start-ups. Also note that all synthetics are not created equal.
Filter - the M1 filter is really good but again costly at about $12. I had my oil sampled and analyzed at the lab with almost 3000 miles using an M1 filter. The dirt level was very low. I just sent another in with about 3000 miles but used the Delco filter. I'll let everyone know what the results were and if there are any differences.
I was able to buy a few ACDelco Ultraguard filters from my local Olds dealer. Call them and they might be able to find a few for you. I've always thought the regular Duraguards were pretty good, but I've no evidence to support it (I'm eagerly awaiting Garnes' findings). I agree that Mobil 1 is great. I went 1/2 and 1/2 Mobil 1 and Mobil regular for my first two changes (the first one at 800 miles) I guess because I didn't want anything to happen to the break-in (even though that is probably a wives-tale since many cars come from the factory with Mobil 1). In the future I'll be using straight Mobil 1. Actually, I'm pissed that I stocked up and now they have a new formula with "SuperSyn" which they tout as an anti-wear molecule...
I use Mobil 1 oil and filter and use the "Oil Life Computer" for changes since it is set up on regular oil life, I feel I cannot go wrong.
What's the average Oil Life from the Computer?
7-8K ?
RJS - I bought some of the "old" M1 just before the new stuff came out. I also had a few quarts from an earlier purchase. While changing oil (and using a white plastic funnel) I noticed some of the M1 oil was very dark looking against the white plastic. Other quarts produced lighter looking oil. Yes all were labeled 10-30. I wondered if they did not start putting the new stuff in the left over bottles with the old label. I called M1 and they said the new stuff is darker. Sure enough when I got the new stuff it's dark.
So, maybe you have the supersynth in there. I really think they used the last of the old labels for awhile.
Garnes, that's interesting that the oil is darker. I wonder if it's the chemicals or if they are just responding to feedback that their oil is hard to see on the dipstick. It bothers me a little, but not enough to not use the old stuff. It is still good oil. Really, I doubt the new stuff is some gigantic improvement over the old stuff.
Aurora5000, I trust the oil-life monitor too. It sounds like a good device. I see no reason that oil can't last longer than 3,000 miles. It definitely makes sense that it depends on the type of driving as much as it does the length of driving. I haven't actually let the monitor run down yet, but I got about 6,500 miles out of it the last time (I was going on a trip and didn't want to change it on the trip so I changed it early). At that point it had 28% remaining. So I would guess around 7000+ will be my norm. That's less than half as often as I changed the Corvette; so really the Mobil 1 isn't such a huge investment, even at 8 quarts a change.
Incidentally, does the transmission fluid-life monitor ever go down? I have 60,000 miles on my Classic and it's still at 100%
The transmission monitor does not work. My owners manual says to change the oil at 50,000 mile intervals (unless you only do highway driving).
I did my change at about 60,100 miles instead of 50,000 miles. The dealer did not think the 10,00 mile delay significant.
Henri
Thanks! Mike
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1754254778
I have the trans flushed every 35K miles (71000 this last time on my 95 classic. Previous owner had the trans "serviced" at 22000 miles and flushed at 42000 miles).
I run regular premium 10w-30 oil in Florida, changing it every 3000 miles. Typically, that's almost twice for every time the DIC tells me to. Actually, on the 2nd 3000 mile interval it might start "reminding" me to change it for about 200 miles or so before I finally do it and reset it.
BTW, I did have my trans fluid Life monitor actually fall off the 100% at around 65000 miles, to a big 99%. Optimistically, I reset it when I had the trans flushed 6K miles later.
Larry
This question was sparked by some posting on the Modifications thread.
Thanks , in advance for the answers.
Henri
http://detnews.com/joyrides/2000/oldsmobile/oldsmobile.htm
Oldsmobile was America's oldest surviving nameplate
By Richard A. Wright
In 1887, Ransom E. Olds drove a horseless carriage he had built, an experimental steam-powered vehicle, one block in Lansing. He thereby joined such other early automotive pioneers as Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz in Germany, Louis Renault, Rene Panhard, Emile Lavassor and the Peugeot brothers in France, and Frank and Charles Duryea, Charles King, Elwood Haynes, David Dunbar Buick and Henry Ford, all of whom were working on vehicles they called by various names. For the most part, they worked in ignorance of each other.
That first automobile was steam-powered and Olds was coming to the view that the relatively new internal-combustion gasoline engine was the way to go, even though he worked for his father's steam engine manufacturing company in Lansing.
Eventually he produced a gasoline-powered vehicle that seated four persons and could do 18 miles an hour on level ground. On August 21, 1897, Olds, and a group of investors formed the Olds Motor Works in Lansing.
But the first Olds plant was built not in Lansing, but in Detroit, on East Jefferson near the Belle Isle Bridge. While the plant was being built, Olds' engineering people designed and built 11 pilot models, including several sizes of cars and a couple of electrics.
Among them was a small, light horseless carriage with a single-cylinder, water-cooled four-cycle engine at the rear. Its most distinctive feature was its curved dashboard. The little Curved Dash Olds was a favorite in the plant, but it was not widely known to the public and was not much of a factor in the company's sales. It was considered a "mascot" or a "toy."
But in March, 1901, fire destroyed most of the Olds Motor Works plant and the only car that was saved was the Curved Dash Olds. Olds decided to rebuilt immediately and to put all the firm's production resources into the little Curved Dash Olds, the "Merry Oldsmobile" of musical fame.
It was a momentous decision, because it committed Olds to production of a small, relatively inexpensive car, the first "high-volume" model. Proving the adage that it's an ill wind that blows no good, the fire had a positive effect -- news of the fire made thousands of people aware of the car. Inquiries and orders began arriving, some accompanied by cash payments.
One of the ways auto makers drew attention to their vehicles in those early days was to take trips in them. No one had driven from Detroit to New York, so Olds commissioned a young associate, Roy D. Chapin, to drive a Curved Dash Olds to New York for an appearance at the 1901 New York Auto Show.
Chapin left Detroit on Tuesday, Oct. 29, 1901. He went 278 miles through Ontario to Niagara Falls, an amazing performance.
On Friday he encountered heavy rains between Syracuse and Albany. The muddy roads were nearly impassable, so Chapin inquired about driving on the level and well-finished roads along the Erie canal used by mules to pull barges.
He was told he would be jailed if he used it. Fifteen minutes later, he pulled the little Olds onto the all-weather road that stretched along the canal to the horizon.
On Manhattan's Fifth Avenue, only blocks from the Waldorf-Astoria, he swerved to avoid hitting a man who stepped in front of the Olds. The car hit the curb and deformed a wheel. Chapin bent it back as best he could and drove on.
Roy Chapin, who would later head the Hudson Motor Car Co. and whose son, Roy Jr., would head American Motors Corp., had completed the longest automobile trip that had been made in this country up until that time. Ransom Olds was waiting in the lobby of the hotel to greet him, but Chapin -- covered with grease and dust -- was ordered by the doorman to use the service entrance at the rear of the hotel.
The publicity boomed interest and soon Olds had so many orders that he sought an outside source for engines. Henry M. Leland, head of Leland and Faulconer Co., foremost machine shop in the Midwest, agreed to build 2,000 engines for Olds, the first large component order by an auto maker to an outside supplier.
Olds then ordered 2,000 transmissions from a smaller machine shop owned by John and Horace Dodge. Olds announced he would produce and sell 4,000 automobiles the following year, which was equal to the total production in the United States the preceding year.
Olds planned to mass-produce cars, to put the world on affordable wheels. In a few years, Henry Ford would do just that, working on the foundation laid by Ransom E. Olds.
Oldsmobile created the FIRST assembly line, and with the production of the Curved Dash, Oldsmobile became the first mass producer of gasoline cars. The Curved Dash became the most popular car in the United States soon after its introduction.
Early ads boasted that the $600 Curved Dash "ran 40 miles on one gallon of gasoline." Olds sought to convince people still wary of automobiles that the Curved Dash was thriftier, safer, faster, more controllable and more modern than a horse. The U.S. Post Office purchased Oldsmobiles for use as its first mail "trucks."
Though the term "Oldsmobile" was not officially granted a trademark until 1902, earlier ads touted the name. After a dispute with investors, Olds quit the company in January, 1904 and moved back to Lansing, where he launched a new company. Because the Detroit firm owned the Oldsmobile name, Olds put his initials, R.E.O., on his new car. In 1905, 864 Reo cars were built, compared with 6,500 Oldsmobiles. But by 1908, Reo production was 4,105, compared with 1,055 Oldsmobiles.
Later that year, Oldsmobile was acquired by William Durant and became part of the new General Motors Durant was building. Reo remained an independent and continued to build automobiles until 1936. Truck production continued until 1957, when Reo became a division of White Trucks, then was teamed with Diamond T and operated as Diamond Reo truck division. Sold in 1971, it went bankrupt and ceased truck production in 1974.
Meanwhile, Oldsmobile was integrated into the General Motors empire and gradually emerged as an upscale sporty and experimental car.
Production was curtailed during World War I and Olds Motor Works built 2,100 mobile aircraft kitchens for the military.
After the war, Oldsmobile moved upscale with its Model 46 "Thoroughbred" seven-passenger touring car powered by the "heavy" Northway V-8. And Oldsmobile became GM's experimental car line.
In 1926, Oldsmobile was the first to introduce chrome-plated trim, an important styling asset first used on the radiator shell. In 1934, Oldsmobile introduced "Knee Action" independent front suspension and hy
Oldsmobile's 1940 models featured Hydra-Matic drive, the first vehicles with fully automatic transmission. Hydra-Matic appeared as an Olds exclusive. It provided true clutchless driving with four forward speeds. Its fluid coupling between engine and transmission eliminated the clutch. Olds made the breakthrough Hydra-Matic an option on all models for $57.
After the industry halted production for the duration of World War II, Oldsmobile became the first maker to offer a car to meet the needs of the physically impaired with the introduction of the Valiant program. The Hydra-Matic transmission was a centerpiece of the Valiant program under which specially equipped cars were made available to disabled veterans returning from World War II.
The ringed globe emblem appeared on Oldsmobile's first Indianapolis 500 pace car , the 1949 Rocket 88, which was powered by the industry's first high compression V-8 engine, named the "Rocket 88."
Olds unveiled the Starfire "dream car" at the 1953 Motorama. It featured a fiberglass body, 200-hp Rocket engine and a wraparound windshield. Oldsmobile also offered the 'autronic eye' automatic headlight dimmer on its '53 models.
A small car, called the F-85, was introduced with the '61 models, featuring a lightweight aluminum V-8 engine. In 1964, Oldsmobile introduced a domed stations wagon, the Vista Cruiser,
In 1966, Oldsmobile introduced the Toronado, first U.S.-built modern-day front-wheel drive car. The 1966 Toronado won Motor Trend's "Car of the Year" award. In 1974, the Toronado was the first American car to offer a driver's side air bag.
The first domestic diesel engine was offered in 1978 by Oldsmobile as options on its full-sized cars. A number of European makes were selling diesel cars as fast as they could import them and GM wanted some of that sales action. The 350-cubic-inch diesel V-8s were made by Oldsmobile. A 260-inch diesel V-8 was added the following year.
In 1978, Oldsmobile sales topped one million, more than half of them the incredibly popular Cutlass. But the good times were nearing an end, partly because of the 350 diesels.
GM was plagued with reports of problems with the diesels. In 1980, a taxi company on Long Island sued GM, charging that the diesel in Oldsmobile Delta 88s was negligently designed. The following year, a $20 million class action lawsuit was filed by owners of Oldsmobile, Cadillac, Buick and Chevrolet diesels in Brooklyn, N.Y., alleging that the engines were defective,
At one point, Oldsmobile and GM were involved in over 100 lawsuits resulting from engine and transmission problems and from the infamous engine-switch cases, in which buyers of Oldsmobiles discovered their cars had Chevrolet engines in them. The engines may have been just as good as the Olds engines, but GM had carefully built an upscale image for Oldsmobile over the years and now it worked against the maker.
In addition to the lawsuits, imports were continuing to make serious inroads in the American market and Oldsmobile sales plummeted from the record 1978 level. In 1982, GM introduced the J-car to combat the tide of small imports, but it had little effect. Oldsmobile, no longer very distinct from other GM lines, called its version of the J-car the Firenza.
In 1994 Oldsmobile introduced a new car, the Aurora, unlike any other GM product. Its sales were not spectacular, but Oldsmobile had a car it could be proud of and build a new identity around.
The 1995 Oldsmobile presented Guidestar, first on-board navigation system to be offered on a production car. The system combined computerized road mapping and satellite positioning to route drivers to their destinations.
In 1997 Oldsmobile celebrated its 100th birthday by pacing and winning the Indy 500 race. The Olds Aurora was pace car for 1997 and a race-modified Aurora V-8 powered the winning car.
Through most of my life, Oldsmobile has been a proper car. You did not have to explain to a neighbor or friend why you had purchased an Oldsmobile.
Oldsmobile had a solid image. For decades it had been in the same general market as Buick, but they were clearly different. Buick was a traditional luxury car, sort of a junior Cadillac. Oldsmobile was also upscale, but younger, more adventurous. It was General Motors, 'cutting edge' division.
In the late 1980s, GM responded to criticism that its cars all looked and drove alike and ordered each division to develop a specific market identity.
Chevrolet grabbed its traditional entry-level role, Pontiac decided it would be the sporty division, Buick stuck with its traditional lower-level luxury image and Cadillac opted, naturally, for top-of-the-line luxury. Saturn had already targeted the volume imports.
So what was Oldsmobile, chopped liver? Olds was out in the cold, a marque without a market. Rumors began to circulate that GM might drop Oldsmobile. Oldsmobile General Manager John Rock lamented that "a day at Oldsmobile is tougher than a day at Buick or Pontiac."
There was some unfortunate marketing. An ad theme of "this is not your father's Oldsmobile" backfired among people whose father had owned a Cutlass 442 or a Rocket 88 or a turbocharged F-85 or any of the legendary cars that have borne the Oldsmobile nameplate. It seemed to be degrading a proud heritage.
But in introducing the Aurora sedan, Rock spelled out Oldsmobile's mission: to take on the higher-line imports. Oldsmobile seemed to be building a new image, based on the Aurora. To dramatize the break with the past, the Oldsmobile name did not appear on the car, although it was restored later.
Oldsmobile is the only American automobile more than 100 years old. But in the long run, that wasn't enough.
Richard A. Wright is a Detroit-area free-lance writer. He can be contacted via e-mail a
I will change the tranny fluid via the hoses into the radiator used for cooling. I will put old fluid into a white gallon jug and monitor the flow rate at idle which should be aprox. one quart/20 seconds.
When it quits putting out fluid (usually after 3 quarts), I stop the engine, check my white container for amount taken out and put that new fluid amount into the trans. fill tube and repeat process.
I am guessing that the tranny is around 11 to 12 quarts capacity. I also add a pint of Transmission Lugeguard, you can get at any NAPA.
See a previous post of mine on this item.
I will probably take the bottom off at the 30K change and look at filter to see if replacement is in order.
I look at this as preventative maintaince.
Henry- Still checking into Pontiac info.
Has anyone seen photos of the new 2004 GTO?
It basically looks like a 2-dr. Aurora.
Steve
The tranny is a dry-sump, so you won't get a pan full of fluid and a filter pickup right there. It's more involved. If you look here there is a guy who nicely posted the procedure to drain the pan (scroll some past the oil filter stuff). Also, aren't you worried you might burn up the tranny pump if you run it until it stops pumping fluid?
The Service Manual states that the tranny will need 11 quarts after a pan drain, 12.6 quarts after an overhaul, and 15.0 quarts if the tranny is dry. Interestingly, my Service Manual (2002) doesn't have the procedure in it, but it was in the 2001 SM. I might just buy the Transmission Unit Repair Manual because the filter change is a bit hazy in the 2001 SM, and nonexistent in mine.
I personally feel like if you drain the pan and change the filter, that's good enough. You'd have changed 11 of the 15 quarts. If you do this every 50,000 (or maybe 30,000) instead of the recommended 100,000, then I personally think it would be ok. I've always followed the recommended time, and always just drained the pan and filter and I've also never had a problem. But I can understand if this isn't for everyone. You can never be too cautious.
Until I get a service manual,I like your idea of dropping the pan and catching 11 quarts that way. I will probably do at the 10 or 15K miles. As always, you have great ideas and answers.
Thanks,
Steve
As far as Mr. Saturn, that's exactly who it's named after. He was a janitor at GM Headquarters who did a bang-up job cleaning puke out of an expensive carpet. So the honchos wanted to recognize him by naming a new company after him. They wanted Saturn to "clean up" the competition like so much puke... Just kidding. It was named Saturn after the Saturn rockets that propelled Americans to the moon. Much as the Saturn rocket helped America eventually beat the commies in the space-race, they wanted Saturn to propel GM to victory over the Japanese in the small-car race.
P.S. Thanks for the compliment, Steve!
Jonbgood, if you checked Ebay, I don't know what else to say...
In answer to your question, you maybe on to something. Maybe one of their cars was a Olds Stationwagon ???
Thanks for the quick responses. Sorry to not have responded sooner but was out of town on business.
I don't plan on ever getting rid of the Aurora, that's why I asked the question about Mobil 1. I'm due for an oil change this weekend. I change oil and filter every 2,500 miles regardless of the monotor's reading. I recall it reading about 65% at its lowest point. I'm going to switch to the synthetic.
Yeah, that componentster really had me looking for a while but I couldn't figure it out.I feel better now that I have not neglected the car.
I just got back from a 600 mile trip and experienced a good amount of "shake" in the front. From what I've read here, the new Auroras don't have the tire balancing issue. Is anyone else having problems with the new generation shaking? I'm going to bring it to the dealer in a couple of weeks while I'm on vacation just out of principle. We'll see what bull they create.
Thanks again for the info guys!
Yes Henri was spelled "gullible" on the information provided, but it can happen to any of us when it comes to the Aurora. After all, he was telling me about a car I already own, there was no profit in it for him.
However, on the gullible about the Aurora note . . . . GOT YA!
I made up the thing about the special edition Olds Aurora 442 and got more than a few postings about it.
See, lady Aurora can make fools of most men. Just one roar from the engine and we are puddy in her hands.
Henri, why the hell did you make that up? It seemed unlikely that Olds would resurrect the name, especially since they've already announced what they are doing for the Collector's Edition. Still, it would have been cool. Especially if it came with a 300hp engine! That's just mean...
Hey, what did the salesman say when you gave him the info?
I've forgotten what I've started fightin' foooooooor.
It's time to bring this ship into the shooore,
And throw away the ooooars forever.
Hey, thanks for the lyrics. I've heard that song before. I thought they were a rock band. Is that their one sissy song?
OLDS trivia - sorry if someone posted this before, but there is a very famous OLDS on TV every time you see Jed, Granny, Eli May, and Jethro - yep, that old truck is a 1923 Olds. Yeah, I was veging in front of the tube watching a thing about the Hillbillies and they talked about the truck. Apparently the studio found the darn thing (can't remember where - probably a barn) and it ran and was perfect. Of course all the other cars on the show are some pretty cool Dodge/Plymouths.
REO - Hmmm. Early 80's I was in high school. graduated in 84. I remember REO being all over, but never got into them. They are OK, no dislike or anything though. I believe I was heavily into the RUSH, Zepplin, Hendrix, Skynyrd, and some early Stevie Ray I think. I still love that stuff. When I was in college, I was playing my guitar in the music hall late one night and I started talking to the Janitor there as I left. I think he picked a few notes on my guitar too. We get to talking and he mentions that his brother is one of the guitar players in REO. He wasn't bragging. In fact he said something like "oh yeah he thinks he's a big deal" and wasn't really positive about him. Oh well, goofy story.