Never change your oil? You get what you deserve

Discussion in 'General Motoring' started by Elmo P. Shagnasty, May 1, 2009.

  1. like this Saturn rental:

    http://jalopnik.com/5235675/saturn-rental-car-never-gets-oil-change-engin
    e-carnage-ensues-after-30000-miles
     
    Elmo P. Shagnasty, May 1, 2009
    #1
  2. Elmo P. Shagnasty

    Tegger Guest



    Let's fix that link up a bit...
    <http://jalopnik.com/5235675/saturn-rental-car-never-gets-oil-change-engine-carnage-ensues-after-30000-miles>


    My own site has a few interesting pics:
    <http://www.tegger.com/hondafaq/sludge/index.html>
    and
    <http://www.tegger.com/hondafaq/sludge/cleaning_sludge.html>
     
    Tegger, May 1, 2009
    #2
  3. Elmo P. Shagnasty

    Tegger Guest



    Let's fix that link up a bit...
    <http://jalopnik.com/5235675/saturn-rental-car-never-gets-oil-change-engine-carnage-ensues-after-30000-miles>


    My own site has a few interesting pics:
    <http://www.tegger.com/hondafaq/sludge/index.html>
    and
    <http://www.tegger.com/hondafaq/sludge/cleaning_sludge.html>
     
    Tegger, May 1, 2009
    #3
  4. Elmo P. Shagnasty

    jim beam Guest

    the funny thing is though, neither of those two engines show signs of
    extraordinary wear. sludge, yes. [typical of short trip stuff where
    the motor doesn't warm up properly.] should they have changed their
    oil, yes. but those cams are not distressed so no mechanical harm done.
     
    jim beam, May 2, 2009
    #4
  5. Elmo P. Shagnasty

    jim beam Guest

    the funny thing is though, neither of those two engines show signs of
    extraordinary wear. sludge, yes. [typical of short trip stuff where
    the motor doesn't warm up properly.] should they have changed their
    oil, yes. but those cams are not distressed so no mechanical harm done.
     
    jim beam, May 2, 2009
    #5
  6. Elmo P. Shagnasty

    Tegger Guest



    I was told (by more than one mechanic) that so long as the oil pickup
    screen isn't plugged, engines can survive a lot of sludge. What ultimately
    kills them is blockage of the oil pickup screen.
     
    Tegger, May 2, 2009
    #6
  7. Elmo P. Shagnasty

    Tegger Guest



    I was told (by more than one mechanic) that so long as the oil pickup
    screen isn't plugged, engines can survive a lot of sludge. What ultimately
    kills them is blockage of the oil pickup screen.
     
    Tegger, May 2, 2009
    #7

  8. At which time all kinds of alarms should be going off such as low oil
    pressure often accompanied by overheating etc.

    OTOH, old worn out oil can be hard on bearing surfaces. I had a failure
    on a V6 cam, (right after the second lobe), after a run of 10K between
    oil changes including a few "check engine" lights. Car had 160K on it
    and it failed suddenly and took about a month of tryin' this 'n that
    before finally pulling the intake manifold which revealed the ugly truth.

    Thankfully, the rearmost bearing was ok but the others not so good but
    in a position to replace without pulling the engine.

    Now, I'm pretty fastidious with regard to oil changes... Usually about
    5K with dino oils.

    JT
     
    Grumpy AuContraire, May 3, 2009
    #8

  9. At which time all kinds of alarms should be going off such as low oil
    pressure often accompanied by overheating etc.

    OTOH, old worn out oil can be hard on bearing surfaces. I had a failure
    on a V6 cam, (right after the second lobe), after a run of 10K between
    oil changes including a few "check engine" lights. Car had 160K on it
    and it failed suddenly and took about a month of tryin' this 'n that
    before finally pulling the intake manifold which revealed the ugly truth.

    Thankfully, the rearmost bearing was ok but the others not so good but
    in a position to replace without pulling the engine.

    Now, I'm pretty fastidious with regard to oil changes... Usually about
    5K with dino oils.

    JT
     
    Grumpy AuContraire, May 3, 2009
    #9
  10. Elmo P. Shagnasty

    Tegger Guest



    People who let their oil go that long are not the sort to pay much
    attention to how well the engine is running. Or else they studiously ignore
    any evident problems, perhaps in the hopes that they will go away on their
    own.



    I'm 3K or less, with synthetic. Yeah, I know. It's "recreational" oil
    changing. It makes me feel better.
     
    Tegger, May 3, 2009
    #10
  11. Elmo P. Shagnasty

    Tegger Guest



    People who let their oil go that long are not the sort to pay much
    attention to how well the engine is running. Or else they studiously ignore
    any evident problems, perhaps in the hopes that they will go away on their
    own.



    I'm 3K or less, with synthetic. Yeah, I know. It's "recreational" oil
    changing. It makes me feel better.
     
    Tegger, May 3, 2009
    #11
  12. Elmo P. Shagnasty

    jim beam Guest

    i let my oil go long, but i pay studious attention to how well the
    engine's running.

    dude, with respect, that's crazy. a quality synthetic is formulated to
    let you run long. the conditions to be met include:

    1. base oil doesn't break down
    2. additives don't break down
    3. other additives cope with the chemistry

    conventional oil bases do break down, their additives break down, and
    because of the first two, they also have a correspondingly lowered
    ability to cope with chemical load like acids. given that #'s 1 & 2 are
    easy for synthetics to achieve, #3 is the one to look for, and it's
    /loaded/ so it can go way beyond your 3k.

    discoloration of the oil doesn't mean a damned thing since the filter
    ensures particles are below the wear threshold. my buddy who works for
    exxon-mobil has a chevy tahoe. the fall-back factory service interval
    on that is 3k. using the analysis resources he has available, he has
    the service interval pushed out to 25k. again, that's a 25,000 mile oil
    change interval based on analysis.

    conclusion: 3k on synthetic is crazy.
     
    jim beam, May 3, 2009
    #12
  13. Elmo P. Shagnasty

    jim beam Guest

    i let my oil go long, but i pay studious attention to how well the
    engine's running.

    dude, with respect, that's crazy. a quality synthetic is formulated to
    let you run long. the conditions to be met include:

    1. base oil doesn't break down
    2. additives don't break down
    3. other additives cope with the chemistry

    conventional oil bases do break down, their additives break down, and
    because of the first two, they also have a correspondingly lowered
    ability to cope with chemical load like acids. given that #'s 1 & 2 are
    easy for synthetics to achieve, #3 is the one to look for, and it's
    /loaded/ so it can go way beyond your 3k.

    discoloration of the oil doesn't mean a damned thing since the filter
    ensures particles are below the wear threshold. my buddy who works for
    exxon-mobil has a chevy tahoe. the fall-back factory service interval
    on that is 3k. using the analysis resources he has available, he has
    the service interval pushed out to 25k. again, that's a 25,000 mile oil
    change interval based on analysis.

    conclusion: 3k on synthetic is crazy.
     
    jim beam, May 3, 2009
    #13
  14. Elmo P. Shagnasty

    L Alpert Guest

    When I was a kid, I had an old Rambler that leaked/burned so much oil,
    it was in a state of perpetual change.....
     
    L Alpert, May 3, 2009
    #14
  15. Elmo P. Shagnasty

    L Alpert Guest

    When I was a kid, I had an old Rambler that leaked/burned so much oil,
    it was in a state of perpetual change.....
     
    L Alpert, May 3, 2009
    #15
  16. I had a 79 Civic, same thing. When the oil light flickered on a hard
    right turn, it was time to add more.
     
    Elmo P. Shagnasty, May 3, 2009
    #16
  17. I had a 79 Civic, same thing. When the oil light flickered on a hard
    right turn, it was time to add more.
     
    Elmo P. Shagnasty, May 3, 2009
    #17
  18. well, he DID say it was recreational.

    I think fishing is crazy, but...
     
    Elmo P. Shagnasty, May 3, 2009
    #18
  19. well, he DID say it was recreational.

    I think fishing is crazy, but...
     
    Elmo P. Shagnasty, May 3, 2009
    #19
  20. Elmo P. Shagnasty

    Tegger Guest



    So is skydiving.
     
    Tegger, May 3, 2009
    #20
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