Never change your oil? You get what you deserve

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Elmo P. Shagnasty

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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 said:
like this Saturn rental:

http://jalopnik.com/5235675/saturn-rental-car-never-gets-oil-change-engin e-carnage-ensues-after-30000-miles
Click to expand...

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>
 
Elmo P. Shagnasty said:
like this Saturn rental:

http://jalopnik.com/5235675/saturn-rental-car-never-gets-oil-change-engin e-carnage-ensues-after-30000-miles
Click to expand...

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 said:
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>
Click to expand...

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.
 
Tegger said:
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>
Click to expand...

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.
 
Tegger said:
Let's fix that link up a bit...
<http://jalopnik.com/5235675/saturn-rental-car-never-gets-oil-change-e ngine-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>
Click to expand...

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.
Click to expand...

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 said:
Let's fix that link up a bit...
<http://jalopnik.com/5235675/saturn-rental-car-never-gets-oil-change-e ngine-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>
Click to expand...

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.
Click to expand...

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 said:
Tegger said:
like this Saturn rental:

http://jalopnik.com/5235675/saturn-rental-car-never-gets-oil-change-e ngin e-carnage-ensues-after-30000-miles

Let's fix that link up a bit...
<http://jalopnik.com/5235675/saturn-rental-car-never-gets-oil-change-e ngine-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>
Click to expand...
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.
Click to expand...

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.
Click to expand...

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
 
Tegger said:
Tegger said:
like this Saturn rental:

http://jalopnik.com/5235675/saturn-rental-car-never-gets-oil-change-e ngin e-carnage-ensues-after-30000-miles

Let's fix that link up a bit...
<http://jalopnik.com/5235675/saturn-rental-car-never-gets-oil-change-e ngine-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>
Click to expand...
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.
Click to expand...

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.
Click to expand...

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
 
Tegger wrote:

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

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.

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.
Click to expand...

I'm 3K or less, with synthetic. Yeah, I know. It's "recreational" oil changing. It makes me feel better.
 
Tegger wrote:

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

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.

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.
Click to expand...

I'm 3K or less, with synthetic. Yeah, I know. It's "recreational" oil changing. It makes me feel better.
 
Tegger said:
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.
Click to expand...

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

I'm 3K or less, with synthetic. Yeah, I know. It's "recreational" oil changing. It makes me feel better.
Click to expand...

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.
 
Tegger said:
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.
Click to expand...

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

I'm 3K or less, with synthetic. Yeah, I know. It's "recreational" oil changing. It makes me feel better.
Click to expand...

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.
 
Tegger said:
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.
Click to expand...

When I was a kid, I had an old Rambler that leaked/burned so much oil, it was in a state of perpetual change.....
 
Tegger said:
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.
Click to expand...

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 said:
When I was a kid, I had an old Rambler that leaked/burned so much oil, it was in a state of perpetual change.....
Click to expand...

I had a 79 Civic, same thing. When the oil light flickered on a hard right turn, it was time to add more.
 
L Alpert said:
When I was a kid, I had an old Rambler that leaked/burned so much oil, it was in a state of perpetual change.....
Click to expand...

I had a 79 Civic, same thing. When the oil light flickered on a hard right turn, it was time to add more.
 
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