jm@tekid.UUCP (Jeff Mizener) (08/15/83)
Dusty Brakes: Repco sells "Dustless Brake Pads". This eliminates
the dust if you like to do your own work. Beverly
Hills Motoring Accessories sells "D-Dusters", a
dust shield that keeps brake dust off the wheels.
They cost $44.95 (dasher, rabbit, fox, scirocco and
924) to $59.95 (bmw, audi 5000 and m-benz).
Synthetic Oil: Oil change intervals should not be as long as the makers
of synthetic oils would lead you to beleve. 5k miles,
tops. Why spend $$$ for an oil that's going to last
15k miles when you're going to change your oil every
3k miles??? Remember-- Changing your oil without changing
your filter is like not changing you oil at all. Also--
the manufacturers don't care what happens to your car
after the warrantee runs out; their suggested oil change
intervals are just that *suggested*. Good ony for people
who only drive 55 on cool days and only stop for gas.
Jeff Mizener
Black Rabbit Racing Ent. Ltd. :-)
Tektronix Inc., IG/ADG
Beaverton, OR
uucp: {uophysics,watcgl,watmath,aat,floyd}
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{harpo,zehntel,lbl-unix,eagle,mit-dspg,allegra}!teklabs!tekid!jm
CSnet: tekid!jm@tek
ARPA: tekid!jm.tek@rand-relay gary@rochester.UUCP (Gary Cottrell) (08/16/83)
Jeff Mizener says:
Synthetic Oil: Oil change intervals should not be as long as the makers
of synthetic oils would lead you to beleve. 5k miles,
tops. Why spend $$$ for an oil that's going to last
15k miles when you're going to change your oil every
3k miles??? Remember-- Changing your oil without changing
your filter is like not changing you oil at all. Also--
the manufacturers don't care what happens to your car
after the warrantee runs out; their suggested oil change
intervals are just that *suggested*. Good ony for people
who only drive 55 on cool days and only stop for gas.
I would add to Keith Bauer's (correct) statements on synthetics:
Gary Cottrell (me) says:
Why do you say only 5000 miles? You can go 25000 with synthetics,
because they don't burn like regular oil. In a study I saw way back
when (the 60's - my favorite decade) in Popular Science, they used
synthetic oil in taxicabs for 100,000 miles and then compared them
to other taxis that had identical service except for oil. The engines
were torn down at 100k and the synthetic oiled engines showed 10% of
the wear on regular oiled engines. They recommended that you do
change the filter every 5000, which results in adding another quart
of synthetic. Since synthetic costs like $5.00 a can, this ends up
costing the same as a regular oil change, but if you believe the
study, the resulting wear on your engine is much less. The article
also mentioned that some truck fleets used synthetic, and *never*
changed it - only topped it off now and then, and changed the filter!
I totally agree with Jeff's comments about frequent oil changes, but
only with respect to regular oil. I had a 1970 Ford Econoline Van with
a 302 engine that had had an oil change every 2000 miles before I got
it at 24,000. I changed the oil every 3000 without fail. I tore down
the engine at 109,000 on the advice of my boss at the body shop - and
found an incredibly clean engine except for a cylinder that had been
misfiring due to a plug wire that kept coming loose. The engine did
not need to be taken apart, it turned out, but my boss had just
assumed it needed a rebuild at 109,000. The plug wire was the problem.
This cleanliness was attributed to the oil change frequency.
/gary