Oil changes! How often? Methods? Tools?

[NavyVet83]

Ive seen the inner workings of Alot of engines ranging from Ford to Ferrari and everything in between. Anyone who waits longer than 5k or so to do oil changes, simply hates their car or at least just doesn’t care about it. Today’s oils are good, but they are not some magic fluid a lot of people seem/appear to think they are. Just an opinion from someone who replaces/rebuilds engines for a living.

 

[Bongo Lewi]

I cant recall how many times I was dispatched to some industrial facility that was shut down or having a major production problem because maintenance on a critical piece of machinery wasn't done properly or at all. For example: A power plant that had an unplanned outage because of this and it's costing the power company $300,000 an hour when the generator isn't spinning.

The first thing that would happen when I show up is the angry plant manager, who is always an asshole, blames it on my company and calls me a c--k sucker. I let that go and tell him that I have been trying to quit - and get down to gathering some facts. An hour, maybe several hours later, the cause is known and repairs or other corrective measures are being done. 99% of the time it was poor maintenance practices. #1 cause... failed bearings on pumps because some bean counter with an MBA decided it was better to run the pump to failure vs. shut it down and do the recommended maintenance. #2 leaking or broken/inoperative valves. #3 somebody cuts or lifts the wrong wire.

This is why I buy cars new and take them to the dealer to get all the recommended maintenance done. I also sign up for the "free" oil changes knowing this is more expensive. I get that some of the recommended maintenance is fluffy and probably not necessary unless you beat the car, but the peace of mind is worth it to me. That doesn't guarantee a car wont break down, but it reduces the risk. There is nothing I hate more than an unreliable car. Except maybe an unreliable gun.

 

[Curmudgeon]

My last truck, a RAM 3500 srw, it was every 15K. The one I have now, another RAM 3500 but drw, it's once a year since I put less than 800 / yr on it. Both Cummins 6.7s. My wife's car gets it whenever the oil change message pops up which I think is 5K. Everything gets full synthetic and I do it myself even though I loathe doing the RAM because the filter location really sucks. I keep saying that I am going to put a relocation kit on it but.........

 

[Bongo Lewi]

I am done crawling underneath cars and trucks. That's just me. My thoughts and feelings about cars charged dramatically over time. I used to genuinely enjoy working on my cars.

The older I get, the more my thinking shifts to a total disinterest in cars as we know them today. They are like a commodity to me now. A necessary evil. I suppose this is connected to my interest in EVs and self driving/autonomous technology. I would like to get into my vehicle, tell it where I want to go and take a nap or catch up on some reading. Wake me up five minutes before we get there.

I would like it even more if the car were a drone.

I want to get from point A to point B as quietly, quickly and efficiently as possible. Driving is not a joy for me. It's the journey, not the destination? That's dreamy claptrap for poets and liberals. I want to get where I'm going. I have friends who orgasm at the thought of a road trip. They love it. I'd rather die. To each his own.

 

[Racer88]

This is why I buy cars new and take them to the dealer to get all the recommended maintenance done. I also sign up for the "free" oil changes knowing this is more expensive. I get that some of the recommended maintenance is fluffy and probably not necessary unless you beat the car, but the peace of mind is worth it to me.

That would be great.... IF the dealer's service department is competent and can be trusted. In my experience over many years.... the dealer's service departments CANNOT be trusted in most cases. They couldn't even handle a fucking OIL CHANGE, the simplest of all services, without fucking it up on my brand new car. It's a good / lucky thing I noticed. So it's BACK to doing it myself.

 

[Bongo Lewi]

That would be great.... IF the dealer's service department is competent and can be trusted. In my experience over many years.... the dealer's service departments CANNOT be trusted in most cases. They couldn't even handle a fucking OIL CHANGE, the simplest of all services, without fucking it up on my brand new car. It's a good / lucky thing I noticed. So it's BACK to doing it myself.

I get it. But it'd rather just put my Karen hat on and rip them a new ass vs. decide I have to do it myself. The squeaky wheel gets the grease. It's easier to take it in then just give things a quick check before driving away.

And my manicurist won't complain about the oil under my nails

 

[Racer88]

But it'd rather just put my Karen hat on and rip them a new ass vs. decide I have to do it myself.

I did both! And they lost many thousands of dollars of my business. Sadly, they don't care.

So now my challenge is how / where to get the bigger services such as transmission done.

 

[Racer88]

I want to get from point A to point B as quietly, quickly and efficiently as possible. Driving is not a joy for me. It's the journey, not the destination? That's dreamy claptrap for poets and liberals. I want to get where I'm going. I have friends who orgasm at the thought of a road trip. They love it. I'd rather die. To each his own.

I love driving. I love interacting with machinery.... cars.... guns... anything mechanical. I love driving a stick-shift car, especially on a hilly, curvy road. Even better on a track. I like the sounds and the smells.

A long boring road trip on interstates? Meh. But speaking of "to each his own".... Apparently most people LOVE going on a cruise ship. It would be my worst nightmare.

 

[Bobster]

I suppose this is connected to my interest in EVs and self driving/autonomous technology. I would like to get into my vehicle, tell it where I want to go and take a nap or catch up on some reading.

I suspect the drive for EVs is for Big Brother to eventually be in control of your movements and whereabouts. More affluent will get into their self-driving pod via implanted RFID chip, voice your destination, the door will close and not open until you are there. The dregs will get onto a self-driving bus with other dreggers, with movements also recorded by RFID...

 

[Bongo Lewi]

Apparently most people LOVE going on a cruise ship. It would be my worst nightmare.

My ex convinced me to do that. Twice. The first time it was very classy upscale thing but mostly people 100 years older than me at the time. Boring. The second was a young crowd. What a wierd collection of freaks that was. It was like going to the club Hedonism in Negril. A proverbial love boat full of swingers. I am by no means a prude or put off by people with a zest for living ... but so many of these people were just plain sleazy. A festival of losers and skanks. My ex was a snobby prep-schooled Vassar grad and NY socialite. They made her skin crawl. One of the ports of call was St Lucia and upon arrival we informed the Pursor we were not returning to the ship. Took our luggage and spent the rest of our vacation there. Technically, you aren't supposed to do that because we didn't go thru customs. We left by air and nobody asked how we got there.

 

[Bongo Lewi]

I suspect the drive for EVs is for Big Brother to eventually be in control of your movements and whereabouts. More affluent will get into their self-driving pod via implanted RFID chip, voice your destination, the door will close and not open until you are there. The dregs will get onto a self-driving bus with other dreggers, with movements also recorded by RFID...

Possible. Not in our lifetime though... I don't care what the world does or how it works after I'm dead. It's futile. None of us could predict and probably would not recognize the world 100 or 200 years from now. Eat, drink, and be merry. Most of us have more years behind us than ahead of us. Liberals worry themselves to death. Unfortunately it takes too long.

For every future rule or system of control there will always be a hack or workaround. It's like locks on doors. They keep honest people honest. Not much more.

Since I was 19, I have recommended to everyone I know some advice I was given. That advice was, Unpucker your butt hole, read this, and live by these principles:

 

[Bobster]

Since I was 19, I have recommended to everyone I know some advice I was given. That advice was, Unpucker your butt hole, read this, and live by these principles:

I read "How to Win Friends and Influence People" by DC in my late teens. It has helped. Written in the '30s, while some of the concepts were dated, they still applied in that and this modern day....

 

[One Ping Only]

I switched our 2006 Altima SE (w/@ 28k on the clock!) to full synthetic last year, as well as my 1994 S10 w/V6 that now runs full synthetic. So far, so good. Low mileage drivers here, so once a year should cut it.

I haven't changed oil myself since selling the 530i. Oh wait, I changed the lawn tractor oil... the cars get the Valvoline oil auto changer here in town that honestly do a GREAT job, surprisingly. I supply oil and filters.

 

[NavyVet83]

Racer is very correct n the respect that competence is an issue at dealerships nowadays. From the lube tech/tire guys all the way up to the line technicians. The dealerships just want a body in a bay to get their $$ off of. All the way up”training” is basically web based. So you watch a 5 minute video then take a 10 question or so test. You pass? CERTIFIED!! Techs that truly know their shit are few and far between nowadays. I have a timing light in the bottom of my tool box. A PHASE 3 MASTER TECH borrowed a tool a few days ago. He found the timing light looking around and asked what it was.. WTF…

 

[Racer88]

View: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/_r-_S7O3jMk

 

[Bobster]

(woman changing/wearing oil)

Not much makes me cringe but that video did!

 

[no4mk1t]

I buy my air filters and cabin air filters from Rock Auto for a fraction of what the oil change place wants. I keep them in the car. When the tech comes out and shows me my air filter needs changing, I hand him the new one and say, use this. This is especially gratifying with the cabin air filter, which is a bit of a minor PITA to get to.

 

[Racer88]

I buy my air filters and cabin air filters from Rock Auto for a fraction of what the oil change place wants. I keep them in the car. When the tech comes out and shows me my air filter needs changing, I hand him the new one and say, use this. This is especially gratifying with the cabin air filter, which is a bit of a minor PITA to get to.

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Do NOT even get your oil changed at those places. Seriously. I've known way too many people who blew engines after driving away with no oil or with a fucked up drain plug that leaked all the oil out. The most recent story (from someone I know personally).... killed his $70,000 BMW engine. NOT a $70k BMW (entire car). JUST THE ENGINE... $70k. He was on his way to the same concert I was attending. I texted him to see where he was. Stuck in the boonies on the side of the road. Dead BMW. Missed the concert. Insurance totaled the car.

 

[no4mk1t]

Do NOT even get your oil changed at those places. Seriously. I've known way too many people who blew engines after driving away with no oil or with a fucked up drain plug that leaked all the oil out. The most recent story (from someone I know personally).... killed his $70,000 BMW engine. NOT a $70k BMW (entire car). JUST THE ENGINE... $70k. He was on his way to the same concert I was attending. I texted him to see where he was. Stuck in the boonies on the side of the road. Dead BMW. Missed the concert. Insurance totaled the car.

This is a local place we've used for years. I am able to watch them and insure they fill it and check the dip stick.
The Kia's both have a belly pan that Kia did not see fit to put drain plug and filter access. It has to be removed to access plug and filter. Which means it has to be jacked up. I'm at the age where I don't want to fuck with it anymore.
The two vans can be changed without jacking them up and I can still do those, even though I really don't enjoy it anymore.

 

[Curmudgeon]

Ram Cummins 4th and 5th gens really suck. Pull the front passenger tire off, front half of the fender liner, barely enough room to get filter pliers between the AC lines and turbo pipe. Then the filter has to be rotated top end (open end) toward the outside as you pull it out over the frame. They sell a plastic lid to snap on the filter so you don't dump the oil all over your hand and the frame but I use disposable plastic bonnets for food dishes. They work well enough for me.

Every time I do the oil change I swear it is the last time until I get a quote from anywhere. $185 is the cheapest I've been quoted recently. I'm still stingy enough to do it myself again next time.