cars

[Mikado463]

For those of us that enjoy listening to Steve Magnante and if anyone watches Barret Jackson, Steve is missing. Steve has been battling a brain infection and now is on the mend.

I think I read somewhere that he is doing remarkably well and may resume his show sometime this year ? Fingers crossed !

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Probably pcv.

The rings are probably not great either anymore. I would expect it to be fairly black, and wouldn’t change every 2k based on the color of the oil.

 

[cpp]

I think I read somewhere that he is doing remarkably well and may resume his show sometime this year ? Fingers crossed !

That's the info I've seen also. The man is a walking book of car knowledge, its just amazing his knowledge base.

 

[highfigh]

I'm not losing oil. The oil is eighter regular or blended, but not full synthetic. I buy it in 5 qts. I believe the filter is super tech, but not Fram.

I use SuperTech and Valvoline, depending on which is available but no additives- I also use the larger filter, so I don't change it at a short interval. It's still possible to see light through it when I do a change.

If it's possible/easy, it might not be a bad idea to check the compression and/or do a cylinder leakdown test- you can also remove the oil filler cap and check for smoke coming out- if it puffs out, it's likely that one cylinder has a bad ring but that's not a death sentence, either- just a symptom.

If you don't remember the last time the spark plugs were changed, it may be time- old plugs don't allow all of the combustibles in the cylinders to burn completely and that can lead to dirty oil.

Imagine talking about a car with 277K miles in the '60s- people would never have believed it.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

I use SuperTech and Valvoline, depending on which is available but no additives- I also use the larger filter, so I don't change it at a short interval. It's still possible to see light through it when I do a change.

If it's possible/easy, it might not be a bad idea to check the compression and/or do a cylinder leakdown test- you can also remove the oil filler cap and check for smoke coming out- if it puffs out, it's likely that one cylinder has a bad ring but that's not a death sentence, either- just a symptom.

If you don't remember the last time the spark plugs were changed, it may be time- old plugs don't allow all of the combustibles in the cylinders to burn completely and that can lead to dirty oil.

Imagine talking about a car with 277K miles in the '60s- people would never have believed it.

Haha! Right?!?! 100k was a death sentence back then.

 

[j_garcia]

Haha! Right?!?! 100k was a death sentence back then.

Two of my friends have the non turbo 2.2L Subaru Outback Sports. One has over 320k, the other has 290k, both original motors. All of my turbo Subies have gone over 150k. Proper maintenance and quality parts.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Two of my friends have the non turbo 2.2L Subaru Outback Sports. One has over 320k, the other has 290k, both original motors. All of my turbo Subies have gone over 150k. Proper maintenance and quality parts.

An ounce of prevention they say…..
That’s pretty impressive. My 16yo said, yeah but how many head gaskets have they replaced? lol

 

[j_garcia]

An ounce of prevention they say…..
That’s pretty impressive. My 16yo said, yeah but how many head gaskets have they replaced? lol

None The 2.5L non turbo was notorious for that (Outbacks and Foresters mostly), but the 2.0L Turbo and 2.2L non turbo were pretty solid. The 2.5L turbos had ring land failures early on (08-10), but both of mine have been fine, a '10 and an '11.

 

[Dude#1279435]

I use SuperTech and Valvoline, depending on which is available but no additives- I also use the larger filter, so I don't change it at a short interval. It's still possible to see light through it when I do a change.

If it's possible/easy, it might not be a bad idea to check the compression and/or do a cylinder leakdown test- you can also remove the oil filler cap and check for smoke coming out- if it puffs out, it's likely that one cylinder has a bad ring but that's not a death sentence, either- just a symptom.

If you don't remember the last time the spark plugs were changed, it may be time- old plugs don't allow all of the combustibles in the cylinders to burn completely and that can lead to dirty oil.

Imagine talking about a car with 277K miles in the '60s- people would never have believed it.

Should I take out the oil now with 2K since the last change with the STP in it if it burns oil even more??

 

[Dude#1279435]

A-Team, Miami Vice, and Magnum PI, but it was Simon & Simon I watched the most. Loved the body of that truck.

 

[highfigh]

Should I take out the oil now with 2K since the last change with the STP in it if it burns oil even more??

As a test, it might not be a bad idea. I would expect to see more of a difference after the second oil change without it, though- most oil has enough additives that another shouldn't be needed.

I don't remember- what's the reason for using STP?

I had a 1990 Silverado and in 2002, I was planning to go on a Grand Canyon rafting trip. I told my friend, who had worked for GM in V8 Powertrain Development, that I was seeing a puff of blue smoke on startup and he said that I should drive it out to PHX so we could change the oil seals at his place, where he has a lift. In the floor. With foot controls. When the valve covers came off, they were like new- no sludge at all. The previous owner was also a GM employee and Mobil 1 had been used since it was new and at the time, I estimated that it had about 150K on it, but couldn't be certain because the odometer had stopped working at 45K- knowing his driving distance to work gave a decent clue, though. I drove it until 2011 when I bought my cargo van and when I looked through the oil filler hole, it was clean and I could see the oil as it moved from the front of the head to the back.

The advice I got from the others who worked in the same area as my friend- keep it clean don't overheat it and change it before 5K miles. They said the brand wasn't as critical as keeping it clean and at normal operating temperature. We were taught the same when I went to MasterCraft boat service training. Look in the manual for the required oil additives and buy that- the SuperTech and Valvoline high mileage oils have everything your engine should need.

 

[highfigh]

Haha! Right?!?! 100k was a death sentence back then.

Hell, they smoked when they were new!

 

[Dude#1279435]

As a test, it might not be a bad idea. I would expect to see more of a difference after the second oil change without it, though- most oil has enough additives that another shouldn't be needed.

I don't remember- what's the reason for using STP?

I had a 1990 Silverado and in 2002, I was planning to go on a Grand Canyon rafting trip. I told my friend, who had worked for GM in V8 Powertrain Development, that I was seeing a puff of blue smoke on startup and he said that I should drive it out to PHX so we could change the oil seals at his place, where he has a lift. In the floor. With foot controls. When the valve covers came off, they were like new- no sludge at all. The previous owner was also a GM employee and Mobil 1 had been used since it was new and at the time, I estimated that it had about 150K on it, but couldn't be certain because the odometer had stopped working at 45K- knowing his driving distance to work gave a decent clue, though. I drove it until 2011 when I bought my cargo van and when I looked through the oil filler hole, it was clean and I could see the oil as it moved from the front of the head to the back.

The advice I got from the others who worked in the same area as my friend- keep it clean don't overheat it and change it before 5K miles. They said the brand wasn't as critical as keeping it clean and at normal operating temperature. We were taught the same when I went to MasterCraft boat service training. Look in the manual for the required oil additives and buy that- the SuperTech and Valvoline high mileage oils have everything your engine should need.

I thought you said the STP oil treatment and something about ash and burns the oil. Anyway seems I should move to a high mileage oil. I don't really get 5k though unless it's synthetic? Otherwise 3k. On my car why not 2500 on regular oil? I don't understand how if the oil is black by 3k what good that is doing.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

I thought you said the STP oil treatment and something about ash and burns the oil. Anyway seems I should move to a high mileage oil. I don't really get 5k though unless it's synthetic? Otherwise 3k. On my car why not 2500 on regular oil? I don't understand how if the oil is black by 3k what good that is doing.

You may be putting too much weight on the oil color. Oil will always be black to some extent when it’s changed. Doesn’t mean it’s not working. Changing oil at 2k is just wasting money, and won’t save the engine. If it needs to be changed at 2k, then you have bigger problems already.
If it’s the pcv, then change that instead. Then worry about your oil.
My wife’s buggy is the victim of GM’s decision to use low tension piston rings, and uses oil like it’s gasoline! I only drain the pan every third oil change because it only make it about a thousand miles before I need to add oil. So I just change the filter, and every third or fourth time, drain the pan just to get any crap out of the bottom.

 

[highfigh]

I thought you said the STP oil treatment and something about ash and burns the oil. Anyway seems I should move to a high mileage oil. I don't really get 5k though unless it's synthetic? Otherwise 3k. On my car why not 2500 on regular oil? I don't understand how if the oil is black by 3k what good that is doing.

I did write that ash is/was produced, but I never wrote anything about it burning oil because of the STP- that would be up to the engine's tolerances.

My engines have been GM- yours might not need high mileage oil- if I were in your position, I would think about changing the oil to remove the STP and see what happens.

You didn't answer the question of why you started using the oil.

Oil has more additives for withstanding high temperatures and engines are built to much tighter tolerances than they were when Andy Granatelly dipped the screwdriver in the STP, to show how well it coats and now, that viscosity would be a bad thing. I never saw boat engines with sludge, even if the oil wasn't changed after overheating. The pinhead who owned my boat redefined 'overheat' and it was still like new inside.

Check the oil periodically- if it turns dark quickly, maybe a cylinder compression/leakdown test would indicate something. The only common reason for oil to turn black are excessive heat and exhaust gases reaching the crankcase.

 

[Dude#1279435]

Think when I change it will do it under direct sunlight as I've been doing it in the garage and can't really tell.

Lol looks like I was using full synthetic this time. I think they were out of regular. Also just skip the STP for now on.

On the dipstick it looks dark brown at 2k.

 

[NINaudio]

You could also send a sample out to blackstone for testing. This will tell you if there's any ash and/or gas in the oil.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Think when I change it will do it under direct sunlight as I've been doing it in the garage and can't really tell.

Lol looks like I was using full synthetic this time. I think they were out of regular. Also just skip the STP for now on.

On the dipstick it looks dark brown at 2k.

Why so much weight on the color?

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

You could also send a sample out to blackstone for testing. This will tell you if there's any ash and/or gas in the oil.

I was thinking the same thing.

 

[highfigh]

Why so much weight on the color?

It should take longer than 2K miles to become so dark that it's hard to see through it. The exhaust reaching the crankcase is a big cause, although not the only one. Filters that have reached the end of their useful lives eventually stop filtering and the dirt bypasses it completely, leading to the accumulation.