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Oil Wars! Posted by Ari [Email]  (#2847) [Profile/Gallery]
(more from Ari) on Tue, 9 Mar 2004 10:14:18
In Reply to: 9000 turbo, Ted, Mon, 8 Mar 2004 16:53:37 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
Discussions on oil are worse than religion and politics. Everybody has an opinion, and everybody is both right and wrong.
OK - maintenance first. A lot depends on what was done to the car before you got it. You did get full maintenance records, right? If you don't know the last time something was done, do it.
Oil and filter should be changed every 3000-5000 miles. Coolant should be flushed every 2-3 years, and the thermostat replaced at that time. Brake fluid should be flushed every 2-3 years. Automatic tranny fluid and filter replaced every 15-20K miles. Manual tranny fluid is interesting - depending on the year, there is no drain plug. There are modifications to put one in, and there are systems to suck it out of the fill tube. I'd replace manual tranny fluid every 30K miles.
Of course, spark plugs. You don't mention the year of the car, so that makes it interesting. If you have Direct Ignition (no distributor), replace with the EXACT NGK plugs specified in the manual. No substitutions. Gap to the specs - don't assume they come out of the box gapped properly for your car. No DI? Then good quality NGK or Bosch, and think about new cap, rotor, and spark plug wires.
If the belts are more than 3 years old, replace them. Fuel and air filter every 30K miles. Inspect brake pads for remaining lining.
Gee - does that seem like a lot? Worried that you got a maintenance headache? I would give you the exact same list no matter what car you bought. All used cars require maintenance if you want to keep them running. I'd say the same thing if it was a Saab or a Honda.
OK - the nasty oil question. Two main options - synthetic or non-synthetic ('normal') oil. If price is no option, synthetic is best. It stands up better to heat and resists breakdown. It is better for your car. Is it so much better as to justify the extra cost? There's the question.
If your engine is in good to great shape, and you drive it hard or in difficult conditions (very hot desert, very cold winters), then synthetic is a good way to go. If the engine is on its last legs, synthetic isn't going to help it any. Somewhere in the middle is the dividing line.
My personal opinion - I use a good quality non-synthetic - i.e. 'normal' oil, and replace it frequently - every 3-4K miles with fresh filter. Good quality normal oil won't start breaking down in that time, and when I change the oil, I flush out a lot of crap I don't want sticking around. If I were heavily stressing the engine - towing or racing - I'd use a synthetic, or I regularly saw winter mornings well below 0 F. Again, personal choice. I use Castrol oil, but that's more out of habit than anything else. Is Royal Purple better? Probably.
Synthetic oil breaks down much slower, so theoretically it can be left in longer. I don't subscribe to that, because engines produce combustion by-products, dirt, and metal bits. Not all get caught in the filter. So I like doing frequent changes to flush the crap out. So I'm not a big believer in the extended oil changes you can get with synthetic. However, frequent oil changes with synthetic are great - just more expensive.
Here's the thing - unless you decide to run some really crappy oil in your engine, or leave it in for 50K miles, you probably aren't going to suffer an oil related failure. Most oils today are pretty damn good, and engines are, too. You've got to work pretty hard to get an oil related failure, and even then, it'll take a few years. So the missed oil change at 15K miles doesn't show up at 30K - it's the difference in timing chain wear at 150K miles, or cylinder wear at 180K. If your 'new' car has 120K miles on it, good oil isn't going to fix anything - it'll just keep it from getting much worse. It's the maintenance it's gotten up to now that will determine how much longer it'll live.
So - a lot will depend on the condition of the car now, and what maintenance its seen up to now. And how long you intend on keeping it. Synthetic oil is better than 'normal' oil, but if the engine has been run on 'normal' oil for a few years and 100K miles, I'd stick with 'normal' oil. On occasion switching to synthetic with its superior detergent capability actually cause leaks - it breaks up that crap that was acting as a seal. Not always, but just sometimes.
There - that came down firmly on all sides of the subject.
posted by 192.249....
, Tue, 9 Mar 2004 10:14:18 <-- Viewing This Message
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