^
due to moisture, or due to evaporation of the more volatile compounds in the oil?
b
When anyone asks me to change their oil…I ALWAYS cringe internally. When STOOPIT-LUBE down the street advertises an oil change for 20 bucks there is simply no way for me to compete. The reason is because I refuse to use the Cheapest stuff I can find for an oil change. If there is one area to actually Buck Up for something…Wouldnt that time be for the actual Life Blood of your engine?
I mean…what is the general thought process of the population on this? It boggles my mind.
Sometimes I tell people that I can match the 20 dollar price…other times I tell them that those shops only post those deals to then upsell you to something that you would actually WANT in your engine. Other times I make the reference to a Blood Transfusion… Do you want the cheapest materials I can find to perform your Blood Transfusion today? Or would you pay more to have nothing but the best…
People need to remove their heads from their collective Asses.
Blackbird
The whole “buy everything cheap” deal isn’t good for anyone and has altered expectations of products. You don’t buy a vacuum cleaner to keep 10 years anymore. If it lasts 2-3 years, you trash it and get another. I sometimes get older junk left with me to recycle and I try to break down the stuff so it has higher scrap value. What is now flimsy plastic was cast aluminum in older models. Also, they had removable panels with a convenient wiring and servicing diagram on the backside of this panel so that practically anyone could service the equipment. Now it is all about getting the initial lowest price and who cares how long it lasts or how well it works. It isn’t made to last and isn’t made to be repaired. You just trash it.
People skimping on motor oil say, “I am just driving it around town and don’t race it.” If you ask me, this is the WORST kind of driving as for sludge and deposit formation. I change me own oil and use a European spec synthetic in all my cars. These have more stringent requirements for cleanliness than US spec oils. I have put this oil in engines that use a little oil and seen the rate of consumption drop to basically nothing within a few thousand miles. Obviously something like an oil control ring is being cleaned up by their usage.
Unfortunately people have this attitude about everything from cars to electronics. I get a lot of people who don’t seem to understand that when they buy cheap, they don’t just get low performance, they also get low quality. Trying to explain to someone that a computer meant “just to get on Facebook” isn’t going to last as long is like pulling teeth sometimes.
I also get people who buy stuff they have no use for because it was cheap. I ended up sending some no-name radios to the scrap heap still in the original box. They were bought as part of a Black Friday sale because they were a good deal. Because the first one was junk, the rest were never used. I ended up hauling them away as that is a service I offer and sent them to the recycling yard where they belong. Honestly they should never have been made in the first place as most likely ended up in the landfill. I guess you can say you got up at 2AM and fought off others about the trample you at the local Wal-Mart but have nothing to show for it.
I don’t care what it is but you get what you pay for.
I mean...what is the general thought process of the population on this? It boggles my mind.
Wallmart and Target. Buy it cheap and many times.
It’s NOT just the consumer…it’s also the manufacturer building crap in the first place.
@BillRussell if compounds in motor oil can evaporate out of a covered pan in cool weather then imagine how fast those compounds would disappear in a hot running engine.
There is also no way to keep moisture out of any engine; no matter if it’s through the combustion process or condensation inside of a warm engine after shutoff.
My point in this is that working for new car dealers you see cars that were sold new and at times suffer engine faults be it noises, premature wear, oil consumption, etc. It’s difficult, if not impossible, sometimes to convince a customer the cause is late oil changes when their 30 or 40k miles engine has issues.
As to cost, it seems like everything is disposable now and especially so with the new meaning of “Chinese Junk” which used to mean a sailing vessel. Even many brand name products are no better than their weirdoh never heard the name before Chinese equivalent.
At least all of that junk provides jobs for container ships, railways, and dock workers before it’s foisted on the public.
Okay, since we’re on the subject, what kind of oil does everyone recommend? As previously mentioned, I use whatever the $20 oil change offers, but you all have me thinking, especially when I have a vehicle I want to last 200K+.
As long as the oil has the API badge on the bottle you’re fine. I’ve used pretty much nothing but Wal Mart brand dino motor oil for the last 20 years and run all of my cars to the 300-400k miles range with no issues.
My wife worked for WM in the office as a bookkeeper and as an employee got a 10% discount on everything so I got in the habit of just buying WM oil by the case due to the number of vehicles I keep up.
There have been a few isolated incidents across the country of “house brand” oils that carried the API badge but the oil in the bottle didn’t meet the specs. WalMart is not one of them. But for me personally, I stick with the major name brands. There’s always a good deal on Chevron, Valvoline, Quaker State, 76 and the like. The same with filters. I could save a lot of money by using no-name oil filters for my customers, but instead I spend $1 more and use a name brand.
Its pretty simple…just buy NAME BRAND OIL… None of them has ever failed me…or anyone I know really. The failures stem from the Nut Behind the steering wheel and how they operate their machines.
Blackbird
I've used pretty much nothing but Wal Mart brand dino motor oil for the last 20 years and run all of my cars to the 300-400k miles range with no issues.
That’s where I’ve been buying my oil for a long time now. The auto part stores are a good $1/qt more. What ever oil that my vehicles need that’s the cheapest.
I could do the same thing if my engine was more…what? Pedestrian?
Wal Mart doesnt refine oil…so they buy it from one of the major mfgs… Wal Mart brand could actually be Pennzoil for all we know… we do know Wally mart doesnt drill for oil…so…
Back to my engine oil needs… I need a Full Synth that can handle the heat associated with an engine Running 22LBS of Turbo Boost… I need the protection from the high temps…a VERY Real concern for Turbo’d engines.
The entire reason you always hear or may see VW/Audi engines dying early is because people think oil is oil… Well it sorta WAS…but now with engines strapping on a Turbo…or Multiple Turbos…these motors need more temp protection …that only Full Synth can handle. If these people use Dino oil in those Turbo Engines…what do they get from that? SLUDGE…and all sorts of oil related failures. Its Ugly and sad really…esp with such nice engines dying like that. Breaks my Heart.
Blackbird
Besides…WHY are we still talking about this T belt… and now Oil… yet again…
LOL
Blackbird
We can never have too many discussions about timing belts and oil
:naughty:
@db4690 Agree; lack of oil or lack of oil changes and broken timing belts are the most frequent causes of engine failure or shortened engine life.
They are also the most easily managed by non technical persons. Just follow the owner’s manual. Nothing to diagnose!
My wife worked in the office for WM for quite a while handling money and paperwork. While I don’t know if things have changed over the last 10-15 years, she told me at one time that WM’s auto service centers were operated by Quaker State under WM auspices.
Logic would dictate that the WM oil brand would be from Quaker State.
Whether or not QS still operates WM auto centers or someone else has taken over I do not know.
I’ll go off topic now . . .
Over the years, I’ve known MANY guys who hate Quaker State oil with a passion
When they talk about it, you’d think they were going to have a heart attack. That’s how worked up they get
I’ve heard and read some stuff, about Quaker State in the past. And I mean decades ago, not recent history
Any thoughts . . . ?
Over the years, I've known MANY guys who hate Quaker State oil with a passionWhen they talk about it, you’d think they were going to have a heart attack. That’s how worked up they get
I’ve heard and read some stuff, about Quaker State in the past. And I mean decades ago, not recent history
Back in the mid 70’s I worked as a mechanic to help pay my way through college. We used Quaker State oil exclusively. The owner had been for 30+ years.
Then unleaded gas comes along and this caused engines to run hotter…much hotter. All of a sudden we had some customers with MAJOR sludging problems. And we knew the engine oil was changed every 3k miles. So the owner started to check around and sure enough other garages were seeing the same thing. But only ones there were using Quaker State or Pensoil.
He switched to Castrol…and after a while we stopped seeing engines with sludge.
I know Quaker State and Pensoil have changed their formula since then and are probably as good as any oil out there. But for a while…they were having some problems.
I used Quaker State quite a bit before Wal Mart came along with their Super Tech brand and never had any issues with it at all.
Many years ago I did see some some sludging problems with Pennzoil but that was a long, long time ago before leaded gas was phased out.
Right about the time leaded gas started to get phased out changes were made to the valve timing on many engines to try and meet tougher emissions standards. The cam timing was usually retarded on a smog era engine as compared to an earlier identical type and whether that had any effect on things I have no idea. That was an issue I did not have time to dwell on.
Okay, I’ll pose another question. What do I look for in terms of wear when changing my oil and rotating tires? I know some people change their oil plug at every change. Is that recommended?