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Detroit, 2:57 AM
Sun Dec 6
8 posts in the last 24 hours
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12/01/09
As soon as I arrived, I asked her for the keys, got behind the wheel, and cranked the ol' grape jellybean up. As soon as I cranked however, the damn thing started to shake like a wet dog. "Sweet Jesus, what the hell happened here?", were the exact words out of my mouth at that instant. My curiosity piqued, I popped the hood open, saw nothing odd, and decided to pull the oil dipstick.
It was bone dry.
I told her that her car was likely toast, but for $30 bucks or so we might have a chance with an oil change. That is, if it a) actually started back up correctly again and b) didn't profusely leak out all the oil right there.
She gave me the money and I bought the most potent mix of stop leak, friction modifier augmented, high-mileage formulation oils and oil additives I could find.
I got to work on the oil change and noticed there actually was some oil in the engine, but it was about a half a quart of the thickest, blackest, slime I have ever seen come out of an engine.
A few minutes later, her plucky Probe was actually running without having a seizure. I told her to get it looked over again by a professional just to be safe.
Thinking back on the slime, I asked her: "When was the last time you got an oil change?"
She told me something to the effect of: "I think maybe a year, year and a half ago. Why? How soon should I change it? I have no time for these things."
I took away two things from this:
1. If you are ever in the South Florida area, and you are considering a used ride, you should probably avoid buying a purple Ford Probe.
2. That girl is not wife material.
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11/30/09
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11/30/09
In my opinion oil change intervals depends a lot on what fuel you use and what your driving conditions are.
11/30/09
11/30/09
While I go with long-interval changes, all of the vehicles are watched closely, and the cars use synthetic.
For the record, the 3.2L I6 in the Benz holds 8 liters...this cuts down on having a guilty conscious going 15K miles...considering upping it to 20K, between changes.
The RX300 sees 10K Mobil1 changes 'cause it's a known sludge-offender and it holds only 5 qts.
11/30/09
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11/30/09
Let's do the math, 45K diveded by 3K = 15 oil changes at $20 per = $300 she saved in oil changes over 3 years. The repair cost like $4,000. Of course, to this dipshit we were the bad guys. How could we possibly deny her assistance? Man I hated that job...
11/30/09
11/30/09
Cars do have feelings. They also have personalities.
Lets just hope that this one was just as big of a douche as his owner.
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11/30/09
Oh, it's doable, but I don't recommend it.
11/30/09
...except for the whispers in my head suggesting unorthodox modes of retribution for this savage, hateful crime.
11/30/09
With the financial apocalypse and the Manufacturers stretching the mileage between LOF's this is going to become more common.
I've been seeing it daily at the shop. People that religiously came in for LOF's at 3K-5K depending on the vehicle and its use are now stretching to 5K-9K. Add into it the "change oil soon" systems in the BCM and it is even going further. Those systems are great on a fresh engine but imagine as it ages what fun it will bring the bays.
My furthest stretch to date was a customer who went 22K between changes. The only reason it was in was because of a leaky water pump. 3100 V6 in a Cavalier.
pay em now or pay em more later.
11/30/09
And if not, why not?
11/30/09