The Driver's Seat: Well-Oiled Machines

[AF News Desk]

Photo via protechtx.com

The Driver's Seat:
Well-Oiled Machines
Sometimes being a responsible car owner is as simple as changing the oil regularly.

Jonathan Swigart - AutomotiveForums.com
Wednesday, May 9, 2012

What is routine maintenance?

For many of you, the answer may be some variation of “changing fluids and replacing parts.”

However, for the intents and purposes of obtaining a vehicle – and all the responsibilities associated with it – there is one answer, three words long, which would be acceptable:

“Change the oil.”

Some of you will read that and say “well, duh – of course you should change your oil! Who doesn’t know that?”

You would be surprised.

Very recently, I had the misfortune to experience what not changing the oil will do to a car – particularly a car I have owned for just three weeks.

We had embarked on a road trip to have family photos taken and from our destination, the trip was great! The car drove well, the air conditioner pumped cold air and the sunroof let in the perfect amount of light.

However, three miles from home and at a traffic light, my oil light came on. This was suspect to me as the oil had been recently changed. Still, I planned to pull off after the light and check my oil level.

Unfortunately, my car had other plans, dying as soon as I tried to accelerate… and again after I was able to restart the car.

Long story short, we ended up in a parking lot nearby with my father, a trailer and a wrench. The trailer was to haul the car to a shop, while the wrench was to add to my already-damaged calm.

Why? Because when we used the wrench to try and move the crank, all we got were red faces and no movement. Or, in laymen terms: a seized motor.

A few hours, an oil pan, and an engine cover later, the diagnosis had come in: The oil screen had been blocked with so much sludge from an under-maintained motor that it had become starved for oil and seized. Awesome.

The only word that can really sum up how I feel is “disappointment.” I’m disappointed that someone would be so irresponsible about something that is low-cost and high-impact for the longevity of a car – and not because I’m the one who bought the car.

The reason I share this story is not for a pity party regarding my misfortune – things happen.

Instead, I hope those of you who might read this realize just how far the cost of an oil change goes to keeping your car running and your wallet full.

The best way to maintain your car is using the recommendations of your owner’s manual and going from there. Don’t want to wait 7,500 miles between changes on your car? That’s fine – do it sooner. Just make sure you do it in the first place.

As for me, I will be changing my oil like clockwork every three months or 3,500 miles – whichever comes first – no matter what.

I may pay a little more for my peace of mind, but if that means a longer life for my car, I don’t mind at all.

From left: The new oil pan and the oil pan on the seized motor.
The difference between these two oil pans can mean the difference between putting a few dozen more or several thousand more miles on your car.


Have you had a bad experience with a poorly-maintained car? Share it with us!

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Jonathan Swigart is an award-winning journalist and has been around the automotive world his entire life. "The Driver's Seat" will explore some of the basic aspects of driving that drivers often overlook, among other topics related to driving and the auto industry. He lives in Champaign, Illinois with his wife and son and works at the University of Illinois.

You can reach Jonathan by emailing newsdesk@automotiveforums.com

[tonioseven]

I change mine every 2 months due to the amount of driving I do.

[Dan00034]

Hum. I know I should do more often and more regularly but usually I change oil every 15 months, i guess

[GTA]

I change mine per the manufacters recommendations, every 5k or 6 months.

[Mastercarpentry]

What a clean-looking oil pan You should have seen what came out of my 83 Ford van's 302- wish I had made pics. Save for the pan, which had about an inch of rock-hard sludge all over, the rest of the engine had space only where moving parts moved- the rest was 100% sludge. Never seen anything like it, no clue anything was that bad except for the dropped piston skirts knocking, which I initially attributed to high mileage and this engines propensity to wear the bores oval. Being near broke I had to piece together the mess till I could do better. I spent about 20 hours chipping sludge before used pistons, new rings, bearings, and oil pump got it going again. Had to get a crank kit a year later, and went another year before the patchwork began failing again.

I eventually ended up replacing everything including the block (the turned crank was still OK but the rest was shot). Castrol HD 40 and filter (no Frams!) gets changed every 3K now, and the engine will likely get me 85K more than the 85K I put on it so far. Not bad for an old-tech work truck engine that gets used every day Had someone changed the oil from the beginning like they should have I would just be wearing out the original engine.

Maintain and keep rolling. Fail to and walk!

Phil

[MagicRat]

Originally Posted by Mastercarpentry

What a clean-looking oil pan You should have seen what came out of my 83 Ford van's 302- wish I had made pics. Save for the pan, which had about an inch of rock-hard sludge all over, the rest of the engine had space only where moving parts moved- the rest was 100% sludge.

About 15 years ago, I picked up an old Massey Harris farm tractor as a project... with the engine in about the same condition as described above. The pan, including the drain plug was covered in about 1 to 2 inches of rock hard sludge, nothing would drain out. The canister oil filter was also plugged with sludge. I suspect nothing had been changed since it was new (1948).

I've come across this a couple of times elsewhere, where people seem to be proud of the fact they never change their oil. I blame 2 things:

1.The popularity of leasing. People will go through the entire leasing period without a regular oil change, perhaps none at all. They believe one benefit of leasing is to do NOTHING to the car for maintenance, since they will never own it.

2. The misguided belief that oil changes are a scam put in place just to make money. Frankly, its surprising how popular this thinking is. People think the auto manufacturers and / or mechanics have a conflict of interest by recommending regular maintenance.

[shadows]

I'm not so sure it's all on owners who don't care
remember some years back there was the big push to get folks to think the oil was so good you could skip oil/filter change intervals- and with that was also the push that the oil filters were so good you could get by with just changing oil

then you have the folks who just run errands arround town- don't put 3,000 miles on a vehicle in a year- so they think they don't need to change once a year if that

I still hear it

when I owned my auto repair shop and rebuilt an engine- if the owner wanted my warranty he had to bring it back at 500 miles for an oil/filter change and every 3,000 miles after

something to think on- and something I say about buying a used vehicle- take it to a mechanic you trust- have him pull a valve cover or oil pan- a good engine mechanic can tell a lot by the inside of a valve cover
quite simple actually
I recomend oil/filter change 4 times a year- winter, spring, summer, fall- in short- that would pretty much take care of it- unless of course- the vehicle was driven all the time or most on sand/dusty roads