New Member: 2001 Park Avenue

[mcmlxv1]

Hello everyone:

I am a new member with a 2001 Park Avenue Base. I just picked it up last week and I already love it. It's in great shape and has only 38K one elderly owner miles. It was religiously dealer maintained.

1. I want to switch to Mobil1 Extended motor oil. Anyone have experience with synthetic oil in the 3.8?

2. The car was driven 7K miles per year at low speeds. Is it time to have a transmission flush/filter?

3. Is the upper intake plenum failure a function of time or mileage? And is there any way for me to check it before it fails?

4. I'm planning to use Techron every few tankfuls.

5. New BF Goodrich Tractions on the way (Goodbye noisy Goodyear Conquests).

I need the OnStar decals that stick to the front door glass. Also, I need the Orion assembly decals that I have seen on other products built at that plant (new G6?).

When the car was new, the dealer installed those wide chrome panels along the lower door sides. They actually don't look bad, but, as the car is black, it would look much better with out them. It looks like they're stuck on with some kind of adhesive backing. They're definitely not bolted or clipped on. Any ideas on how to remove them safely?

Just used Menzerna on the finish, Lexol on the leather, Formula 303 on all the black plastic and rubber trim. The car looks new.

Thank you everyone.

[bedpan]

I've used synthetic oil on every car I own for the past 20 years. I swear by it. As long as there is no major engine wear that the conventional oil is masking with crud and sludge, you will be fine changing at this point. Synthetics have come a long way and are produced to near perfection now.
These are my synthetic cars:
1967 Impala Super Sport-310,000 mi
1970 Cadillac Coupe de Ville-170,000 mi
1993 Infinit J30-211,000 mi
And my "new" 1994 Park Ave-110,000 mi- 3,000 on synthetic.
The PA is a new project but the others are all in top shape changing the oil only twice a year!

A snippet from The Motor Oil Bible: It's a long read but interesting information that I live by concerning my cars.

Synthetic vs. Petroleum
Oil is the lifeblood of your vehicle's engine. Without motor oil, there is little likelihood that any of your
vehicles would make it past the end of your street each morning. For decades conventional petroleum
oils have been providing adequate protection for all of our vehicles.
Notice the key word here: adequate. Petroleum oils, for the most part, have done an adequate job of
protecting our engines from break down. If you change it often enough, you can be relatively sure that
your car will last 100,000 to 150,000 miles without a serious engine problem - maybe even longer.
My question is this: Why are you settling for adequate when something better has been available for
about 30 years? Do you ask your mechanic to simply keep your vehicle from breaking down, or do you
want him/her to keep it running in tip-top shape? The fact that you are reading this book suggests the
latter.
It is perfectly reasonable to expect top performance from your vehicles. You are certainly paying for it.
It's tough to buy a vehicle for less than $15,000 to $20,000 anymore. That's a great deal of money to
shell out for adequate performance.
Today's engines are built for better performance, and, although petroleum oils are designed for better
protection and performance today than they were 10 or 20 years ago, there is only so much that can be
done. Today's engines need high performance lubricants, and synthetics are the only ones that fit
the bill.
Conventional petroleum oils are insufficient for use in today's vehicles primarily because they are
manufactured from a refined substance, as was discussed in Chapter 2. Petroleum oil basestocks
contain paraffins (wax), sulfur, nitrogen, oxygen, water, salts and certain metals. All of these
contaminants must be refined out of the basestock in order for it to be useful for use within a lubricant.
Unfortunately, no refining process is perfect. Impurities will always remain when any refining process is
done. It simply isn't economical to continue to refine the oil again and again to remove more impurities.
If this was done, petroleum oils would cost as much as synthetic oils do.
Thus, there are many components of petroleum oil basestocks which are completely unnecessary for
protecting your engine. They do absolutely nothing to enhance the lubrication properties of the oil. In
fact, most of these contaminants are actually harmful to your oil AND your engine.
PRONE TO BREAK-DOWN
Some of the chemicals in conventional petroleum lubricants break down at temperatures well within the
normal operating temperature range of your engine. Others are prone to break down in these relatively
mild temperatures only if oxygen is present. But, this is invariably the case anyway, especially since
oxygen is one of the contaminants within petroleum basestocks.
These thermally and oxidatively unstable contaminants do absolutely nothing to aid in the lubrication
process. They are only present in conventional petroleum oils because removing them would be
impossible or excessively expensive.
When thermal or oxidative break down of petroleum oil occurs, it leaves engine components coated
with varnish, deposits and sludge. In addition, the lubricant which is left is thick, hard to pump and
WHY PETROLEUM OILS ARE INSUFFICIENT
maintains little heat transfer ability.
POOR COLD TEMPERATURE STARTS
In addition, as was previously mentioned, petroleum oils contain paraffins which cause dramatic oil
thickening in cold temperatures. Even with the addition of pour point depressant additives, most
petroleum oils will begin to thicken at temperatures 10 to 40 degrees warmer than synthetic oils.
As a result, petroleum lubricants will not readily circulate through your engine's oil system during cold
weather. This may leave engine parts unprotected for minutes after startup. Obviously, significant wear
can occur during this time frame.
MARGINAL HEAT CONTROL
Even when all conditions are perfect for conventional oils to do their job, they fall far short of synthetic
oils. Part of the problem is that (because of their refined nature) petroleum oils are composed of
molecules which vary greatly in size.
As the oil flows through your vehicle's lubrication system, the small, light molecules tend to flow in the
center of the oil stream while the large, heavy ones adhere to metal surfaces where they create a
barrier against heat movement from the component to the oil stream. In effect, the large, heavy
molecules work like a blanket around hot components.
There is also another effect of the non-uniformity of petroleum oil molecules which reduces their
effectiveness. Uniformly smooth molecules slip over one another with relative ease. This is not the case
with molecules of differing size.
Theoretically, it might be somewhat similar to putting one layer of marbles on top of another (if this
could easily be done). If the marbles were all of the same size, they would move over one another fairly
easily. However, if they were all of differing sizes, the result would be much less efficient.
In the case of petroleum oils this inefficiency leads, ironically, to added friction in the system (the very
thing that lubricants are supposed to reduce). Hence, petroleum oils are only marginally capable of
controlling heat in your engine. Considering that motor oil does nearly 50% of the cooling of your
engine, that's not a good thing. But, I'm sure you've already guessed that.
MAYBE ADEQUATE IS OK FOR YOU
I have to make something clear. Earlier in this chapter I indicated that petroleum oils are insufficient for
protecting high tech engines in today's vehicles. I say this for one main reason - today's vehicles should
easily be running for 300,000 miles without much more than a hiccup. Modern day vehicles are really
built very well.
It is my contention that using petroleum oils shortens the useful life of a vehicle considerably. The
problem is one of perspective. People still think 100,000 miles is pretty good when, in reality, 2 to
300,000 miles should be expected.
I suppose what I'm trying to say is that my belief that petroleum oils are inadequate stems from the
knowledge that today's engines can run well for many more miles than they generally do. Since I'm one
who likes to get my money's worth, I'm not satisfied with adequate performance for a measly 100,000
miles. I want my money to be well spent.
However, I would like to make it clear that petroleum oils ARE adequate for the purpose of protecting
your engine, if you don't mind a shorter vehicle lifespan, inconvenient oil changes, or decreased engine
performance. Under normal circumstances, most vehicles lubricated with petroleum oil should run
satisfactorily for 100,000 to 150,000 miles without serious incidence.
So, if you like the hassle of changing your oil regularly, and you are only looking for marginal
performance for the next 100,000 miles or so, petroleum oils are definitely the way to go. By the way, if
you're interested, I've got an old dishwasher for sale too. You have to rinse your dishes first, it's really
loud and runs for about 3 hours, but it gets most of the food off of our plates. It's a steal at only $50. Let
me know if you're interested.
On the other hand, if you aren't all that fond of pulling dirty dishes out of your dishwasher, I'm going to
assume that you don't relish the idea of changing your oil every 3,000 miles or dealing with another
pushy car salesman every 3 to 5 years either. If that's true, keep reading.
There are five main areas where synthetic oils surpass their petroleum counterparts:
1. Oil drains can be extended
Vehicle life can be extended
2. Costly repairs can be reduced
3. Fuel mileage can be improved
4. Performance can be improved
Synthetic basestock molecules are pure and of uniform size. This is because synthetic basestocks are
designed from the ground up with the sole purpose of protecting your engine. Nothing is added if it
does not significantly contribute to the lubricating ability of the oil.
In addition, in top-quality synthetics, no component is added which might be contaminated with any
substance that might lessen the lubricating qualities of the oil. In other words, manufacturers of these
premium synthetics implement very strict quality control measures to insure NO contamination.
Not only that, synthetic basestocks are designed so that the molecules are of uniform size and weight.
In addition, synthetic basestock molecules are short-chain molecules which are much more stable than
the long-chain molecules that petroleum basestocks are made of. This significantly adds to the
lubricating qualities and stability of the oil.
EXTENDED OIL DRAINS
Stable Basestocks
Heat and oxidation are the main enemies of lubricant basestocks - especially of the contaminants in
conventional basestocks. Once a lubricant has begun to break down, it must be replaced so that the
vehicle is not damaged by lack of lubrication or chemical attack. However, since synthetic oils are
designed from pure, uniform synthetic basestocks, they contain no contaminants or unstable molecules
which are prone to thermal and oxidative break down.
Moreover, because of their uniform molecular structure, synthetic lubricants operate with less internal
SYNTHETIC OILS ARE SIMPLY BETTER
and external friction than petroleum oils which have the non-uniform molecular structure discussed
earlier. The result is better heat control, and less heat means less stress to the lubricant.
Higher Percentage of Basestock
Of course, there is also the issue of the additive package of the oil. First and foremost is the fact that
synthetic oils contain a higher percentage of lubricant basestock than petroleum oils do.
This is because multi-viscosity oils need a great deal of pour point depressant and viscosity modifying
additives in order to be sold as multi-viscosity oils. As was discussed in Chapter 2, pour point
depressants are used to help a petroleum oil flow well in cold temperature conditions. Viscosity
modifiers (or Viscosity Index Improvers), help petroleum oils maintain their viscosity in high temperature
conditions.
Synthetic oils, on the other hand, require very little in the way of pour point depressants and viscosity
modifiers. Therefore, synthetic oils can contain a higher percentage of basestock, which actually does
most of the lubricating anyway. More basestock leads to longer motor oil life.
Additives Used Up More Slowly
In addition, Chapter 2 also discussed oxidation and corrosion inhibiting additives. Because petroleum
basestocks are much more prone to oxidation than synthetic oils, oxidation inhibitors are needed in
greater supply and are used up very quickly. Synthetic oils do oxidize, but at a much slower rate.
Therefore, oxidation inhibiting additives are used up much more slowly.
No less important is the fact that combustion by-products tend to blow-by the rings and enter the oil.
This causes acids to build up within the oil and corrode engine components. Therefore, additives are
necessary to neutralize these acids and also to coat metallic components with a protective barrier to
minimize corrosion.
Synthetic oils provide for better ring seal than petroleum oils do. This minimizes blow-by and reduces
contamination by combustion by-products. As a result, corrosion inhibiting additives have less work to
do and will last much longer than within a petroleum oil.
Excellent Heat Tolerance
Synthetics are simply more tolerant to extreme heat than petroleum oils are. When heat builds up within
an engine, petroleum oils quickly begin to burn off. They volatize. In other words, the lighter molecules
within petroleum oils turn to gas and what's left are the large petroleum oil molecules that are harder to
pump.
Synthetics are resistant to this burn-off. They will tolerate much higher engine temperatures. As an
example, most vehicles these days call for a 5w30 motor oil. In late 2000 I averaged the 5w30
flashpoints of seven major petroleum manufacturers (Amoco, Chevron, Havoline, Mobil,
Pennzoil, Quaker State and Shell).
The average was 414 degrees F, with the highest being 423 degrees F for Formula Shell. One of them
actually had a flashpoint of well under 400 degrees which is simply not enough protection for today's
hot running engines.
I ran the same averages for most major synthetic 5w30 motor oils on the market (Amoco, AMSOIL,
Chevron, Havoline, Mobil 1, NEO, Quaker State, Redline, Royal Purple, Shell, Synergyn and
Valvoline).
The average flashpoint for these 5w30 motor oils was 453 degrees F. That's nearly 40 degrees higher
than the petroleum oil average! And, since synthetic oils tend to help engines run at least 20 degrees F
cooler than petroleum oils do, you could actually say there's about a 60 degree temperature differential
between the two.
I think that it's quite obvious that these high-tech synthetic oils offer a substantial benefit when it comes
to potential breakdown due to burn-off.
Therefore…
All of the above leads to one inevitable result: Synthetic oils can be used safely for much longer drain
intervals than conventional lubricants. In fact, Amsoil and NEO synthetic oils have been guaranteed for
25,000 miles or one year since the early 70's. Red Line Oil has also recommended long drain intervals
of up to 10,000 to 18,000 miles for many years. Mobil 1 had a 25,000 mile oil back in the 70's which
they discontinued, but they are working on another extended drain oil currently. Other companies also
offer extended drain oils.
Now, I should clarify by saying that not all synthetics will last quite that long. It is necessary to have a
premium blended basestock and the highest quality additive package in order to offer 25,000 mile
drains. However, most synthetics would probably easily last at least 7,500 to 10,000 miles or six
months.
You might ask then, why other synthetic oil manufacturers are not recommending extended oil drains
for their synthetics. In my opinion the answer is really very simple: money. They are afraid that if they
recommend longer drain intervals, they won't sell enough oil - petroleum oil, that is.
You see, petroleum oil is their golden goose, and has been for years. The only reason large oil
companies produce a synthetic oil is because a few small start up companies did it first, and they must
please the small (but growing) percentage of the population which has already decided that synthetics
are better and won't purchase anything else.
Petroleum oil is where the money is. With recommended oil drains of only 3,000 miles, many people
are changing their oil 5 to 8 times per year. If everyone suddenly switched over to synthetics, they
would begin to realize that it is possible to go 10,000 to 25,000 miles or more without an oil change
(depending upon the oil). This is a scary thought for large oil companies and quick lubes who depend
upon regular oil changes for their business.
EXTENDED VEHICLE LIFE WITH FEWER REPAIRS
Heat Reduction
More often than not, vehicle life is determined by engine life. One of the major factors affecting engine
life is component wear and/or failure, which is often the result of high temperature operation. The
uniformly smooth molecular structure of synthetic oils gives them a much lower coefficient of friction
(they slip more easily over one another causing less friction) than petroleum oils.
Less friction, of course, means less heat in the system. And, since heat is a major contributor to engine
component wear and failure, synthetic oils significantly reduce these two detrimental effects.
In addition, because of their uniform molecular structure, synthetic oils do not cause the "blanket effect"
which was mentioned earlier. Since each molecule in a synthetic oil is of uniform size, each is equally
likely to touch a component surface at any given time, thus moving a certain amount of heat into the oil
stream and away from the component. This makes synthetic oils far superior heat transfer agents than
conventional petroleum oils.
Greater Film Strength
Petroleum motor oils have very low film strength in comparison to synthetics. As was mentioned in
chapter 5 of "Exposing the Myth", the film strength of a lubricant refers to it's ability to maintain a film of
lubricant between two objects when extreme pressure and heat are applied.
Synthetic oils will typically have a film strength of 500% to 1000% higher than petroleum oils of
comparable viscosity. In fact, believe it or not, even though heavier weight oils typically have higher film
strength than lighter weight oils, a 0w30 or 5w20 weight synthetic oil will likely have higher film strength
than a 15w40 or 20w50 petroleum oil.
Thus, even with a lighter weight oil, you can still maintain proper lubricity and reduce the chance of
metal to metal contact when using a synthetic oil. Of course, that means that you can use oils that
provide far better fuel efficiency and cold weather protection without sacrificing engine protection under
high temperature, high load conditions. Obviously, this is a big plus, because you can greatly reduce
both cold temperature start-up wear and high temperature/high load engine wear using the same low
viscosity oil.
Engine Deposit Reduction
In discussing some of the pitfalls of petroleum oil use, engine cleanliness is certainly an issue.
Petroleum oils tend to leave sludge, varnish and deposits behind after thermal and oxidative break
down. They're better than they used to be, but it still occurs.
Deposit build-up leads to a significant reduction in engine performance and engine life as well as
increasing the number of costly repairs that are necessary. Since synthetic oils have far superior
thermal and oxidative stability than petroleum oils, they leave engines virtually varnish, deposit and
sludge-free.
Better Cold Temperature Fluidity
Synthetic oils and other lubricants do not contain paraffins or other waxes which dramatically thicken
petroleum oils during cold weather. As a result, they tend to flow much better during cold temperature
starts and begin lubricating an engine almost immediately. This leads to significant engine wear
reduction, and, therefore, longer engine life and fewer costly repairs.
IMPROVED FUEL MILEAGE AND PERFORMANCE
As indicated earlier, synthetic oils, because of their uniform molecular structure, are tremendous friction
reducers. It has already been stated that this is crucial to extending engine life, but it must also be
mentioned that less friction leads to increased fuel economy and improved engine performance.
Of course, logic points in that direction anyway. Any energy released from the combustion process that
would normally be lost to friction can now be transferred directly to the wheels, providing movement.
Vehicle acceleration becomes swifter and more powerful while using less fuel in the process.
The uniform molecular structure of synthetic oils has another performance enhancing benefit as well. In
a petroleum oil, lighter molecules tend to boil off easily, leaving behind much heavier molecules which
are difficult to pump. Certainly, the engine loses more energy pumping these heavy molecules than if it
were pumping lighter ones.
Since synthetic oils have more uniform molecules, fewer of these molecules tend to boil off. Moreover,
when they do, the molecules which are left are of the same size and pumpability is not affected.
Obviously, the end result is little loss of fuel economy or performance over time.
According to a technical paper (850564.1985) by the Society of Automotive Engineers, "Laboratory
engine dynamometer, vehicle chassis rolls and over-the-road field tests confirm the outstanding
performance capabilities for optimized synthetic engine oils in passenger car diesel as well as gasoline
engines, including severe turbocharged models...Vehicle testing under severe and extended drain
conditions demonstrates the performance reserve available with these synthetic engine oils. In addition
to excellent protection against critical high-temperature piston deposits, ring sticking, overall engine
cleanliness and wear, these synthetic oils offer fuel savings and superior low temperature fluidity."
In 1989 (over a decade ago!), Mechanical Engineering Transactions had this to say in its Synthetic
versus Mineral Fluids in Lubrication article: "Oil drain intervals in both industrial and automotive
applications can be extended typically by a factor of four due to the improved oxidative stability of
appropriately additized synthetics."
Ultimately, it does not matter what I say. You have to decide how important these factors are to you. If
you don't mind changing your oil every 3,000 miles and you'd purchase a new vehicle every 2 or 3
years regardless of its condition, maybe you don't need synthetics.
Of course, the fuel savings and performance may still make the switch worth it unless you're a low
mileage driver. Once again, though, the determination of whether to convert your vehicle over to
synthetics can only be based on the relative importance that you place on any of these benefits. It's
your call, be sure and make the right one. The life of your vehicle and size of your bank account
depend on it.

[TopherS]

Welcome and Congrat's. We practically have the same car...2001 base PA with the works and religiously dealer maintained. I got mine a year and a half ago with 64K miles. It now has 84K miles.

I love the HUD and have realized the value of the Rear Park Assist (when some idiot parked in a fire zone at a restaurant leaving me to make about 6 maneuvers to get out of my parking space). I even installed a similar system on my wife's Rendezvous.

At 79K or so, I had to have my upper intake plenum repair (under ext warranty, thank God). I have heard of people going twice that with no problem. It's possible that the 7K miles/yr at low speeds (eg. stop/go in-town driving) could mean just as much wear/tear as cars with more miles. Therefore, I don't know that you would want to go solely based on age or mileage.

For noise reduction, I put Goodyear ComforTred's on (consumer rated as quietest and softest-riding). Have had them almost a year. Love em'.

I have the OnStar, but no stickers, nor do I have the assembly plant stickers. Not sure that Buick was putting the stickers on the PA (but then again, I haven't looked at others' to see if they have them).

The chrome panels usually use some sort of 3M double-sided adhesive and they're meant to be more-or-less permanent (to prevent the panels from falling off, making the buyers angry for sub-standard products). I would consult a body/paint shop (keeping in mind that they'll probably promise they can remove them, for a small ransom...of course). And with the black finish of your car, you may have problems with flaws in the finish after removal.

Regarding the oil and the transmission flush...I couldn't tell you...sorry.

Sounds like you got a great car. Enjoy! Hope this helps.