Auto ExperTees

09/30/2021

01/05/2019

I wrote this for a mechanic's forum in response to a maintenance question. I'm going to share it with my followers: "I'm an old timer. I've been a tech for 45 years. I've seen trends. Actually I primarily work on Asain and Domestic cars. I leave the europeans now a days for the specialist euro shops. The materials aluminum and cast iron is the same on all cars. Green antifreeze I have found deteriorates pretty quickly. Dexcool will not last 100k like they say it will. Dexcool gets very corrosive over time. The newer Universal Antifreeze I have found no problems with. I still do not recommend trying to make it last 100k. I would change it out maybe every 50k. If you go by manufacturers specs your car will last 100k easily. If you maintain your car as we do as experienced techs we can get 300k out of most any vehicle now a days. The materials are much better than in the past. Oil changes are key every 3000 miles for mineral oil. 5000k on synthetic. This is tried and true. Avoid propaganda by oil companies and car manufacturers. The variable timing mechanisms in todays cars are sensitive to impurities in dirty oil. Dirty oil will quickly wear out the nylon on timing chain followers. The timing chains will stretch and wear out because cams are harder to turn with dirty oil. Replacing timing chains and phasers and timing actuators can total out a car. The work is so expensive. No one ever hurt their car by changing the oil too much. Many many people have totally screwed up their vehicles by not performing timely oil changes. Don't use your expensive vehicle for a science experiment based on advertising propaganda by car manufacturers and oil companies."

11/28/2018

More on oil changes. Here is my theory. Do you have questions on how often to change your oil? I say if it gets black you're waiting too long in between oil changes weather you use synthetic or regular oil. Modern cars (year 2000 on up) have tiny machined orifices and hydro/electric variable timing actuators, nylon timing chain followers etc. etc. These parts will wear excessively if regular oil changes are not performed. Change your oil every 3000 miles if you want to get 300,000 miles out of your car. If you go by manufacturers recommendations you will easily get 100,000 miles out of your car. If your like me and keep your car forever 3000 miles with regular oil and I will allow 5000 miles between oil changes with synthetic. Synthetic oil is better and will make your engine last longer. No one ever hurt their car by changing the oil too often. Many many people have harmed their vehicle by making it into a science experiment based on internet propaganda and going too long between oil changes.

11/04/2018

I'm going to vent in this post because I really don't like to see maintenance neglect on cars as it results in most expensive repairs. You may say that doesn't make since because I stand to gain from the repair and it would be extra business to my shop. Enough stuff breaks due to normal wear and tear. Major engine repairs are stressful to me and to the customer and they never come at a good time. I did an oil change on a 2011 Nissan Sentra. When I removed the oil plug about a tea cup of oil came out of the engine. The customer said they knew they were overdue for oil change and said can you find my oil leak. I looked on the last oil sticker the last oil change had been 20,000 miles back. There was no oil leak. This is a credit to the robustness of the Nissan 4 cylinder. I'm surprised the engine was still running. Please everyone hear this. All engines new or old consume oil during the normal process of their running. It is common for an engine to use a quart of oil every 3000 miles. It is the owners responsibility to periodically check their oil or have someone do it for them. Its not good enough to go oil change to oil change without checking your oil and other fluids. Just because you got and oil change does not relieve you from the responsibility of keeping your oil checked. I recommend checking your oil on most cars maybe every 2 to three weeks. I would go so far to double check your engine when you get and oil change to make sure your oil level has been filled to the proper level. Everybody can have a bad day and make mistakes.

11/19/2017

We work on every car as if it were our Grandmothers car.