| As we all know, the 2 best things one can do for a car are 1) preventive maintenance and 2) to drive it. Unfortunately, simple as they are, both are often overlooked by those people who prefer to drive a car until something breaks, and then get it fixed (the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" ideology). The others are those who drive so little that they often forget to get their oil changed or tires rotated (elderly people, mostly) and then their engine gaskets start leaking due to the acids in the motor oil and the tires start to cup due to being exposed to the same tire wear pattern for too long. Every machine, no matter how well made, has a finite lifespan. This lifespan can differ enormously in identical vehicles driven by different drivers. It all comes down to the two points mentioned above. I for one, prefer to keep a car till it dies a natural death, not due to anything I did. Most of the maintenance and repair I do on cars is with the highest quality parts the owner (or I) can afford. Pay the guy now or pay him later. It never fails. MAINTENANCE: When I started college, and was driving a 1991 Saab 900 (my first car), I decided I wanted nothing but the best (within reason) for my car in terms of maintenance parts like oil and filters, spark plugs, coolant, and the like. I conducted my own research, by sawing open filters after using them for 5000 miles on the cars in the family (including mine), and comparing the amount of particulate deposits that managed to make it past the filter media. There was, naturally, a slight margin for error because some filters, due to their location, don't drain as well as others. I also spoke with numerous repair technicians, at Brooks-Huff Goodyear in Timonium where I was a general service technician back in high school, at Auto Parts International in Elkridge, where one of the guys I worked with, Henry Leland, was a European car technician, specializing in Saabs. In addition to this, with a few other technicians that I knew from association with my co-workers. I e-mailed and telephoned the research and development departments at Quaker State, Castrol, and Valvoline to see how their premium synthetic motor oils stacked up against Amsoil. The short answer: they didn't. The long answer: all will perform equally well in normal driving in terms of protection of one's engine's contact surfaces, but nothing can outperform Amsoil for both extreme temperature protection and economics. 25,000 mile oil-change intervals save one anywhere from $50 to $150 on oil changes, in addition to saving time. More on this later. Now for the filters: OIL FILTERS: The Worst: Fram The Best: Mann-Hummel Well, the straight fact is that Fram's regular orange oil filters have two pieces of cardboard holding in the filter material. The material itself has gaps in the pleats where the filtration area is therefore reduced. No matter what they claim to be their "first-pass efficiency" or whatever, I would not use a Fram filter on my lawnmower. Mann-Hummel filters, mostly made in Germany, are the absolute best, IMHO. The material retaining band is a glossy, polished steel. The material is held in with a steel spring and the material itself is this thick, dense, pleated material with no gaps in the pleats. I would trust this filter on any car I would own, or really, any car they make filters for. Period. There are quite a few filters in between these two extremes. The ones I prefer to use on my current car (a 1998 Honda Accord) are very close to, if not as good as, the Mann-Hummel filters mentioned above. Basically, all oil filters made by Nippon, Denso, as well as by Toyota's and Honda's O.E. manufacturers (the filters with the car company logos on them) fall in this category. I have been using 'Full' brand or Nippon filters ($6.00 at autopartswarehouse.com) for the last year or so, and my engine oil has yet to turn brown. It just goes from light gold to dark gold. The engine runs very clean anyway, so I am very satisfied. MOTOR OIL: The Best Synthetic Motor Oil: Amsoil The Best Mineral Dinosaur Juice: Castrol GTX All of the benefits unique to Amsoil synthetic motor oil are thoroughly explained on their website, which is accessible here. But to summarize: a) Amsoil is drained at intervals of 25,000 miles or one year, whichever occurs first. Regular motor oil is drained at intervals of 3,000 miles or 3 months, whichever occurs first. b) Amsoil flows freely at temperatures down to -20 degrees Fahrenheit...bottle claims more, but at least this much I have personally experienced. Regular motor oil thickens anywhere from freezing (32 deg. F) down to 0 deg. F. Some at even higher temperatures. c) Pour Amsoil on a frying pan. Turn up the heat. See how long it takes to smoke. Pour regular motor oil on a frying pan. Turn up the heat. Keep a fire extinguisher handy. Granted, Amsoil is twice, sometimes three times the cost of regular motor oil, but considering how much time and money you save over the long run, with not having to crawl under the car and drain it all out, pour it all in, and carry the oil to a recycling center every 3,000 miles, it's worth it. Look at this, too: 3,000 miles x 8 = 24,000 miles. Amsoil costs three times as much as regular oil, but lasts eight times as long. To me, it's definitely worth it. Noteworthy point to keep in mind, though, is that the filter must still be changed at 3,000 - 5,000 mile intervals to keep the oil clean (I change all of ours at 5,000 miles using Nippon or Denso filters). You need to add a half bottle of oil to fill up the new filter. I haven't tried Amsoil's oil filters rated at 12,500 miles, so I have no comment here. |
| Car Maintenance |
| Page last updated: October 30, 2006 |
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