Author Topic: Stay away from Jiffy Lube (Read 2946 times)

Brenjen · « **Reply #45 on:** June 16, 2006, 05:20:37 PM »

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Originally posted by mora
I'd be worried if my oil wouldn't get brown. It means that the oil is doing one of it's duties, binding impurities. If you want to have clear oil, then buy the cheapest brand.

LOL...you can run the cheap stuff & let it get dirty if you want, I'm not going to.

Mobil-1 oil & Mobil-1 filter; & if the Mobil filters are out of stock & I don't feel like driving to another parts house I get Wix; Fram can shove it where the sun don't shine & take those cheap oils along for the ride.

Mobil & Wix use the most filter media & metal bypass valves, Fram uses the least media & platic bypass valves, the Fram filters get clogged & use the bypass with fresh oil...sometimes the bypass valves are stuck in the open or closed position! That's really good for an engine. What's really funny is, the folks who make Fram filters make a lot of re-labeled filters; use a lathe to cut open some new filters once & you'll see things in a whole new light.

Just use Mobil-1 & you'll never go back. I used to use Castrol Syntec & was a firm believer but not anymore. Synthetics have come a long way...try them, your engine will thank you. (but don't let it get dirty....change it) BTW that black crap isn't dirt so much as it is carbon from the burnt fuel. Unburnt fuel will break down oil, so if your oil is black & stinks like gasoline it's no good.

Edit: I forgot to mention the nature of the filter media has a lot to do with how easily it get clogged as well, the Frams use a very fine material with very tiny pores the Mobil & Wix brands use a larger pore material & just put a larger ammount in the housing.

mora · « **Reply #46 on:** June 17, 2006, 03:01:49 AM »

That was exactly my point. The cheap oils are no good. If the oil doesn't get dirty it's not working as it should. You cannot judge the oil change interval by visually inspecting the oil.

beet1e · « **Reply #47 on:** June 17, 2006, 04:36:41 AM »

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Originally posted by lazs2
beet... we have synthetic oil that is good for 15,000 mile oil changes and.... it is extremely easy to come by.

Lazs, the problem was that the VW/Audi group has just changed over from using Castrol SLX Long Life 2 - a 0w-30 synthetic oil, to Castrol SLX Long Life 3, a 5w-30 synthetic oil. Not all Audi dealerships had been supplied with the latter, but I was able to get 2 litres at my local VW dealer.

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And...it is for regular engines... not diesels.

Please review VW's own article about LongLife Servicing and Castrol SLX Long Life oil: http://www.volkswagen.co.uk/assets/Longlife_servicing.pdf (.PDF document; needs Adobe reader) In that document, you will see at the bottom of page 1 that this oil is recommended for both petrol and diesel engines, as Mora has already pointed out. Apparently, VW engines (and my Audi 2.0 TDi engine is the same as the one used in the VW Golf 2.0TDi) have sensors which continually monitor the quality of the oil. This engine can, under some circumstances, run to 30,000 miles without servicing and without oil change. That would be for VERY high mileage users. My diesel cars have typically called for oil change and service at 18,000 miles. Read the .PDF document, Lazs - it's all in there, although there's no specific mention of oil filters. It just says that many components are far longer lasting than they used to be.

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There's a reason no one cheats brit car owners out of oil changes. The cars won't hold oil long enough for it to get old. - lukster

What?! Are you saying that British cars leak oil? Well, I wouldn't know. I don't drive British cars, and I've never had a single spot of oil land on my driveway.

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Synthetics have come a long way...try them, your engine will thank you. (but don't let it get dirty....change it)

Read that .PDF document I've posted. ^ The engine in my car has sensors which monitor the oil quality, so there's no need to use the finger in the air (or dipstick in the air) method of assessing when your oil's due to be changed. And as Mora says - if the oil is staying nice and clean, it's probably leaving your engine nice and dirty. So I would say that it's normal for the oil to be a darker colour when it's halfway through its life.

Jackal1 · « **Reply #48 on:** June 17, 2006, 06:32:33 AM »

Sending units never fail and are always accurate. Oil lights are much better than guages. Technology overcomes common sense........................ .......................
............................. ............................. ............................. ............................. ....
Madonna is a virgin.
Richard Simmons is macho.
Eminem will be great as Paladin.
Russia is a true ally.
Bin Laden is a nice guy.
Kerry would make a great prez.

lazs2 · « **Reply #49 on:** June 17, 2006, 09:54:48 AM »

Well... I do use mobil one but I still change it often. It's cheap enough... bout 23 bucks for a 5 quart container. Oil contains additives and detergents (what mora was saying) they clean the engine and the oil gets black (diesels get black quicker) I don't want all that dirt in solution floating around too long. Plus... the additives wear out, not the oil.

most of this is less important with fuel injection tho.

lazs

Brenjen · « **Reply #50 on:** June 17, 2006, 12:13:25 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by mora
That was exactly my point. The cheap oils are no good. If the oil doesn't get dirty it's not working as it should. You cannot judge the oil change interval by visually inspecting the oil.

Cheap oil gets dirty too. Anyone who doesn't visually inspect the oil & touch it, smell it & listen to the sound of the engine is inviting a break-down. Trust your superior european sensors & I'll trust my American brain.

Chairboy · « **Reply #51 on:** June 17, 2006, 01:05:59 PM »

Mora mora mora, the bypass filter I was talking about removes the dirt that the oil picked up. It's fine for the oil to grab the dirt, even better if a filter can then remove it. That dirt is an abrasive, and it's slowly sandblasting your engine from the inside.

beet1e · « **Reply #52 on:** June 17, 2006, 04:09:59 PM »

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Originally posted by Brenjen
Trust your superior european sensors & I'll trust my American brain.

^ Honorary member of jackall's Flat Earth Society!

Brenjen · « **Reply #53 on:** June 17, 2006, 04:25:11 PM »

Well not really but sensors fail, my senses won't. I'd like to cut open an oil filter that had filtered 30,000 miles worth of dirt. Or better yet, cut open one that the sensor is telling you still has good oil going through it & see if it is still passing the oil or if it has switched to the bypass valve.

beet1e · « **Reply #54 on:** June 17, 2006, 04:37:44 PM »

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Originally posted by Brenjen
Well not really but sensors fail, my senses won't. I'd like to cut open an oil filter that had filtered 30,000 miles worth of dirt. Or better yet, cut open one that the sensor is telling you still has good oil going through it & see if it is still passing the oil or if it has switched to the bypass valve.

It's sensors plural! I feel rather certain that there's some built in redundancy - as in aircraft applications - and that if one sensor failed, it's readout would differ from the other sensor(s), resulting in a warning condition.

30,000 miles worth of dirt? High mileage usage generates less "dirt" per mile, so a 30,000 mile filter might not look any dirtier than a 10,000 mile filter on a low mileage vehicle. But let's defer to Mora on this.

Fact is, these long service intervals are the way of things on modern cars in Europe. It's done with the full approval of the vehicle manufacturer and is backed up by warranty. Besides, I haven't heard any horror stories of "engine failure due to oil sensor malfunction".

Brenjen · « **Reply #55 on:** June 17, 2006, 04:47:24 PM »

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It's sensors plural! - 30,000 miles worth of dirt? High mileage usage generates less "dirt" per mile

I think I did type sensors plural

& as far as the other...whatever dude. I'll keep my mobil-1 & change it when it gets dirty; I have never had an oil related failure on any vehicle I have ever owned, not one. You just rely on whatever it is you rely on & we'll both be fine I'm sure.

beet1e · « **Reply #56 on:** June 17, 2006, 04:56:50 PM »

Well - OK, you did say "cut open one that the sensor is telling you still has good oil going through it", but that's OK. As long as you are happy with what you are doing, don't change the habits of a lifetime!

mora · « **Reply #57 on:** June 18, 2006, 05:57:31 AM »

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Originally posted by Chairboy
Mora mora mora, the bypass filter I was talking about removes the dirt that the oil picked up. It's fine for the oil to grab the dirt, even better if a filter can then remove it. That dirt is an abrasive, and it's slowly sandblasting your engine from the inside.

It won't hurt for sure, I'm not sure if it's very usefull in practise. It doesn't usually matter if the engine will last 300k or 500k miles. Btw, if I was your friend I'd still do an oil change every 2 years. Even the best oils oxidize, and 2 years is the usually the maximum recommended motor oil change interval.

Holden McGroin · « **Reply #58 on:** June 18, 2006, 06:42:23 AM »

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Originally posted by beet1e
^ Honorary member of jackall's Flat Earth Society!

Actually the world is flat...within the curved space caused be the gravitation of the earth's mass.

It is the curvature of space itself we percieve as the curvature of the Earth.

Habu · « **Reply #59 on:** June 18, 2006, 06:59:34 AM »

Here is a true life example of why you should not trust a sensor to determine when to change your oil.

Aviation is probably the one place where oil changes are made more frequently and with more regularity than anywhere else.

You have to change your oil on time or you are flying a plane that is illegal.

A number of years back a company came out with a synthetic oil for aircraft. They tested it and then put it on the market. Keep in mind most aircraft have to change their oil every 50 hours of use and many every 25 hours of use. So no one was doing anything stupid like doubling their time between changes.

After a few hundred hours of use planes with this synthetic oil began to have engine failures. The oil was great. It was better than mineral oil.

The reason?

Seems the new oil did not have effective lead dispersants in it and lead deposits were accumulating that eventually plugged oil lines.

Do you know that unless your oil heats to above 212 F during a drive it will not boil off any moisture that gets into it? Also acids can accumulate in oil that can corrode things like your crankshaft in no time if they are not flushed out.

Change your oil. It may still be lubricating fine. But that is not the only thing that is important.