Bill Schwab Posted November 7, 2002 Share Posted November 7, 2002 Okay here's the scenario: I got this car when it had 50k miles on it from the original owner, a senior citizen. It's a 1991 Plymouth Acclaim, it looks great inside and out. I baby it with 3k mile oil changes (synthetic oil!!), frequent transmission fluid & filter changes, radiator flushes, tune-ups, etc, I mean, I am a auto maintenance God, I even change my fuel filter annually. So this summer my oil pressure starts getting VERY low, I think that this isn't a good sign of things to come, but that I'll stick with the car to the end. I throw in heavier oil (15-40), and keep driving it. It's a back and forth to work car, nothing extravagant. Life seems temporarily stable, until last week...out of the blue the transmission sticks in 2nd gear. Turns out the trans is hosed, and costs more to fix than the value of the car. That's no financial biggie, no sweat of my back because I still have two other cars and we knew this car wasn't worth much, so we donate the car to charity for a much needed tax write-off. What bugs me is the fact that I took damn good care of that POS! I would expect a car, no matter what manufacturer, to last longer than that considering how well I took care of it, but maybe I'm jumping the gun, because I don't know how that senior serviced it....I guess I just needed to vent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErikW Posted November 7, 2002 Share Posted November 7, 2002 Look on the bright side, you got 9K miles past its engineered death. (Incidentally, my 'mercun truck has the same mileage. And I, too, use synthetic oil every 3K. I'm living on borrowed time!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheOtherErik Posted November 8, 2002 Share Posted November 8, 2002 Profesionaly speaking I think synthetic oil is a big waste of money. If you change your oil every 3k or 3 months it hasn't even began to break down unless you have mechanical problems wich no oil will preven degredation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonedaddy Posted November 10, 2002 Share Posted November 10, 2002 Bill, I can't believe the way that worthless piece of Detroit Iron dissed you! After all that love and care! (Synthetic oil even) Man, I wish you lived around here. We could crack the valve on a 30 lb propane bottle, tucked neatly inside, crank up some Molly Hatchet on the tape deck and hurl insults at it until the stereo sets it off or we help out with some 7.62 tracers. Jiiiiiiiii-Haaaadddd!!! But, ya probably shouldn't try it in Maryland! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TDean Posted November 10, 2002 Share Posted November 10, 2002 "Profesionaly speaking I think synthetic oil is a big waste of money. If you change your oil every 3k or 3 months it hasn't even began to break down unless you have mechanical problems wich no oil will preven degredation." From what I've been taught, the advantage of Synthetics is lower friction, less heat and wear than petro based oils. Also no "build-up" of things like parafin wax, which is very common in petro based oils originating from the east coast of North America. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricW Posted November 11, 2002 Share Posted November 11, 2002 My experience with synthetics is that maybe they last longer, but when they break down, they break down badly and quickly. I used to use synthetic in my four banger for a while thinking was doing my car a favor. Well, miss an oil change and you're in for a big surprise with synthetic at about 5 to 6K miles: it turns into nasty, goopy, sticky, sooty crapola. It is not a gradual process; it breaks down *right now*. I finally got smart and just use the loss leader special oil at $.79/qt and just change it frequently. The upshot is that the conventional oil finally dissolved most the the crap the synthetic left. I really don't think the hype meets reality in the case of synthetic oil. E (Edited by EricW at 8:10 pm on Nov. 10, 2002) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old shooter Posted November 11, 2002 Share Posted November 11, 2002 I have often wondered if the synthetic oils were worth the price. My wife nags me when her car goes 3001 miles without an oil change. FWIW her '95 dodge intrepit has 185,000 without anything going south, other than the water pump. which is an exceptionaly easy fix on that car. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TDean Posted November 11, 2002 Share Posted November 11, 2002 What a better man-stopper, 40SW or 45acp? he-he-he...The synthetic oil debate is probably as bad! For tons of conversation on the subject, check out www.fullsize.com (Edited by TDean at 6:48 pm on Nov. 10, 2002) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricW Posted November 11, 2002 Share Posted November 11, 2002 Quote: from TDean on 5:43 pm on Nov. 10, 2002 What a better man-stopper, 40SW or 45acp? Since I started packing a cut-down Raging Bull, I stopped caring. Yeah, sure.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tree Rat Posted November 15, 2002 Share Posted November 15, 2002 Pssstt.......Bill.......IT'S A DODGE!!! Sorry for your luck. Need a ride to the range? TR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tightloop Posted November 15, 2002 Share Posted November 15, 2002 Bill Not that it is any consolation, but it could have gone the other way for you, like it did me. I bought a new 1984 Chevy 1/2 ton and drove it till 2000 when I bought a new truck. Had 302K on it and still had the same motor. I like you was a fanatic on the preventive maintanence, worked for me. sorry about your car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Schwab Posted November 15, 2002 Author Share Posted November 15, 2002 TR, Yeah, I never was a big Chrysler fan, and right now I own three (don't know how that happened!). Anyway, I'm planning on gravitating back to GM or German. tightloop, Luck of the draw I guess. I'll still be anal about maintence on all my cars though... Sam, I was thinking more along the lines of 50 cal AP!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Newland Posted November 25, 2002 Share Posted November 25, 2002 Where you made your mistake is that you took good care of it. I had a 1985 Mazda B-2000 pick up. I changed oil every couple of years if it needed it or not. Never changed any of the filters, dont really remember if I changed anti freeze or not, never changed any of the belts. I had that truck fifteen years and the only thing I had to replace once was the clutch. It finally died Nov of last year due to rust. Rick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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