K-cars

[MadMan]

Originally Posted by bgadow

Agreed, the ones we saw in the shop were owned by the type of person who changes their oil if a) they happen to think about it while at Wal*Mart or b) the oil light comes on. They'll drive around for months with the "change oil soon" indicator on. Check their windshield & you'll find a faded sticker from Quickie Lube letting them know their next change should be by 78,345. Odometer now reads 102,998. In the back seat of their Sebring, buried under mounds of Big Mac wrappers, Twinkies boxes & empty 2 liter bottles of Diet Coke ("I'm diabetic, you know") you'll find a couple empty bottles of that sweet miracle elixir for automotive engines everywhere, Warren 30w non-detergent, ever flying off the shelf down at Dollar General.

LOL

I know exactly what you mean! Actually I just got a call from a friend-of-a-friend today. He's one of those people. He called me today and told me that he was "pulled over" for sleeping in his car, and he was probably drunk off his ass, so they impounded his car - not entirely sure why - and he asked me how to get his car out of the impound with expired plates on it. He was supposed to come in for emission repairs like 6 months ago (so he could renew his plate stickers). He's literally a hoarder though. Like us guys might have a house full of TVs and radios, and bits and bobs, but this guy literally hoards garbage. Like newspapers and magazines. His car is filled to the brim with just worthless papers and food wrappers. I mean FILLED. I mean the rear suspension is bottomed out under the weight.

The 2.7's just get sludged up easily, and it blocks the oil galleries, ceasing lubrication and destroying the motor. It's like cholesterol. I seen my share of them. Open the valve cover, and it's like somebody filled it with tar. I've seen a few like that after the engine was already blown, and a few that were still running ok, and either way had to give the customer the bad news and a good scolding.

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by MadMan

LOL

I know exactly what you mean! Actually I just got a call from a friend-of-a-friend today. He's one of those people. He called me today and told me that he was "pulled over" for sleeping in his car, and he was probably drunk off his ass, so they impounded his car - not entirely sure why - and he asked me how to get his car out of the impound with expired plates on it. He was supposed to come in for emission repairs like 6 months ago (so he could renew his plate stickers). He's literally a hoarder though. Like us guys might have a house full of TVs and radios, and bits and bobs, but this guy literally hoards garbage. Like newspapers and magazines. His car is filled to the brim with just worthless papers and food wrappers. I mean FILLED. I mean the rear suspension is bottomed out under the weight.

The 2.7's just get sludged up easily, and it blocks the oil galleries, ceasing lubrication and destroying the motor. It's like cholesterol. I seen my share of them. Open the valve cover, and it's like somebody filled it with tar. I've seen a few like that after the engine was already blown, and a few that were still running ok, and either way had to give the customer the bad news and a good scolding.

Does Synthetic oil build up sludge?
The worst driving is short trip city driving, where the engine never gets up to temp. Slow traffic speeds and very little highway or expressway use.
When I lived in the city the oil looked like I never changed it after only 500 miles. Now, living out in God's country, I can look at the oil after 2000 miles and it still looks clean. I change my oil every 3500-4000 miles in my daily driver.

[MadMan]

Originally Posted by dieseljeep

Does Synthetic oil build up sludge?

It's certainly less prone to it. But it's still basically the same amalgam of hydrocarbons as regular oil. So no matter what anyone might say, it's still a possibility. It's also important to remember that while synthetic oil can take a lot more beating before the molecules break down, it's simply the nature of the internal combustion engine to contaminate the oil. Whether you run synthetic or not, it gets dirty at the same rate.

Also stop and go driving is bad for the oil, and everything in general, because there's a lot of engine under load (accelerating). Rural driving has a lot more cruising, which really doesn't put stress on much of anything.