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Date:         Wed, 13 Jan 2010 10:19:18 -0800
Reply-To:     Robert Fisher <refisher@MCHSI.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Robert Fisher <refisher@MCHSI.COM>
Subject:      Re: Motor Oil (Synthetic)
In-Reply-To:  <2763917.3687.1263401461442.JavaMail.mcneely4@127.0.0.1>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"

There's no need to go by recommendations, or opinions, or to guess. Somebody said (might've been you) that oil is cheap and engines are expensive; in that sense one could also say that oil analysis is cheap, and you get objective data specific to your vehicle if you feel that helps you. Or you could play 'better safe than sorry' and do what you've been doing, which is fine as well. I'd be willing to bet that Wal-mart's store brand oil and a Fram filter changed every 3K will do the job for most people driving their Hondas and Chevys and so on, given that they picked the right grade in the first place. The waterboxer is a bit more of a particular beastie, of course, which is just another reason to get rid of it afaiac, but it's still not that complicated. I wouldn't get too wound up about what Click and Clack thought of anything in any event.

Cya, Robert

-----Original Message----- From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of Dave Mcneely Sent: Wednesday, January 13, 2010 8:51 AM To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM Subject: Re: Motor Oil (Synthetic)

Well, still looking. I did find that any number of sources consider taxicab service as "severe," due mainly to the low speeds and long idling times. The "Car Talk" web site has lots of references to the CR study, but no link or definitive statement concerning the methods or results that I could find. Mainly just a bunch of people on their forum commenting on it, some of whom remember the results differently from how I do. At least one claimed that the results showed a need for adhering to factory or more frequent oil change intervals. I do remember that that was not the case. Oh, I did find that whenever the hosts for the "Car Talk" show recommend oil change intervals, they still stick with fairly frequent changes, and do not approve the extended frequency changes of some manufacturers, despite the results of the CR study.

Dave

On Wed, Jan 13, 2010 at 10:09 AM, Dave Mcneely wrote:

> I found a link, but was denied access: > http://www.xs11.com/stories/croil96.htm > > I also found that the report was in 1996. Wow, how time flies. I'll > look a bit more, but not forever. David > > > On Wed, Jan 13, 2010 at 9:53 AM, mcneely4@cox.net wrote: > >> Yes, the vehicles used in the study were NYC taxicabs. >> >> >> On Wed, Jan 13, 2010 at 9:12 AM, Allan Streib wrote: >> >>> On Wed, 13 Jan 2010 09:27 -0500, "Dave Mcneely" wrote: >>> >>>> Well, for what it's worth, when consumer reports, using modern >>>> nonsynthetic oils, ran vehicles under severe conditions in New York >>>> City, and extended the oil change interval long beyond the factory >>>> recommendations, they found no difference in wear compared to >>>> engines >>>> that were treated according to factory recommendations. >>> >>> Was this the taxicab service test? Remember that NYC taxicabs run >>> pretty much 24x7, or at least for many hours at a time. That's >>> actually >>> better for the motor and oil than a lot of short trips where the oil >>> is >>> cold half the time. >>> >>> Allan


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