OIL

[parkkj@orion.crd.ge.com (Keith Park)]

OK... 2 things I cannot beleive I heard from us.

1) waiting till the oil light tells you your low on oil!

First off, by the time you turn the light on you have almost no oil pressure,
ie: almost no oil!  with a properly filled (2.5 qts) crankcase, stock without
the extra sump, you WILL starve on every hard turn, not drop to zero but when
your foots into it you dont want it to drop at all.  If the oil is low it will suck dry causing bearing wear on the hard corners.  By the tim the light comes on
]your TOO LOW!  remember... a Quart low is 40% low on oil, 40% less oil to cool your engine.

2) 5-6Kmi oil changes,  When I worked in the garage, our customers who let their
oil changes go this long always wound up with related problems when they reached 80K or so if they kept the car that long.
One had a Caddy with the famous HT4100, 5K changes religously and at 76Kmi he 
had plugged all the return holes in his heads and the motor was Junk!
     I remember personally needing a spoon to scoup all the sludge frm the head of an early escort,  again the owner bought it new and was in every 4-5K
but at 85K he had plugged up the whole breather system.
     And AHHH the famous GM 231 six, the "sludgebuster 6" if not religous on the oil it would plug the screen and burn a rod as early as 70K.
     SO unless you drive the highways ALL thi time and have no heating/cooling
cycles stick to  less than 3Kmi changes. Hey! OIL IS CHEAP  but the engine isnt!

Another 2cents broker

Keith