If you want to start a long discussion ask about what type of oil auto technicians prefer. The only thing that would bring up more discourse would be blond, brunette or redhead.

Every mechanic, technician or grease monkey, wonder how that name came to be, everyone will have a different preferred oil.

There are many different ones on the market, synthetic, semi synthetic and plain old oil. Also weights SAE 0-40, 10-40, 10-30 5-30 and of course straight grades 10 to 60. Many manufactures also have their own oil GM has a synthetic they almost demand using.

Years ago I worked on NP railroad trucks and cars and they used 10 weight year round and got mileage into the 100K out of their engines, now days 200K is not unusual.

Most techs would say to stay away from semi synthetic oils as they are only a small percentage of synthetic. I think most would choose synthetic, of course the brands would vary with the edge going to Mobil 1.I am sure most GM Techs would choose their new oil and they are correct. However sticking with the same oil is also important if you have a vehicle with some miles do not switch to synthetic as it could cause problems such as leaks and oil consumption.

The weight is usually determined by the vehicle manufactures recommendations. Many use 5-30 so the upper cylinder gets adequate lubrication.

Extended mileage is also a good choice for high mileage engine, I use this in my sunbird with 136K, I use Mobil in my LeBaron and Mobil 1 in my other 2 cars 5-30 in the Pontiac and 5-30 in the winter and 10-30 in the summer in my Dodge pickup. If I had a new GM I would use their new oil also I have considered switching from Mobil 1 as they have apparently changed there formula, but I don’t what I would switch to.

Females are becoming Technicians at a faster rate every day. About the time I retired this trend started. At first they did mostly interior, dash repairs and the like. No more now days they are doing all repairs and with vehicles becoming smaller and tighter to work on they have become an asset.

They also do excellent diagnostics, and with the modern car and truck having as many as 6 computers this is not an easy task. I am sure there are some problems from the good old boys of auto repair until they find themselves in a jam and they help them out. Of course there are also many excellent male technicians. I am sure some of the grease monkeys of years past would have a thing or 12 to say about this I am sure.

Trying to find a good repair shop is becoming harder to find. Where I live there are only 2 service stations still in operation.

How to choose a good honest repair shop. Of course talk to your friends and coworkers of course this is going to be mostly negative well because that’s how people are.

ASE certified is a good place to start and many think a clean shop is also a good indicator. I agree a shop should be clean but if it is too clean they have too much time on their hands or the equipment is just not being used, there is usually a good reason for this unless the shop is just opened.

Estimate are always necessary before the repairs are done and the final bill should always bee within 10% of the estimate also get your old parts back.

No that is not a picture of my garage

Plug patch or bubblegum what is the best method to repair a tire. I have put in hundreds of plugs over the years and this is the cheapest method and if the plug is self vulcanizing it is an OK repair.

Patching is another repair method the only problem is the hole is left open to the elements and that can cause problems.

The method I prefer is the patch plug, it is a patch with a plug that seals the hole, this is also the most expensive. It is by far the safest also. Patching is also difficult to do properly and takes some practice and experience.

If the tire has a hole in the sidewall it cannot be repaired and must be replaced.

Will ammonia based window cleaners damage your vehicle. The quick answer is no. They will however do some damage to old rubber parts and paint that has seen its better days. Rubber that is hard and or cracking will be damaged, treating the item first may lessen the damage. Old paint well not a lot for this.
Also if you leave the cleaner sit on any item or paint it may do some damage which can generally be removed with several methods. There are several cleaners on the market without ammonia but they will not clean as well. There are several home made recipes on the net, but I have not tried them so I wont recommend any.