A recent question about leaving the oil cap off for a brief drive, he claims it helps clean the oil.“Very little oil is kicked out but the open vent allows volatile impurities in the oil to boil off and really cleans up, or keeps clean, the (full synthetic) oil”!A fire under the hood will also help keep dirt from building up on the engine. Makes, about as much sense, another concern would be containments entering the engine before the oil filter and causing problems. I do not recommend nor do I think it is necessary to remove containments from your oil with this method. Simply change it when necessary.

A few techs corrected me on a couple of things I missed in the synthetic oil article. When you change to synthetic it is a good idea to flush the engine either with a engine flush additive or diesel oil 15/40. Run the diesel for about 250-500 miles and it will clean out your engine 2 warnings first use a top of the line filter and be aware that a clean engine with high mileage can result in problems. This is not a bad idea no matter what oil you use to keep ypour engine clean.AMZOIL is not an additive it is oil in a category all by itself, normally I would recommend it but in my area it is hard to find.When switching always go up never down if you have been using it for some time. Always use quality oil.When using synthetic use a high quality fuel low quality fuels can cause a carbon build up and this is more prominent when using synthetics. One question I was asked do oils have a shelf life and yes they do 4-5 years. If they go bad they develop a cloudy color and gel up.I apologize for any problems or questions that I raised, no excuse but I was interrupted to many times when writing. Thank You to all who put me back on the correct path.

To use or not to use is the big question when it comes to using synthetic oil. There should not be any question about using synthetic oil in your engine. With a few exceptions, you can’t afford it, have a ton of miles on your engine anything in excess of 90K, your engine is using or leaking oil. Cost is always a concern in today’s economic situation and it is critical to change your oil on a regular basis. Synthetic will only save you $ if you put on a lot of miles but it will provide superior lubrication and prevent cold start wear on the engine. Any engine with a lot of miles is going to have a problem when switching it cleans too much of the crud out of the engine causing problems if you have serviced the engine regularly you may get by with it but I hesitate to risk it. I switched my pickup at 60K and had no problems but it has had regular oil changes but it does have a lot of in town miles. I have since switched it back as I don’t drive it much and I feel it is more important to change it on a regular time table. If your engine is using or leaking oil it will get worse, synthetic oil tends to shrink the seals slightly and it clinks to engine parts mainly the cylinder walls allowing loss of oil. If your loss is less than a quart between changes then go ahead and switch. The engine that uses some oil between changes is going to last longer because lubrication is improved.There are 2 types since separated into 4 groups, the first developed by Mobil in the seventies is PAO. The second is unconventional base oils or UCBO which most premium oils are today. There are several variations, Amsoil, Royal Purple are true synthetics Castrol is syn tec.These I stay away from not for any reason I just prefer the UCBO oils. Unless you are a chemist or a lubrication nerd the only thing you have to remember is to any brand name is OK just stay away from the bargain basement brands also stick with one that is available in most markets. Semi or partial synthetics are a waste of $ they usually contain less than 10% synthetic stock. They will help but to a very minor extent. The major advantages of synthetic are longer change intervals, cleaner engines, improved lubrication and less cold start wear. At -40 you can definitely tell the difference if you have synthetic in the crankcase. Talk to any Tech about oils and you will get as many opinions as you will on blonde’s brunettes or redheads. So go with what you can justify $ wise what is available locally, I went to the same shop for a number of years they had great oil change specials and used Chevron, which I had been using, but they have been overfilling about a quart lately so I don’t know what I am going to do. I may switch back to synthetics and start doing my own changes, cheaper when I do it myself.

Coolant is getting to be confusing, best advice, as with all fluids, is check your owner’s manual. Except for dex-cool I would us ethylene glycol or the newer non toxic. GREEN Good old American ethylene glycol with silicates and phosphates, my choice.YELLOW GOLD Same as green in fact some say it has a green tint.ORANGE Dex-Cool, uses 2-EHA and sebacate as inhibitor, both are under question. Original equipment in some GM also made by Zerex, Prestone and Havoline. I would not use has had too many problems and GM is reimbursing for some repairs. GREEN Japanese a darker green and has no silicates. Has a short life span 2- 3 years. RED Toyota Same as the green be careful it looks a lot like Dex-cool. Again short life span.PINK Toyota Extended life Japanese coolants. Uses sebacate and phosphates but not 2-EHA. Seems to be trouble free.GREEN Honda same as the Toyota pink. PINK VW Organic acid type some do have 2-EHA and some don’t would not recommend using it there are several others that meet the VW specs. The American green is the preferred replacementYELLOW European Ford Mostly used in Europe but starting to see it in some Fords. Low silicates no phosphates. It is just starting to be seen in the US as G-05 in the aftermarkets.ORANGE Chrysler same as the yellow ford.BLUE Korean same as the yellow and orange. BROWN oopps you mixed 2 or more coolants or added to much sealer.Many techs are still recommending Dex-cool and as long as your cooling system stays completely full this is fine. With the low capacity of many of the newer systems this can be a problem. I recommend American green or the newer G-05. These 2 should cover all your needs. The most important items are to change it when necessary and if you switch types to remove all the old coolant. This is almost impossible. The exchange machines leave about 10% left so to do it yourself is difficult to say the least. The best method I have found is the air powered vacuum. I have tried to blow out the excess coolant but still feel there was some residue.

Recently it has been good to be in the hybrid business. Gas prices skyrockeded and the Toyota Prius inventories were lowA few months later, pump prices have dropped, and the inventory of gas-electric vehicles has risen, they have lost ground to cheaper but fuel-efficient conventional vehicles.The extra dollars for a hybrid car when gas was over $4 a gallon made sense if you were driving enough miles, it only took a few years to recoup the higher cost. But with the recession and fuel prices at their lowest in six years, consumers are unwilling to spend the dollars for just a few extra MPG.Automakers are counting on gas prices going back up. Toyota Motor Corp. introduced its Lexus HS250h hybrid sedan at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit and plans to show a redesigned 2010 Prius on Monday. Honda Motor Co. Insight hybrid, which will go on sale in April.Will compete with the Prius but will be priced lower than the larger, $23,650 Civic hybrid, a sign that Honda is targeting penny-pinching consumers.Ford Motor Co. unveiled a hybrid version of the Ford Fusion in November that can go up to 47 mph on batter power alone, and General Motors Corp. has turned out a number of hybrid versions of its vehicles recently, like the Chevrolet Malibu and the Saturn Vue.The cost of regular Fuel has fallen 56 percent from its all-time summer high, averaging $1.79 on Sunday up about 12 cents in the past week Hybrid sales plunged 43 percent in December and 50 percent in November. You would have to drive about 160,000 miles a year to break even. The average driver goes about 15,000 miles annually, that’s 10 plus years of driving for payback. At current pump prices you would have to drive 364K plus to break even, and that’s not counting the extra repair costs that a hybrid will accrue. The same dollars invested will double in less than 10 years. In addition the highway mileage is not that higher than a conventional, The Altima is only 2 MPG higher than a conventional.To be sure, hybrid premiums vary. The Toyota Prius is $3,800 more than a comparable Camry. On the other hand, a Mazda Tribute SUV hybrid costs $8,000 more than the conventional model.Drivers are worried about fuel economy, but they seem to be buying the smaller, fuel-efficient conventional car rather than the hybrid. The cars need to be more financially attractive, tax credits to hybrid buyers and, developing a domestic supply for hybrid batteries, instead of being imported and expensive.

My tires look fine so I will check them next week or it is to cold out to fool with them the valve core may freeze. I have heard and made myself almost every excuse there is to prevent checking my tires I have a compressor and heat in my garage so I really have no reason not to check them. If you think your tires look fine, check them, you will be surprised at how low they are. This is a major necessity with low profile tires as they have a lower volume of air. Buy a good tire gauge it doesn’t have to be digital, but they are accurate, and look cool. I use a chuck and gauge combination, easier to use, and check the accuracy once in a awhile with my digital.The valve stem freezing is a rare but possible problem, worse if the compressor you are using has an excess of water either in the lines or the tank. Usually a light tap will unfreeze it. How many pounds of pressure should I put in? On your tire there is a max pressure I go 6 pounds below this in the summer and 8 in the winter, rides to rough with higher pressure in the cold. I would suggest using the factory recommended pressure. There should be a decal either on the glove box door or the driver’s door post. You can go a few pounds higher but stay at least 4 pounds below max more in the summer. Tires can gain as much as 1 pond for every 10 degrees of temp and that is concrete temp not air. Tire pressure is one of the keys to gas mileage.

Cold weather always brings on the question, should I install the biggest battery that will fit in my vehicle? At one time the answer was yes but no more. Today’s vehicles have limited air flow under the hood and your battery needs the insulation and space required to stay cool, heat will actually destroy a battery quicker than cold weather. So stick to the size battery that is called for. As far as more amperage here again the modern vehicle is working with a limited output alternator and if the battery capacity is too large the alternator cannot keep it fully charged thereby limiting the life of the battery.Today’s batteries because of advancement in engineering are smaller and lighter, also the electronics in today’s vehicles are less power intensive. Many of the drivability sensors are 5 volt and with the advent of ground control the power requirements are less than older vehicles. Some of these advancements were to save money but they also saved weight and space to make the cab forward design and front wheel drive possible.The donut spare was another size and weight advancement. Of course plastics and, many other advancements also helped.

As most of you know I am retired. Well my wife is getting ready to join me, in awhile but first we need to but a new vehicle. I thought I should at least give a hybrid a look. The upkeep on these vehicles is out of line. The trans fluid has to be changed at 30,000 miles, 15K for rough use, and it is expected to run in the 150-200 dollar range. A cover on the bottom of the engine has to be removed to change the oil and we all know how well the hold downs for these last. They also take 0-20 oil; try to find that at the local Checker. Tried to find some info on 0-20 but could not find an explanation on what 0 viscosity is.As far as repairs go I would think they are going to be a dealer only for some time, and you know my stand on dealerships, although they have improved some. I would expect this vehicle to last us about 5-7 years so it will need battery replacement at some point in time. The cost for this would be greater than I have paid for used vehicles.Also the original cost is higher, so I see no way I can come out ahead with a hybrid. Taking a long look at a Buick Rendezvous.

The new Ford ECOnetic ,that gets a whopping 65 MPG, will not be sold in the US. It is a subcompact that seats 5 but it runs on diesel. With diesel being 30 cents to a dollar higher they just don’t see the sales being there. Also the engine is made in England so they have the weak dollar to contend with which would make the price $25,700 compared to $24,000 for the Prius. There has been rumors of building a diesel engine plant in Mexico but with the money flowing out the door at a Billion dollars a month to keep the company afloat I doubt they have the funds to build a 350 million dollar plant also it would not cash flow as the demand for diesel in the US is not that great.On the average a diesel gets about %25 to %30 better economy but Americans still view it a smelly trucker fuel. I think that diesel is one of the answers to the fuel crisis but time will tell if it is accepted or not. I just don’t see how the Taxpayers can bail out the auto industry we have to draw the line somewhere.

Tata Motors has suspended work indefinitely at a factory building the world’s cheapest car following increasingly violent protests by farmers demanding the return of their land.No one has reported to work at the factory since Friday, and some international staffers have gone home.The world’s poor are against one of India’s richest men, Ratan Tata, who wants to build a $2,500, car, the Nano is trying to enter the super-economy market.But several hundred local farmers have protested Tata for several years, complaining about the price they were paid for their land. They have blocked roads and prevented employees from leaving on several occasions. Tata has poured $350 million into its plant in Singur,and 60 suppliers have also invested millions of dollars more for plants and equipment in the area. Tata has trained more than 700 employees for the factory.My first thought is that I have seen the Indian police force in action and I cannot imagine how they would have problems with a few farmers or after a $350 million investment go hire a police force to help finish the factory. Or is the decision bases on the economy among other factors that the car probably won’t sell so cut your losses early.I don’t think I would drive a car that was manufactured for $2500 on today’s roads I think you would be better off with a Gem car.