• Welcome to the new NAXJA Forum! If your password does not work, please use "Forgot your password?" link on the log-in page. Please feel free to reach out to [email protected] if we can provide any assistance.

27,824 miles on oil change

i worked at a ford dealer for a while back in the 80's and one day we had a big F350 dually crew cab come in on a roll back.. it was owned by a girl who had a bunch of horses and spent all her time travelling half the country with a long 5th wheel trailer.. i cant remember the milage but i do remember the state trooper showing up about 30 mins later with two milk crates full or chunks or the grenaded 460 block..... i remember the look on our service managers face when he got off the phone with the girl who owned it about a warranty claim..... i think the exact quote was..... " but didnt oil come in it from the factory???"
 
LOL, slant six Dodge...a friend of mine (20 years older than me) always tells me the same story about a dodge they bought in Portland (60 miles away) for 50 dollars when they were there screwing around. I don't recall the model of the car, but it had a slant six. They bought the car drained the oil and hit I-5 to drive home to Longview. When they got about 10 miles from Longview (doing 70-80 mph the whole way) they downshifted and ran the thing at really high R's in an attempt to blow it up...no good. They made the 60 mile journey with no oil in the car doing there best to blow it up. He said it got hotter than hell but kept running. When they finally shut it off it wouldn't turn over again. I don't know if the slant six was that good of an engine or if they just got lucky (slant six is before my time). Anyway I know there aren't any present day engines that would stand up to that kind of abuse. :D
 
Waking this thread up from its grave because it's pretty funny...

In high school I worked for Valvoline Instant Oil Change. We usually saw the normal idiots who wouldn't change their oil for ten thousand miles etc... but the one that really took the cake was the guy who drove in with some ratty old sedan one day. I drained the oil out, I had to use a screwdriver to punch a hole in the layer of sludge after pulling the drain plug out. It came out thick and chunky like soup, completely opaque even on a white rubber glove. I took one look at it and talked to the guy, said I was going to run a few quarts of oil through it for free to just flush some of that gunk out (I learned that doing this cost us something like two bucks, and usually made a customer for life) - he thanked me and I did it. Filled it back up, did our standard test of turning it over and revving it up to make sure there weren't any leaks, showed him the dipstick afterwards - new oil was already opaque. He accused me of not actually changing the oil, but when I told him that I did he called his wife, who owned the car...

"honey when did you last change the oil in your car?"
"oil?"

it'd been four years since the oil had been changed. He apologized, we laughed about it, flushed a few more quarts through it and sent him on his way... he came back every 3 months for the next year and a half that I worked there.
 
IHC DT466 w/Caterpillar 3208 Diesel engine. We got called out because "the engine had just quit."

The driver wasn't there - he'd hitched back to the yard.

I pulled the dipstick while my boss pulled the radiator cap. He went back to the truck for his flashlight, while I was busy trying to get a reading on the 'stick (it was both dead dry and blue. The significance of that didn't hit striaght away.)

It was spec'd for something like four and a half gallons of coolant - and he put in four. It had a twenty-four quart sump, and I put in twenty-one.

I finally realised what that awful smell coming from the oil filler cap was - ever "oil harden" a part by heating it red and dunking it in oil?

Yeah. After the truck had been sitting for an hour, it was still hot enough to oil harden!

We ended up changing the engine in the truck. I found out the driver got reassed to pushing an idiot stick around the yard (the yard boss was a creative fella. An "idiot stick" is a stick with a shovel blade or a broom head on one end and an idiot on the other...) and the former driver was getting docked on his paycheque for letting the truck go like that.

In that outfit, drivers were assigned to trucks. They had to sign off on operator checks every day. We did not find any leaks when we topped off the oil and coolant in that truck!

When I took that engine core in, I asked them to put it on a stand and flip it over (they were going to anyhow, but I wanted to see it.)

The crankshaft? Cobalt blue - probably the prettiest shade you ever saw.
The block and main caps? Not quite as blue as the crank, but close.
Even the sump was blue!

I think the final bill was something like eight grand for the engine, three for the labour, and another fifteen hundred for the core charge they wouldn't get back (the best thing to do with that engine was melt it down and recast it...)

And, the driver got his pay cut in the first place when he got knocked down to pushing an idiot stick...
 
I just went 10,000 miles and 9 months on my XJ with out changing the oil.

I am using 5 quarts of Valvoline 20w50 racing oil and 1 quart of Lucas Heavy Duty oil stabilizer.

The oil came out looking like it only had 3k miles on it.

I probably wont go as long this time but i know it will work for longer then 3k.
 
Now you guys have me worried.
I've GOT to call my mom - TODAY!



My stepfather died last December.
Mom bought a new car in March.

He had always taken care of the cars.



I hope she's been taking it in for service... :eek:

.
 
I just went 10,000 miles and 9 months on my XJ with out changing the oil.

I've hit 9 - 10k oil a few times. I'm better about it now that I live with my garage but I'm still about 1,000 miles behind on an oil change for the red Jeep..


I try to swap oil at 7,000 - 7,500.
 
When I worked for Advance Auto We saw this crap all the time.

I watched a guy fill the crank case with 85-140 because "These old ford motors love thick oil that wont leak out".

That poor van died for good about 800 yards from the parking lot.
 
Last year when I was stationed in California, I was leaving my girlfriend at the time's house and a older lady was crying outside of her car. It was a late 80's Bonneville. I asked her if there was anything I could do and she said she needed to get to Nevada but her car was running funny. So I took a look at it and it had ZERO oil in and and hardly any coolant. I asked her how long she had owned the car and when the last time she serviced it, her response was "I've owned it for about 7 years and never knew you had to change the oil"

Being the guy I am I took her to get some oil and coolant but still suggested she didn't attempt the trip to Nevada.

After filling her up she took off and didn't even say thank you.
 
My brother goes to college up in Maine (we are from MA). Parents got him an Ford expedition because
A) they didnt want to make the drive up to northern maine multiple times each year
and
B) My brother is pretty much going to school for wilderness survival, so he camps alot and needed a vehicle to transport his gear

Well he had the vehicle for half the summer and all through school until Xmas break when we all got back. I was doing an oil change on the XJ (probably about 4500 miles) and my buddy did one on his mustang, so we asked when the last time my brother did one was.. his response was a shrug and a "i dunno", well we talked him into doing one.. We walked him through doing it and about a quart of sludge slowly drained out.. not so sure I would call it oil anymore by that point. Not sure how much driving he did but when he pulled out the oil pan from under the vehicle my friends and I all just kinda stared at eachother :banghead:
 
this reminds me of when my buddy sold his truck to a sharriff.

my buddy bought this truck knowing it leaked oil. he took it to have the oil changed. and then used it only for hard offroading (big huge ford on like 38" boggers)

well after a full winter of wheelin the snot out of this big ass ford, he parked it one day. and it wouldnt start the next day. i came over to investigate. thought the battery had puked, tried a new battery! nothin. maybe a starter? Nope. after $130+ i wasnt sure. well, i checked the oil. and not a drip on the stick, added 4qts. still wouldnt move. i got suspicious.. tried to turn the crank over with a breaker bar. nothin!

He sold it on craigslist stating it needs a starter. the sherriff bought it sight unseen. a week later he had a certified letter with the promise of a small-claims suit if he was not refunded the money and give the truck back.
 
We had an '09 Camry with around 50k on it towed into the shop about a month ago. Customer never changed the oil and though it still had oil in it the motor seized anyways...and back to the dealer they went...
 
Similar problem approached from the other direction:

Buddy of mine is a dealership mec. 'Had a geezer bring a late model Ram in for service. It was running a check engine light. (new truck, nowhere near first service interval)
The problem turned out to be an engine code for oil viscosity(yes, it checks, scary!). The truck had a multi-displacement 5.9 hemi, which requires 5- weight oil for the multi-displacement system to work properly(something to do with the lifters, apparently) With the wrong oil viscosity,the computer locks out the MD system and throws a code.

They change the oil and filter(noting that it wasn't a factory filter), clear the codes and send him on his way. Problem solved.

Guy comes back 2 days later, running a check engine light. Again, viscosity issue. Again, a new non-OEM filter. 'Pulls the guy aside and asks whats up. Turns out the idiot drove straight from the dealership to a lube shop and had them change the oil because the dealership's oil "is crap". Had the lube shop put 20-50 in it. Wouldn't run the correct oil even when it was explained to him, and when told he was voiding the warranty.


As for personal interval: Once I went a tic over 7K miles without changing the oil in my XJ. I was on a 7K road trip and didn't feel like stopping somewhere to have it done. :rolleyes:
 
Last edited:
Buddys wife drove her chevy trailblazer 22,000 miles when the engine light came on. She hadn't changed the oil in it.

She traded it in on a new honda. Figured why waste the money when she was gonna get a new car anyhow. Makes me nervous about buying used cars.
 
My sister had a 91 Grand Prix w/ the 3.1 multi port injected v-6 in it...strong motor, nice car It was fully loaded w/ power seats that crappy navigation, wiring nightmare etc....Well I had to put brakes on her car because they went to the floor after being metal to metal for so long and wearing THROUGH the rotor into the cooling fins. at one point I just so happen to take a look at the oil change sticker...I said to her "hey Tiff, this says 101,828 and the date is 10/20/01. Do you realise that its April 4th 2003 and you have 140k on your car?" Her reply was "oh I never knew that sticker was there." and dismissed it.

Well after I drained the sludge out and replaced it w/ some oil it still looked awful, but ran just fine. She ran the car up until 2004 when the frame finally rusted through and broke. I bought the car from her for 75 bucks and intended on welding the frame and driving the car because the inspection was good for another 7 months. I never ended up welding where it broke (it broke up near where the Right Front a-frame meets the unibody) I just drove it because I was in highschool and I simply just didn't care, ya it pulled a bit and grinded, clunked, and squatted really bad, but it ran like a top.

So time comes for me to graduate highschool and I decided I guess I should buy a real car in which a did ('99 olds alero). My friends and I decide that we will use the grand prix as a "senior prank"... (shorten the story considerably)....well the car would not start so we had to tow it to my highschool late at night before the last day of school. We ended up getting it pushed onto the soccer field removed all the lug nuts and tried removing the wheels. Well my friend was not the sharpest tool in the shed when he pulled the wheel off and dropped the jack destroying the jack and we were not able to continue the process....(flash forward) I get a call from the highschool security guard that morning and was told that me and my father needed to come to the highschool because there has been a problem w/ one of his vehicles. We get there and the grand prix is out in the field and they are trying to get a rollback to it...Well we go inside and they are threatening to arrest me and throw me in jail along w/ my friends....APPARENTLY a few of the "not-so-bright" students decided they needed to call in bomb threats and write on the car saying that there is a bomb in the car, they also grafitied the school parking lot and school building w/ penises and vulgar language...awesome. Well it all ties back to me because I removed all the vin plates....except the one on the block of the engine, they managed to locate that one and track me down. So I'm sitting here being blamed for $1,000's of dollars worth of damage to school property, where all I did was park a car on the soccer field. (flashforward) I had to rat one of the kids out (he was actually a friend of mine) that did all that other stupid crap so I wouldn't be charged w/ felony's. Unfortunate circumstances, but it was their fault for being retarded. So another bomb threat was called into the school and we had to evacuate the building. As the police officer was finishing up I was watching the monkey's try and load this car up on the roll back...they didn't know all the lug nuts were off :) . So one by one each wheel began falling off as they were loading it...good stuff....me and my dad were laughing histarically over the whole ordeal. (flash forward)

The day befoe graduation rolls around and I get a letter from my security officer at school stating that my friends and I were not allowed to be in graduation activities or be on the premises for graduation...didn't really bother me, I didn't want to sit in an auditorium for 6 hours and listen to names being called anyway. My parents didn't really mind either, they said that what I did was a practical joke and I should not have been punished for vandalism and blah blah blah..they were on my side. (flashforward to end)

My friends and I ended up being all charged w/ 100 hours of community service, and had one year of probation....Was it worth it....every second.

That's my story....little off the topic, but it started on topic right!?:cheers:
 
If people can't even change the oil, what chance do you think they ever changed the transmission, transfer case, axle, fluids or coolant?

The old saying is true "if it's not leaking, it's empty".
 
My sister had a 91 Grand Prix w/ the 3.1 multi port injected v-6 in it...strong motor, nice car It was fully loaded w/ power seats that crappy navigation, wiring nightmare etc....Well I had to put brakes on her car because they went to the floor after being metal to metal for so long and wearing THROUGH the rotor into the cooling fins. at one point I just so happen to take a look at the oil change sticker...I said to her "hey Tiff, this says 101,828 and the date is 10/20/01. Do you realise that its April 4th 2003 and you have 140k on your car?" Her reply was "oh I never knew that sticker was there." and dismissed it.

Well after I drained the sludge out and replaced it w/ some oil it still looked awful, but ran just fine. She ran the car up until 2004 when the frame finally rusted through and broke. I bought the car from her for 75 bucks and intended on welding the frame and driving the car because the inspection was good for another 7 months. I never ended up welding where it broke (it broke up near where the Right Front a-frame meets the unibody) I just drove it because I was in highschool and I simply just didn't care, ya it pulled a bit and grinded, clunked, and squatted really bad, but it ran like a top.

So time comes for me to graduate highschool and I decided I guess I should buy a real car in which a did ('99 olds alero). My friends and I decide that we will use the grand prix as a "senior prank"... (shorten the story considerably)....well the car would not start so we had to tow it to my highschool late at night before the last day of school. We ended up getting it pushed onto the soccer field removed all the lug nuts and tried removing the wheels. Well my friend was not the sharpest tool in the shed when he pulled the wheel off and dropped the jack destroying the jack and we were not able to continue the process....(flash forward) I get a call from the highschool security guard that morning and was told that me and my father needed to come to the highschool because there has been a problem w/ one of his vehicles. We get there and the grand prix is out in the field and they are trying to get a rollback to it...Well we go inside and they are threatening to arrest me and throw me in jail along w/ my friends....APPARENTLY a few of the "not-so-bright" students decided they needed to call in bomb threats and write on the car saying that there is a bomb in the car, they also grafitied the school parking lot and school building w/ penises and vulgar language...awesome. Well it all ties back to me because I removed all the vin plates....except the one on the block of the engine, they managed to locate that one and track me down. So I'm sitting here being blamed for $1,000's of dollars worth of damage to school property, where all I did was park a car on the soccer field. (flashforward) I had to rat one of the kids out (he was actually a friend of mine) that did all that other stupid crap so I wouldn't be charged w/ felony's. Unfortunate circumstances, but it was their fault for being retarded. So another bomb threat was called into the school and we had to evacuate the building. As the police officer was finishing up I was watching the monkey's try and load this car up on the roll back...they didn't know all the lug nuts were off :) . So one by one each wheel began falling off as they were loading it...good stuff....me and my dad were laughing histarically over the whole ordeal. (flash forward)

The day befoe graduation rolls around and I get a letter from my security officer at school stating that my friends and I were not allowed to be in graduation activities or be on the premises for graduation...didn't really bother me, I didn't want to sit in an auditorium for 6 hours and listen to names being called anyway. My parents didn't really mind either, they said that what I did was a practical joke and I should not have been punished for vandalism and blah blah blah..they were on my side. (flashforward to end)

My friends and I ended up being all charged w/ 100 hours of community service, and had one year of probation....Was it worth it....every second.

That's my story....little off the topic, but it started on topic right!?:cheers:
Nominated
 
0916081630.jpg

0917081501.jpg


This truck is actually Kasey Kahne's shop truck for his race team, and a few of the guys were driving it and realised they had a bad situation on there hands and stopped by to see what was up. Believe it or not they actually knew they had a brake problem..."the brakes have been bad for a while, but recently it has started pulling left really bad when I step on the brake pedal"
the caliper was locked up for sometime, well it got to the point where it didn't work at all and the truck only had the left front brake which was also metal to metal...
 
Back
Top