Grease Monkey Report...

[Ldub]

Another rationale (sp?) for doing your own maintence...after the tools you buy have paid for themselves, you can start applying the money you've $aved towards more mods for your VX It doesn't take long to save literally thousands of dollars doing yourself what dealers/jiffy monkeys will happily charge you way more for.
Just about everything you will need to do is doable with a floor jack, some jack stands & the basic hand tools/socket set etc....oh, & a grease gun too.
As you can plainly see, I can rationalize the expense of almost anything for my baby.

[UtahVXer]

A couple of years ago in Salt Lake City there was a case where a local JiffyLube actually sabotaged a guy's car because he declined a service upgrade.
They put powdered aluminum radiator sealer in his oil which destroyed his engine. This is not a joke. This was reported in the local news.

[Tobert]

Since nobody answered about the 15w50 in your engine, I'd say it's probably not going to hurt anything but your gas mileage. It's summer and it doesn't appear that the 6VE1 has super tight clearances on oil ports, so you'll just be running extra high oil pressure when the oil is cold.

For the oil consumption, check out the following thread and draw your own conclusions. Mine doesn't even burn, but I'm switching anyways due to prior experience with 15w40 oil in other engines.

http://forum.planetisuzoo.com/viewtopic.php?t=7033

The Mobil-1 5w30 Truck & SUV oil seems to be popular here, and can be purchased cheaply at Wally World if you prefer to stay within manufacturer's specs.

[Tobert]

A couple of years ago in Salt Lake City there was a case where a local JiffyLube actually sabotaged a guy's car because he declined a service upgrade.
They put powdered aluminum radiator sealer in his oil which destroyed his engine. This is not a joke. This was reported in the local news.

A few years back, Valvoline Lube sprayed lubricant into my alternator bearings before I could stop them ... the front bearing failed within 100 miles and I had to walk 2 miles to an auto parts store to get a new one. Good thing I had a cell phone and tools with me - I was 50 miles from home! That was that last quickie lube I paid for.

Never, ever let them spray lube anywhere on your car. They'll put it places where it'll dilute or flush out grease and cause you all manner of headaches.

[nfpgasmask]

Tobert, thanks for the answer. I was still kinda wondering, but because it has been so warm I was fairly certain it would be ok for now. I will switch back to 5W-30 at my next change. One more thing, if I find that I am burning oil and need to add some, should I stick to 15w-50 or could I put 5W-30 in? Will it hurt to "mix" the two?

Thanks again - Bart

Since nobody answered about the 15w50 in your engine, I'd say it's probably not going to hurt anything but your gas mileage. It's summer and it doesn't appear that the 6VE1 has super tight clearances on oil ports, so you'll just be running extra high oil pressure when the oil is cold.

For the oil consumption, check out the following thread and draw your own conclusions. Mine doesn't even burn, but I'm switching anyways due to prior experience with 15w40 oil in other engines.

http://forum.planetisuzoo.com/viewtopic.php?t=7033

The Mobil-1 5w30 Truck & SUV oil seems to be popular here, and can be purchased cheaply at Wally World if you prefer to stay within manufacturer's specs.

[mbeach]

10 years ago Jiffy Lube checked the gear oil in my Avenger (go ahead, flame on) and forgot to replace the check plug. The rest is history.

As for oil disposal, I used to drop mine off at Advance Auto/Autozone for free. I just keep a few windshield washer fluid bottles (1G, very tough plastic) handy for disposal. They'd even take the filters if they were double-wrapped in plastic bags.

I've always installed my oil filter hand-tight plus a quarter turn. For some reason on my old WRX and on both VXs, I can never get it off without a wrench. Why is this? Every other car has been fine. Maybe I've just gotten weaker over the years. Wholly believable, I am getting fatter...

[Joe_Black]

I've always installed my oil filter hand-tight plus a quarter turn. For some reason on my old WRX and on both VXs, I can never get it off without a wrench. Why is this? Every other car has been fine. Maybe I've just gotten weaker over the years. Wholly believable, I am getting fatter...

Are taking a little oil and rubbing the gasket with it using your finger? That really makes the difference. The Mobil-1 M1-104 filter I'm using has an actual o-ring rather than a flat gasket and I've never seen an easier to remove filter. Makes oil changes an absolute breeze! Plus there's no paper in them, all glass and composite filter media like the HD commercial truck filters.

[Tobert]

I am burning oil and need to add some, should I stick to 15w-50 or could I put 5W-30 in? Will it hurt to "mix" the two?

Mixing is fine, but to be safe stick to the same brand of oil. In the old days, there were certain oils that were bad to mix, supposedly because of differences in base crudes having chemical reactions. This could be an old wive's tale though. I've been broke and had to do it and never had any problems. In fact, I've purposely mixed oils to increase or decrease the thickness. My Jimmy had really low oil pressure after putting 10w30 Napa synthetic in it. I added some 20w50 Valvoline Synth somebody had given me and got it into acceptable range. It's not a good practice, but works in a pinch.

[nfpgasmask]

Cool, thanks. Actually, despite all the Jiffy Lube horror stories on here, the guys at the one I went to were super cool to me, and actually gave me three quarts of Mobile 1 15-W-50 for free after we talked for a minute about the truck's oil consumption. But alas, free oil and friendly customer service does not mean they knew how to operate under my VX.

Bart

Mixing is fine, but to be safe stick to the same brand of oil. In the old days, there were certain oils that were bad to mix, supposedly because of differences in base crudes having chemical reactions. This could be an old wive's tale though. I've been broke and had to do it and never had any problems. In fact, I've purposely mixed oils to increase or decrease the thickness. My Jimmy had really low oil pressure after putting 10w30 Napa synthetic in it. I added some 20w50 Valvoline Synth somebody had given me and got it into acceptable range. It's not a good practice, but works in a pinch.

[nocturnalVX]

Well, I am really no mechanic, and the Jiffy Lube is right next to work. If anyone has a better recommendation for oil changes, let me know. I would like to learn and do it myself, I but I honestly don't have the space/tools. Hopefully soon though.

Bart

I have NEVER been back to Jiffy Lube since the day they popped the front hood on my Pontiac Fiero & stood around confused until I told them the engine was in back. True story!

I take my VX to this shop & would recommend him to anyone in the Chicago area...

Espo's Auto Service
(773) 745-0600
2345 N Neva Ave
Chicago, IL 60707

[zilik]

I've always installed my oil filter hand-tight plus a quarter turn. For some reason on my old WRX and on both VXs, I can never get it off without a wrench. Why is this? Every other car has been fine. Maybe I've just gotten weaker over the years. Wholly believable, I am getting fatter...

Go to aircraftspruce.com and do a search on DC-4. This is a dow corning dielectric that is used for lots of things but in my case specifically for smearing on the oil filter gasket prior to installing it. Works much better than oil. When it's time to remove the filter it comes off without a wrench.

This stuff is used on aviation oil filters and is specified for use on the side of Champion aviation oil filters.

Gary

[climbcovey]

I have run castrol syntec 10w30 since the first oil change on my vx, year round. 93000 miles later I still don't burn any oil, I too have larger tires. Changeing the oil in the VX is a snap. 15 min max. with minimal tool investment (probably 20 bucks). I would advise looking a little deeper for for oil consumption problem though. If all is proper there should be no descernable drop in your oil level if you are changing it frquently. If you are still unsure about how to change your oil and filter get a maintanence manual. almost any similar vehicle will give you step by step instruction. The procedure is the same on any typical truck/suv. the only difference is the location of the oil pan, filter dipstick and layout. step one: drain oil by removeing the bolt in the bottom of the oil pan. allow oil to drain until flow stops. step two: replace bolt. step three: move drain pan under oil filterand unscrew oil filter. again allow to drain. step four: replace filter with new one (hand tight only). step five: fill with oil via the crankcase. cap is locater on front top of the left valve cover but I'm sure you already knew that. I use five quarts. step six: replace oil cap and pat yourself on the back. you have now taken your first step to becomeing a shadetree mechanic, and you now know more about your vehicle than the guys at jiffy lube!!!!

[mbeach]

Go to aircraftspruce.com and do a search on DC-4. This is a dow corning dielectric that is used for lots of things but in my case specifically for smearing on the oil filter gasket prior to installing it. Works much better than oil. When it's time to remove the filter it comes off without a wrench.

This stuff is used on aviation oil filters and is specified for use on the side of Champion aviation oil filters.

Gary

Thanks for the tip -I never considered using anything but fresh oil before.
I still need to start working out though