amanda

hmmm. funny thing is, the guy then went on to explicitly recommend against synthetic. he was like, "especially now, you should stick with the regular mobil..." so i really was going to do that. he thought the synthetic would be more harmful for some reason. any idea why? ======= see, car parts are still like a foreign language to me. it doesn't have a relevant meaning in my life yet, so when you say gelling, you may as well have been talking in old english or something.

you know i have this beautiful chateau out in the french countryside and the walls get so damp i was thinking about putting up vinyul siding. but you know what they say about tacky vinyl siding. now, if i can get a couple of you to chip in forr a complete environmental control system...

hey, everybody, i'm going to take a little break from my touchup worries and bring up a new issue in toyota engines. i went to the dealer today and he told me that i had slight gelling in the engine oil or something. he said the last person must not have maintained the car with regular oil changes. but searching the web, i've found several people who say that toyota camary's and avalon's have this issue even when regular maintenance is done. and i think toyota's inititated a recall. one of the signs is a blue smoke coming out when the engine starts. haven't we seen people with complaints of blue smoke? also, my dealer did say how toyota was aware of the problem and that they'd take care of it over there. i don't know if that means all costs are covered as i have tendency to be overly optimistic, but i guess this is for real. which makes me think he's a little bit sly for trying to blame it on the original owner. anyway, it's interesting. ============ update: it looks like this may be old news to a lot of you. does anyone have gelling with synthetic oil or no gelling without synthetic?

you drive a hard bargain, mister.

ok, how about if i don't sand it but put putty in then spray it. i really would like to spray the darn paint rather than brush/color it on.

i think this is in your user manual. i don't have mine handy, but i think it's at 60K. there are others at higher milesage, but i don't remember them.

like most dates, it was rather lukewarm. everyone tried to put his best foot forward but both party knew they were on the date mostly to serve his own selfish needs, not for any altruistic considerations for the other. so my service guy was very pleasant and gave me an invoice for $95 which i accepted. he took like 2 hours which i also accepted because i was busy booking a vacation. then at the end of the ordeal, he told me some things and handed me a bill for $150. i was impressed with how they were able to materialize so many little incidental charges, some of which i thought were in the 50K mile service. $1.95 for 1/4" of window washer fluid -- and to think i had put in an entire gallon for just that price two weekends ago. but ultimately, i have to blame myself because i for some reason, thought the oil, oil filter, the stupid turn signal bulb and fuse and the labor for the oil change were all included in the service. how naive. two things came out of this close encounter that annoyed me quite a bit: 1) he told me there's nothing wrong with that pesky vibration (and the wind noise and other little noises i'd mentioned) and 2) he says i have something like gelled goo or something in my engine because the dipstick owner who had the car before me was a dillweed about getting oil changes. he says there's probably no real damage as he was only able to tell when they opened the oil cap for the oil change. so if i really want it for some reason, they can clean my something in the engine (maybe pistons?). but then an interesting thing happened on my way back home. i decided to park outside for the day and a volvo was in idle in the next slot. and heck if i didn't hear that same annoying vibration from this brand spanking new volvo. i asked the lady driver if she heard that noise and she acted like i was smoking parsley or something. she said she didn't notice it when she's driving so she doesn't pay any attention. so now i am thinking, maybe i am just crazy about this vibration at idle. i don't know. i can still go to that import mechanic for $65, but it's ambiguous. can someone give me any info on this goo crap in my engine?

i guess i am just not getting it. true, the part is bowed, but it looks like a smile to me, not a frown.

hmmm, what started out as piggy's innocent posting on tire pressure has gotten pretty lively. ok, everyone is worried about my car paint. but i just don't think it's such a big deal. it seems like a fairly straightforward, although painstaking process. i have four chips about the size of barley grains across the lower half of a door (why didn't they just make it metal? the metal upper half that rubbed against the stupid pillars didn't chip) plus a few stone chip specks on the hood. so i am thinking i make these little, itty bitty sand pencils that'll make the barley chips the size of baby peas. once it's smooth, i am going to punch out a hole in an index card or something like that and use it sort of like stencil to keep the spray painted area fairly limited. i prime maybe 3 times then spray on the paint. i do this very, very, very, very slowwwwwwwwwwly so there's no clumping, dripping, streaking, blinking, winking, thinking, finking, what have you. then i spray paint the clear coat, buff and finished. i just don't see what's so hard as long as you are verrrrrrrry patient. incidentally, i met a mechanic at autozone who knows guys in body shop business. he told me the same -- metallic must be sprayed on. he did mention that the prepping work (making the area smooth with either putty or sanding and putting on a good primer is 90% of the job). so i am thinking i could get that langka stuff (though my paint guys tell me it's just lacquer thinner) and start with one itsy bitsy chip. if i don't like it, then i could order that pen stuff and go on from there, no? anyway, i usually have to learn things the hard way. everyone who warned me can give me a noogie when i screw up next week.

oh, i see. it is supposed to be curved, but there is a bit more downward pull on the right hand side there, right.

hmmm. you guys are saying some interesting stuff here. i am still very strongly inclined to spray (because i am obsessive compulsive), but i will keep this in mind. we'll see next week which i decide to do, though i already did order the spray paint cans. so the metallic came out well with the pens, huh. this is the first time i've heard anybody say that. actually, i have bought all sorts of supplies to sand the area and all that crazy stuff. we'll see. thanks for the tip. but it is another thing for me to obsess over. ack! ================= hmmm. i just checked out that autosharpen site and they also say the spread-on metallic paint will not look as good as the spray on stuff. they probably mean professionally sprayed on, but you know, i used to compete in art competitions, so maybe i'll get a break. see how obsessive-compulsive i am. watch out for a thread titled, "HELP!!! I HAVE A BIG BLOTCH ON THE SIDE OF MY CAR AND I DIDN'T GET LANGKA!!!" about the end of next week. it is interesting what you say about matching white paint and its being the hardest color to duplicate. i've read time and again that metallic is the worst, especially gold (just my luck). i've ran into that autopia site's tip on touching up paint and the guy also mentions that metallics are very difficult but that white and black is relatively easy. maybe you had such good results on the es because the car is already dark so any darkening wouldn't show up so much?

the car looks great to me, but as i said, what the heck do i know.

dc steve, you are hands down the expert on car care, but for metallic paint, you gotta spray. everyone i've talked to who's done pen or brush cap with metallic paint has had crappy results. the metal flakes clump and settle if you let it run off or brush onto anything. you've got to propel it so that all the flakes spread out evenly. i have heard it is a pain in the derriere process. but i can't stand the thought of looking at stupid dark clumps everytime i walk by the car. i am going to punch out a hole on a cardboard or something to minimize the spray painted area. and if it comes out crappy anyway (probably because i have no experience), i am going to get a white car next time. beware all you metallic car owners.

you rock, m2pc. ok, so no zMAX (the product i was trying to remember) in my car now. i guess i'll pick up a bottle of that chevron techron stuff when i take the zMAX back. i guess it won't hurt and several people seem to like it. here's a funny quote from the site where m2pc sent me: that reminds me of a funny scenario involving a dentist and humbert humbert from lolita if any of you guys like nabokov. p.s. i just saw your post too, steviej. thanks for your input too. two heads are better than one.

you know, when my tires were 13 psi (no, it's not a typo), they looked totally fine to me. but i've read in several places that you should keep them a few pounds higher than the recommended (26). so i keep mine at 31-32. you get better gas mileage that way too. oh, when you do the touchup paint, if your car is metallic, you should really take the extra time and spray it instead of brushing it or using the pen. it's supposed to look pretty dark and crappy otherwise. i am doing some spraying next week. i put chips on the side the very first time i parked in my gargage. stupid pillars.

he sounds like a pain if you want to return something but looks like everyone believes they got the right product as described (albeit there seem to be some dispute as to whether the color and car model described were correct in couple of cases). maybe you can just ask him if there's some proof that it's from the right company. they look pretty good to me, but what the heck do i know.

that does stink, but at least you have warranty.

hey, so i am going out there tomorrow and wanted to take some mobil 1 oil for the oil change. but the mechanic in the service department says it's not necessary and they just use regular mobil oil 5w-30. you guys have any personal experience with the mobil 1. i've read some posts that say mobil 1 isn't necessary but it'd be interesting to hear if anyone actually saw the benefit of using synthetic instead of the usual that it's just good. also, i bought this thing called az-something-or-other that was next to the chevron techron stuff that comes with two bottles. one for the gas tank and another for the engine oil reservoir. it said on there, "as seen on tv," but i don't really watch tv so i don't know much about it. it was like $30 but the guy at autozone said it's better than chevron so i took it. anyone know what i'm talking about? i tried to figure out the turn signal bulb replacement, but i couldn't do it, so i guess lexus will do it for me tomorrow.

again, you two have my sympathies. i hate hearing stories like these. good luck.

good luck with getting through the emissions trouble without spending a bundle. i am sure there's nothing like spending a chunk for the car then another chunk to get it to where you think it was in the first place.

hey, you know, i was really distracted once and did that (turn off ignition while in drive) to my es300. i wonder what kind of damage i did to it. also, someone who was driving the car while i was in the passenger seat shifted to park while the car was still moving slowly. i gave him a dirty look (at least i had come to a full stop before turning off the ignition). i wonder what kind of damage the two of us did.

man, these competent mechanics really take you to the cleaners. as i posted on another thread, the good mechanic i found wants $65 an hour for labor and $50 for an oil change. i am thinking about becoming a mechanic. sorry about the platinum edition question. i thought someone else fairly new had the edition too.

hey, ya, blake. you know, most mechanics would look at the mounts for you in a snap no charge. but i didn't have a mount problem either, though the car has the vibration. i am taking it to lexus on friday. the competent mechanic i found yesterday charges $65 an hour for labor and said an oil change would run me $50 so i figured i may as well take it to the people who know this car for sure (lexus) and get the wind noise checked out too. plus, for $95 bucks, lexus is also throwing in an oil change. i guess you pay for quality.

if you go with the first option, make sure the silicone has no petroleum or derivative products. some people say water based, no-silicone stuff is better. there's some stuff over at autopia-carecare that is supposed to be good.

so, dc steve, do you just use vsc for puddles? i've never hydroplaned in my life. i guess i just drive too darn slow.