mburnickas

I agree but there is more to sludge then just water in oil. Also if you wnat to extended your drains I would test at the max oil drain (in the book) and see what happens. If ok (which the oil testing people say ya or na), theywill advise on what you should do. Plus it is a good way to see how the engine is running. I know if saved me some $$$ in the past.

Why not use FP60 and save like $180. Fp60 will do all that and more.

It is mostly passing of oil spec's (from BMW, MB, VW etc). If you look at the oil break down, it is 99% the same thing. Then on the other side there are none Euro oils that are better then Euro cert oils. Over here (USA) it is a scam and many think they have to come in at 3K miles. Most do not even open there manuals. Most are 7,500 miles. the big differerence is nothing new. I have not done a below 10K drain in over 12 years...For me, the book is a guide if you do not care, do not test or play it safe. It is only a guide. If I tossed my group4/5 oil at 5,000 I would be wasting money. If I tossed it out at 10K I would be tossing money away.

This is nothing new in our state. Been this way since the 90's... Problem is all they do is teach to take a test. SAT's are another joke but they need something to weed out some people. Then again I know people with 1100 scores that got passed over for others with half that.

I would (in the past) agree; but, GM is doing up to 15K with OLM and Honda is 10,00 miles no matter the oil.

backwoods lex - Need any help let me know. You will just look at TBN, NOx, OXd and viscosity. That is all for sludge. But then again you can get loads of data out of it (oil test). This method is one of many & the cheapest route I can see.

Blackstone labs (www.blackstone-labs.com/) Catapiller OAI (www.oaitesting.com/ Dyson (www.dysonanalysis.com/) and there are more.

As some have posted above (various tests) and they work (lots of $$$$$) to see if you have sludge or ring issues; but why not do a simple/cheap oil test and see what comes up. Look for the areas that sludge would show up (TBN, Nox, OXD, and low ZDDP). Rings would be Fe, Al, Sn and maybe ZDDP since they are are related. Cheapest route I could think of. Unless you like paying by the hour....

Will it work? Sure, and it is better then nothing…….but a better oil filter would do more good. Look at the beta ratios or efficiency vs. capacity. Even better would be a synthetic since a better oil will have less wear numbers (from ZDDP), moly, Calcium etc etc. Less wear means less material for filter to pick up. So to close it will work but there are better ways to use a magnet.

is it seals or maybe sludge? If it is rings, are they stuck or bad? If bad, can't you bore or hone the cyl out and install larger rings?

BINGO!

Some of my family members have the Goodyear TripleTreds and they are better (all around) then my toyos TPT...

This oil change thing is from 2003, or there about, but still very funny.

You pay for insurance for a reason. It is like home owners I pay for. I had a leak in my roof, I made a claim and they fixed it. Did not effect my rate. Also why would I file a claim with my insurance since it was not my fault? I go after the clown that hit me. If someone hits me I look at the damage and ask if they want to pay for it. If I am hurt, too bad, your loss. If you (the person who hit me) is a jerk, not moving my car. There is not clear-cut answer on what can go up etc. If one accident causes my rate to go up, I move insurance places and that is everything I have insurance on [house, cars, bike, tractor etc). One thing is clear insurance is a took scam..My wife worked in insurance..It is like taxes, health care. It is not gonna change. Also to throw something into the loop. I know people that got into accidents and both had the same insurance people...BONG! Nevermind the people in body shops that can make the price double if it is for an insurance place.

If someone hits me, I file a claim and it does not effect my rate at all. Their rate goes up, not mine.

Depends on what you can do yourself.. Is the IVAC bad or need to be cleaned like the TB?

Does the car need to be jacked or anything during this procedure? Yes and support it too! Just need those things and I think 12mm socket and I used a 6" extention with 1/2 drive. Took about 20 minutes. Also lubed the new bushing contact area with (what else synthetic grease).

I did mine this past weekend. Not more issues! Unreal that it worked.. Here are a few fix: You can see why they make noise! Notice the "lack of ribs in ID" and the larger Dia hole (due to wear). http://home.comcast.net/~buy_25/bushing1.jpg http://home.comcast.net/~buy_25/bushing2.jpg http://home.comcast.net/~buy_25/bushing3.jpg http://home.comcast.net/~buy_25/bushing4.jpg Thanks to this thread and the "golf balls in trunk"! Best $14.78 spent so far on the car (to fix). Thanks everyone!

I think I have seen it all from monarch. What about the towel or MF to remove the Toyota approved product? I hope that Toyota has a standard work process, approved no less that states what motion or direction to wipe off the Toyota approved product? No pictures of the product????? Case-in-point there are many products to remove bugs etc here in my home state of MA. I find that the sand and salt are more to worry about but that is me. The bugs come right off with my Dri-wash.

Did you innstall the thermostat backwards? Is sys air bound? Do you have the correct PSI cap?

The water pump is not replaced unless the owner wants too. They will check this item and re-install or replace due to testing. The valve covers are not integral to 99.9% of the services needed. I would replace them IF they are leaking; if not, leave it alone. The cam and crank seals are in the same boat as the water pump. Same with the tension pulley. Only if the owner wants to. If not, they (lexus) will not service them. But adding another loop into the mix, I thought the spark plugs are to be replaced at 60K miles for emmision reasons?

As I stated above, if you get leaks with a synthetic oil, the leaks WERE always there. The dino is acting like a band-aid or sludge (that you have) is acting like a false seal. The synthetic is cleaning out the leak sooner then later. So the engine will leak, it is a matter of time. No matter the oil. Just depends on your the owner do you want to get using the band aid to give a false-seal and hope that it does not leak? But only 3 memebrs on this forum: that is 0.012% of reg. users. Or comparing it to the Lexus/Toyota sludge prone engine; the engines are 250% MORE apt to get sludge then leaks from Mobil 1 oi. Please do a search since the beenfits have been discussed more times then posts like, "where to buy parts".

It is a catch 22 I feel. If you know the complete history of the car or oil testings (for oxd, nox etc) you could switch and be fine. The problem is you might have leaks (as SW03ES stated). It is NOT the synthetic oil making the leaks, it is the synthetic oil cleaning out the sludge etc (that is covering the leaks). Mobil 1 is a good oil if you are doing normal drains. Since you are using Valvoline high milage already I would stick to a high milage oil (dino); Valvoline or not. Really does not matter on the brand. I would just worry 9(due to high miles) that ANY synthetic oil might couse seal leaks (due to reasons above). Unless you know more about the cars history. The highest I have switched to synthetic oils was around 120,000 miles and was fine.

that is great..do some oil tests and see what a "managing filtration R&D, many thousands of controlled tests, and PhD in chemistry" gets you...Do not mean anything.. Again IF you did oil testing you would not even care about SI levels. Maybe go back, spend some $$$$ and test your engine oil and see how the SI is, what you get & what is integral to it. Again, if you did tests your oil you would not be commenting on this single issue. If you are coreect please show the oil tests that mean Si is something to worry about...Or better yet why do I care about SI and what is integral to it. Based on the lack of your answers I think you have no clue...It is a very simple answer that I am sure someone in your postition can answer in 10 seconds about engine oil and Si levels.

I feel you are talkig about air filters but you can have high Si levels and it is meaningless. I know very well about your filtering past jobs since you have inlightendc me many times about it. For me, I could careless what people have done for jobs etc. Since oil testing in engines is a differet ball game. I even used air glazed filters for years (5) and the Si (some high) do not dictate anything. Even had the oil tests that showed this. Again, if you test your oil you will know SI in the great puzzle means nothing. You can have high Si and nothing is even wrong with oil or engine oil. Again, lets see your oil tests that show high Si hurts or means anything.I will ask this, what is SI integral too in oil testing? I only know from a few years of testing my oil. Only have done about 30 to 40 tests on various cars/trucks/motorcycles/diesel and gas engines. PS. I also use a K&N on my GSXR1100 for the past 10 years. Si levels are lower then my car....