Oil Change DIY Zoners -- A Heads-Up...
Full Name:
Sycamore Slough
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If you use 10-W30 motor oil, Rotella T5 10-W30 is now on clearance at AutoZone, 15 bucks for a 2.5 gallon jug.
You might have to ask for it off the dusty back room shelf, or call them and order it to your local AZ store.
The AutoZone part # is 550045132. It is a high-quality semi-synthetic oil and the price works out to about $1.50 per quart.
Normal price is about $4.00 + per quart, so a good deal. Won't last long, grab a bunch if you have AutoZone nearby.
Of course it's considered a heavy-duty Diesel oil, which it is, but has the API "SM" rating which is the latest gas engine rating.
Here's the corporate site w/ description:
http://rotella.shell.com/products/t5.html
Even the cheapest plain jane motor oils are two bucks per quart or more, so naturally I grabbed a few 2.5 gallon jugs and will look for more tomorrow.
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Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: DNB - Best band & fans in the land!
Stu -- thanks for the heads
Stu -- thanks for the heads-up... but read on
based on your post, I did a little investigating and saw this online "review" of the Rotella T Diesel Engine Oil:
Not just for Diesel: Diesel oils have great detergents for cleaning your engine. I've used Rotella T for older design engines because of the high ZDDP content - which protects flat tappet cams and metal to metal contacts. Please do not use this if your car has a catalytic converter - ZDDP content will damage it.
Pros: High viscosity, High ZDDP content,
Cons: If you have one - will ruin your catalytic converters.
can anybody out there confirm or deny these claims?
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Sycamore Slough
Don't know if modern versions
Don't know if modern versions of Rotella T5 contain overly high levels of ZDPP. But diesels have catalytic convertors as well, so I can't imagine the stuff would be popular with fleet mechanics if it was killing the Cats. Anyway it meets the SM spec, which is the latest API rating for gasoline engines.
Somewhere out there one could look up VOA and UOA for that oil in gas engines, which would show initial Zinc content and presence of wear elements in the UOA. Shouldn't really be getting to the Cats unless the oil is getting combusted (cooked) and making it into exhaust gases.
What I like the most about it is the name sounds like Pasta. MMmmmmm... Rotella. Now I'm hungry.
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ZDDP not ZDPP
ZDDP not ZDPP
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Sycamore Slough
So my apologies for a factual
So my apologies for a factual error.
Although that Rotella stuff is rated "SM" that is now an antique rating.
Latest API grade is "SN".
However I did chase down some 2.5 gallon jugs of the stuff. At the great price, I would gladly stock 40-50 gallons, since it does not go sour like Milk, and I've got tractors.
But it's rarer than Hen's teeth
Scored a few jugs at the Trenton AutoZone, and a couple more at the Browns Mills location.
What is even Cuter is that there is a current Rebate, if you can locate the form.
So the net cost works out to 12 -> 20 cents per quart when Royal Dutch Shell sends the check.
I'm happy enough w/ the $1.50 per quart price even if the Rebate never works out.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Sycamore Slough
OK located the rebate form as
OK located the rebate form as PDF file.
https://rebate.ruralking.com/mfgrebate/Rotella%20Rebate.pdf
Good until end of 2017.
So if you can find the last few 2.5 gallon jugs and send in your receipts, you get a $12.50 rebate per $15.00 jug. That makes the net cost about $1.00 per gallon or 25 cents per quart. Not bad for a semi-synth 10-W30 oil.
Again it's AutoZone only with that $15.00 clearance price on the 2.5 gallon jugs of T5 Rotella.
Happy Oil changes !!
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Sideshow Bob
I still Custy up & pay for my
I still Custy up & pay for my oil changes, hardly that much more to have it done. But I did recently buy myself an air compressor due to the extreme pain-in-the-ass-ness it takes to get air around here (I have 2 gas stations in town, 1 is a Kwikie Mart whose air machine is perpetually broken, the other is a mini truck stop Dunkin Donuts/Subway & the only place in town for local teenagers to congregate, & they always park in front of the air machine).
$120 for basic Coleman compressor, another $65 for hoses, gages, & fill valve (took the advice of the internet "get a 50' hose", & "get the hybrid rubber/pvc hose"). I have a nicer setup than most gas stations. I shoulda splurged on the hose reel tho, but I have a spare garden hose caddy I'm going to adapt.
This all came about as I'm trying to sell my sailboat & trailer, when I was showing it to a potential buyer a trailer tire went flat & I had no way to tell whether it was defective or not. That was the last straw. I've now used the torque wrench to remove the trailer tires. I had to buy that for $90 last fall when I sold my rice burner sports car after the knuckleheads @ the Firestone tire place were pissed @ me for refusing to have the trumped up work done, so they reinstalled my front tires so tight I broke the hubcap lock key trying to remove it. Same thing happened: Tire went flat just as I had someone come look @ the car. I found on You Tube how to remove the stuck hub locks.
Apparently this compressor has 1001 uses, I can do all kinds of gnarly airbrush art, clean my gutters of caterpiller poo, run air tools so I can make professional garage repair noises my neighbors can hear. But I can't sandblast, that takes a much higher psi rated machine.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Sycamore Slough
I like having a compressor
I like having a compressor around. Mine is an old "Binks" probably from the mid-60's. I use it mostly with an air-chuck to blow dust and gunk off Chainsaws when I've got the air-cleaner cover off. For tire inflation I tend to use the cheap (25-30 dollah) 12V electric mini-compressor. It's always behind the truck seat.
Got a new tire yesterday for the Subaru and was impressed to see the shoppe using a torque-wrench to tighten up the lug-nuts. They had the best deal anywhere for the rare Mitsuomo 205/70/15 and they are a small independent shoppe. No free coffee no WIFI no frills.
Mombo's in Toms River on Rte. 9. Any Jerseyland Zoners need a tire or two; check 'em out. They'll beat any deal.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Sideshow Bob
My Dad has a really old one,
My Dad has a really old one, in fact I was holding out waiting to see what happens when he downsizes, then, last time I visited him, I helped him w/some chores, & saw what a high maintenance piece of junk it is - it has all kinds of belts & pulleys that need constant adjusting/ lubing/ maintenance - "not for me" - so I went & bought this new one - I tried to get the Made in USA DeWalt one for $160 but no one, & I mean no one, had it, within a week's order time. So I settled for the Made in China Coleman for $120. Not gonna use it heavily so it should last my lifetime . . .
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Sideshow Bob
Yeah a professional shop is
Yeah a professional shop is supposed to use a torque wrench/device on your lug nuts, but hardly anyone does. Especially the chain tire places, they just air gun them on as tight as possible so you're helpless unless you come back to them. Whilst I was still working & time was precious, & rides to/from a shop were difficult to arrange, I had to rely on those places, now I've got a good rapport with a local mom & pop place, I can walk/ride my bike back & forth when I need work done, & they appreciate that I always plan in advance to be self sufficient for a few days in case things get complicated so there's never any hurry on my jobs. Retirement is so way cool!
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Sycamore Slough
Actually did change the oil
Actually did change the oil on the Subaru this evening. The seller told me it probably had another 1000 miles left on the old OC, but it had been sitting and I'm glad I changed it. Old stuff was black but not too stinky. He told me he was using Quaker State or Pennzoil conventional oil, and the filter I pulled off was a Fram Toughgard, your basic K-mart filter.
So I put on a Purolator filter and used the Rotella semi-synth, since I've got 15 gallons of the stuff. Total cost was about 12 bucks or $5.00 if/when I get the Rotella rebate check.
I'll drive it around a while and dump all that stuff, maybe clean some tar & sludge out before I put in some full-synth.
Thing got about 22 MPG on its first tank of gas, not bad. It's nice to fill up for 20 bucks and get about a 400 mile range on that. The pickup is a Gas Pig in comparison, and not as Fun to drive.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: comic book colors on a violin river...
Not sure about all this oil
Not sure about all this oil change talk, I leave that up to my Honda dealer :) . But when did a car battery go over the 100 buck mark ? I found out the hard way today and "medium" grade 140.00......ughhh !!
At a WaWa getting gas and the car does not start up again, thank Gawd for AAA and a son who has a good friend who is a mechanic ( The alternator is good).
It was one of those days :(
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Sycamore Slough
Sorry Lyn,
Sorry Lyn,
About the Battery troubles. It's tough when they just fade away.
But easy to swap out with a new one, if you've got a couple of wrenches and some wire brushes to clean the terminals.
Save the old one for me, and it will become part of the Solar - Powered Hüsky Amusement Park
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: skyjunk
How much for the Sunfish?
How much for the Sunfish? Miss having one of those. One of the greatest times I had was sailing one in the gulf in the middle of a pod of dolphins, could reach out and pet them as they came to the surface
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Sideshow Bob
$750 w/trailer - price is
$750 w/trailer - price is negotiable - needs new sail & needs splash guard reattached (I could do that myself but figured best left to a professional):
http://sailingforums.com/threads/1974-sunfish-w-trailer.36188/
I've been offered $450 twice then $600 but that guy flaked out when the trailer tire was flat (D'oh). I got the stem fixed for $12. A new tire is only $17.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Sycamore Slough
A new tire is only $17.
A new tire is only $17.
Or $14.50 at Harbor Freight (and you get the free Flashlight / batteries)
My high-school pal had a Sunfish and we would take that thing out on Princeton's Carnegie Lake. What, a Blast !!!
A very basic sailboat but a great design, and nearly unsinkable. They are soooo much Fun.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Sideshow Bob
Isn't there some Bad Karma
Isn't there some Bad Karma associated w/Harbor Freight - junky merch made by slave labor in Indonesia? I went w/$17 as that was actually the high end. I saw Walmart for $15 . . .
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Sycamore Slough
I bought a wheelbarrow tire
I bought a wheelbarrow tire there -- splurged and got the solid-rubber model. It is a lifetime wheelbarrow tire. My great-grandchildren will bicker over it years after I depart this Earthly plane.
The garden cart tires were about 4 bucks @ with the coupon. Three other bumblefucks had those at the checkout line. Spring must be "Oh pooh, my garden cart tires are fucked up" season.
Actually most of their stuff is Chinese, just like if you went to ACE hardware.
And yes, Dogs are allowed. Add that one to the list; Lowe's, Home Despot, Tractor Supply, All the pet food stores, Pottery Barn, Ross Dress For Less, Many farmers' markets.
Not 'Party City'. Don't bring the dog to Party City. They won't kick you out, but will mention their animal-free policy in a polite manner.