As far as sludge goes...I would think it would have
reared its ugly head long before now. I bought the
car with 79000 on it, immediately did an oil change,
and sinc eabout 83000 have been using exclusively
Mobil 1 15-50 per Dimitrios' suggestion. It now has
88000. When I pulled the valve covers a few thousand
miles ago they looked pretty clean. The oil seems to
dirty at a normal rate, and it does leak/burn about a
quart every thousand miles or so, maybe every 500 if I
drive it hard. I've also not babied the engine, and I
almost always drive it for at least 1/2 hour once its
started.
Interestingly, almost immediately after I switched to
the Mobil 1, I noticed a drop in the oil pressure
gauge; normally it rode about in the middle of the
range, and after the switch it went to about 1/4 to
1/3 of the range. I figured maybe the gauge was bad,
or maybe the different oil made the sensor read
differently. Stupid me, I never installed an
aftermarket gauge.
No word from the mechanic yet. I smell mucho dinero,
though. Thanks to everyone on the list for their
advice, recommendations, and offers of parts. Truely
a great list this is. Not one person even inquired
about buying the car for parts, as I hinted at. Its
great that everyone's so committed to keeping these
things on the road, as many as possible!
=====
--Mike Pittinaro
"Peculiar travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God."
--Kurt Vonnegut, "Cat's Cradle"
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Finance - Get real-time stock quotes
http://finance.yahoo.com
Back to the Home of the Forward Look Network