Engine Oil/Additives for high mileage 3.0

It's so irritating and bizarro this particular design of the dipstick. I never had any other car that was difficult to read. Now when I want a reading, I take a dipstick of my own design. Basically a clear vinyl tube that is calibrated against the original dipstick. I put it in, and close the end, as one does with a pipette in a lab. And then I try to see if there is any connection between the original dipstick and this very accurate way of using a vinyy tube inside the dipstick tube.

There are some tricks I've heard about. Like take the dipstick out and leave it out overnight. That helps just a tad. Or read only one side of it. That helps a little if you can figure out which side has the correct reading.

There are 2 tiny holes on the dipstick. Sometimes I go by the holes which are slightly above the FULL mark.

It's funny. Something so common and mundane becomes an adventure with this 3.0 Mistubishi from Chrysler. I'd love to meet the engineer who designed this dipstick. Was this some kind of kill the customer routine? All I can think of was this was some trick to get the dipstick to remain seated. But other cars with somewhat similar designs do not have this problem. It's just a dumb dipstick. Well, the only dipstick I have seen with sharp bends and angles in it.

Reply to
treeline12345
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My point is that it *is* true. Whether the problem is real (as I believe) or imagined (as you believe), posts *precisely* like you said appear all the time, so I think what you say about it being a PR problem is not correct. All kinds of atrocious design problems happen all the time on cars, and usually by the time the mfgr. reacts (if at all, and then only when forced to by politics or - yes - bad PR, but only under certain, very special conditions), it's a moot point as the next platform has replaced the old with a new set of problems. I can give you a list just on LH cars. It is a myth that serious problems with products result in huge PR problems. How about split dashboards on

300M's. ...sludged up 2.7L engines. ...a.c. evaporators guaranteed to leak after 5 or 6 years. ...window regulator attachment clips that routinely break. ...windshield wipers that run erratically and stop randomly in weather below 30°F.

There are all kinds of examples of bad and even unsafe products that are real but that the public is so ignorant of that the PR effects are insignificant (after all, "the competition has problems that are just as bad, so we kind of blend in"). Modern business slogan: "We're no worse than anybody else."

Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x')

Reply to
Bill Putney

Sorry -

formatting link
- known by the "cool" people as DI.net.

Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x')

Reply to
Bill Putney

Sorry again - its www.dodgeintrepid.*net*

Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x')

Reply to
Bill Putney

Guess you didn't mess much with Lincolns of the 1980s. Damn dipstick was about 3 feet long with all kinds of twists and crapola.

Reply to
Daniel J. Stern

Or the transmission dipstick from any full-sized rear-drive van. The only dipstick you have to step *away* from the vehicle a couple of steps in order to remove. My arms aren't long enough.

Reply to
Steve

And you want me to believe your stories about synthetic oil? :-)

Matt

Reply to
Matt Whiting

Since you say such posts appear all the time, perhaps you could steer me toward some of them.

Reply to
User

I don't want you to believe anything. What is this - some kind of snob behavior?

Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x')

Reply to
Bill Putney

They have a very good search engine. Let your fingers do the walking.

Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x')

Reply to
Bill Putney

Never had the pleasure of messing with the Lincolns.

Reply to
treeline12345

Oh - sorry - that would be on

formatting link
- I was mistakenly thinking your question was directly in the branch of the thread where that had been mentioned.

Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x')

Reply to
Bill Putney

But, of course! I'm an engineer, it is expected. :-)

Matt

Reply to
Matt Whiting

I searched for "synthetic oil" a few minutes ago and found nothing about engine failures in the first 4 pages of hits. I found some claims of smoking and leaking after changing, but no claims of engine failure. And I saw more supporters of synthetics than detractors. Are you sure this is the right place? :-)

Matt

Reply to
Matt Whiting

You're the one making the unfounded assertion. Let's see a few examples of these many posts where people say they had problems in high-mileage engines after switching to synthetic oil.

Come on. It should be pretty easy, shouldn't it?

Reply to
User

You might have to use different words - they may say Mobil 1 or some other brand without mentioning synthetic.

Can't help that. Where have I said people should not use syntyhetic oil, especially in a relatively new car? Whether synthetic oil is good or not was not the question.

Are you sure this

Yep.

Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x')

Reply to
Bill Putney

Sure - but I'm willing for you to think me a liar rather than go to the trouble. Knock yourself out.

Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x')

Reply to
Bill Putney

High mileage engines might be touchy. It would be good to hear that it's okay. In my case, a semi-synthetic seemed to do much better, so far, touch wood, than the regular dinosaur oil. The car seems better and does not burn oil whereas before it would burn a quart every 1000 or 1500 miles. This is 5W-30 ConocoPhillips. There is one dealer who uses it in all the cars, and I mean all, so I'm inclined to use this dealer for oil changes, which are more expensive than other places, just because of this product. I don't think it's a coincidence. Or it could be just this particular semi-synthetic is good. The dealer bought this in a really big bulk package so I'm hoping the dealer still has some of the same stuff this year. Who knows.

Reply to
treeline12345

That's the response I was expecting. Thanks for playing.

Truth be told, there's no reason *not* to switch to a synthetic at any time during an engine's life. They're not going to shake loose all sorts of crud that's built up through the years. And if you use them from the start, chances are you'll have a lot less crud build up through the years.

I don't understand these attitudes toward synthetic oil. It raises such passions. On one hand you have the Amsoil droids spewing testimonials all over the place, and on the other hand you have people raising all sorts of concerns about the use of synthetic oil.

It just isn't that different.

Reply to
User

That's why I didn't go to the trouble - you'd not be convinced anyway, would you (answer: no). I've played that game with other dishonest people before.

Your opinion - and that's fine.

Duh! Where have I said otherwise. You're being dishonest by implying that I've said anything like that. Once again, that's why I didn't go to the trouble of doing your search for you - pearls before swine.

I've been nothing but matter of fact thru this whole thing. I simply state a precaution about suddenly switching over on a high mileage engine. The only "passion" as you call it that I've seen here is from you.

And I am neither one of those.

To quote Ronald Reagan: "There you go again. When you want to talk about synthetic's temperature stability, you want to talk about how superior (different) it is. And quess what: I agree. Does that shock you? Once again, you've proven your dishonesty by emphasizing how

*different* it is in some characteristics (when it serves your purpose), but when I want to point out what I think is another difference, you want to emphasize that "there really isn't much different".

As with many things in life, we both are free to choose what we believe based on whatever. Whether right or wrong in a given area, we will both reap the benefits or suffer the consequences of our beliefs. I'm calm about it. You're the passionate one.

When it comes to synthetic, though you have me saying things that I did not say, I think it boils down to only one point of disagreement. I'm satisfied to accept that we disagree on that point. Are you?

Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x')

Reply to
Bill Putney

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