Buick oil monitor

Zork wrote:

Not new.  Generally a good thing if you've got a
good mix of driving patterns.  Unless you own
stock in Pennzoil, there's no point in staying
with 3K.

Counts mileage, number of starts and tracks
engine operating parameters.

If I've mostly driven highway mileage I change
at 25-35%.

If my wife has just been putzing about town I'll
change it at 50% to avoid a sludge situation.

Note-- this works *if* you keep the oil level
topped up.

--
pj

 zork100@comcast.net (Zork) wrote:


It's for real as long as you use motor oil that meets the
manufacturers specifications.

Changing the engine oil too often ("the old methods") can result
in shortened life of the catalytic converter and contaminated
oxygen sensors.

First time I ever heard this one.  Do you have a reference?

Published in TSBs over the last 10 years.

I havent seen it either.. What is the explanation, Aarcuda?

There was a lot of bruhaha about increased iron in the oil after changes but
I never saw anything substantial in way of explanation about why it happens.

Certain components of the oil that burn off during the first 500
or so miles after fresh oil is installed are known to effect
catalyst longevity.

Naturally, the oil companies aren't going to disclose this if it
is going to effect their sales volumes.  The vehicle
manufacturers know about it and it is reflected in their
maintenance  schedules.
Covered extensively if you attend the right training seminars or
have access to the authors of those seminars.

In article


Here is a very good article on the subject;

http://www.dmvnv.com/pdfforms/ecnews2nd05.pdf

Scroll down to: "The Catalyst and Oil Connection" on page 2

The author; Kevin McCartney has impeccable industry credentials.
Anyone interested in learning the truth about lubrication,
coolants etc. is well advised to get their hands on anything and
everything he writes.

Agreed ... even though he's not being properly compensated for his
abilities, studies or efforts.  Maybe he should title his works "CKP/
CMP Waveforms" or "30 More HP with Bolt-ons Under $30" to gain initial
interest.

I *am* curious how a modern engine that has no appreciable consumption
issue could be affected by early oil changes.  How many current
designs accept significant oil consumption as normal any more?

Toyota MDT in MO

Agreed ... even though he's not being properly compensated for his
abilities, studies or efforts.  Maybe he should title his works "CKP/
CMP Waveforms" or "30 More HP with Bolt-ons Under $30" to gain initial
interest.

I *am* curious how a modern engine that has no appreciable consumption
issue could be affected by early oil changes.  How many current
designs accept significant oil consumption as normal any more?

Toyota MDT in MO

In my personal experience, I have only had to replace one catalytic
converter on
my cars and I change at 3000 miles.  Many of my cars have gone
150,000 -200,000
miles.

The one I had to change, recently, was on my 1997 Dodge van, 318 cid.  It
has
116,000 miles on it and the engine is quite strong and silent.  Burns no
noticeable
oil between changes.  The shop where I had the converter replaced said this
life
is not unusual at all for Chrysler products.

Therefore, faced with a $100 converter replacement, or a multi thousand
dollar
engine replacement, I opt for the frequent oil changes.  Our new Avalon is
not
supposed to suffer from the gelled oil failure, but frequent changes will
help make
sure this phenomenon is minimized.

The cars you -didn't- have to replace converters on are/were?
 

No such thing as a $100 converter replacement on anything built
in the last 12 years.

Mostly Buicks...Three of them...I had a number of different company
cars, including Volkswagen Passat, Oldsmobile, etc, but never drove any
of them so many miles as company policy was to change well before this
high mileage level.

Au contraire...I had the van converter replaced a couple of weeks ago, when
the core became very noisy.  Converter plus installation was less than $125.

Model years, what were the model years?


Insufficient time to tell whether the converter is efficient
enough to keep the SES light off.

Mostly Buicks...Three of them...I had a number of different company

1989, 1992, and 1998 Buicks (Regal, LeSabre, and LeSabre, in that order.)

Agree.. So far so good.   I use the van only very rarely, so it is not a big
issue
for me at this point.  In this part of the state, the state mandated
inspection does not include
emissions, whereas it DOES in places like Houston.

Only one of those is capable of monitoring catalyst efficiency.


So, my point is not invalid.

For my case, your point is well taken, but neither invalid or valid at the
moment.

Non OEM replacement converters are not to be compared with OEM. Your old
worn cat the garage probably kept is worth more in scrap price than the
replacement cost new. Platinum, the key catalyst is over $1500 per ounce
right now. With very few exceptions even the smallest cat contain about 1/10
ounce. Some gas converters contain as much as 1/2 ounce while some large
diesel converters contain over 1 ounce. But hey it MIGHT get you past a
emmision test for a year. Most OEM replacement cats are getting close to a
grand now days. In some places cat theft is gettin bad. Theives will crawl
under a vehicle while parked and saw them off. Come out to start your
vehicle and what a surprise. Next time anyone has a cat replaced make sure
you keep it. Honest buyers are paying $60.00 to $150.00 for gas cats and on
up for diesel.

It's quite likely you DIDN'T have it done at a GM dealers...

As I mentioned in a previous post, this is a Dodge, so it was not
done at a GM dealership;>)

In article
<df89bd8d-1bd5-4072-8378-06f13d9fb3c8@i29g2000prf.googlegroups.co
m>,


Sad to see such effort go to waste.


The amounts that will poison a catalyst may be too small to
accurately measure with normal oil checking procedures.

Good to see you around, have a merry christmas!