1994 FExplorer, 4.0L, Edmonton, AB: IMO, this is the best oil drain valve around. Living here in Edmonton, where winter temperatures really take a beating on oil, I have to rely on either semi synthetic or synthetic motor oil. The prices at dealerships and Mr. Lubes/Lubex are far too high for synthetic brands of motor oil.
Incidentally. Although many debate which motor oil is the 'best', as long as it meets API
formatting link
it's fine. It's upto you if you want to spend the extrafor Mobil 1, but even Walmart's own brand of synthetic motor oil worksjust as well.
To my point, to save costs, Do It Yourself. Ive found a product that works to cut down labour time and allows for an easier overall experience. For those who get their manhoods proven from maintaining their own Explorers, rather than being gouged like an animal by the quasi-pros at the dealerships/Mr.Lubes, here is the product that helps the cuase.
You are gonna be a lot of fun.... Part of the idea behind an "oil change" is to get underneath the vehicle and spend some time inspecting things.... look at the brakes so you can plan for a brake reline before that grinding sound tells you your car is no longer safe to drive and will empty your wallet when it wants instead of planning ("Boy, them pads is getting thin... I better set some money aside...") and other similar instances... a lot of them related to the SAFETY of the occupants.
Some shops oversell. I can't stop that. Consumers need to educate themselves as to which shop is bad and which is good.... Hint.... good shops are usually expensive since they know what they deliver for product...
Your car isn't a "car"... it is a machine and needs periodic inspections to discover wear items... items that are experiencing premature wear... and those items that have failed or are in the process of failing.... The Fumoto valve encourages DIYers to neglect this sort of activity... This results in higher repair costs in most instances....
I frequent this NG in an effort to assist DIYers.... but there is no replacement for proper periodic inspection and maintenance... and GOSH, don't it take some effort.... There are two choices.... Maintain the vehicle properly and suffer little in the way of inconvenience... or, if you prefer, you can drive from breakdown to breakdown - being stranded as your car sees fit....
FWIW, I live in Slave Lake... nearly three hours to your northwest. Current vehicles include an 02 SuperCrew 4X4, 94 F150 4X4, 05 Mustang convertible and my sons 97 Ranger 4X4... none of these get synthetic oil.... and I certainly wouldn't put the added cost of synthetic oil into a 13 year old car... Past experiments show no "real world" benefits from the added expense. The only benefit of synthetic lubricants (as long as we are talking PAO base stocks) is thermal stability... If you want to talk "hydrocracked" base stocks... dino oil is basically dino oil...
Mr. Warren, I am impressed by your list of material accomplishments and ownership of multiple cars.
But please, do not assume nor preassume the discussion. Please believe, that 'some' DIY'ers do not neglect their cars. The reason why the Fumoto is even a consideration for most DIY'ers is because they do not 'want' to neglect their machinery. Let's assume that for discussion sake.
But also, let's understand that mechanics do not provide correct service nor provide truthful, clear and concise language to their clients. Most oil changes are money losers for mechanics. Realistically, you could change your oil every 10,000km and it'll still run great.
formatting link
Oil changes are away to get the customer in, in order for the bait and switch to occur.It allows them the opportunity for them to sell you other high profititems and services (go to any Mr. Lube, and you'll know what I mean). Some shops will even go so far to over price a major job (eg. engine overhaul), since they make more money on the low maintenace items (coolant changes, tranmission flushes, throttle body cleaning, air filters, engine flushes, emission cleaning services, etc...). The time it takes them to do an engine overhaul, they could have done 20 oil changes, and made major bucks. You name it, they'll rip you off on things that take less than 5 minutes to do, with a bit of research and know-how.
Mr. Warren. Listen. Also, mechanics don't do the full meal deal, like they are say they do. The 21 point inspections are a sham and a shame. Battery check, checked off. Yet, the battery cover was never taken off, I ask. I get anger and spite. Instead they check a few things, wait for a few minutes to pass, turn to my air filter, and instruct me that I need an new air filter, and forget about the rest of the 21 points. They don't check my chasis, they don't do the full 21.
Next, mechanics have forgotten to change the oil filter (whether they forget, or simply don't) duirng routine oil AND filter changes. In addition, mistreading of the oil pan is an issue. There have been many a mechanic that has ruined an oil pan because he simply doesn't care. So please don't jam on DIY'ers, who have ruined their cars. There are just as much self professed, and self regulated, professional mechanic, who has runied just as many cars.
This leads me to the point. The Fumoto Oil Drain Valve eliminates the animal (professional mechanic) from having to even do another step in the mechanical process. A simple thing as misthreading a plug, can lead to a few $100 down the drain. Does the mechanic care? No. The more steps for a mechanic in the process, the worse off your car is. The less steps, the better. The faster you get out of the shop, the better and the cheaper it will be. That leads me to the FUMOTO.
Mr. Warren. Fumoto Oil Drain valve is proven. It is an 'evolution' beyond the simple plug. Im surprised car manufacturers haven't provided these on most cars.
Last point. NASA and the military rely on synthetic base oils for their machinery. NASA for sub-zero space, and the military for instances like circum polar expeditions (like the present one Harper is thinking of, after the Russians planted their flags underwater, near the North Pole).
Evolution, Mr. Warren. I don't know what era or age you were born in, but synthetic oils are here, they exist as material facts. They work, especially in low temperatures. Please don't dispute the evidence.
Let me analogize here. You must know 8-tracks. Well, CD's now exist. You know, VHS, and BETA, well... Blue-Ray DVDs actually exist for the consumer to use. Yes, all mediums provide us with simply sound and video, but each with different qualities. We are in an era of CDs and DVDs.
Synthetic oils and fossil based oils do the same job, they lubricate. But they have differing qualites.
Starting up your engine kills its, especially in cold weather environments. (eg. Edmonton can get down to -45 celcius). Don't trying to provide you with technical mechanic babble, here. Synthetic grades do not 'muck' up at cold temperatures, whereas fossil- based oils do. One against the other, there isn't much advantage. Yet, in cold weather starts there is. That is one area (there are other areas), for sure, synthetic oils out perform fossil based oils.
Dr. Bob is reputable and knowledgeable when it comes to maintaining the Ford Explorer (especially, the 1990s). Synthetic base oils are used by Ford Explorer owners.
formatting link
Understanding what hydrocracked would mean. Im here to state terms in simple and concise (non-mechanic talk) language. A language not filled with jargon that is meant to throw the average car owner off.
You stated it, in the above email. "THERMAL STABILITY" Mr. Warren. that means, not only to assume that the jargon term, 'thermal stability' only occurs at high temperatures, but also at temperatures where your nuts freeze off (plain langauge).
Im surprised that the term thermal stability (and hydro cracked is also a great one, Ill use that one on my wife), can't apply in low temperatures?
Mr. Warren. Synthetics have thermal stability across the celcius spectrum, that is, in plain terms- when it's hot and cold, it works better than fossil based oils.
I thought science had proven this, I thought years ago? Mind you, it was funded mainly by the oil industry who produce the synthetics.
Do you even know what the Fumoto Valve is? You rant about it as if it eliminates the need for the owner to get under the vehicle yet it's merely an easier way to drain the oil - instead of unscrewing the oil drain plug WHILE UNDER THE VEHICLE you open the Fumoto WHILE UNDER THE VEHICLE.
. look
How, pray tell, does the Fumoto do that???
It's certainly true that if you maintain the same "too soon" oil change interval used in the Americas there is little benefit to using synthetics. If you use them as intended it's a different story.
If I understand you correctly you are saying that all (non-synthetic) motor oil is pretty much the same? The reason I ask is because last December Pep Boys was practically giving away Pennzoil. I had three Honda generator engines fail while the Pennzoil was in them. This scared me right back to Valvoline (now about $35/case!). So, is it safe to use Pennzoil and I just had a lot of bad luck?
My wife took her Nissan Frontier to Jippy Lube. They said it needed a new air filter. She said OK. They replaced it. She got about 1 block and turned around. They somehow managed to damage the MAF sensor. They paid for the repair. It cost about $420 for the parts. They also replaced the throttle body. It was not one piece. They could have just replaced the sensor. For that matter they probably could have blown off whatever debris was on it and it might have worked fine. They also lost one of the clip-down brackets for the cover and one of the wing nuts.
NASA is not a good example--their stuff has a tendency to blow up.
I do know what the Fumoto valve is... that's the little valve that keeps diesel owners from finding the piston cooling jet laying in the pan of their
7.3....
Rant? Hardly.... opinions... definitely....
Two reasons for DIYing... the gratification from completing the task at hand.... and saving dollars...
My limited experience with this valve has shown that the owner of a vehicle fitted with one of these is more likely to overlook or avoid the "comprehensive inspection" that should be part of every scheduled maintenance, thinking to himself that he will check it all "next time".... Better yet... get the Fumoto with the provision for attaching a hose.... then we can really save a bunch of time (what..... must take nearly 20 seconds to unscrew that pesky plug).... all the while avoiding that gut sinking feeling we get if we find debris clinging to a magnetic drain plug or peeking out of the hole...
Additionally, I feel the valve is, in many applications, placing itself in harms way and could be easily damaged or broken off....
Just because my point of view differs from yours, does not constitute a rant.... After nearly 40 years in this business, I'm smart enough to realize that I'm a long way from having seen everything that can go wrong with one of these machines we call cars... Too often, we find a new, unique way that someone has managed make it possible to alter their budget.... And at the price of new parts these days.....
"The Drake well in Titusville, PA was the birthplace of the oil industry. The crude oil that flowed was high in wax content, which is typical of Pennsylvania crude."
formatting link
I look for Valvoline or Castrol. Pep Boys sometimes has those for less than $1 per quart (with coupon & after rebate).
Mr. Kimchee. The problem I have with this valve is there is no magnet like there is on a drain plug to capture stray metal particles or small parts that may be circulating around in your crankcase.
One of my main reasons for doing it myself to is make sure it's done correctly. I'm no master mechanic but just about every time I've had someone else work on my cars *something* was either overlooked or done incorrectly. There must be some good mechanics out there but they are not very easy to find. If you take your car to the dealer you have no idea who will be working on it.
The most gratifiying part for me is to do the job for $100 instead of paying someone else $600 or more.
I've not seen one of these gadgets but if it sticks out then I don't think I'd want it on an Explorer. And yes, it is disturbing to see little pieces of metal on drain plugs and denial will probably only get you stuck on the road somewhere.
Go easy here, Ashton. For years I had my oil changed at Quickee places. No problems to my knowledge. Then I developed a rapport with a reliable mechanic, and began taking my '02 Explorer V-8 to him for oil changes, among other things. When I picked up my vehicle after the first oil change, he told me "You've been taking it to Quickee places, haven't you? I could tell because there is almost no thread left on the drain plug. They over-tighten them something fierce, and often strip the threads." I asked what they tell the owner when they strip out a drain plug, and he showed me a whole bucket full of quick fixes, inserts, new threads, oversize plugs, and so forth.
I don't have a Fumoto valve, but I've thought about it. I would much rather spend $20 for that, than have a stripped-out drain plug and a cobbled-up fix.
I agree that getting under the vehicle and taking a look around is a great thing to do. And I did it for years. But as I have gotten older and stiffer, I have decided to take it to a guy I trust, and ask him to look around. After all, he can put it on a lift - something I can't do.
MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.