20 Ways to waste money on your car.

[treossi]

well i think the 25 dollars it cost for an oil change is better than buying an 7k dollar engine...how many people have actually read the owners manual to their car?

i like the part where it says if you live in the desert to change you oil at a different time then if you live in the mountains..

also stay away from "synthetic blends" there is currently no state regulations for how much "blend" there is in that oil... it can be 2 percent synthetic... castrol sucks... read up on it..

[Gotloud555]

Using a dealer for oil changes. Dealers sometimes run dirt-cheap specials, but otherwise you’ll usually find changes cheaper elsewhere. If you’re using an independent shop for the first time, you might inconspicuously mark your old oil filter to make sure it has indeed been changed. And don’t let them talk you into new wiper blades, new air filters or high-priced synthetic oil, unless your car is one of the few high-performance machines built for it.

I did probably be mad if i see they use the same old oil filter.. haha!!!

[jay05]

i dont really care wut anyone says oil is dirty after 3,000 miles and i mine how big of a deal is it to spend 20 or 25 bucks changen ur oil id rather spend the 20 or 25 then spending the 5 to 7,000 dollars on a new enginejust my opinion

[styleone]

What has been stated about the right gas for the car. The key thing about it, you do not want have a flash point happen in an early fire in your cylender of your engine. Early fireing can have the effect from just bending the valvle to have the cylender loose is presure seal to having a valve or even the piston head shatter which can then lead to bad bad bad things...

Gasoline then we come to the fact of the different places you buy your gas, which comes down to how much actual gas your getting with what percentage of a cutting agent they used with it like ethinol or methinol.

ETHANOL ON FIRE

Whether blended with gasoline or not, ethanol is highly flammable. Ethanol burns different from gasoline. On the bright side, it is an almost smokeless fire. Unlike alcohol, it has a red visible flame. On the not so bright side, pure ethanol has a flash point of only 55 degrees F. Add 15 percent water and the flashpoint rises to 68 degrees F. Diluted down to a 24 percent solution, ethanol has a flash point of 97 degrees F, so it is still flammable.

Pure methanol fully miscible in water and has a flash point of 54°F. Mixtures have a flash point between 100 and 200°F. Vapors are slightly heavier than air.

FLAMMABLE PROPERTIES:

Flashpoint: (Tagliabue Closed Cup) < -45 °C (< -49 °F)

Autoignition: > 280 °C (> 536 °F)

Flammability (Explosive) Limits (% by volume in air): Lower: 1.4 Upper: 7.6

Sorry for the simple paint image I did but it works for the example for those that wanted to see actual picture of how it is.. If the combustion happens while one of the valves is still open (if the piston in the picture shot up while the intake valve was still open) it could break, bend, shatter the valve or piston it self. In that loosing presure in the cylender, which then turns to your leaking gas, loss in hp, and could from cause major smoke to an engine fire in the worst case scenerio.. So when picking your gas make sure to fallow the raiting of your manufacture and try and be aware of what gas station uses what cutting agents.

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[NRA4ever]

I do my own oil changes. I run full synthetic in my gasser & my diesel. I have put 300 k on several motors using full synthetic oils with 5 k oil change intervals. I use Motorcraft filters in all locations. I never had one fail. I use the rough service schedule for most maintenance since my trucks are used for work. I never use premium fuel in a motor that doesn't require it. I have few problems with my rides but I do regular maintenance on them. I do minor things myself & get bigger jobs done by a friend that is a 30 yr Ford tech. He does my work at his home & saves me money. He will not use aftermarket parts. I buy my Ford replacement parts online cheaper than he can buy them at his work with his employee discount.

[Neo_frog]

Since we're on the topic of maintenance at scheduled times... I have a printed paper that gives the average mileage for all maintenance that I go by. It doesn't follow the rules above, but I've NEVER missed maintenance at the times it says.

I've also NEVER had a serious problem with any of my cars ever. Even at 229k my 89 Lincoln still purrs and rides like new. Same with the Cruiser at 125k.

People at work laugh at me for this same reason, but they buy new cars every two or three years because of "nickel and diming".

[imupabove]

hey thanks for posting this up.

"If your engine doesn't "miss" -- skip a beat or make other odd noises -- don’t change the spark plugs or wires until the manufacturer says so."

how do you know when your car "misses" or "misfires"? thanks.

[coyotechromez]

Since we're on the topic of maintenance at scheduled times... I have a printed paper that gives the average mileage for all maintenance that I go by. It doesn't follow the rules above, but I've NEVER missed maintenance at the times it says.

I've also NEVER had a serious problem with any of my cars ever. Even at 229k my 89 Lincoln still purrs and rides like new. Same with the Cruiser at 125k.

People at work laugh at me for this same reason, but they buy new cars every two or three years because of "nickel and diming".

Thank you! Synthetic oil is very under-rated, engines run cooler, smoother, and are more economic and powerful with synthetic oils. AMS-Oil has an oil filter and oil that is guaranteed to last 25,000 miles with no break down!

[coyotechromez]

You can drain your oil right now, put synthetic in it and it wont hurt anything, no matter the milage, but note on certain vehicles you will be able to hear the engine more. The older cars from the 50-70's had problems with sythetic because the seals were not compatible with the oils and were disolved easily.

[TahoeDD]

I had an 04 cobra and you put 87 octane in a supercharged 4 valve then goodluck to you haha. Some cars are TUNED for premium gas so they depend on it have the timing right. Some good tips in there though, although I didn't see buying chrome accessories in that list.