Used Oil Analysis....More Car fun...

Some people may think I take the car maintenance thing a little too far sometimes. Well perhaps I do.

On my diesel Mercedes, I run 12,000 miles between oil changes. Yes thats right, twelve thousand. I do change the filter and top the oil off every 3,000, and at 6,000 and when I change it, I send a sample in to Blackstone Labs for a UOA or "Used Oil Analysis". Theres two reasons I do this.

1. I want to know whats going on with my car. I'm approaching 280,000 miles quickly and its nice to know whats going on inside. Kind of like bloodwork.
2. I use Synthetic Oil, which is costlier but one of the key benefits I like is better protection and extended drain intervals (or so they claim)
3. Extended Drain intervals means less impact on the environment, even if you do recycle the oil.

I'm not a big environmentalist or anything dont get me wrong, but there's no reason to pollute more than I need to.

So the last UOA report I just got in, shows that wear materials are high, and potassium is high. I spoke with a guy at the lab and he explained that just changing the filter isn't going to remove the amount of wear materials (iron copper etc) from the oil, and most certainly not coolant. Now if I had a bypass filter on this car, then I would be fine for thousands of miles more, but how far are we going to take this on a car fast approaching 300,000 miles?

Anyway, heres a link to the report.

I think the plan here is to change the oil at 5,000 this time and send a sample in again to see whats going on. The odd thing is, I'm not losing any coolant. Go figure.

Daylight Saving Time!

Dont forget to "Spring Forward" before bed Saturday night.

Interesting tidbit I never knew. It's "Daylight Saving Time" not "Daylight Savings Time" Someone actually wrote a whole article about it.

Anyway, dont forget to change 'em before bed tonight!

Tech Post: Modular V8 Ford AC Compressor bypass/delete

So a friend and classmate from school has been driving the same pickup since our college days.  This truck has served him faithfully for years, but recently his Compressor crapped out.

He doesnt want to replace it,  since he will buy a new truck soon, so we improvised.

After looking at this 1998 F150 4.6L Pickup, it was determined that the Compressor itself wasnt bad, but the clutch gave up the ghost.

How do we do this?   Well, theres actually two trains of thought here.

1. Work around it....
2. Rip it off and plug the lines.

Looking at the belt routing and tensioner, I can just bypass the compressor but to keep tension, I want to run the belt OVER the idler, instead of under.  This wont be that hard.  I wont bore you with the how to of taking a belt off and replacing a pulley.  If you cant do that, you shouldn't be attempting this workaround/repair.

We got out the Gates catalog and started looking. I found a 6 rib grooved pulley (to help keep the belt in place) and a shorter belt.  In this case, after trial and error, we found the best combo was a gates Micro V #K080806 or equivalent, and buy gates 38053 idler pulley. Boom and done.
(See below. You will replace Item #1)


If you want to pull the compressor, run  Ford Racing's AC compressor delete bracket, or, Dorman Products just released their version last year for much less. Look at Dorman 34188, AC compressor delete assembly.  Amazon has it, and oreillys and auto zone can order it for you.  Keep in mind you MUST plug the refrigerant lines properly if you plan on running AC again in the future to avoid contaminating the system. 


In this case, we kept the compressor in place and kept the system sealed and the truck was traded. 

Hmm...Interesting Messages

So I went to lunch with some clients the other day to a Chinese restaurant. Where I received this Fortune Cookie...

On the front....



and then....

on the back....




Hmmmm...I find it ironic and true at the same time....Crazy huh...

Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo!

Its that time of year again! The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is upon us!

Here's the performers and the rodeo events happening. I always like the Chuckwagon races!

Anyone else going this year? The cookoff is coming up soon too! YEE-HAW!

Monday, March 3	Tim McGraw Super Series I, Go Round 1
Tuesday, March 4	Faith Hill Super Series I, Go Round 1
Wednesday, March 5	Kevin Fowler Super Series I, Go Round 3 & Championship Round
Thursday, March 6	Alan Jackson Super Series II, Go Round 1
Friday, March 7	John Legend Super Series II, Go Round 1
Saturday, March 8	Martina McBride Super Series II, Go Round 3 & Champ. Round
Sunday, March 9	Hannah Montana - Miley Cyrus Super Series III, Go Round 1
Monday, March 10	Sugarland Super Series III, Go Round 2
Tuesday, March 11	Rascal Flatts Super Series III, Go Round 3 & Champ. Round
Wednesday, March 12	John Fogerty Super Series IV, Go Round 1
Thursday, March 13	Toby Keith Super Series IV, Go Round 2
Friday, March 14	Clay Walker Super Series IV, Go Round 3 & Champ. Round
Saturday, March 15	Brad Paisley Super Series V, Go Round 1
Sunday, March 16	Duelo / Los Horoscopos De Durango Super Series V, Go Round 2
Monday, March 17	Miranda Lambert Super Series V, Go Round 3 & Champ. Round
Tuesday, March 18	Big & Rich Xtreme Bulls
Wednesday, March 19	Fergie Super Series Semifinal 1
Thursday, March 20	Dierks Bently Super Series Semifinal 2
Friday, March 21	Pat Green Super Series Wild Card Round
Saturday, March 22	Brooks & Dunn Super Series Championship

Valentines Day...2008

For the first time in years, I actually have a date with someone on Valentines!

An old friend from High School, we're just having dinner, but who knows whats to come of it?

Keep your fingers crossed readers!

Baby Care, Final Episode!

OK this is the last of them!

I hope you enjoyed them as much as I did!!