amptramp

In a convent in Ireland , the 98-year-old Mother Superior lay dying. The Nuns gathered around her bed trying to make her last journey comfortable. They tried giving her warm milk to drink but she refused it. One of the nuns took the glass back to the kitchen. Then, remembering a bottle of Irish Whiskey that had been received as a gift the previous Christmas, she opened it and poured a generous amount into the warm milk. Back at Mother Superior's bed, they held the glass to her lips. The frail Nun drank a little, then a little more and before they knew it, she had finished the whole glass down to the last drop. As her eyes brightened, the nuns thought it would be a good opportunity to have one last talk with their spiritual leader. "Mother," the nuns asked earnestly, "Please give us some of your wisdom before you leave us" She raised herself up in bed on one elbow, looked at them and said: " "DON'T SELL THAT COW."

^ The new Range Rover - now with a convenient carrying handle!

A Barbie donk. Just what the world needed.

Is the rolling circumference the main issue or is it the rolling radius? Even with the recommended 32 psi front and 30 psi rear, the front tire bulge just above the contact patch is a bit more than the rear. The part of the tire that controls the revs per mile is the radius from the bottom of the tire to the centre of the drive axle. I have a leak from a nail in the left rear tire that is too close to the sidewall to patch and if I get a new tire, I should be able to run slightly lower pressure to match the rolling radius of the other tires. The tires are Michelin Pilot Exalto 205/55-16 which are no longer made. The tread depth seems to be close to new tire specs, so I may be able to get away with one tire of a similar design by adjusting pressure. I have measured the height of the bottom of the wheel plastic centre piece from the ground and it seems to vary from 10.25 to 10.75 inches which would equate to a much larger variation than 0.25 inches of circumference. As expected, the lower values are at the front.

This is the standard viscosity chart: http://image.kitcarmag.com/f/9442128+w750+st0/p78860_image_large.jpg This shows that there is not much difference between the specs for 0W-XX and 5W-XX where the units are centipoise and centistoke. As you can see, the hot viscosity is far less than the cold viscosity so going to a 0W-XX from a 5W-XX grade helps the oil reach all parts of the engine quickly but never causes the oil to be too thin unless the oil degrades to the point where the hot viscosity declines as was indicated by kzr750r1. The only known issue with 0W-XX oils is there are sometimes "non-linear usage events" where an engine that has had little or no consumption of oil for several thousand miles will suddenly chug down a quart in 500 miles then go back to low consumption for several thousand more miles. It is suspected that this occurs when ring gaps (which are slowly rotating unless the rings are stuck) line up and oil goes through. Note that there are no minimum viscosities in the low temperature tests, but the requirements for 0W-XX are stringent enough that only synthetics meet them.

This is the same Rolls-Royce V-12 as I posted in the Dirty Donks thread: http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd222/amptramp1/062_zps14e51b5f.jpg and the rear view: http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd222/amptramp1/073_zps7124c9ea.jpg

Rolls-Royce V-12 on 26" Forgiato wheels: http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd222/amptramp1/065_zps5a9c6885.jpg The owner is a guy with a bleached and cropped Mohawk: http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd222/amptramp1/077_zps4fb34a98.jpg Nice engine room: http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd222/amptramp1/069_zpscedcbdaf.jpg Interesting trunk and owner: http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd222/amptramp1/071_zps4dea8dde.jpg

High mileage oils have added esters that swell the oil seals to keep old seals from leaking. But every oil with an API SN rating also has extra esters, so they are all high mileage oils now. The other change from API SM to SN was additional detergent so SN oils are a lot more like Rotella in that regard.

I took a look at the oil filter today and it seems very tiny for what it does. My understanding is that the 2009 can use the RX-8 filter and the same one is listed for the 5th generation Legacy under Mobil 1 filters. There is room for the filter to grow in length but not in diameter and this appears to be the difference between them. Am I right in saying that the 5th gen Legacy filter would be a better choice? It would be surrounded by the heat shield for the exhaust header but it would not touch. The M1 filter listed for the 4th gen is the M-108 and the fifth gen and RX-8 both use the M-110. I am (over)due for an oil change and intend to do it next week. It seems to be the same as my Miata that benefits from using the Mazda Millenia filter.

For once, Canadians get something that is not in the US yet: Rotella T6 in a 0W-40 with an API-SN rating. I saw it recently in a Canadian Tire store and it looks like I may be making the switch as soon as the cars (a 2001 Miata and a 2009 Legacy wagon) finish digesting the two fresh jugs of Pennzoil Platinum 5W-30 in my garage. I used to run Mobil 1 5W-30 in the Miata but it seemed to be a little too thin for its taste and Mobil 1 is near the low viscosity limit for the oil.

The sale of vanity plate was quite brisk in Ontario when the plate just had the ONTARIO line on top, the name followed by a number (you couldn't get, say, LINDA, it would be serialized to something like LINDA34 so you could have a lot of people with the same name getting a vanity plate) and the bottom line said KEEP IT BEAUTIFUL. Then the province changed the bottom line to YOURS TO DISCOVER. So the named plates would now read: ONTARIO LINDA34 YOURS TO DISCOVER But she isn't mine to discover. You don't see nearly as much of this as before.

Your sources at the Petroleum Quality Institute forgot to include this one: http://newlaunches.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/hello_kitty_engine_oil-thumb-450x436.jpg

5W-30 should be fine. You can get a 0W-30 which gives more immediate oil flow at cold temperatures, but you don't get the kind of temperatures where it makes that much difference and not many oils are formulated in 0W-XX grades. It is easy to find 0W-20 these days but for a turbo, I would be reluctant to go that thin on this engine. XW-20 also seems to have "non-linear usage events" where you can run several thousand miles with little usage then drop a quart in 500 miles then go back to little usage. Some people have assumed that the end gap on rings rotates and when ring gaps line up, the oil goes away. I have migrated from Mobil 1 5W-30 to Pennzoil Platinum 5W-30 - I found the Mobil 1 a little too thin for my liking on my other car and you can get better discounts on PP. Many decades ago I used Castrol GT and found their 10W-30 became straight SAE 10 after a few thousand miles - I hope they finally have their act together and that is no longer representative of how they do things. I understand the RX-8 filter (which is larger) fits and works and as soon as the warranty period is over, that is what I will switch to. It is a bit like my Miata where the Mazda Millenia filter fits but is larger, so it is what I use. 3200 miles is a conservative number. A good synthetic is not as susceptible to oxidation especially in the turbo bearings. Oil analysis would probably show you could go longer and your typical drive seems to be benign operating conditions. Back in the early days, synthetic oil developed a reputation for leaking everywhere. The PAO (polyalphaolefin) base stock tended to shrink seals and cause leaks. The addition of POE (polyol ester) tended to expand seals, so later formulations balanced the shrinkage and expansion with additional POE used in high-mileage oils. With the API-SN oil spec, more POE is used to make all oil high-mileage and the modern oils don't tend to leak much. As far as burning, synthetic oils should burn less because they are more resistant to oxidation. You can go to the bobistheoilguy site and learn more about oil - it is interesting and worthwhile to eliminate the old wives' tales about oil.

They are SAE 20W-50 threads. They don't flow very well in this weather.

Go ahead, drool: http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd222/amptramp1/DSC00206_zpsfa3d8494.jpg And yes, that is Carroll Shelby's sugnature on the glove compartment door.

If you are into the lead sled 1949 Mercury customs: http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd222/amptramp1/DSC00231_zpsb9fe7d4d.jpg GANGRENE is the plate.

Just ran across this: "Marriage is like a deck of cards. In the beginning all you need is two hearts and a diamond. By the end, you wish you had a club and a spade."

One person I know spent $35,000 on a used Lamborghini Espada, spent another $35,000 on the V-12 engine and another $35,000 on the interior and various exterior parts. His license says: LIRA PIT Another hot rodder has a 1949 Mercury lead sled custom that he painted metallic green. His license is: GANGREEN

I would take another route to reduction of resonance. At some point, I would like to cover the bottom of the car with truck bed liner to provide protection against road salt corrosion and stone chips. It may get complicated around attached items like the rear differential or near the exhaust, but you can get a bucket of this stuff for a reasonable price and I would expect some sound deadening in addition to the protection it provides. You may have to add heat shields or heat wrap around exhaust components and drop the fuel tank to get the coverage you want, but I am sure the body would end up much quieter. Some people who have trouble with loud exhausts report good results from using dynamat or its equivalent on the heat shield above the muffler.

The ultimate donk: http://www.city-data.com/forum/attachments/automotive/103925d1353379821-donk-car-why-do-guys-do-bad-donk.jpg

RX-8 Sportsdonk: http://www.ridelust.com/wp-content/uploads/rx_donk.jpg

What happens to the catalytic converter when it gets hit with all the gunk that Seafoam cleaned out? Maybe it won't poison the converter, but maybe it will. Smoke is particles that are too large for light to go through and thick smoke means you are more likely to clog a converter than clean it.