Vehicle Maint. Questions

bostinelosd · 07-05-2007, 04:51 PM

Ok, here's the deal. I change my own oil and stuff to save money and to the fact I just don't trust many with my car for those easy things. I am looking to change my air filter and have been looking at K&N filters because they are washable, 10 year life expect. and supposedly help overall with airflow. My question is, Has anyone bought anything like these filters before? Are they worth the 35 dollar price tag? I have also been using synthetic oil as well for oil changes. Is this worth it? I hear things and decided to try it.

Incyte · 07-05-2007, 05:00 PM

Originally Posted by bostinelosd

Ok, here's the deal. I change my own oil and stuff to save money and to the fact I just don't trust many with my car for those easy things. I am looking to change my air filter and have been looking at K&H filters because they are washable, 10 year life expect. and supposedly help overall with airflow. My question is, Has anyone bought anything like these filters before? Are they worth the 35 dollar price tag? I have also been using synthetic oil as well for oil changes. Is this worth it? I hear things and decided to try it.

Unless you have some type of high performance car I doubt the Synthetic is worth the price.

I had a '92 Cougar that finally died with 235K miles and I typically used the Valvoline high mileage oil which seemed to work pretty well.

CyinCo · 07-05-2007, 05:20 PM

I have a K&N for my WRX. I've never had a problem with it. There is a supposed performance increase but my "butt dyno" never noticed a difference. Every 50,000 miles is there recommeded cleaning and re-oiling interval.

Edit: I also use a synthetic blend but my car is high compression and high temp. It redlines at 7000 and it isn't unusal for me to shift at 6k.

JHudd · 07-05-2007, 05:23 PM

Synthetic is also very good if you put on a lot of miles quickly. If you typically change oil at the 3 month mark since you didn't get to 3K miles stick with normal stuff. If you hit 3K well before 3 months synthetic is nice since it typically doesn't break down until the 5-7K mark. I just finally made the switch and have been happy, you will be much happier since you do it yourself and that will save you some nice money compared to the $70 Valvoline charged me.

DevilDog · 07-05-2007, 05:50 PM

Ive used K&N filters for about 10 yrs now and love them have had them in 3 different vehicles. I wouldnt buy anything else. As far as oil i change mine with Mobil 5000 so i dont have to chance it so often. I just to use synthetic on my old Probe because it was a piece of crap and i believe it helped it last a lil longer.

Incyte · 07-05-2007, 05:53 PM

Originally Posted by Incyte

I had a '92 Cougar that finally died with 235K miles and I typically used the Valvoline high mileage oil which seemed to work pretty well.

I forgot to mention I only changed my oil about every 6000 to 7500 miles. The 3000 mile reccomendation is a load of crap IMO.

brianhos · 07-05-2007, 05:56 PM

Originally Posted by Incyte

I forgot to mention I only changed my oil about every 6000 to 7500 miles. The 3000 mile reccomendation is a load of crap IMO.

My cars recommended is every 6000 miles.

Kyle · 07-05-2007, 06:41 PM

As far as oil, it depends how often you change it. I change mine myself every 2000 or so when it is nice out. I put synthetic in when it is cold because I tend to run it longer (changing oil in the snow sucks) and because it is supposed to deal better with extreme cold.

I'm also curious about the air filter question though.

C.John · 07-05-2007, 07:19 PM

Ever since the first oil change, we've put synthetic into our Subaru. We also change it every 5K miles that way it's on the same schedule as the tire rotation. Just makes things easier to remember to do that way.

As for the K&N filter, our Outback isn't sporty enough to warrant it.

ornryactor · 07-05-2007, 08:18 PM

Originally Posted by Incyte

I forgot to mention I only changed my oil about every 6000 to 7500 miles. The 3000 mile reccomendation is a load of crap IMO.

There's really not much opinion to deal with as far as oil changes go. If between 40% and 100% of the miles you put on your car is city driving, then you need to change your oil every 3,000 miles (give or take 100). Any longer than that, and you'll be damaging your engine. If you use lower-quality oil, your oil may also be breaking down in that time.

If nearly 100% of your driving is interstate driving, and you take otherwise good care of your vehicle, then your oil typically doesn't need to be changed for 5,000 miles or 4 months. If you do less than 40% city driving, but not 100% highway, then your ideal oil change timeframe will be somewhere in between the two. For example, I do about a 90-10 split of highway-city driving in my car, and I get the oil changed roughly every 4,500 miles. (I typically put that on in 13 weeks or less, so the timeframe isn't a big concern for me.) I could probably go a few hundred miles more and still be fine, but I'd rather not risk my engine over something so small.

If you're regularly putting 6,000 to 7,500 miles on your car (in any mix of driving), you're doing serious damage to your car. It may not show up right away, but you can bet dollars to donuts that you're heavily shortening the working life of that car. I suggest changing your maintenance schedule.

CyinCo · 07-05-2007, 08:20 PM

The 3000 number developed from the OIL COMPANIES. Not the MANUFACTURER. I still do follow 3000. I'm usually over 3k when I change it but I start thinking about it at 3k. My owners manual says oil change every 5k.

bostinelosd · 07-05-2007, 08:31 PM

Yeah i have been changing it every 3k, but am thinking about doing it every 5-6 since we dont really beat on our cars. These have all been very good suggestions. Thank you for your input!

ce1 · 07-05-2007, 09:04 PM

You didn't mention what type of car you have. Knowing that would help in telling if a K&N would make much difference, along with how long you're planning on keeping the car.

If you've got a 250+ HP engine car, a K&N will probably make some difference in Horsepower. It's pretty simple, the faster air can get in your car, the more HP you get. The K&N filters allow your engine to "breathe" more quickly than a paper filter, giving it more power. (A K&N air intake system would do it even better).

I've seen the K&N claims of better gas mileage plenty of times, but i have yet to experience it. I've got a 2004 F150 that i have a K&N in, no difference in gas mileage. And it's got enough horsepower that i can't know the difference. I just like not having to ever buy a air filter again.

If you've got a high horsepower, performance-geared engine (like a Mustang, Charger, or Maxima), you'll get a little more get up.

I use synthetic oil too, but for a different reason. I want to keep this truck 12-15 years, and want to avoid build up on valves, etc. Synthetic oil, used across 100,000 miles, is MUCH better at reducing carbon build up on parts. I've worked on engines that use synthetic oil, and the difference (again, across 100,000 miles) is night and day.

p.s. man, i wish something exciting on the basketball recruiting front would hurry up and happen.

Bobber · 07-05-2007, 09:19 PM

I change my oil every 5,000 miles and rotate tires every 10,000. Nice even numbers to remember. I've got 151,000 on the car right now and only my second set of tires. No mechanical problems and it doesn't burn any oil and it's a Chevy. Works for me.

clones_jer · 07-05-2007, 09:38 PM

Originally Posted by ornryactor

There's really not much opinion to deal with as far as oil changes go. If between 40% and 100% of the miles you put on your car is city driving, then you need to change your oil every 3,000 miles (give or take 100). Any longer than that, and you'll be damaging your engine. If you use lower-quality oil, your oil may also be breaking down in that time.

It's even more fuzzy than that - ideally you could send a sample of your oil off for degration analysis every month and it could last indefinately if the system is kept free of moisture and contaminants.

... of course that's where it gets tricky, at ~ $30 a sample analysis report, you might as well change it out every so often. As cheap as oil changes are it doesn't even make sense to do it yourself unless you need just need something to give your man-liness levels a boost.