Atlas

Had to keep the thread going, make sure it remains stirred. On a more serious note, one of these days I'll end up keeping a vehicle for the long haul. If I make it 100-150k that would be a first...boredom usually hits first. I've owned higher mileage vehicles, purchased or given to me and I generally prefer newer/nicer for my primary mode of transportation. But if I really like something I may end up keeping it. 0w20 in a diesel is still a little shocking to me. 5w30 in my first little diesel (GM 2.8) years back was also shocking, but those have held up over time. Can't say I'm not just a little skeptical of such thin oil in the 3.0 so I always like to hear perspective on it.

We have one of those aunts in our family too (my mom's). She's 96, still a spitfire...and will likely outlive us all. Remarkably, she's still living mostly independently in a multi-level, single-family home. She has help a few days per week. If there's a role-model for aging, she's probably a good candidate.

That’s a false statement. Healthcare providers and hospitals have been measurably impacted by tariffs and all the illegally held/canceled and delayed funds for various funded programs including cancer research and other grants. Rural hospitals are already closing at an alarming rate because health systems have to plan for the coming changes in reimbursement and uncertainties. Health systems have already laid off staff in anticipation of budget shortages in 2026 as well as the impact to reimbursement. Read: droves of uninsured people showing up and needing care, with no/little ability to repay. But, go on, since you know so much about this, please.

No, it isn’t. Insurance companies are only getting richer under this grifting. Try again.

Nobody here said healthcare should be free. But it probably should be accessible to all regardless of ability to pay, and funded through taxes paid by all. There isn't a whole lot of money in medicine for the people who actually provide the care. Your nurses, CNA's and other care staff make virtually nothing. General practitioners really don't make much in the grand scheme. You have to get into specialties and highly specialized surgery in order to start ascending the pay scale. Even then... let's just throw a round number out and say a top neurosurgeon makes $1.2M. They're making a lot of that through normal salary, and as such, pay into the highest tax brackets, so that whittles down fairly quickly. I'm not here to say that isn't good money, but I'm here to put that into perspective. A hospital CEO might make a few million annually, and he doesn't have to do brain surgery or hold/pay the kind of liability insurance those folks do. He's also likely to have a tax advantage. But even that pales to the business of healthcare and what those guys make. Your health insurance CEO's and top earners are multiple millions per year++. United Healthcare's CEO is currently making $26M annually. That's where all of this is lost, and why healthcare is so broken. The business of healthcare isn't paying its providers like it should. It's paying people who have built a profitable model of gambling on the health of you and I. There isn't a perfect system on which the US can model its own system. But the very least we can do is make sure our providers are compensated for the life saving care they give, and also not require people to go bankrupt when they require a lot of care. Any model that gets approved through the current congress will be absolute crap. So will the next model. Until the dirty hands are removed, we will continue to let people fall through the cracks, and people who bet on us will abscond with our hard-earned money.

So...should I be ignoring GM's insistence on 0w20 in my 3.0 diesel? Just give 'er the 15w40?

@customboss that's coming along nicely! Are you doing the upholstery work yourself?

I don’t think so. Another sign pointing to a slowing economy. aT LeAsT gAs iS cHeApEr

Diesel prices in Central California are way down. This is using an EFS card, representing a similar discount to what truckers might see. On the road again

This reads like a t*ump tweet. Trailing off into dementia and arguing with the wind. Nobody said getting a second opinion is a bad thing.

We're off $5/gal diesel here finally, back to upper 4's (4.80 near me). That's at discount stations, like the grocery stores. Go to a Chevron or Shell and you're still paying over $5

I was hoping for the Miranda Priestly (Devil Wears Prada), "fashion rules you" -speech and you nailed it.

You know what's great about EV's? Nobody argues about stupid **** like which oil to use. Not that the chemistry behind oil and additives isn't important, but eliminating a conventional combustion engine and hydraulic transmission really does reduce the complexity (and related arguing).

On a positive note, I'm about to save a bunch of money on car insurance. It's been a month of dealing with a minor claim on my SS and it's still unresolved and work on the car hasn't begun, and now can't begin until next year. I've had to babysit and keep the whole process on course which isn't remarkable for a modern claims handling experience. But there's been an extra level of stupidity, and y'all know how much stupidity thrills me. I stand to save about $1k/year by moving 3 of the cars over to Hagerty. I doubt the claims handling is any better, but at least it will be cheaper. The quote/sales side of Hagerty has been a breath of fresh air (isn't it almost always, when someone is trying to get you to buy or sign up for something?). I've absolutely loved their Youtube content (Jason Cammisa) as a side note. Their content gets ya right in the 'car guy' if you know what I mean!

You're right. I edited my post for inclusiveness.

Oh, the indignation. Imagine that. Disparaging and spreading skepticism of the entire medical community, and then taking offense when someone replies to the BS. Especially when said "medical community" has been managing his blood pressure for the last 130 years... 90% of this thread are stories of modern medicine keeping all the old bats (edit: and bastards) in here alive.

@Interleukin6 what did you go with? (assuming you purchased tires by now)

I think the rear main is fine. Looks like it's a poorly designed camshaft seal that's held in place by a plate with 3 screws. Lots and lots of forum posts about those seals and leaking. If I get after it in late Jan or Feb, I'll remove the transmission. That will let me tackle rear main (just in case)/ rear camshaft seal/ and oil pan seal. I'll also do the trans input shaft and tailshaft while I've got it out. This is my reminder to really enjoy the car and keep it for a while if I do that. Else someone will be getting a lot of free work!

It's a joke, guys...

They deported baby Jesus!

Another angle on this is...what do the deltas in the results actually mean for the real world? Is it the difference between an engine lasting 100k versus 150k? Or would it be more like 480k versus 510k? A 25% increase in laps on a race rebuild? What do the coolest oil temps actually accomplish in a regular oil change interval versus the next supplier whose oil runs hotter? This, I believe, was my original beef with The Bear. He's since changed his tune that "if what you're doing accomplishes your goals" then pay no attention--and that makes much more sense than where we started which was, "everything except for my way is wrong".

All good questions. Someone looking for accurate and comparable results would want to control those things as closely as possible. I'm reminded of when Kia/Hyundai started doing real-world warranty testing in the early-mid aught's. Instead of test tracks and lab testing, they threw factory-built, pre-production cars at the road to both anticipate potential warranty concerns and also address those issues in production before the public got their hands on the cars. 100k miles plus. There were people who would drive the things all day on public roads, racking up miles in the real world, using pump fuel from all over. Lab testing is good, but it has its limitations.

A nice 100 mile loop would be too kind. I'd suggest something that mimics a typical daily duty where most people tend to live (congested areas) including a few short cycles / trips under 3 miles, lots of stop/go in traffic, and idle. Automatic start/stop: ON And use a modern DI, small-displacement turbo with at least an 8-speed trans. Maybe a 2.0L hurricane (Stellantis), Ford 2.0 or 2.3, VW 2.0, etc. I think that would be a true oil torture test.

I missed the part about the also-flush with the test oil. I was perhaps listening with one ear open while I did other things.