Grumpy Bear

$5.00 today. Local news says Ohio, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin are rising faster than the rest of the country due to some issues at the Whiting Indiana BP refinery.

No Can 192K Ecotec3 V6 Just had the intake manifold off Pepper for some injector work. She's never had a can on her. Ran a PAO/POE based oil for most of those miles and has lived about half her life on E-85 switching at 158,813 miles. Top Tier Regular previous to that with an occasional bottle of Red Line SI-1. Uses no discernable oil. Adult driven. Rarely short hopped and rarely driven in the winter (no salt). I tried to get some photos' down those stovepipe ports but could not get the phone to focus on the valve. Jason's borescope doesn't take pictures. What I can do is show a few photos of others and explain how they relate to Pepper. Pepper's Intakes ports looked identical to these in COLOR but with zero deposits on the long side radius or around the guide boss. Just continuation of the brown tones. Yea, cleaner than these. Even the AFM ports looked identical. This is Cameron's port/valve at 100K. Pepper is roughly the same at nearly twice those miles but are semigloss black, not semigloss gray. (this photo is to compare valves only, port is above) Moving on to this photo: This was Dizzy's intakes and valves at 80K. It uses oil, suffers high blow by and the PCV system is of poor design. This motor would have benefited from the can. But the a proper PCV system would have worked equally well. If you tow, if it uses oil, if you drive like every road is Darlington, if you do long OCI's on shelf oil, a can could be helpful. I modified the PCV system on this vehicle and when he manifold was off again a hundred thousand miles latter it wasn't half this bad.

You sure about the makeup?

You have a small farm where you grow everything you eat and save seed for next years crops so you cost is your effort. Your neighbor buys at a world market and the cost of his goods due to 'whatever' doubles. Does yours double too? If so, not much of a point if self sufficiency is there.

Ya think?

I forget; how high are you guys? BTW...how's the wife doing?

Just try'n to be helpful buddy.

I saw those crossings on TV when they were being built. Thoughtful idea I'd say. Deer and the like are creatures of habit. US Army knew this when the burned millions of acers of Montana grasslands to keep Bison from crossing into Canada to starve out Sitting Bull's people. My nephew has such a cross at the site of his death. He, nor his parents, are "Christian". It's just a memorial. No different that a headstone. What do Atheist and Agnostics use to mark such a spot? Oreo's?

Cost to much to go out!

I have several like that. One of my favorite drives is along Illinois 2 between Byron and Dixon, but at dusk and dawn it is wild life alley. Those inconsiderate deer need to cross at the deer crossing signs. They must be able to read. State thinks so. They put up the signs to show them where they should cross. Remember that as a driver; getting angry over the inconsiderate behavior of others is a natural reaction. Staying angry is a deliberate choice. Locally we have a road bike club of about two dozen from Rockford that rides down to a restaurant in the next town on Saturday mornings. About 25 mile between points on the map. They aren't training, they are friends out for breakfast, comradery and the ride. Cherry Valley Road is the most direct route and the busiest. It has no paved shoulder so they ride two abreast in a line. There is some length to that line a dozen bikes deep. It's not a terribly curvy road but it is hilly with many hidden drives. Know what the locals do on Saturday mornings that need to get between those two points? Take 72 to Irene Road to US 20 at each end of Cherry Valley Road. takes about 5 extra minutes. Quicker actually than taking the direct but bike ridden road if you count waiting to pass and there are many places to do that safely. Inconsiderate bicycles and the smallest hazard I face during a drive....

Like to eat? You can follow one of these across Illinois for a half hour at under 30 mpg during spring field work on any major US Federal Highway in the state. How about a pick up hauling a combine head during harvest? NH3 tanks in tandem on wagon leads swaying back and forth a few feet? Oh, gain elevators are one of my favorites. How about a tank track tractor that takes up both lanes pulling multi-section disc/harrow units? Over sized trucks pulling wind turbine blades or portable ICE detention units? Link Belt or Pettibone Crains? Dealing with the hog crap from a manure spreader for a miles? Granny crossing the road in the country to fetch her mail. Famers bull got out. Chuck holes, pavement heaves, dead animals, uncovered over weight gravel haulers., open top garbage haulers. State road work crews. Police stopped violators. Road is full of hazards and the same people that complain about bicycles and motorcycles are the same people passing in the no passing zones, running 15 over the limit, texting on their phones, shaving, putting on makeup, reading the paper....doing everything, including complaining about them all but what their job is behind a wheel. Defensive driving. I dodge a dozen self important texters a day crossing a centerline and about one bicycle group a month during the summer. I didn't quit riding my motorcycle because of bicyclist or even deer but some guy thinking he's the most important thing on the road and passing zones and speed limits are a suggestion or some soccer mom swatting at her preteen in the back seat. Ya got bigger problems than a pack of bikes out for a Sunday ride.

Hit $4.50 today.

Worn oversized to the point they 'leak' off and fail to latch like they should.

Thoughtful question. You nailed it on RPM. Load. a 4" piston has a nominal crown surface area of a bit over 12.5 square inches or 100 square inches total for a V-8 motor. 480F to 840 F is a typical crown temperature. And what is on the other side of the crown? Oil. In many motor oil jets are used to run these temperatures near the max. An efficiency move. That oil that cools gets heated. https://zenodo.org/records/19482246/files/Piston Head Strength and Heat Dissipation in Internal.pdf?download=1

Finding glitter or even pieces isn't normal but it is common. Correct me if I'm wrong @newdude but when a cam/lifter kit fails the motor is not fully torn down, cleaned like a new build would be and reassembled. Those chunks have to go through the pump to get to the filter and they have to get in the pan before the pump can pick them up. Warranty work. There are many reasons a kit can fail. To low a viscosity is one. To low a AW/EP package is another. But so is poor heat treat of parts. Wrong materials substituted by the vendor. Poor QC methods. Not using an assembly lube. Not allowing time for the cam and roller to 'work harden' but for hamming it on a long tow. Corrosion attack from fuel ingress. Everyone's hand is in that pie. The best you can ever do is be the best as YOUR part of the puzzle. Your part is how you drive, maintain and the fluids/filters you choose to use. Given todays OEM shared everything business plan I don't think this is a one make and model experience. As @diyer2 often says, "Luck of the draw" Confidence is built by time and experience with that unit. We can't do that for you. I've been where you are and it sucks. But if everyone did their part time will give you what you are looking for. Dizzy crapped on me at 80 K and we have 285K on her now.

It all matters, right? Can't cure a crap build with the best oil or oil regiment or easiest service. But I'd be preaching to the choir.

I'm plenty chill, thanks for caring. What do you believe "Built Specifically" means? Think about it before you continue. Go to the video and start about 45 seconds in and listen through 2 minutes 15 seconds. Lean in real hard at 1 minute 50 seconds and you will get your answer and it isn't what you believe it is. Lake and I are in Total agreement on this point. These marketing types use the words "Built for" and "Tunned for" as interchangeable and as they do "Clearances" and Tolerances". They are steering people to a goal not the truth. You have to listen to everything with more than your ears, you have to listen with discernment. Marketing is the craft of disarming discernment and the telling of artful lies. Now about this below Like an old MAN sport, MAN. Bingo. Same reasoning GM uses a heavier grade for 'Track Day" oil call out than they do for "Daily Driver" mode in the same vehicle. It dumbfounds me that Joe Average can't cross that bridge during towing.

$4.17 - $4.45 here.

IF you mean Red Line as a brand he, Lake, and Terry Dyson both give it a big thumbs down. What's my data say? Are you telling me I should surrender what anyone can see in the data to someone's notoriety? I don't do hero worship. Those two put their pants on one leg at a time just like you and I. I listen and I listen intently. I buy what has value and does not violate the physics of the larger scientific community. I have no trouble rejecting the garbage no matter who it comes from. LISTEN to Lake carefully. He admits C.A.F.E., EPA and the API are in charge. What you do not seem to understand is that promoting that agenda is THIER BUISNESS. ALL his testing leans toward that light, just like a Sunflower. Terry was more bold about it. VM's that had huge temporary shear values he saw as a "Feature" of the chemistry that allowed a 5W30 to be as fuel efficient as a 5W20. What it is, is additive companies 'marketing' CHEAP VII's as a tool for CAFE compliance. It's not a feature. It's a flaw and it's cheap to use and to promote. It will also not meet the specifications for the EURO C3 license which requires the oils minimum 150 C HTHS to be 3.5 cP and stay there. It requires the minimum 100 C HTHS to not fall below 9.3 cSt. This display below is an example of an SAE 5W30 made by Warren Oil for COSTCO. Look at the second yellow highlighted test result? ASTM D6616. This 5W30 has a HTHS of 6.9 cP at .800 gr/cm density. That's a 8.62 cSt 100 C viscosity or the equivalent of a modest *W20. (Thank you Anton Paar and an on line Cp to cSt calculator) A 0W20 may not have any VII in it if the natural VI is high enough so when Lake is comparing one to the other he is actually testing the same OPERATIONAL viscosity. Do you understand that? Good. Now, he is not 'wear' testing an oil like HPL No-VII Euro 5W300 which has a 100 C viscosity of 11.2 cSt both by ASTM D445 and ASTM 6616. It doesn't shear because there is nothing to shear. Both solidly in the upper half of the SAE spec and miles above the ability of the oil to meet the ILSAC GF-6 or 7 spec for 'fuel efficiency. I doubt you will ever see him test a ILSAC GF-7 5W30 verses a ACEA C3 5W30. Bad for the business of herding the sheepeople toward those products the OEM's, EPA are demanding. If I might be so blunt...you are not looking for what's true. You are looking to be right and in that mindset you will hear none of this. I didn't write anything in this post you can't look up for yourself. But you would have to buy a few SAE papers. Those three highlighted values show you the entire viscosity profile of Kirkland's Signature Series 5W30. Top line is the SAE requirement ASTM D445 at 10.91 cSt Second line is the 100 C HTHS, rarely publishied and shows the viscosity under dynamic high shear. 8.62 cSt (after conversion) [What the motor sees in the bearings] and it's OUT OF SPEC Thrid line is the recovery viscosity or HTLS at 100 C at 9.4 cSt. In spec but after shear is reduced and that is the 'stay in grade' value. So...Stay in grade doesn't mean what you are lead to believe. Hey! It's in spec!! Woohoo. Yea, not really. This physical behavior is why I choose 5W40 oils 90% of the time even for 0W20 applications. Lake did admit that these alternate viscosities are appropriate for the machine, just not approved by the law. Listen to everything.

Blanket statements are dangerous. Listen to the qualifiers. Blanket statement. 0W20 protects just as well as 5W30. THEN he notes, "As long as the 0W20 stays in grade". The qualifier. He is admitting 0W20 has ZERO 'cushion' so if you run it, run one with a hearty VII and assure yourself that there is little fuel dilution. Blanket statement: He is assuming all oil fit this paradigm. They don't. Red Line HP 0W20 has the HTHS of a 5W30 and HPL's No-VII 0W20 doesn't shear at all. It will dilute but it will not shear but it is also at the very bottom of the HTHS for a SAE20. Ditto 5W30's. In his study of thousands of samples by its very nature includes them all but it will be bias toward shelf oils with non-stable VII's. Darn few people run a ACEA C3 spec oil so his sample pool is bias toward 2.9 cSt HTHS which is fractionally better than an SAE 20's 2.6 cSt. The C3 *W30 oils are 3.5 min and 'stay in grade". You can get stat's to say whatever you like if you dilute the pool of samples. Blanket Statement. "The larger the difference between the number before and after the W' the most it shears and he has his pretty little graph to show that. He is also considering ONE of the four types of VII and the least stable of the lot. He is not considering in that sampling NO-VII blends or those of exceeding high natural VI that use a FRACTION of the polymer to do the same thing. Blanket statement stink, even with statistical quotation marks around them. Number don't lie but liars use numbers. Even some people that don't lie get caught in the 'wrong conclusion for the data" trap. Here's why that matters... Strictly on viscosity Stribeck HOLDS. Physics isn't optional. Thicker is more protection every single time and there is no exceptions to Stribeck. Now that said; wear is also dependent on AW and EP additives and IF you were testing the exact same add pack (concentration and all) and vary ONLY the viscosity, Stribeck HOLDS every time. However IF the 0W20 has a superior package and a superior VII then it could look as if Stribeck is violated. When you toss 6K samples into the Stats blender you get garbage. The LS Mean is supposed to filter that out but no one LOOKED at the variation bars in that graph. They just focus in on the MEAN. His chart doesn't show 'Just as good" he even admits that in the statement that the statistical difference is so small as to be meaningless. On that we agree. So...what you are getting is CUSHION when you are driving the viscosity buss with both eyes shut. If you not going to take the time to learn the WHY then listening to blanket statements from experts is your way to go. You WILL do what you've always done and get what you've always got. Guaranteed. He want's receipts? Here's mine... Total wear metals between two identical Mitsubishi 3A92 motors. The first (an acquaintance) was run on Mobil 1 5W30 Advanced and the second (mine) run on Red Line Euro 5W40. Those two yellow dots are the MEAN of the entire Blackstone library of 0W20 oils in the 3A92 platform. You want to run without a cushion? Have at it but lord man, use one that stays in grade and has a robust package then don't outdrive it's headlights with silly long OCI's.

Well she's off the walker and on a cane and she's off the narcotics. Tylenol only now and few of those. She's sleeping good and eating well. Pretty quick. PT at home twice a week. Back to work this week modified hours. She's happy. No marathon running but not bad for less that two weeks.

285,000 Mile Service 458,663 Km 4/25/2026 3,000 mile OCI 3,080 actual 90 oz make up. 5 Quarts Valvoline R&P 5W30 1 Purolator L15436 filter 4/28/2026 285,135 miles. Tire rotation.

Oil temperature is not as closely related to water temperature as you might think. Oil temp is indeed related to air temperature AND to load and rpm. Ya like measurement and science...here it is. Pepper in the winter runs about 175 F oil and has a 180 F water thermostat. In July she runs roughly 200-210 F on oil. Both temperatures are running 55 mph. Run 55 mph in fourth gear and it will run up past 250 F. Not uncommon pulling a trailer loaded at max GVW and this wasn't. Drop 7 K lbs on that trailer and you can cook road kill. I don't recall how many times I've posted this chart but a bunch. This is high gear with changes only in road speed for three different water thermostats and three different base oil packages for the center water thermostat. All within 5 degrees air temperature over the exact same roads in winds under 10 mph. Bottom line is water temperature does not regulate oil temperature to within a few degrees of water temperature. That nearly 18 degree F oil temp swing from cold to hot cuts oil life in half. The Arrhenius rate rule states that for every 10°C (18°F) increase in oil temperature above 60°C (140°F), the oxidation rate roughly doubles The bold in the quote above is the oxidation onset temperature of mineral oil. Synthetics, by type, are higher to start the process but the 'rate' is the rate. Double per 18 F (10C).

Open highway Pepper gets about 25 mpg so one fuel stop between De Kalb Illinois and Denver. A forty gallon tank gets me there on zero. LOL. I stop for the day in Lincoln and stop several times a day. Often at a station. So...... My butt gives out before the tank does.

Saw two stations at $3.96 today!