[Racer X 69]

Yeah, and none of them appeal in this house. Grand Prix racing is a different story, especially in the wet!

My kind of guy!

Lately it seems all those F1 guys do is race in the rain.

[Racer X 69]

Sorry, Racer; not a like from me. (no offense meant - and I'm sure that it hurt you just to put it all together.)
That is the worst post I have ever seen.

Quite alright Rod. I understand.

There are a lot of people in this world, and it takes all kinds, I guess.

Everyone of those "faces" belongs to someone who doesn't know who he/she is, but who is trying to be someone/something.

Lost souls.

Screaming for attention, and most when they get it their reaction is as if they didn't want the notoriety.

[Racer X 69]

On every service invoice for my diesel car is another item, flushing oil. So they don’t just drain and refill with new filters, they clean it out too. Over a hundred thousand miles and it still runs tight and clean.

The works vehicle has a 22,000 mile service interval and I dread the likely costs etc down the line.

Flushing oil?

I've been changing oil on internal combustion engines for nearly 60 years and never done more than warm the engine, drain the crankcase, change the filter (or clean the screen), then refill the sump.

I have heard about stealership gimmicks like the engine shampoo. Supposed to clean your engine for longer life.

Never mind the lubricating oil has detergent in it.

[tim60]

Say no more!

And no warning lights to break and cost him the earth to fix.

[tim60]

In 2006 (that's correct, this century) we visited Montevideo, Uruguay (the national capital for those unfamiliar with this South American country). It is a very modern city; modern cars on well paved streets, cell phones in evidence everywhere, you get the idea. Daily trash pickup from downtown businesses was still performed by horse & cart.

I remember milk and bread delivery by horse cart. The delivery person could take the stuff to the delivery point at the house while the horse slowly plodded on to the next house. Very efficient.

[StiffLegged]

I have heard about stealership gimmicks …

No offence taken Racer, I’ll just mention it’s a small independent garage we’ve used for 30 years. Good service, very approachable and they don’t charge main dealer rates. Or give main dealer brush-offs.

[gaweidert]

I think they had manure wagons for picking up the road apples.
Don't remember where I got it, but I had a St Louis manure wagon tag or plate and gave it to a coworker that collected license plates etc.

I have seen photos with a sort of bucket hanging off the horses rear. Two benefits. Kept the streets clear and brought the manure up to nose level.

[Racer X 69]

No offence taken Racer, I’ll just mention it’s a small independent garage we’ve used for 30 years.

I apologize, I didn’t intend to disparage your choice of vehicle services.

Gosh, now I feel bad.

[gaweidert]

Flushing oil?

I've been changing oil on internal combustion engines for nearly 60 years and never done more than warm the engine, drain the crankcase, change the filter (or clean the screen), then refill the sump.

I have heard about stealership gimmicks like the engine shampoo. Supposed to clean your engine for longer life.

Never mind the lubricating oil has detergent in it.

Not a stealership thing. Actually done to save the customer some money. If the engine had gone a long way without an oil change and the oil was full of sludge, it was used to help clear out the system before putting new oil in. In severe cases kerosene was used instead. Drain sludge. then change the oil filter filter, install the flushing oil or even kerosene and run the car until the engine warmed up. Then drain the oil/kerosene and see how it looked. May take a few cycles in severe cases. A lot of this predates adding detergents to motor oil. Kind of surprises me that you never heard of this.

[Racer X 69]

Not a stealership thing. Actually done to save the customer some money. If the engine had gone a long way without an oil change and the oil was full of sludge, it was used to help clear out the system before putting new oil in. In severe cases kerosene was used instead. Drain sludge. then change the oil filter filter, install the flushing oil or even kerosene and run the car until the engine warmed up. Then drain the oil/kerosene and see how it looked. May take a few cycles in severe cases. A lot of this predates adding detergents to motor oil. Kind of surprises me that you never heard of this.

Flushing with solvent is a carryover from the days of non detergent motor oils, and times when many people failed to change the oil on a regular schedule.

Today's oils are better formulated, and include detergent to keep contamination in suspension and filtered out in the filter.

Provided a vehicle owner follows a regular maintenance routine, solvent flushing shouldn't be required.

[lesmore49]

Flushing with solvent is a carryover from the days of non detergent motor oils

I agree.

My mid '60's CZ's and Jawa motorcycles were all made behind the Iron Curtain in the communist part of the world, back then. The owner's manual recommended flushing the gearbox with kerosene, riding slowly for about 10 minutes to warm the bike up, then drain the kerosene.

But.....in those countries, at that time, good oil was difficult to get. That fact that the owner's manual recommended using kerosene to flush the gearbox , before putting in new gearbox oil makes sense, given the poorer quality of lubricating products available in those countries at that time. Mostly CZ and Jawa's customers were in communist Eastern Europe in those days and the manuals were written for them, and in view of the lubes that were available for that market.

I only followed the flushing procedure in one of the these bikes and only one time, back in the '60's, as it seemed an unnecessary step, given I used good quality North American oil products, chiefly from ESSO and Shell at the time.

[Parallax]

Flushing with solvent is a carryover from the days of non detergent motor oils, and times when many people failed to change the oil on a regular schedule.

Yep, that's what he said.

Not a stealership thing. Actually done to save the customer some money. If the engine had gone a long way without an oil change and the oil was full of sludge, it was used to help clear out the system before putting new oil in. In severe cases kerosene was used instead. Drain sludge. then change the oil filter filter, install the flushing oil or even kerosene and run the car until the engine warmed up. Then drain the oil/kerosene and see how it looked. May take a few cycles in severe cases. A lot of this predates adding detergents to motor oil. Kind of surprises me that you never heard of this.

[StiffLegged]

I apologize, I didn’t intend to disparage your choice of vehicle services.

Gosh, now I feel bad.

Don’t feel bad, I’m not offended!

I might suggest our garage finds the practice suitable for today’s really long service intervals: like the diesel-powered works vehicle I drive. Citroen in their infinite wisdom reckon 22,000 miles between oil changes is just peachy: I know in what manner many of them are driven… Of course they are at the mercy of the main stealer dealer.

[lesmore49]

I remember milk and bread delivery by horse cart. The delivery person could take the stuff to the delivery point at the house while the horse slowly plodded on to the next house. Very efficient.

I also remember home milk delivery by horse and enclosed cart, and the horse, slowly walking to the next house to get their milk delivered. The horse knew the delivery routine as well as the milkman.

A friend of mine, now passed away, had a cottage (cabin to Americans) at a lake. It was a very rural area. The only pub was about 5 miles away from his cottage, down a little traveled gravel road. He liked to drink and to drink, socially. But he was also socially conscious about the importance of drinking and not driving a vehicle with an engine.

So for quite awhile before he retired, he wrestled with the idea of getting a horse and small wagon, which would be primarily used to transport him to and from the pub. I told him he might have trouble with the Mounties pulling him, horse and wagon over on the way back, if he was loaded.

He believed it would not be an issue as the horse would do the 'driving' on the trip back to his cottage.

He further reinforced his argument that on the way back, in all likelihood, he would be lying in the bed of the wagon...out like a light, due to the effect of too much alcohol, and it would therefore be obvious to any policeman that it was the horse who was driving, not the man. In this case.

Well, I don't have a fine, legal mind, so I found it difficult to effectively counter his point.

Over the years, I lost touch with him, so I don't know how he resolved the issue of who is driving under these circumstances.....horse or human.

[MarkJerling]

I remember horse and cart veg and fish sellers from when I was a kid. (Not on the same cart, of course)