[mtts60]

I have a local shop do it; we're not allowed to do maintenance on the company vans. We have some fleet mgmt. company handle the maintenance stuff; all I do is take it to an approved shop and have the work done. I think there is a contract between that company or my employer and Ford saying the oil must be changed every 5,000 miles. If so, it seems Ford doesn't have much confidence in their oil life monitor (and, I suspect, is the reason behind the 3-gallon oil sump.)

This same fleet company says we can't change the ATF before the mileage specified in the owner's manual, which is 150,000 miles! (Perhaps that's also part of the agreement between them & Ford) Is it any wonder my transmissions have been shifting funny after I get past 140,000 miles? The last two have had the 10R80 10-speed transmission, the vans are all-wheel-drive, and sometimes (maybe 5-10 times per van) have towed loads up to 4,500 pounds (limit is around 5,200).

The 10R80 transmission does not have a drain plug in the pan; a fluid exchange machine is needed. That may well be better, but I'd bet most indie shops don't have one.

 

[mtts60]

Well, with the end of 2024 finally here, my end-of-year review shows that I spent $761 on maintenance this year, vs. $3,250 in 2023. (In 2023, I had to buy 8 tires, so that's $1,835 of the 2023 total.) So, half of what I spent non-tire-wise in 2023, and that's a good thing. Two car payments in maintenance. That's money saved.

I have noticed an occasional starting problem. Once a month for the past 3 months it has failed to start on the first try, but always does so on the second. The starter motor is spinning, but the engine doesn't fire. All 3 times it caught me by surprise so I wasn't listening for anything. Right now it's a curiosity more than anything else. It is very difficult to hear the fuel pump priming, even with the radio off, windows open and in my closed garage. With the radio on and/or windows up, I can't hear it.

I added to my significant collection of curb rash a month or so ago. The car came with quite a bit of that so it's not noticeable...

 

[mtts60]

Noticed I was down 1 quart of oil today, so I added one of Valvoline Restore & Protect. Last note I had regarding oil was when I changed it in November, about 6,000 miles ago. MM is at 30%, so when it gets to 0 I'll put in 5 quarts of R&P.

Also went to the car wash today; first time since some time in December.

 

[mtts60]

The semi-annual tire swap happened today; about 5,000 miles on the winter tires this time. It was kind of pointless to rotate them a few weeks ago I guess. Of course there was snow on the ground in the AM but it was gone by noon. Temperatures will be in the 60's next week.

Once again, they moved my seat, forward and up. I'm pulling the fuse before I go there next time. They do not need to be comfortable just to drive the car 50 feet in to the bays.

The wrench lit up a week or so ago, B123 coming up. I have another trip across the country coming up in late April; I will take care of that stuff before then.

 

[Cepega]

Once again, they moved my seat, forward and up. I'm pulling the fuse before I go there next time. They do not need to be comfortable just to drive the car 50 feet in to the bays.

Pull the fuse of disconnect under seat wiring harness, or better yet swap the fuse for a burned out one in the tolarable position for you but very inconvenient for them. If they complain, say funny thing is that it just worked before I got here this morning , you must of broke it. 🤣😂🤣😂🤣

 

[mtts60]

A few weeks ago, my right low beam headlamp blew out. Not having any on hand, I had to buy one locally. But, I did go to Daniel Stern Lighting and bought two of his H11 lamps - 2,100 lumens, 65 watts. Not surprisingly, they are nearly twice as bright as a normal H11. His are an H9 lamp on an H11 base.

B123 maintenance today. Changed all 3 filters, added 5 qts of Valvoline 0w-20 Restore & Protect. The two air filters looked about as expected for 18 months/30k worth of service. 144,476 miles on it now.

There wasn't much fuzz on the transmission drain plug magnet. Next time I need to get 5 quarts of HCF-2. The manual says 3.9 so I bought 4. I think my car needs about 4.1, so I scooped some out of the drain pan and reused it. (Same for the engine; manual says 4.4 quarts with filter change but mine needs maybe 4.9, so I put in 5.) That HCF-2 is kind of stinky.

I do have an active oil leak at the bottom of the engine around the flywheel inspection plate. I noticed this late last year when I put the car up on the ramps, but I had no idea how long it had been like that since that was the first time I was able to get the car up on the ramps; up high enough for me to truly slide under the engine. I cleaned it up then, but it came back. Most likely it is the engine oil/air separator gasket. To fix it, step 1 is remove the transmission.

My homemade RhinoRamp extensions worked perfectly, as did the ValvoMax oil drain valve. Still made somewhat of a mess when removing the oil filter, even with the Oil Udder, so I guess next time I'll set a piece of sacrificial cardboard on the floor. The problem is no longer with the oil dripping down the side (the Oil Udder takes care of that), but the limited clearance around the plastic under-engine shield and floor. Even up on the ramps I just don't have enough room to keep the open-side up and get it out at the same time. The process design there needs further study.

 

[mtts60]

Just did another cross-country trip to Buffalo NY & back. About 4,500 miles.

Still bad fuel economy in South Dakota. It has to be the gas. Was getting 35 mpg, down to 31 on gas I got in SD. Back up to 35 once I filled up again.

The engine needed all of 8 ounces of oil. The Restore & Protect seems to be working.

 

[mtts60]

Score! Found four 17" rims on Facebook recently, picked them up today for $250. They are Honda rims off of a 2013 Accord so the offset is the same as what I have now.

The tires on the car now are at 5/32 and will likely be at or below 3/32 when it comes time to mount the snow tires. I'll mount them on the 18" rims since those tires have quite a bit of life left, and buy some new 17" tires (probably 215/55r17 which the EX-L came with, currently I have 235/45r18) and mount those on the new rims. Then I'll be done with the semi-annual $85 bill to swap tires.

I got smaller rims so I can get taller tires for a softer ride, but also to avoid paying $85 twice a year for mounting tires.

 

[sequoiasoon]

Score! Found four 17" rims on Facebook recently, picked them up today for $250. They are Honda rims off of a 2013 Accord so the offset is the same as what I have now.

The tires on the car now are at 5/32 and will likely be at or below 3/32 when it comes time to mount the snow tires. I'll mount them on the 18" rims since those tires have quite a bit of life left, and buy some new 17" tires (probably 215/55r17 which the EX-L came with, currently I have 235/45r18) and mount those on the new rims. Then I'll be done with the semi-annual $85 bill to swap tires.

I got smaller rims so I can get taller tires for a softer ride, but also to avoid paying $85 twice a year for mounting tires.

I have the 16" winter for more sidewall for potholes etc. My summer are the 17" with 215-55-17 but I had the rims and all season tires in that size from my Sonata.

Sadly $85 is a bargain for the swap many places I know get at least $35 per tire if not more now.

 

[mtts60]

Good thought about using the smaller rim for the winter tires. However, they're only on for 4 months or so.

Did the front brakes today. Still good. The pads have 4-5mm left on them and they're the original pads. Wear is even. Didn't have to file so much this time. No grease leaking out of the CV joint boot I replaced last year.

I'll do the rear brakes later this week maybe.

 

[mtts60]

Today was rear brake day. Pretty much the same as the front, not much of note. 4 to 5 mm of pad remaining.

One thing I did notice though was that one of the shims has rust bubbling up on it and if that part goes under the caliper then that's affecting my clearance with the pads and the disk. I may just replace them next time.

While I was filing the rust off of the anti-rattle clips, I wondered why am I doing this? Why not just replace them? So I think that's what I'll do next time. They aren't that expensive and not worth my time.

As with the front brakes, everything went back together dry this time. The manual doesn't say to put any grease on anything except for the pad ears, so that's what I did. In previous years I have smeared a little bit of M77 grease on the shims and between the shims and the caliper, but I'm not sure it's absolutely necessary.

 

[14v6]

Today's travels:

Gotta ask, were you putting your window down? Friendly beasts?

 

[mtts60]

Yes the window was down but they didn't stop. What was unusual was that they were running. Normally they just walk.

 

[mtts60]

Put the last 8-10 oz. of Vavoline Restore & Protect in tonight. 10,000 miles on this oil and the MM is only at 30%. 1 quart added in 10,000 miles is pretty good; the old 7th gen would have used more in the same span.

 

[mtts60]

Washed it again at my usual DIY car wash place. After I left and it dried, I saw the rinse water wasn't so clean.

Cleaned the inside too. It needed it again, after about two months.

 

[mtts60]

The MM finally reached 15% Sunday, so I changed the oil today. It's early for me, I usually wait until the MM gets to 0, but this oil has 10,397 miles on it, the longest I've ever run between oil changes, on any car. I have a hard time with going more than 10,000 miles on oil, especially when that was treatment #1 of Valvoline Restore & Protect. (Who knows how much gunk it cleaned up.) Even though it was an A1 change, I changed the filter too. Normally that waits until Bx shows up.

Nothing changed during this interval except the oil. Previous oil change intervals, where the MM did get to 0, were in the 7-9,000 mile range. So what changed? Only the oil. Prior to this I'd run Honda's 0w-20. What to make of that? Clearly the powertraIn computer noted a change, or maybe it's as simple as a different manufacturer. Other than that, I don't know.

I had to add a quart over that time.

And, I still made a mess with the oil filter though not as much as before. I had cardboard boxes ready, but they were nowhere near where the oil spilled out of the filter this time. Just buy a sheet of cardboard next time. So, spread some kitty litter out and dance a jig on it to grind it in. Once again, Valvomax oil drain for the win. With the engine at operating temperature, it flows out perfectly. Not even a drip.

I still have some leak going on under the flywheel inspection plate, but it is merely seeping now, not a full-on leak like it appeared last time.

 

[mtts60]

I cut apart the oil filter today from the first usage of Valvoline Restore & Protect. 10,397 miles on this oil & filter. A02 filter, construction of it seems just fine to me. I don't understand the hate it gets.

There just isn't anything to see.

 

[sequoiasoon]

Much of the hate comes from the perceived, real or not, lesser quality when they went from metal end caps to the fiber and finding the fiber wavy, deformed not making a good seal where bypass and anti-drain back rest. I believe it’s First Brands that makes them for Honda, they also do Fram and others. Many of the Fram have thinner fiber end caps that deform easier potentially not sealing and making it basically be in constant bypass. The same scenario is happening with other Fram filters where the spring has waves in it not making a seal. Also when a user finds ripped media, really sloppy or glue that doesn’t hold or very uneven pleat spacing.

If you still have yours, check those little chunks on bottom of can. See if they are harder particles which could be carbon deposits getting freed up. Possibly take the element, make it tighter again and wrap in paper towels to help blot/absorb more oil from it. When done open it up again and look for the small (or larger) black carbon harder specks normally deeper in pleat. On these pictures yours does not look bad at all. This is first run of VRP so maybe more junk will show in future, hopefully not.

My first couple runs of HPL EC30 in my kids cars had a lot of junk in the filters. They are now on first runs of VRP so we'll see those filters when I do next change.

Here is a link to BITOG where the owner is now trying to determine best course of action with probably rocker/cam getting chewed up, hopefully before more damage occurs. 3.6 Pentastar

Also a 200k+ Subaru piston showing ring areas after 50k of High Performance Lubricants use. Subaru 200k Piston

Peruse the thread on oil filters on BITOG. There are MANY filters cut open, new and used showing some of the concerns.

In relation this is one of the older Honda A01 made by Filtech on how it seals, and the bypass valve. They are not available anymore unless old stock somewhere.

 

[Elderly]

If you really want to know what's going on.
I've used these folks for years.
Be sure to get the kit that includes particle count (ISO4406).

WearCheck - The Leader in Oil Analysis