Advice after my accident...

[Fourth Horseman]

Hey all, I changed my oil and filter about 100 miles before my Marauder was in its accident and laid up for 5 and a half months. During that time it was only rarely started and run, and then only to move it around the yard at the body shop. Into and out of work bays, etc.

I use Mobil 1 synthetic 5w30 oil. Do you think I should change the oil now that I have the car back? I've heard people say that normal oil should be changed every 3 months or so even if low mileage, but when the car was hardly run at all does that still count?

I'm hearing a bit more noise from the top end of my engine when it's cold than I remember. The weather is very cold here currently (<20 deg F in the mornings) and that might be an issue. It goes away once the engine warms up. I'm just curious if the oil could be a factor from just sitting for so long.

Should I just go ahead and do an oil and filter change? Thoughts?

[Petrograde]

I would,.. just to be safe... it's been cold lately, so the oil hasn't been warmed at all.

Tom

[CRUZTAKER]

I always put a fresh (cheaper) oil in my stored non-driven winter cars before the storage, and I change that oil in the spring. But I don't change the filter. I would think that your full synthetic would be fine, but I'm not super oil smart in that regard.

It's nice to hear you are finally getting reaquainted. I know the cold weather does funny things in regard to new noises....maybe you just forgot cause it's been so long?

[LincMercLover]

Yup.

[jgc61sr2002]

Couldn't hurt. Better to be safe than sorry. IMO.:D

[Fourth Horseman]

Cool. Thanks guys. I'll change it out this week. I was leaning in that direction as well, just wanted to see if anybody thought it was a complete waste of time.

[Bigdogjim]

Time spent working on a Marauder is never a "waste of time":)

Glad your back on the road:)

[RF Overlord]

Originally posted by Fourth Horseman
I was leaning in that direction as well, just wanted to see if anybody thought it was a complete waste of time.

Complete waste of time? No. Six quarts of Mobil 1 @ Wally World is about $27 in my area, so the expense is minimal.

But, with only 100 miles on the oil, and having only been started a few times, it may be overkill. The small amount of condensation that may have built up due to the motor not being properly warmed up each time would easily be driven out by a good highway blast. You should probably change the air filter, too...who knows how much Bondo® dust or paint overspray was inhaled every time they started it...autobody shops are not the cleanest environments I've ever seen...consider changing the fuel filter as well...it's on the passenger side just ahead of the rear wheel (I believe that's where you got hit?) and who know what kind of cheap-o filter the body shop may have installed, if they replaced it at all.

[Fourth Horseman]

Damage didn't make it to the frame, so I don't think the filter would have been changed. When I got the car back I crawled underneath to scope everything out and it looked like the original piece.

[jfclancy]

Well Forth
I use 0-20 instead of 5-30 Mobil 1 and have no problems with
"top" noise. If it was me and it worried me I would change it, but with the Mobil one IMHO you probably are not going to have a problem. Been using Mobil 1 a long long time and never have had an oil related issue.


Joe Clancy