OIl Changes Harm Engines? Believe it... Or Not!

2006 - Volume #30, Issue #5, Page #05

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I got an email the other day from a fellow named Bob McNamara in Las Vegas that was kind of hard to believe. Here's what it said: "I really hate Fords. Always have. In fact, I have a hard time liking anyone who drives a Ford. But I do have to admit that my Dad's F-100 1993 Ford pickup is a best buy. To start with, it has over 200,000 miles on it and he has only changed the oil once. Last Thanksgiving, my brother and I decided we would help the old geezer out and change his oil for him. That's when the trouble started. My brother had to use a vise grips to pull out the dipstick and, when I pulled out the oil drain plug, the oil was so thick it wouldn't run out û and it wasn't from being cold. Once we finally got the oil out, old dad came running out yelling at us for ætrying to ruin his truck'. He bellered that there wasn't anything wrong with his oil. He made us pour it back into the engine, after first thinning it out a bit with some kerosene. When I went to add a new quart of Valvoline to top it up, he cuffed me on the head. He said he had some old oil in gallon jugs that he had drained from an old Deere tractor he was restoring after it had sat in a field for 20 years. He said old oil is better for an engine than new stuff. The point of the story is that after we got the oil back into the tractor, it started up easy and ran like a wristwatch. No clicks or pings. No smoke from the tailpipe."
  After reading the email, I got in touch with Bob and asked him a bit more about his dad, John William McNamara of Fairbank, Iowa. "He almost never changes the oil or filters in any of his vehicles," Bob told me. "When I was in high school he let me use his cars if I took care of them. By ætaking care of them' he meant washing and vacuuming - not changing the oil. He had a GMC truck once that had over 300,000 miles with just two or three oil changes. One of those times was when it dropped a valve at 180,000 miles and the dealer changed the oil when he fixed the engine.
  "All his engines are treated the same way except for the antique tractors he restores. He always puts new oil in them for some reason."
  Bob claims everything he told me is true, but I'm not so sure. (No offense, Bob, but I've heard some tall tales over the years.) What do you think?

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OIl Changes Harm Engines? Believe it... Or Not! ENGINES Engines 30-5-5 I got an email the other day from a fellow named Bob McNamara in Las Vegas that was kind of hard to believe. Here's what it said: "I really hate Fords. Always have. In fact, I have a hard time liking anyone who drives a Ford. But I do have to admit that my Dad's F-100 1993 Ford pickup is a best buy. To start with, it has over 200,000 miles on it and he has only changed the oil once. Last Thanksgiving, my brother and I decided we would help the old geezer out and change his oil for him. That's when the trouble started. My brother had to use a vise grips to pull out the dipstick and, when I pulled out the oil drain plug, the oil was so thick it wouldn't run out û and it wasn't from being cold. Once we finally got the oil out, old dad came running out yelling at us for ætrying to ruin his truck'. He bellered that there wasn't anything wrong with his oil. He made us pour it back into the engine, after first thinning it out a bit with some kerosene. When I went to add a new quart of Valvoline to top it up, he cuffed me on the head. He said he had some old oil in gallon jugs that he had drained from an old Deere tractor he was restoring after it had sat in a field for 20 years. He said old oil is better for an engine than new stuff. The point of the story is that after we got the oil back into the tractor, it started up easy and ran like a wristwatch. No clicks or pings. No smoke from the tailpipe." After reading the email, I got in touch with Bob and asked him a bit more about his dad, John William McNamara of Fairbank, Iowa. "He almost never changes the oil or filters in any of his vehicles," Bob told me. "When I was in high school he let me use his cars if I took care of them. By ætaking care of them' he meant washing and vacuuming - not changing the oil. He had a GMC truck once that had over 300,000 miles with just two or three oil changes. One of those times was when it dropped a valve at 180,000 miles and the dealer changed the oil when he fixed the engine. "All his engines are treated the same way except for the antique tractors he restores. He always puts new oil in them for some reason." Bob claims everything he told me is true, but I'm not so sure. (No offense, Bob, but I've heard some tall tales over the years.) What do you think?

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