Auto ExperTees

I wrote this for a mechanic's forum in response to a maintenance question. I'm going to share it with my followers: "I'm an old timer. I've been a tech for 45 years. I've seen trends. Actually I primarily work on Asain and Domestic cars. I leave the europeans now a days for the specialist euro shops. The materials aluminum and cast iron is the same on all cars. Green antifreeze I have found deteriorates pretty quickly. Dexcool will not last 100k like they say it will. Dexcool gets very corrosive over time. The newer Universal Antifreeze I have found no problems with. I still do not recommend trying to make it last 100k. I would change it out maybe every 50k. If you go by manufacturers specs your car will last 100k easily. If you maintain your car as we do as experienced techs we can get 300k out of most any vehicle now a days. The materials are much better than in the past. Oil changes are key every 3000 miles for mineral oil. 5000k on synthetic. This is tried and true. Avoid propaganda by oil companies and car manufacturers. The variable timing mechanisms in todays cars are sensitive to impurities in dirty oil. Dirty oil will quickly wear out the nylon on timing chain followers. The timing chains will stretch and wear out because cams are harder to turn with dirty oil. Replacing timing chains and phasers and timing actuators can total out a car. The work is so expensive. No one ever hurt their car by changing the oil too much. Many many people have totally screwed up their vehicles by not performing timely oil changes. Don't use your expensive vehicle for a science experiment based on advertising propaganda by car manufacturers and oil companies."