Synthetic lubricants can save time and money in many ways.  Reduced wear and maintenance, extended oil change intervals and better fuel economy head the list of benefits.  An oil change for a typical 4 cylinder car using synthetic oil only costs about 15% more than using conventional oil, but the oil can last up to 5 times longer. Conventional oil needs to be replaced at 3,000 mile intervals, whereas synthetic oils can go for much longer periods of time - 10,000 or 15,000 miles. Fewer oil changes means less downtime for the vehicle and more money in your pocket.

Synthetic oils are specifically designed for their application, which means better performance. Most of the wear on your car occurs during a cold start. A cold start is anytime the engine has cooled to ambient temperatures. All the oil has drained to the bottom of the engine. This means the engine actually runs for a tiny amount of time with no oil, as it takes a second or two for oil pressure to build. The colder it is outside, the longer it takes the oil to flow. Synthetic oils do not have this problem, as they will flow properly at very cold temperatures. Synthetic oils also have numerous other technologies to help reduce wear while the engine is running.

Conventional oils contain various additives to help keep the engine running properly. However, they are all limited by their conventional oil base and its properties. Synthetic oils are designed for a specific application from the ground up, giving them fewer limitations. As such, they can use additives that do not break down as fast. This is why synthetic oil can safely be used for much longer intervals.

Happy Jap’s is an authorized Amsoil dealer and we stock and use Amsoil lubricants in customer and our own vehicles regularly.  Benefits of using Amsoil products are better outlined at their web site at http://www.amsoil.com/. A direct comparison of various synthetic oils and convetional oils can be found here.

Did you know that your check engine light can be turned on by something as simple as a loose gas cap? The vapors above the liquid fuel in your gas tank are one of the largest volumes of hydrocarbons in your car. The EVAP system is responsible for managing these vapors. Air entering and exiting the fuel system is run through a series of filters to keep the vapors from escaping. While the car is running and the tank is between 1/3 and 2/3 of a tank, the system is tested to see if it can hold pressure. If a leak is detected the system turns on the check engine light, with a code indicating a leak in the EVAP system. It is up to the technician to find the leak in this complex system of filters and hoses. However, if the gas cap is left loose or the car is run without a gas cap, the EVAP system will see this as a leak and turn the light on.

Because it is an easy thing to do, when your check engine light comes on, check your gas cap. Did you drive off and forget it, then find it later? It may be that easy to fix.

This is a description of CV joints, or constant velocity joints. CV joints are a higher tech and smoother version of the old universal joints that do essentially the same thing. The advent of front wheel drive cars, coupled with the movement toward smoother, more vibration free drive trains, CV joints became necessary. The down side of CV joints is that they require a clean and lubricated environment, and this requires a flexible set of bellows, also called a boot. The boot keeps dirt, water, and other contaminants out of the joint while keeping lubricant in. It also allows the drive shafts to flex with relation to each other. The problem with the boot is that when it fails, it perforates. This allows all the lubricant to leave the joint and allows contaminants in. At best the joint must be dissembled, cleaned and a new boot must be installed. At worst, the contaminants will destroy the joint and the whole assembly will need to be replaced. Some money can be saved by catching the failure during the window that the boot is damaged, but before the joint is. A healthy remanufacturing market has, however, made it economical to repair if the joint is damaged. Either way, a clicking or clunking in the drive train during sharp turns in low speed parking lot maneuvers can be fairly economically repaired. Give us a call, or email.

I have a customer who has taken care of her 9 year old Camry well and is getting good service from it over the long haul. She recently found the check engine light on and noticed a miss from the engine. The term “miss” is often misunderstood, but refers to a situation when the engine runs on less than the number of cylinders it is equipped with. In this case, it meant one of her 6 cylinders was not firing at all. A “miss” can refer to a constant condition or an intermittent one – in this case it was constant. Even though her car had seen relatively regular care, it has high mileage (in excess of 160k miles) and was processing some oil past the rings that fouled one or more of the spark plugs. The term “fouled plug” refers to a spark plug which has gone electrically open or shorted, meaning it will not fire across its gap because the electricity has found a lesser resistant path around that gap or the electrical potential can’t fire across a gap too large. Plugs can be fouled by a number of contaminants. Some include antifreeze, oil or fuel. In this car’s case the plugs were fouled by oil. Oil shouldn’t be in the combustion chamber in a quantity that would cause fouling, but in the case of this car’s age, some oil is passing the piston rings designed to stop it, as a result of wear. It takes some time for the plugs to foul, so replacing the plugs, while not a permanent fix, will help for some time. In the mean time the car running on all 6 cylinders will save enough money to pay the bill in a short period of time.