George, an interesting story! Enjoyed it!

John Rodgers
88 GL Driver

JKrevnov@aol.com wrote:

>In a message dated 7/10/03 12:18:20 PM, j_rodgers@CHARTER.NET writes:
>
><< he black colored Mann/Mahl oil
>filters seem to be the only ones that meet the spec and do a really good
>job. Anything else is junk so far as the WBX engine is concerned.
>
>My $0.02
>
>John Rodgers
>88 GL Driver - running with Mahle filter, Mobil 1- 15W50 Synthetic >>
>
>John,
>
>When I was a kid, my old man was a mechanics dream and a car lovers
>nightmare.  His weapons of choice were 98 Oldsmobiles (for you youngin's, that is a
>model number, not a year).  He knew enough to realize that gas was needed to make
>them go, but that is where his mechanical aptitude came to an abrupt end.  To
>him, the throttle was the on switch and the brake pedal the off switch.
>Naturally, I grew up thinking that clicking hydraulic valve lifters were the way
>the world was meant to be.
>
>One Sunday, my uncle, Wild Bill Worthington, wised me up.  Wild Bill was a
>lover of fine machinery and when he was sober, one helluva mechanic.  He knew
>what my old man was doing to his cars and he couldn't bear the thought of it any
>longer, so that fine Sunday afternoon he started me on the journey which,
>probably, has brought me here.  While my old man slept off the big meal we had
>just eaten, Wild Bill gave me an empty turpentine can and told me to hike down
>to the corner gas station for some kerosene, I didn't think he was going to
>torch my dad's 98, but I wasn't sure; Wild Bill could be kind of volatile when
>pushed.
>
>When I returned with the kerosene, Uncle Bill used it as a stock for a
>witches brew he mixed up in an old enameled soup pot.  As I remember, the other key
>ingredient was some straight 30 weight.  Whatever else he might have thrown in
>remains a secret to me.  He drained the crankcase, the whole while cursing my
>old man with his well practiced arsenal of four letter words.  He then filled
>the engine with his magic elixir and told me to fire it up and let it idle.
>In short order, the Olds started blowing smoke like it just had some sort of
>internal combustion enema.  Being party to all this, I thought for certain my
>ass was grass.  Wild Bill noticed the concerned look on my face and told me not
>to worry because it was supposed to do that.
>
>Just about the time that I felt Uncle Bill might have had one too many
>Ballentines before we started our little auto maintenance escapade, the lifters
>quieted down, the valve stem seals swelled and the smoking stopped.
>
>In my first Vanagon I ran dino.  The first time it had sat for a week, its
>lifters clacked to the point of scaring me.  I went so far as installing a
>couple of new lifters to replace the ones I thought were not pumping up.  Of
>course, that wasn't a solution.  At the time, I was mentioned the lifter problem to
>an Old Timer who would have been Wild Bill's age had Wild Bill lived.  He said
>three words: Marvel Mystery Oil.  As I poured a pint of MMO into the
>crankcase, I thought of Uncle Bill and the puffing Olds.  And, after a few miles the
>lifters were purring again.
>
>I then bought a van which had been fed synthetic from early on.  At the first
>oil change, facing a cost of about five times as much, I ignored the previous
>owners precaution to keep using the synthetic.  The first time it sat for
>more than overnight, the valves started clacking.  I added some MMO, but at the
>next oil change, I bit the bullet and used the synthetic.  Using Mobil 1 with a
>Mann filter, I NEVER have clacking lifters.  Being cheap, I once tried to get
>away with a Castrol synthetic blend which resulted in occasional valve noise.
>
>The sum of all this rambling is that I agree with you totally: proper German
>filter and Mobil 1 15W50 is the best way to go
>
>George
>
>
>
>