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Olds 88 Concerns
Q. Hello Vincent: I just discovered your auto repair web site and hope you can address a few issues. My vehicle is a 1998, Oldsmobile, Eighty Eight LS Sedan. It has a 3800 series II V-6 engine. It has an automatic transmission and is fuel injected.
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It has ABS brakes, cruise control, and A/C. In other words, the car is loaded. I bought the car used one year ago with approximately 52,000 miles on the car. Currently, it has 72,000 miles on it.
Fortunately, I have an honest and knowledgeable mechanic who checked the car over before I bought it and made a recommendation that I buy it.
I do put a lot of miles on the car as I make a 340 round trip every other weekend to visit my mother in Northern Michigan. In between, the trips are usually short involving back and forth to work and trips to the store (work is about 2 miles one way).
I do tend to keep my cars for a long time and take good care of them. My last car was a 1984 Oldsmobile Delta 88 with the V-8 engine. It has about 260,000 miles on it and my mother is driving it now.
I apologize for all the preliminaries but I wanted to give you an idea of my type of vehicle and my driving habits. Now for my questions:
(1) My mechanic said he was confident that I can get 300,000 miles out of this car with no problem with the proper maintenance. Are you in agreement?
(2) I usually try to change the oil every 3,000 miles or so but the last time I went 5,000 miles between oil changes. I know there is disagreement among the experts as miles to go between oil changes. What are your recommendations considering my vehicle and my driving habits? Yes, I did check with my mechanic and he suggests 3,000 miles.
Now, if I occasionally go 5,000 miles or so between oil changes will this hurt?
Should my mechanic be changing the oil on a regular basis? Normally I take it to Wal Mart as this is more convenient as I don't have to make an appointment.
(3) I also see some disagreement between dealer recommended maintenance and the car's owner's manual. I always thought the car's owner's manual was the gold standard. What are your recommendations or should I follow my mechanic's specific advice considering my vehicle and my driving habits?
(4) So far, since I bought the car, the oil has been changed regularly and the serpentine belt was changed at 60,000 miles. This past week, I had the transmission fluid and filter serviced. Since I never had the PCV valve checked, I had the mechanic check it and it was fine. In two weeks I am going to have the car tuned up for the first time.
Besides the above, what other maintenance chores should be performed on this vehicle before it reaches 100,000 miles? When should I have the steering/suspension, exhaust system, coolant system, brakes, etc., inspected?
You may be wondering why I am asking all these questions. Because of financial considerations, I had to finance this vehicle for 5 years. I have 4 years left to pay on it and, naturally, want this vehicle to last as long as possible.
Any suggestions or thoughts regarding my particular vehicle and my driving habits would greatly be appreciated.
Very sincerely,
John
A. Okay John, I'll take the questions in order.
1. With the proper maintenance you can expect the get the most out of the car. 200,000 to 300,000 miles is not unreasonable.
2. I also recommend 3,000 mile oil changes. This is the one maintenance item that will do the most to extend engine life. I have seen engines with over 200,000 miles on them and the oil comes out as clean as it goes in and the engine bearings show little signs of wear. Going 5,000 miles between oil changes on occasion will do no harm to the engine.
I did some calculations based on the information you gave me and I figure you will need four oil changes a year. Based on that, I would recommend that every other one be done by your mechanic. When he has it up in the air, he can check it over and see if there are any problems developing as far as the steering, suspension and other under car items, along with the coolant and other fluids. He can pull a couple of wheels off and look at the brakes while he is doing the oil change as well and take a look at the brakes. While Walmart may be good at changing the oil, I would not trust the lube guys to really check or know what they are looking at.
3. Always go with your mechanics recommendations. He is familiar with your car, your driving habits and the conditions in which it operates a lot better than some engineer sitting in a fancy office. If you read the owners manual you'll see that it says service intervals should be more frequent in "severe" conditions. In the real world "severe" means you take it out of the garage and actually drive the car.
4. With today's cars there aren't too many things left to do on a regular basis. I would change the coolant and brake fluid every two years. I would recommend changing the transmission fluid and filter at 15,000 miles or once a year. This may seem like it's too close, but when you realize that about half the fluid stays inside the transmission when you do a change, it makes more sense.
If you follow the outline above and listen to your mechanic, you will get the most out of this car and it will last past the last payment. As for your driving habits, the short drives back and forth to work can shorten an engines life, but the twice monthly road trips will actually help keep the engine in good shape despite the short drive to work.
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