Both my parents Escorts were UK models.

Last time I was over in the US (only a couple of years ago) it very much depended on where I was, but I'd say about a third of the fuel stations I visited were self service, most of which were "pre-pay", or "present card" - both quite alien to a Brit as most self-service places in the UK are "fill then pay" (apart from some of the 24/7 places late at night).

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Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

Some cars burn oil by design. My Ferrari would burn a quart of oil every 4 tanks. That was considered normal. It also held 12 quarts.

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Well changing the oil and the filter right now is not possible, in September it should not be a problem, not for about $58.61, $38.61 is for 5qts of oil, the $20 is for the oil change, money is tight right this second, if I knew how much the rent was, and if the rent was under $392, then I could do that now. I'm waiting on the energy management company to get a complete rent bill to the park, so far that is locking up what money I have left, 2 weeks after the 1st, which used to be the due date. The light says "check engine soon", I think.

In any case I am not going to drive much in the rest of August, maybe 4-6 trips, so buying 1 quart and adding as much as it needs or that the 1 qt will supply, will have to do.

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Savoir-Faire is everywhere!
The T1 Trust, T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, America's First HST

The ADA requires an attendant be available (at least part time) to pump for people in wheelchairs.

IIRC there are a few of the 50 states that don't permit self serve - jobs bill.

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Well changing the oil and the filter right now is not possible, in September it should not be a problem, not for about $58.61, $38.61 is for 5qts of oil, the $20 is for the oil change, money is tight right this second, if I knew how much the rent was, and if the rent was under $392, then I could do that now. I'm waiting on the energy management company to get a complete rent bill to the park, so far that is locking up what money I have left, 2 weeks after the 1st, which used to be the due date. The light says "check engine soon", I think.

In any case I am not going to drive much in the rest of August, maybe 4-6 trips, so buying 1 quart and adding as much as it needs or that the 1 qt will supply, will have to do.

You are checking the dipstick and not just waiting until the oil light comes on?
The check engine light is something else altogether. You would need to have the codes read to see what that is about. Many auto parts stores will do this free of charge.

Meow.

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"Time is simply the mechanism that keeps everything from happening all at once."

We have two supermarkets "facing off" across a roundabout.
One has a kiosk, which is staffed during "normal" hours.
The other is "camera controlled" from inside the main store, and is, obviously pay at pump, pre-swipe card. It has the highest rate of miss-fueling, and watching the stream of cars that pull into it, look at the pumps then drive out and round the roundabout and into the other one is "quite spectacular".

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Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

I'll go to O'Reilly auto parts or Lube Express and get them to see what the car is trying to say, I have to go into town anyway.

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Savoir-Faire is everywhere!
The T1 Trust, T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, America's First HST

I'll go to O'Reilly auto parts or Lube Express and get them to see what the car is trying to say, I have to go into town anyway.

I know the O'Reilly store a few blocks from my house does it no charge.
I bought a code reader that reads fault codes and engine operating parameters because I am always toying with such things.

Keep in mind that depending on the ECU, some will store all codes until cleared manually. Some will store just serious codes, and minor ones are cleared automatically if the fault was intermittent or goes away. So, if they find no codes stored it may have been a minor transient problem.
Good luck with it.

Meow!

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"Time is simply the mechanism that keeps everything from happening all at once."

Well changing the oil and the filter right now is not possible, in September it should not be a problem, not for about $58.61, $38.61 is for 5qts of oil, the $20 is for the oil change

I haven't bought a quart of oil in years, so I don't know the current prices, but $9 seems pretty steep. $58.61 for a change is definitely steep, bordering on outrageous. I don't even pay half that much, and my car requires an extra quart on top of what the standard oil change includes. Maybe it's because of your rural area, but it's still too high.

Could it be that your light says Change Oil Soon? If so, it's just telling you you've driven the proscribed number of miles since your last change (probably 3000 in your case).

I've had a Check Engine light for a while, but I know what it is and it can wait a while. However, when I left Sunday morning, it was flashing, which means there's a more serious problem and power is reduced. Fortunately, it quit flashing after half a mile, but I still need to get the codes pulled. The last time it flashed, it turned out to be a broken valve spring; fortunately, it was still covered by the extended warranty I got when i bought it... since expired.

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David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

I think the price for the oil and the change may be higher because Vic is running synthetic.
I am running Mobil 1 synthetic in Toothless myself.

Meow.

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"Time is simply the mechanism that keeps everything from happening all at once."

There is another name for BofA and it has to do with an orifice in a Donkey's hiney.

I entirely agree with that. I have another card with them which they inherited through a merger. I was carrying a low interest balance transfer on it for years while more quickly paying down higher interest balances, but I finally paid it off a few months ago. I haven't used it in years and don't even carry it with me. I also recently paid off my car loan with them.

Considering that I'm now even less likely than before to make use of my Amtrak points, maybe I should get a plain cash-back card from another bank. Right now is not a good time to apply for new credit, though, even with a >800 credit score.

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David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

I think the price for the oil and the change may be higher because Vic is running synthetic.
I am running Mobil 1 synthetic in Toothless myself.

Meow.

Mm, yeah, I didn't consider that.

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David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

Royal Purple.....expensive stuff. Good stuff, but still expensive. Quite a popular oil with Legend owners in the US. To be honest, I think you'd be better off using a 'blend' oil....a formulated mixture of synthetic and mineral oils or, 'part synthetic'. The advantage being, a 'blend' conditions oil seals better than full synthetics, which could easily be one source of oil 'use' and of course, it is cheaper. I'm a little surprised that a 5W/30 is still used in high ambient operating temperatures, but, the reduction of internal engine friction was part of the Zetec mantra and oil viscosity was one of those factors. Tribology. If the engine is a higher mileage unit, it might even be worth considering a 10W/40, especially if there are signs that the engine is burning some oil. However, that would be a bit of a balancing act.....balancing the cost and effect of burning oil, against a possible slight increase in fuel consumption. If your oil change interval is low, it could make more sense to use a cheaper mineral oil, completely, given that a fully synthetic oil is designed to maintain viscosity over a longer service period. Just for your info, I used to work for the AE Group in the UK - we were very well-known for our automotive products and worked with Ford on their new Zetec project.

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Don't take life too seriously, as you'll never come out of it alive!

Iona - your sig line reminds me of old saying "Life is a fatal, sexually transmitted disease".

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Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

I think the price for the oil and the change may be higher because Vic is running synthetic.
I am running Mobil 1 synthetic in Toothless myself.

Meow.

Mm, yeah, I didn't consider that.

And at Walmart, the 5qt container is about $7.72 a quart, and yes it is synthetic, but then I do have a car with just over 101,000 miles on the odometer, and when was the last time I changed the oil?

About 9,000 miles back.

I need a bigger check, double the $735 that comes My way, would work better, which does not include snap benefits, CA does kick in $160.72, but that is it, too few dollars are chasing too many things, house, car, etc, etc, etc...

Right now I'm on the phone waiting for an answer to My question to Yes Energy Management, I'd like to know the amount of My rent bill.

No change there, and no answer to My question, I talked to the manager afterwords, I said maybe the park ought to find a different company, He did say I wasn't the only one to have an incomplete bill, and that it isn't My fault, so I get to pay $331.80, which is what I wrote the rent check for, it will pay for everything, except the electricity this month, and that is out of My hands. It's lower than the $451.89 that I'd predicted, all cause of YEM(Yes Energy Management) wanting to transition from 3 different billing systems to 1, so this month I'm so far saving $120.09, though it doesn't seem right.

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Savoir-Faire is everywhere!
The T1 Trust, T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, America's First HST

Ah, I came up with that, when I was in the RAF, a few years ago. As for Life being a fatal, sexually transmitted disease......it is!

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Don't take life too seriously, as you'll never come out of it alive!

, so I get to pay $331.80, which is what I wrote the rent check for, it will pay for everything, except the electricity this month, and that is out of My hands. It's lower than the $451.89 that I'd predicted, all cause of YEM(Yes Energy Management) wanting to transition from 3 different billing systems to 1, so this month I'm so far saving $120.09, though it doesn't seem right.

Just keep in mind that if you don't pay it this month, it will probably be added onto next month's bill, making your rent then more like $570.

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David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

No new credit card in today's mail. In fact, the only thing I got was a solicitation to sign up for Walgreen's mail-order prescription service. Recycle that.

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David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

Oil changes are based upon two things, mileage between oil changes and the time between them.

You forgot the oil temperature.
Perhaps the most important factor for oil changes.
The higher the temperature the oil will degrade faster.
Synthetic oil last about 3 times longer than mineral oil.
Since cars are not used 24 hours per day it's difficult to base oil changes per mileage and time between them.

Not strictly true. In essence, the oil also needs to reach it's optimum temperature, at which impurities in the oil, mostly caused by fuel dilution are burned off, or reduced. This is the primary reason why journeys that are short and don't allow the engine to reach it's normal operating temperature can actually cause more damage to an engine, than entering the 'M25 Grand Prix'! Having said that, fuel dilution is more likely to be seen in higher mileage engines, in particular where there is excessive wear to the cylinder walls, piston rings and pistons (we made those, too......Hepolite and Wellworthy). As to the frequency of oil changes, if, for example the vehicle is parked up for a year (ignoring precautionary lubrication of the cylinders and valve gear, prior to starting), the oil would probably need changing, even if an oil change had been done, before 'laying up', due to the fact that the composition of the oil would have deteriorated at the molecular level, never mind any condensation that may have taken place internally. Essentially, oil has a 'use by date'. Similarly, tyres, timing/cam belts and ancillary belts also deteriorate with age, irrespective of use.....tyres, particularly, have dates of manufacture, for that reason.

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Don't take life too seriously, as you'll never come out of it alive!