So according to you this thread is OCD?

 

OCD and proud to be! I have a '92 VE with 232k miles... I'd have to be OCD to dump money into keeping a car like this reliable.

If I wasn't obsessive compulsive, I wouldn't change my oil in 20° weather becuase i'd gone my 3000 miles, i wouldn't take door panels off just to lube a lock mechanism, and I'd go buy a new Toyota... with a warrantee. Probably be cheaper for monthly payments on a Corolla than maintenance costs on the Max.

Example: vansskaterfreak... This guy's putting a VE into a GXE! A GXE with an engine that worked fine. Why? Because he had one. That's more than someone who loves their car... That's mentally disturbed. And we think it's great. We support him. None of us are right in the head. We're enthusiasts.

 

well i have an SE.. but it is a '91.. yeah the engine worked great but the tranny blew......i tried to get a stronger tranny (VE tranny) and bolt that up.. but the VG flywheel didnt hit the VE starter....so i went out and bought the VE motor (only 69,00 miles)........i know i am mentally desturbed and i like IT!!!!!! ha ha.....

 

not the whole thread, just people trying to improve on changing the oil regularly and using a good filter and good or synthetic oil.

 

Yep, I totally agree. People always ask me why I take it so easy on my car. First of all, when you drive it hard, you have to be ready for crap to go wrong with it. Second, why would you want to when everything on the car is so old? Gotta have deep pockets for that. But since most people don't have such pockets, "OCD" is the way to go. Every little thing helps in my opinion.

Trying to keep the oil as fresh as possible, using the best oil filter possible, and keeping start up wear to a minimum at any chance I get definatly will have it's advantages in the future. It just makes sense.

 

Hey we love cars, and maxima's in particular

I have a dodge van (1986) thats running strong!, So I know that my 1993 maxima will last a minimum of 20 years, probably 30 if parts are still available.

 

Nothing wrong with babying a car...but I beat the hell out of mine and that's why I drive Nissans, they take it. I do practice and preach prevenitive maintenance however. I think there's a level that you can beat on a car to without just being plain abusive and stupid. I have never beat a car until something broke and the most reliable cars I've had took the most abuse.

 

Yeah.. So what type of cars would you say are most reliable? Jap, german, usa, etc?

 

I drove old Volvos in high school and on. The RWD Volvo engines (til the end of the 240 in 93) are damn near bullet proof. Not that Volvos haven't had issues over the years but they are sturdy cars. I don't know much about the new (Ford) Volvos. IMO you can get or beat German reliability for a cheaper entry price and a lot of times cheaper maintenance costs with a Japanese car. I'll be fair and say that US automakers have improved quality and reliabilty and will leave that one at that. My 85 Mazda 626 coupe (pre MX6) had well over 300k miles on it when I parked it. It still ran and drove but was tired. It's the most reliable car I've personally had. I bought it with 232k miles on it and did an in frame ring job because it smoked on cold starts, common for that engine family. The car just never broke except for 1 water pump, 1 starter, 1 alternator etc etc. I did trash the factory carb and put a Weber progressive on it. Mazda reliabilty went down when they started putting Ford CD4E trannys in the 626/MX6 and rebadged the Ranger and Explorers, nothing but problems from my standpoint at the dealer. I don't think you can get much more reliable than a Camry or an old Max that's been maintained. These are just my opinions so I'm not trying to start a debate. I could keep rambling but........

 

very, VERY good point! My props to you for telling him how it is.

 

also, i thought the point of the toyo filter was to have a BIGGER size filter for the VE? When O'Reilly's pulled up the D3...it was half the size of the one they gave me for my VE. what's up with that?

 

i would love to see you sort through this mess.......

 

I can't say the point was to have a BIGGER one... just a bigger version of one we know works. The V8 Yota filter was actually slightly smaller than the Valvoline MaxLife that I took off the other day (the one that was recommended for the Max). The difference is I got ticking with the Valvoline... and not with the Toyota filter.

 

Yeah, everyone has their opinions and mines are similar to yours. I hear the germans use to have amazing reliability, but according to all these consumer reports and such, that just isn't the case anymore. My friend did have many BMW and Mercs including the newest 330i, and doesn't believe a word those reports say since he never has any problems with them. I wonder if they are worth reading at all.

Huh? How can that be? The STP I pulled off my VE was definatly not as big as the Yota V8. I didn't even know the oil filters recommended for our cars are bigger than the V8 filter. Are you guys sure?

 

I was going to take a pic of them side by side, but I forgot before i installed it.... oops

 

I have seen German cars with amazing reliabilty but I think that may have gone down in the 90's. I think it was hard to beat old watercooled VWs but there have been issues since. BMW had a bad spell in the mid to late 70s. The thing to me is when a German car does break you wil pay the piper. Example, My girlfriend's daughter has a '96 Jetta w/ under 90k miles. I know the guy she bought it from and I serviced the car a couple of times. He had to pay a premium price to get the sealed auto tranny serviced. Then 2 years later it fails on her because of a common problem with a seal failing on that model. 1st off if you have the base Jetta like this one you shouldn't have to pay Audi prices to get the tranny serviced. Then when it does fail you shouldn't have to have an Audi budget to get it fixed. It was a cool car for a high schooler until we seen what it would cost to fix. Used trannys are high and that's risky because of the inherent problem. Example 2, friend buys a "preowned" MB s320 with extended warranty. A month later a small coolant line of some sort breaks in Atlanta traffic, car overheats and MB techs recommend engine replacement. Extended warranty doesn't cover it. I don't remember the exact total but I think their bill ran nearly $10K for a used engine, yes used. The bulk of that was buying the used engine. I do believe the dealer they bought it from cut them a break on labor out of goodwill. There are wonderful German cars out there but they are out of my budget entry level or repair wise unless we're talking air cooled VDubs.

 

ustfdes, why are you comparing an aftmkt filter to a factory filter?

Aztec and vans, i wouldn't call that an owned, i have old cars i put too much work and money into also, and i don't how busted your car is but, a new car is $300-500 a month + insurance: i don't spend that much on my Max a month, even including the motor job i just did and averaged out over a year. BTW, i've been where vans is, remember i work on cars for a living and a hobby so i've done plenty of swapage and wiring, and putting motors into cars they don't belong in. All i meant from the beginning is that i think it is silly to go overboard on basic prevent. maint. The ways and means of that stuff has been perfected over the last 100 of cars, so it's a pretty proven way to maintain a vehicle.

Second, i pick my points on when to baby my car. for example, i don't drive any kind of hard on a cold engine, no hwy when cold either. i try to let it warm up some if i can, but once the engine has some heat in it, look out.
as far as reliable/beating, I had a swapped crx, and beat that thing like it owed me money, great car, super reliable. My max, beat the hell out of it, bought it 5+ years ago, developed a rod knock a few months after i got it, kept beating on it until about a year ago, when i parked it until the motor for it was ready. It still ran fine, never threw a rod, never even got super-loud/bad. With a japanese car i don't think beating on a car is a good way to gauge the problems you'll have with it. I see cars that come into the shop that are lower-ish miles and babied, but still have simmilar mechanical issues of a higher-ish mileage beat-on-mobile.

 

I dont understand why you are going aftermarket for a toyota filter when you can go aftermarket for the VE. The point in going with the toyota (factory) filter is because its a good quality factory filter with an antidrain valve in it. If you go aftermarket you defeat this purpose because a fram for a toyota will be the same internally as a fram for a Nissan...you see what I am saying? If you buy aftermarket then stick with a high end filter for a Nissan instead of trying to buy it for a Toyota. If you want a good factory filter then buy the Toyota.

 

^thank you...

 

That's a pretty engine under all that... You just keep telling yourself that too.

 

Okay,

Well, I have used mobil1, which, IMO, seems to tick less, but I don't get much ticking because my VTCs are grounded (though they STILL tick a minimally for a short time when it's cold).

Up until I could not find them any more I used the nissan VE filter (I bought a $hitload of them when I heard about them being discontinued). After that, I've been using the VG one that nissan supplies now, and I see no difference.

Do those of you that are swearing by this Toyota filter think that if I ungrounded my VTC's that I'd actually see some noise reduction with the toyota filter....and would it be enough that be similar to having them grounded?

 

Honestly, how many of you switched over from the 4cyl to the V8 after this thread?

 

Hi, I had switched to the 4cyl toyo filter for 3 weeks and had alot more tick than the nissan VG filter. Today I went to the nissan dealer and bought 1, and put it back on,and after 5 mins of driving, the tick was almost gone.So
now Im more confused . lol very interested in the v8 toyo filter now.Anyone
have better luck with this? thanx dan w.

 

Beats me For me the 4cyl Yota did wonders. The V8 is even better. I started to tick and clack mildly after about 1k with the 4cyl. Now at 1500 with the V8, nothing except your mild quite tapping during idle.