i want a refund

From : nunya

Q: well after 291000 miles the starter went out in my 97 ram. i called the dealer that i purchased it from and they said it was no longer in warranty. now i am upset and had to change it out myself. ;- i hope i get another 291k out of this one. i bought a factory replacement since the first did so well. also i have a subject i have been pondering that someone may be able to enlighten me on. with this same truck i started it out with castrol 20/50 syntec after its second oil change. at about a quarter million miles it had begun to burn a full quart every 2000 miles. there were no leaks it was just disappearing. one day about three oil changes ago i dropped the oil for a change and realized i didnt have any of the syntec in the shop. i did have a case of royal purple 20/50 that i use in my harleys and my hotrod. i figured what the heck how can i kill this truck by using a different oil. afterwards i opened the hood after 2k to pour in the required quart and noticed that it had not used enough to warrent topping off. in fact it made it 5k and only needed a 1/2 quart. the oil consumption went down by way more than half just from a brand change. i now know the castrol syntec is a highly refined oil and not a true synthetic but it is still a decent product. what is up with the change in oil consumption michael .

Replies:

From : peterd

on mon 27 oct 2008 085010 -0400 nunya nunya@nunya.net wrote well after 291000 miles the starter went out in my 97 ram. i called the dealer that i purchased it from and they said it was no longer in warranty. now i am upset and had to change it out myself. ;- i hope i get another 291k out of this one. i bought a factory replacement since the first did so well. also i have a subject i have been pondering that someone may be able to enlighten me on. with this same truck i started it out with castrol 20/50 syntec after its second oil change. at about a quarter million miles it had begun to burn a full quart every 2000 miles. there were no leaks it was just disappearing. one day about three oil changes ago i dropped the oil for a change and realized i didnt have any of the syntec in the shop. i did have a case of royal purple 20/50 that i use in my harleys and my hotrod. i figured what the heck how can i kill this truck by using a different oil. afterwards i opened the hood after 2k to pour in the required quart and noticed that it had not used enough to warrent topping off. in fact it made it 5k and only needed a 1/2 quart. the oil consumption went down by way more than half just from a brand change. i now know the castrol syntec is a highly refined oil and not a true synthetic but it is still a decent product. what is up with the change in oil consumption michael your refund check is in the mail. really. promise. now about oil. ive also noticed that some brands seem to be more prone to dissapearing than other brands. i also find when that happens an addative such as the old standby stp helps. .

From : nunya

michael the answer is actually simple. the viscosity of the harley oil is greater at the operating temperature of the ram. remember the harley oil is subjected to a much higher operating temperature because it is air cooled and it is blended for that temperature range. please also note that the sae viscosity rating is based on an orifice test at 0 and 212 f. it does not state the actually viscosity at any temperature in between. steve snip the royal purple i am using is not branded for v-twins. they make a version for v-twins but i am not spending the extra change that they want for the motosickle earl. it is standard royal purple 20/50. in the castrol syntec branded oil i was using is also 20/50. but the any temperature in between statment may be a hint to what is going on. thanx michael .

From : steve lusardi

michael the answer is actually simple. the viscosity of the harley oil is greater at the operating temperature of the ram. remember the harley oil is subjected to a much higher operating temperature because it is air cooled and it is blended for that temperature range. please also note that the sae viscosity rating is based on an orifice test at 0 and 212 f. it does not state the actually viscosity at any temperature in between. steve well after 291000 miles the starter went out in my 97 ram. i called the dealer that i purchased it from and they said it was no longer in warranty. now i am upset and had to change it out myself. ;- i hope i get another 291k out of this one. i bought a factory replacement since the first did so well. also i have a subject i have been pondering that someone may be able to enlighten me on. with this same truck i started it out with castrol 20/50 syntec after its second oil change. at about a quarter million miles it had begun to burn a full quart every 2000 miles. there were no leaks it was just disappearing. one day about three oil changes ago i dropped the oil for a change and realized i didnt have any of the syntec in the shop. i did have a case of royal purple 20/50 that i use in my harleys and my hotrod. i figured what the heck how can i kill this truck by using a different oil. afterwards i opened the hood after 2k to pour in the required quart and noticed that it had not used enough to warrent topping off. in fact it made it 5k and only needed a 1/2 quart. the oil consumption went down by way more than half just from a brand change. i now know the castrol syntec is a highly refined oil and not a true synthetic but it is still a decent product. what is up with the change in oil consumption michael .