Scotty Kilmer on oil changes

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I'm not sure he's an expert by any means. He didn't know the difference between an anti-drainback valve and the relief valve. I had to stop there.

I also wouldn't take tips from him on how to properly cut open an oil filter...he's lucky he still has a hand.
 
he knows his stuff but his workmanship is absolutely terrible. He takes too many corners. His videos are incomplete too, misses too many points.
Look at this video of him replacing a clutch


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ppg_70IM_qQ

-drops the car hard on the jack stands and on the ground
-does not remove the transmission to properly mount the clutch
 
Originally Posted By: Hootbro
Scotty Kilmer is an alcoholic idiot. Makes "Eric the Car Guy" look like a brain surgeon.


Eric the Car Guy at least seems like a genuinely nice and sincere guy. I have always enjoyed his repair videos. And he certainly doesn't suggest dangerous practices like not bothering with jack stands when doing work under your car (made me cringe).
 
Originally Posted By: skaughtz

Eric the Car Guy at least seems like a genuinely nice and sincere guy. I have always enjoyed his repair videos. And he certainly doesn't suggest dangerous practices like not bothering with jack stands when doing work under your car (made me cringe).


I like Eric also. The corners he cuts though are what every dealership tech cut and you just do not know about it.
 
I was actually in the neighborhood where Scottys shop is today. I should have stopped in and told him to join the site. Lol. I know some of the stuff he does is unconventional or at times questionable, but I still like his videos. He does give some good practical advice to people who are mechanic-illiterate to keep them from destroying there vehicles. Full disclaimer: I agree on the jack stand issue and I also thought he was going to lose a hand when he cut those filters open.
 
Originally Posted By: Hootbro
Scotty Kilmer is an alcoholic idiot. Makes "Eric the Car Guy" look like a brain surgeon.


And you know he is an alcoholic HOW?
 
Originally Posted By: jk_636
I was actually in the neighborhood where Scottys shop is today. I should have stopped in and told him to join the site. Lol. I know some of the stuff he does is unconventional or at times questionable, but I still like his videos. He does give some good practical advice to people who are mechanic-illiterate to keep them from destroying there vehicles. Full disclaimer: I agree on the jack stand issue and I also thought he was going to lose a hand when he cut those filters open.


Please do that, we can all bash him and he can tell us all how much we all suck and know jacks**t, and that he's been at this game for 30 years...you know...the way he's doing in the comment section of his lame vids when someone dares to contradict him.
 
Originally Posted By: stchman
Eveyone on this thread should check out Eric O over at South Main Auto, he has a YouTube channel? I have really enjoyed watching his videos.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtAGzm9e_liY7ko1PBhzTHA


+1

Been subscribed to his channel for awhile now. Like his videos a lot. Reminds me of Eric the Car Guy in the early days when he use to do beginning to end video most of the time.

Eric O's channel is pretty good in that he runs an active repair shop and does a pretty good cross section of everything on every make.
 
I'm a bit surprised that Scotty gets bashed so much.

Yes, I know. His information isn't always accurate, he cuts corners on safety aspects, he recommends to use Lucas Oil Stabilizer and he says that Castrol GTX is good oil (because he has always used it).

But other than that, I think the videos are entertaining with some good tips on how to fix your car. And I like the fact that he says things straight.

And what comes for the oil change video at hand. I'm happily surprised that Scotty has finally changed his mind about the OCIs:
- Two years ago he said that even with synthetic oil you shouldn't go over 5,000-6,000 miles. According to him 7,500 miles was too much.
- A year ago he warned not to believe the baloney that you can go 10,000-15,000 miles with oil. He said that conventional oil should be changed every 3,000-5,000 miles or six months and synthetic oil every 5,000-7,500 miles or once a year.
- And now he has updated his opinions even more and suggests that you should use the OCI recommended by the manufacturer. Wow, an old dog learned new tricks! Good job I would say!

Scotty gets a million views for most of his videos, so I guess we could say he is an opinion leader. And if Scotty says now that one should follow the OCI recommended by the manufacturer, then hopefully it will have some impact to the 3,000 miles myth.

One more thing. He did bring up the fact that not every oil filter is the same. That in some cases one shouldn't just pick the cheapest one on the shelf. So no matter he didn't get the ADBV vs. by-pass valve right (actually I didn't even notice that error when I watched the video for the first time). It was still some good general information about oil filters for the public.

Probably Scotty's videos are not so great on BITOG's scale. But I believe that for average Joe Scotty do offer some valuable (and entertaining) information.

Personally I watch Scotty's videos to get some general ideas on what I could do for my car. And if I really want to do some repairs to my car I watch the videos made by Eric The Car Guy or Chris Fix. An excellent combination I think.
 
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All these newspaper, radio, TV, youtube... iffy mechanics do what the script tells them to. Without sponsorship, viewership, fan base,... they wouldn't get a paycheck. Bias? You bet. Knowledgeable...maybe but still just reading a script.

Most of them scare me. Too many on the internet quote them as if their word is all knowing.

Waste of time!
 
If you happen to be a person who knows everything already, then yes. It's a big waste of time.

I think that in some cases the internet is more reliable source of information than television. The bad thing about internet is that if you want to find the truth about stuff you have to search from many different sources and judge yourself what is good information and what is not. Not an easy task.

But me for example, who started from zero knowledge about car mechanics a year ago.

After educating myself at BITOG and at the Youtube channels listed above (and some more Youtube and some more internet and even some more...), I can now do basic maintenance for my car, understand how my car works (i.e. can figure out myself the root causes for some hiccups) and can do educated choices for oil, filters and parts. And all thanks to internet. Not bad, I think.

So Scotty as one source of information? Why not.

Google knows it all. Scary but useful.
 
Originally Posted By: finmile
I'm a bit surprised that Scotty gets bashed so much.

Yes, I know. His information isn't always accurate, he cuts corners on safety aspects, he recommends to use Lucas Oil Stabilizer and he says that Castrol GTX is good oil (because he has always used it).

But other than that, I think the videos are entertaining with some good tips on how to fix your car. And I like the fact that he says things straight.

And what comes for the oil change video at hand. I'm happily surprised that Scotty has finally changed his mind about the OCIs:
- Two years ago he said that even with synthetic oil you shouldn't go over 5,000-6,000 miles. According to him 7,500 miles was too much.
- A year ago he warned not to believe the baloney that you can go 10,000-15,000 miles with oil. He said that conventional oil should be changed every 3,000-5,000 miles or six months and synthetic oil every 5,000-7,500 miles or once a year.
- And now he has updated his opinions even more and suggests that you should use the OCI recommended by the manufacturer. Wow, an old dog learned new tricks! Good job I would say!

Scotty gets a million views for most of his videos, so I guess we could say he is an opinion leader. And if Scotty says now that one should follow the OCI recommended by the manufacturer, then hopefully it will have some impact to the 3,000 miles myth.

One more thing. He did bring up the fact that not every oil filter is the same. That in some cases one shouldn't just pick the cheapest one on the shelf. So no matter he didn't get the ADBV vs. by-pass valve right (actually I didn't even notice that error when I watched the video for the first time). It was still some good general information about oil filters for the public.

Probably Scotty's videos are not so great on BITOG's scale. But I believe that for average Joe Scotty do offer some valuable (and entertaining) information.

Personally I watch Scotty's videos to get some general ideas on what I could do for my car. And if I really want to do some repairs to my car I watch the videos made by Eric The Car Guy or Chris Fix. An excellent combination I think.


I couldn't agree more. Scottys videos are tailored to those who have very limited mechanical knowledge or aptitude. The first rule of public speaking is to know your target audience. He knows that his audience is primarily people that want to learn or are just starting out. I think he does a great job relaying basic info to help the novice driveway mechanic.

And as for hootbros comment, You don't have any evidence to substantiate you claims that he is an alcoholic. What you have posted here is referred to as libel. False defamatory remarks written towards another individual. You should be more careful with your "opinions"
 
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