Recent content by IanInCalgary

I've been using exclusively TGMO in my 2010 RAV4, 4-cylinder almost since new. There are currently 315,000 km on the clock. For several years it was an absolute bargain - by far the lowest cost synthetic 0w-20. The price has crept up for the last few years but now is on a full sprint to raise...

I changed my oil the other day and refilled with Toyota 0w-20 SN+. This is about the 20th time I've changed the oil in this car (2010 RAV4 4-cyl) using Toyota 0w-20. It is noticeably thinner at room temperature than the previous SN formulation. I put a partial bottle in the freezer (probably...

I looked for about an hour googling "mercury 9.9 prop nut torque". None of the recommendations were less than 55 lb-ft so all recommendations were worthless. The nut is bronze and small in diameter so 55 lb-ft could strip the nut. I'm probably going to use 10-15 lb-ft and call it a day. Ian

I've searched high and low for the propeller tightening torque for a Mercury 9.9, 4-stroke with a 12-spline hub. Anyone know what it is supposed to be? Ian

I've attached two analyses: from earlier this month; and from several years ago (for reference). The car has had exclusively Toyota 0w-20 from the forth oil change. All oil filters and air filters have been Toyota. I changed the oil at 8,000 km intervals per the owner's manual until the...

About a year ago someone posted that he had been running extending oil filter replacement intervals and keeping track of the suspended solids in the oil. As I recall, he found that around 40,000 miles was the maximum oil filter change interval – more miles and the suspended solids would start to...

I was under the impression that SUVs are considered light trucks so would require a P-metric tire to be de-rated by 1.1 in order to be used in place of a Euro-metric tire. E.g. if a pickup truck uses a P-metric tire rated at 1,100 lb it would be de-rated to 1,000 lb when used on the truck. For...

The current RAV4 model has been in production since the 2013 model year. Years 2013-2016 used 225/65R/17 102H tires at 33 psi. The 2017 year uses P225/65R/17 102T tires at 33 psi. Does that mean if I want to replace tires for a 2013 RAV4 I can use P225/65R/17 102T tires? When I saw that the...

You're probably better off with 15w-40 than with 10w-40 since the minimum required HTHS for 15w is higher than 10w. The gears do better with the higher viscosity. Any 50 grade oil (e.g. 10w-50, 15w-50 or 20w-50) will have higher required HTHS than 10w-40. Unlike car engines where thinner oil...

People have often posted that the oil in their air-cooled bike has been beaten-up by high oil temperatures so they change the oil early. What are the signs of oil that has been "damaged" by high temperatures? I do a fair amount of low-speed single-track on an XR250R. The case covers of the...

Originally Posted By: exranger06 The link doesn't work. But the "S" in the ratings does not stand for "spark" ignition, and the "C" does not stand for "compression" ignition. That's a very common misconception. They actually stand for "service grade" and "commercial grade," respectively...

I have the following information on T6 5w-40 from a spreadsheet that I use to keep track of some oils. Unfortunately I don't have the reference document to back up this info. Viscosity at 40C: 87 Viscosity at 100C: 14.2 Pour Point: -45C Viscosity Index: 169.5 CCS: 6,000 @ -30C HT/HS: 4 Hope...

I added the magnet to a stock drain plug by drilling a shallow hole in the end of the drain plug, then putting the magnet in the hole. I've used different magnets depending on the amount of space available at the end of the plug. For a small plug I use a Bucky ball. For a larger plug I use small...

Analysis was performed by Ramatek in Calgary so the order of elements is different from Blackstone. I believe the silver was shown as 6.6 instead of 7 because Ramatek is paying close attention to the silver. Silver doesn't show up very often and can indicate serious problems. I'll be doing at...

Chris, The original petcock was vacuum operated. I replaced it with a manual petcock for a Yamaha Raptor, and plugged the vacuum line. I haven't fully developed the habit of turning the petcock to OFF when I'm not running the engine but expect it will be ingrained early next season. Ian