diesel4life

Not one time did I ever say Blackstone was cheaper than anybody. And that is why this thread got out of control, things get twisted around and interpreted as they see fit. Sorry that that's all you've taken away from this, but at this point and time it no longer matters. Ryan, again, I apologize for wrecking your thread. I shouldn't have allowed myself to get roped into such a silly argument.

Nobody asked you for your opinion either yet you had no problem giving it. If thats not a sense of entitlement i dont know what is. I never made a false statement. The prepaid kit is posted on their website for all to see. Please tell me you dont believe it costs $10 to ship a little bottle. I know you know better than that. Yes, that is double or dam close to the actual cost of shipping. But hey,they dont charge for TBN, so they gotta make up for it somehow, right? And then there is the all mighty membership which is a racket of its own. An oil company that requires a membership just to get pricing that is somewhat manageable. Who else does that? NOBODY. There are enough areas where Amsoil more than makes up for their fictitous pricing on the UOAs. I bet you can't come up with one other service or product where they are actually cheaper than their competitors. This is very likely the one and only.

John, I made the rep comment because your starting to sound a lot like one, and that isn't meant as a compliment. Money is money no matter how its allocated or charged. If I were a lab I could offer free analysis but charge $35 for the sample bottle. Or if I was Amsoil I could claim a lower price point than my competitors but make it up by charging double for shipping, or an insane mark up on filters that they dont manufacture and hydraulic fittings which they faithfully do all of the above. You've been drinking the Amsoil koolaid a little too long.

LOL! Spoken like a true rep, John. Ryan, sorry for wrecking your thread. It certainly wasn't intentional.

First, he never asked about or wanted a TBN based on his mileage, so Im not sure why that's even being discussed. Amsoil is the worst offender of over charging for goods or shipping, kinda like the pot calling the kettle black eh? This is the humorous part of all of this. Amsoils pre paid samples are $34 including shipping. Blackstone charges $35 and you cover shipping at the post office which is less than $3 for me. So all in all, we are arguing over less than $4? Why is this a big deal?

I believe its still you. Ryan was simply asking questions on his report, not personal preference or who or why you dont like somebody. You came right out and slammed Blackstone over charging for TBN, yet with Amsoils non member pricing and extraordinary pre paid shipping they are within a few bucks of each other. No matter how you slice your apples to oranges comparison, that's how it is. Then you felt compelled to tell how incompetent Blackstone is. I really have no opinion here as Ive not personally dealt with any of their lab techs. I generally read my own oil reports.

Right,Amsoil offers prepaid shipping labels at the customers expense. They're very consistent on that end at least.

Amsoils website says $34 not $24. If they include the shipping that is a first, they certainly gouge you on other things so I suppose it all works out in the end. Maybe the $24 is the member only price. But there is another cost. OK, so $34 shipped vs $37 and change shipped.

Why so angry? LOL Amsoils UOA are $34 (according to their website). Blackstone is $35 including the TBN.

What about these cheapy Pittsburgh vac pumps? Obviously it wouldn't hold a candle to an industrial 2 stage nor would it hold up to regular use but how about the 1 or 2 jobs a year I would use it for? For $100 it would about pay for itself the first time I didn't have to take a vehicle in for a/c work. Anybody have any experience with these little pumps? I honestly never knew they sold such small pumps. http://m.harborfreight.com/25-cfm-vacuum-pump-61245.html

$100k for an engine? What kind of tractor is this?

Silicon gasket maker can be a contributor if you've used any on the engine recently. If the levels stay the same or drop I wouldn't be concerned. As Bill said keep a close eye on all intake fittings

On replacing the drier, the compressor warranty will be voided if they are not changed in pairs. They are relativy cheap anyway, and being my system is several years old if I'm doing one it only makes sense to do both. How expensive are the vaccum pumps? Ive honestly never priced them, but as many vehicles as we have (including immediate family) it may well be worth the investment if they're not terribly expensive. Ive always hated sending my vehicles off for a/c work as it is the only job I'm really not set up to do. Looks like Ive got some homework to do.

CSM,did your a/c work good other than the bad clutch? I am now dealing with this same problem. Clutch is on its way out. Normally I would just replace the compressor but my AC works so good I'm having a hard time dropping the coin to open everything up. Technically if you do the compressor the drier needs replaced. Then a vacuum needs pulled on the system before charging so that's another expense because I dont have the proper equipment. Really contemplating the clutch job on this one. I'm going to dig into my FSM this weekend to see what it entails before I make a decision.

Any updates?

You may think differently if you were another victim of the sick oh. My buddy who "bulletproofed" his a few years back is sitting in his barn waiting on him to find the time to do ANOTHER HG. Hes spent so much money on that truck I actually feel bad for him.

We will be in Wyoming the week of Aug. 10-14. We are still sorting out plans but tentatively we are planning on spending a couple of those days at Yellowstone. I haven't been there since I was a child, so needless to say I am excited about going and more excited for my boys to be able to experience it.

If the mesh got hot enough to warp I think the material would be discolored. Its hard to make an educated guess without having filter in hand but I strongly feel this was not a heat issue.

Lots of people have reported running a BHAF with no heat shield, even if temporary. To me it doesn't look melted, or is it? AH64, who makes the Amsoil air filter? My BHAF is a Donaldson unit.

I was referring to the DSG (auto) transmissions. Not the car itself.

Stupid question, do these APPS use your data or are they simply connected to the truck once you've got the program downloaded?

There is a guy at work that drives a 12 Jetta TDI 80 miles each way, 5 days a week. its got over 80k on it and he has done nothing aside from oil changes and tire rotations. I hear the only thing to worry about on these cars are the DSG trans but I don't know if the bugs have been worked out on the newer models. At the very least they are expensive to maintain. Our 01 TDI is still just a pup at 145,000 miles. Aside from the 5th gear failure which was a $300 fix its been a fantastic car with excellent mpg. Oh, we also had to install an aluminum skid pan under it after I grenaded the cheap plastic POS originally on those cars when I cased a chunk of ice in the road. I about ate my shorts on that one, sounded like it was about to come through the floor board. These cars have almost no ground clearance.

Easy, just build an automatic! When I had mine rebuilt several years ago, my trans builder/friend went above and beyond my perceived future mods. He said I would thank him later, and he was completely right. 5 years and 100k miles later Ive stil got room to grow and retain the reliability.

All fun n games...until you see "it". I cut wood for my grandparents who insist on keeping their home a constant 80*+. My grandfather walks around in his baggy briefs, its a crap shoot whether or not a free peep show is included. I estimate about 3 cords, but they also have a coal stove to supplement with.

Dan lives near me and I suggested a shop (Action Auto) that I have dealt with before when my PCM went bad. If I remember correctly they had the truck a few days and felt like it could possibly be the ECM but weren't comfortable enough with the diagnosis to spend his money on a guess. This is where having a spare ECM out of a similar truck would be handy as heck. A quick swap would confirm/deny this. He's covered nearly all the bases up to this point including the 2nd shop throwing a VP at it, I'm not real sure what else it could be. JR