ArmorAll and Dan's Oil Leak

["Al Powell" <APOWELL@agcom.tamu.edu>]

> From: A Rieman <sherpa@pobox.com>
> >Also, while on the subject...  how the hell do you get the annoying bumpers

> >clean?  Armor All works for a while ...
> 
> IMHO, Armor All is a dangerous product to use if you want your vinyl or
> rubber to stay "healthy."  It may add a lustre, but in my experience it eats
> through the vinyl or rubber, causing cracks, discoloration and other
> unsightly blemishes.  I've asked professionals and they stay away from Armor
> All to a one. There are plenty of vinyl and rubber dressings that are far
> superior to Armor All and that will add to their life and long-term appearance.

The characteristics of ArmorAll have been considerably debated on the 
Z-Car list, where I also hang out.  I'm sure all  Audi folks are aware 
that Datsun/Nissan Z-cars have a habit of cracking dashes, esp. on the 
240/260/280 models.  Basically, they lose the oils which were cast 
into the plastic, and the dash cracks.

The bottom line based on many reports is that all ArmorAll does is 
provide temporary top-dressing, but it does not preserve the oils in 
the plastic components.  Based on the discussion, I have 
abandoned ArmorAll completely (I HATE the slimy feel it 
leaves, anyway!!) and started using Vaseline on the dash.  A thin 
film applied on a hot day seems to work OK, and does not leae the 
dash sticky.

For the black bumpers on my 1990 200 and on my Z0car, I use "Bumper 
Black" which I buy at the Nissan dealership.  It is a temporary 
treatment, but periodic application to flat black bumper areas seems 
to work well.

-------------------------
> 
> From: Dan Bocek <dan@di.com>
> 
> Did a leakdown test on all the cylinders this weekend, and they all 
> showed less than 10% leakage, so I think that rules out the bottom end 
> and the head gasket.
> 
> Also pulled the valve springs on the most badly affected cylinder to 
> inspect the valve guides and stem seals.  They checked out O.K. as well.  
> I'm running out of ideas here...  do you think it's possible for a turbo 
> to blow oil in such a fine mist that it may not show up on the throttle 
> body?  This is really starting to bug me!  Thanks for any and all advice.

Dan - don't know if this experience transfers, but I had a weird one 
which resulted in oil consumption on a 1966 Pontiac 389 V8.  
(Bear with me, there's a point to this....) What happened was that 
someone had changed the heads to 64's but used the '66 rocker arms.  
These had large oiling passages which allowed more oil to get into 
the top end - resulting in the valves swimming in oil, as it could 
not drain back fast enough to keep oil from pooling.  The valve stems 
carried oil into the cylinders and consumption was high - although 
not nearly as high as you quote.  Changing the rocker arms solved the 
problem.

Point is, if something is causing oil not to drain back into the 
engine fast enough, you might have a situation in which the valves 
are working in standing oil.  This would increase consumption.

Finally - if that turbo bearing is going, it can definitely use oil 
fast!  However, I would think you would hear noise from the turbo as 
the shaft moved when the boost is being run hard.  Have you heard any 
rattling or "frying bacon" type noises?  I suppose you would have to 
get at the turbo and try shaking the shaft to see if the bearing 
play is excessive.  (The one which puked in my 280ZX had bearings so 
far gone that the vanes could touch the housing in any direction!  
This would have been easy to detect by wiggling the shaft.)
Al Powell                           Voice:  409/845-2807
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