Not every thing you learn about how automobiles work, particularly about how older cars work, is necessarily true. You can wash your engine with a hose. You've gotta blow the carbon out of your automobile's engine by driving quick and scorching and near the redline. These little pearls of knowledge shared by uncles. Grandpas from sea to shining sea aren't exactly myths. Lots of the issues we find out about old cars are about as mythological as the Cyclops and the unicorn. Let's strike-out a couple of of the more pernicious myths earlier than they spread any further. They may not be great ideas, however there's additionally a kernel of reality to them - in case you discovered to drive in, say, 1968. But not all the pieces you find out about how vehicles work, particularly about how outdated cars work, is even close to true. The Ford Motor Company manufacturing unit actually provided a number of colours of varnishes with whimsical names like Channel Green and Winsor Maroon. At the least, that's how the parable goes. And 12 million out of 15 million Model Ts have been indeed plain previous black. The issue was that these varnishes were so darkish, particularly blues and greens, that they looked black anyway. It simply appeared that approach. Let's name this one type of true-ish. It has a contact of truthiness to it, if you will. So, black wasn't the one color! Any mileage marker for an oil change is principally a suggestion to: 1. Cover the manufacturers, um, guarantee, and 2. to maintain you from being so lazy about engine upkeep that you simply run your automotive into the ground. For many years, 3,000 miles (4,828 kilometers) (or three months, whichever came first) was a safe number. Change the oil that always, and all of the crud the oil picks up shall be gone together with the outdated oil and filter. But fashionable engines are made from metals with near magic properties they usually run a lot cleaner, so your oil isn't fairly as foul, fairly as fast. It solely stands to cause that a flashy red automobile goes to catch the attention of a police officer who trains her radar gun on its bumper and pulls it over. Most manufacturers suggest oil adjustments at 5,000 miles (8,047 kilometers), 7,000 miles (11,265 kilometers) and even 10,000 miles (16,093 kilometers) Lucky, lazy you! Silver, white, black, and blue vehicles get a relative move, due to these showboating red racers, proper? Nope. Total fable. It seems that the majority police simply look for automobiles which might be going too fast, after which pull those automobiles over, regardless of color. You'd think gray automobiles would fly underneath the radar, proper? These sellers appear to suppose that a man in a go well with and a bowler hat will arrive on the garage and bestow basic powers and a better value upon a vehicle. Sorry to say, the collectible fairy doesn't exist. Hello? Is that this factor on? And a few 25-yr-old automobiles are terrible pieces of junk, giant stuffed animal unicorn just like the Cadillac Cimarron. The concept synthetic oil will trigger leaks in your engine is completely false, but it's understandable why folks assume it is true. Some younger automobiles are already precious classics, like the 2006 Ford GT. The truth is, the problem is that the filth was pretty much the only factor that was holding the engine collectively. If you put synthetic oil in an old automobile with a filthy engine, it would appear like oil is leaking everywhere. The accumulation of particles, along with the irregular molecular construction of regular-outdated motor oil, keeps the seals and such gummed-up just sufficient. If you've received a newer automotive or an older engine with good seals and regular maintenance, artificial oil can truly help prolong your engine's longevity. The streamlined molecular construction of artificial motor oil does too good a job cleansing out the bad stuff, which is the very stuff protecting the leaks from springing. And each reader I met, or who wrote in with a letter, had a special mythology. There is no car part, from leather-based seats to rubber gaskets, that does not have a set of conflicting stories surrounding it. The one thing that holds true for every old automotive guy, however, is his absolute religion in his own set of myths. A cultural anthropologist would have a field day cataloging the assumption sets of previous automotive guys. Davies, Alex. "15 Car Myths That people Still Believe." Business Insider. Model T Ford Club. Is it protected to switch to synthetic motor oil? Sass, Rob. "Classic automotive myths busted." Yahoo! Autos.