Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Global shortage has led to motor oil rationing at Costco

guessingheadlights.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 225 posts

Re: Global shortage has led to motor oil rationing at Costco

#81

Post by SkyPuncher »

what-the-grump wrote: post #25
sschueller wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there really nothing that has oil in it that at some point needs changing?

It does, plenty of things inside the EV require all kinds of oils, just the maintenance cycle isn't gallons and gallons every x months. You are looking at years. I got service centers trying to rotate my tires every 3k miles because "ev". The oil change as well, oh you need to change oil every 5k because... because why?

Engine oil is pretty much the only critical one because of the tolerances between the piston and the cylinder. Loose tolerances allow bypass (inefficiency), but tight tolerances require good lubrication (friction). Engine oil is also unique because it’s exposed to oxygen and combustion byproducts.

The other components just aren't as sensitive or exposed to as much abuse. Often, really only needing replacement if they’ve leaked out.

Re: Global shortage has led to motor oil rationing at Costco

#82

Post by diydsp »

dietr1ch wrote: post #7
pjdesno wrote: post #2

What kind of vehicle takes 10 quarts of oil for a single oil change?

That's 11.3L for the civilised audience. For reference, my 3.6L 6-cyl boxer needs about 6.5L according to my service notes.

Liters are not SI units.

Metric isn't magic.

It's not ergnomic nor designed around the human body or everyday experiences.

It started arbitrary. Then was defined as in terms of the wavelength of radiation from krypton-86. (the meter was 1,650,763.73 wavelengths of that particular transition to match the original arbitrary metal bar)

Then they based it on the distance light travels in an arbitrary amount of time (1/299,792,458 of a second).

These were all decidedly non-human scale measurements with no actual scientific basis. Yes they used scientific references, but theyre all arbitrary references.

Re: Global shortage has led to motor oil rationing at Costco

#83

Post by icantevenhold »

LeBit wrote: post #58
cute_boi wrote: post #23

Ram Shortage, SSD shortage, CPU shortage, GPU shortage, diesel shortage, now motor oil shortage....... Are we going to have shortage of everything now ......

I realize the shortages you enumerated have different reasons , but a highly respectable French engineer, Jean-Marc Jancovici , has been repeating for years that we are heading into an inevitable age of "degrowth". It is not an "if". It is now inevitable. He is very pro alternative sources of energy but he clearly explains nothing can replace petroleum right now. Petroleum is used to build everything. Gas for your ca…

You can definitely replace petroleum for many of the things you listed - or find alternative technologies that don’t require it. You can live without plastic bags or plastic clothes for instance.

It’s just that a lot of companies (and people) get very rich from it and they invest A LOT into making sure that petroleum alternatives are not viable.

Of course there are some things were petroleum cant be easily substituted but I would argue the vast majority of use cases doesnt require it.

Energy is probably the most important and there it’s laughable easy to replace.

Re: Global shortage has led to motor oil rationing at Costco

#84

Post by 2III7 »

josephcsible wrote: post #75
sschueller wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there really nothing that has oil in it that at some point needs changing?

There is oil for the gearbox, but there's no scheduled maintenance for it at all, and in practice, people regularly get hundreds of thousands of miles without ever needing to think about it.

On a DSG gearbox the interval is 65k km. You should also change the transmission fluid in a regular automatic and a manual transmission. Some cars have a service interval for those transmissions and some don't. The "lifetime" oil statement is a lie.

Re: Global shortage has led to motor oil rationing at Costco

#85

Post by sbierwagen »

jervant wrote: post #17
pjdesno wrote: post #2

What kind of vehicle takes 10 quarts of oil for a single oil change?

Older Porsche 911s take about 11 quarts.

Specifically, oil cooled Porsches take that much, because they have to fill the oil cooler at the front and the lines that lead to the engine at the back.

Re: Global shortage has led to motor oil rationing at Costco

#86

Post by toasty228 »

cute_boi wrote: post #23

Ram Shortage, SSD shortage, CPU shortage, GPU shortage, diesel shortage, now motor oil shortage....... Are we going to have shortage of everything now ......

We're an energy civilization entirely built around fossil fuels, mostly petrol, on top of that we "optimized" everything to the max, which means any little inconvenience will now break several systems/sub systems.

We're about to realize what it means to have a globalized economy addicted to petrol

Re: Global shortage has led to motor oil rationing at Costco

#87

Post by 6SixTy »

ebbi wrote: post #57
6SixTy wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right, but seeing trucks obviously not set up for towing or hauling is becoming more common nowadays. With the level of luxury trims available on some trucks now, it's obvious that they aren't a necessity anymore. This is on top of trucks prioritizing 4 door models and taking bites out of the truck bed

Same trend here in NZ. People buying utes/trucks just because they want, not because they need. They're not as big as the American F150s etc, more a Toyota Hilux or Ford Ranger. And they're often driven by reckless road ragers, often modified with uncertified suspension, bush lights turned on at night blinding oncoming traffic, and wheels extending past the fender flares. These vehicles are often financed to the hilt…

Remember that the US is it's own market with different regulations and has a complicated history with imports, so no Hilux. Though it does look like the Ranger is externally the same between NZ and US. I'm not counting maybe 1mm as different.

I am somewhat familiar with a Ute since I've seen Subaru Bajas before. Not old enough to see Subaru Brats around or El Caminos.

It does seem like those people are emulating Americans though a lot of those mods are passable without certification, and it's up to a cop to pull over people using bush lights (they probably won't).

Re: Global shortage has led to motor oil rationing at Costco

#88

Post by omgwtfbyobbq »

arjie wrote: post #12

Huh, neat. There was this Twitter chap who said this was going to happen a few months ago. It was a fun interaction[0]: > > > Just got word Mobil and Shell have informed Costco and Walmart they have no packaged product to send them and to expect bare shelves in the motor oil section in a few weeks > > Lol as if youd be the first person anyone tells. > I am Chevrons largest passenger vehicle lubricant purchaser lol 0:…

IIRC there were also posts about this in the shortages subreddit around the same time.

Re: Global shortage has led to motor oil rationing at Costco

#89

Post by AngryData »

sschueller wrote: post #21
medler wrote: post #16

Not having to deal with oil changes is one of the many benefits of driving an EV

Is there really nothing that has oil in it that at some point needs changing?

There are plenty of things that still need oil and grease in EVs still, but it is in such low quantities that we could synthesize most of that from air and it still not being a cost of any concern.
Post reply on HN