Harmony

Well, just an update if anyone is curious. We drained the oil, and it looked almost brand new. It was a light honey colour. in the past when doing oil changes I expect oil to be black. So we wondered if the oil was changed right before it stopped being used. We changed the filter and put new oil in. The battery was disconnected and when we connected it the radio came on but there wasn't enough juice to start the engine. The tires were only at 18 psi so we filled those to specification. Then a quick jump start and it fired up right away and seemed to run well. No warning lights on the dash or anything. Brakes seem perfectly fine. If the tires have a flat spot, I don't notice it on the road. We drove it around the block a few times and let it run for about an hour. All seems good! Yay.

I picked up 5L at Canadian tire for $40 after taxes and enviro. I'll go back for more if I decide to do two. I thought it was a lot more expensive. Considering the car cost me nothing I guess it doesn't matter how much oil and stuff costs unless there are some serious problems. I was talking to the counter guy at Canadian Tire and he said my biggest problem is probably going to be the tires having flat spots. I hadn't thought of that. He also told me to smell the gas and that it should be obvious if it smells "bad". I took the cap off and smelled it and it smells like gas to me. I'm not sure what "bad gas" smells like, assuming we're talking about cars

I picked up an '08 smart car that had been sitting for a long time I have been told that it is a good idea in this situation to do a "cold" oil change as best you can, then run it warm and do a 2nd oil change. That's awefully expensive with full synthetic. So I was wondering if it would be OK to use conventional oil for that first change and then put in synthetic that would literally mean the conventional oil is in the car for less than an hour. Obviously if I asked at the dealership they tell me it should be synthetic all the way. But practically speaking, is that necessary? Is the double-change even necessary? I fear trying to start it after having been stored for so long. Google tells me that it is OK to mix "small quantities" of conventional with synthetic. What would you do? Thank you.