I know you guys will love this for argument,

But i have not changed the oil in my Fiat 500 for 18 months and 22,000 kms so far, and it is barely consuming any oil.

When I first bought the car and did 20,000 kms, it started consuming a lot of oil and I eventually changed it. But the engine was being run in I guess, and arguably, the stock Fiat oil wasn't as good as the one I am using now, because never has my consumption been so low with Aral 5w-40 C3. My 3rd oil change Castrol Magnatec 5w-40 C3 was absolutely awful.

I plan on taking it to near 30,000 kms. However, I have only 0.5 liters of oil left in the canister in my boot, so if that finishes I will change the oil anyway when I have to buy new supply for my oil.

Given the rate my car is consuming oil, I give it another 5,000 kms before it needs 0.5 liters. Let's see how it goes! Spark plugs and all filters will be changed as well.

Pollen filter was causing the air conditioning to smell a lot also, but I gave the in and out vent area a good wash and clean and it's not much of a problem anymore.

So Im stretching my service intervals to c. 30,000 kms or 24 months, whichever comes sooner!

Car is a 2010 with 130,000 kms on the clock.

ahmett said:

I know you guys will love this for argument.

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No argument from me...??? It's your car - change the oil when, and with what brand, you like. Best of luck.

So you're just inline with Fiat's recommendations. I'm finding modern oil will go a long way if the car isn't used for frequent short trips. City use doesn't seem to matter much.

Ahmett, I don't get it. If a certain brand of oil results in higher oil consumption, then you have to top it up more often, but why should that have to mean that you have to shorten the oil change interval? In fact, the more oil you add to compensate for the oil consumption, the lower will the average age of the oil be after 30,000 km.

AGH1965 said:

Ahmett, I don't get it. If a certain brand of oil results in higher oil consumption, then you have to top it up more often, but why should that have to mean that you have to shorten the oil change interval? In fact, the more oil you add to compensate for the oil consumption, the lower will the average age of the oil be after 30,000 km.

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Yes but I feel the less the oil consumption, the higher quality the oil is

No argument for me neither... As said you can do whatever you like with your car.

Slightly off topic, my wee Punto that I owned was three years old when I purchased it, had it for eight years. I asked a lot from that wee motor on several occasions & it never let me down. Oil & filter changes twice yearly 10w40 semi as stated in manual. Never drank a drop, & the oil was clean when I sold it on. Loved that wee car. As a side note, we now have long life engine oil, personally & along with mechanic friends I certainly wouldn't clock up 20.000 miles between changes, no matter what this oil states.

Those that know, oil does several things inside your engine. Most do a lot of stop start driving these days & this is where the damage starts. Clean oil is essential for doing its job in keeping the engine functioning as it should.

jimboy said:

...we now have long life engine oil, personally & along with mechanic friends I certainly wouldn't clock up 20.000 miles between changes, no matter what this oil states.

Those that know, oil does several things inside your engine. Most do a lot of stop start driving these days & this is where the damage starts. Clean oil is essential for doing its job in keeping the engine functioning as it should.

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:yeahthat:

Particularly if you have a higher performance version or drive the car hard.

For example, when in tuned form in the Caterham, Ford's Duratec has a recommended oil change interval of 3,000 miles.

Indeed, oil change intervals are there for a reason. Just for the record, an engine that is not drinking any oil still harbours contaminants that can harm the engine if you leave it in too long, & for those who think topping up an engine that uses oil will generally be safe due to the fact that they think mostly new oil in the engine anyway, nope it doesn't work like that, the contaminants already in there will still do damage.

At the end of the day, it's your car, so you can do what you want. Modern day oils have come a long way since my beginnings in the mechanical world, but they do have limits........happy motoring to you all.....

Apologies for dragging this out, but it would be very beneficial, informative & a bit of an eye opener if you had the chance to see inside an engine that's been stripped down, both well serviced & those that are not. Like others that have been, or are still working in the trade on here, I've seen good,bad & indifferent things going on in an engine.

Oil & filter changes would be high on the to do list I suspect......

jimboy said:

nope it doesn't work like that, the contaminants already in there will still do damage.

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You assume that the contaminants neither leave the engine as part of the oil consumption nor get caught by the oil filter. Is that assumption correct?

However, I think that Ahmett meant a different argument/discussion. He suggests that high oil consumption equals low quality oil.

Assumption correct & obvious, only oil & filter change lessen contaminants.

As for oil consumption, it's really not that simple equating one oil against another. As long as the grade & ace/api codes are the same regardless of price, oil should act the same. However on re-reading the OP, Castrol Magnetic was deemed a sludge maker when left too long in the engine by some, it also claimed to have magnetic properties Indeed I've seen pictures (admittedly on the web) not in the flesh of stripped down engines after using this oil & it was not a pretty sight.

That's interesting, and possibly, for me, disturbing. Our other car is a 2014 Suzuki SX4 S-Cross, and the handbook specifies 0W 20 oil and recommends Magnatec Professional! Unlike some other variants of Magnatec though this one is fully synthetic so may be ok.
In the 500 I've been using the correct spec of Petronus oil. It's the twinair engine and as it has both turbocharger and timing chain I wouldn't dream of letting it go more than 12,000 miles between changes - in fact my oil change period has averaged at around 8000m.
I don't think that oil consumption is a very scientific way of telling how well the oil is doing its job. Presumably if you put in a more viscous grade, less would be used, but the lubricity would be reduced.

So this can only be a superficial opinion based on my ear and feel but I put castrol magnatec C2 into our 1.3 Mj recently and the engine felt hesitant slightly and I think a little bit rougher for the first few runs. . I think. Got used to it now and have no scientific evidence. Before this change have used eurocarparts oil and each time thought it sounded sweeter after the change. Make of that what you will.

Aye Andy, I've heard similar things before. You tend to know how your car feels/sounds. Totally off topic but my wee Punto I had years ago, I had to change the thermostat, so I thought ach! clean out/flush the system & new coolant etc. Now I'm a confessed cynical old git, but I swore blind that wee car felt better/smoother to drive after the change.

Perhaps my mind was over working that day, but the feel good factor was there all the same.

I use Magnatec in my Jeep and so far so good. The tappet noise on start up is well and truly gone. It can now sit for months and start up immediately, and silently. Previously on Mobil S I'd get bad tappet noise even after sitting as little as a week. Fully Synthetic Magnatec just came out here so I'll be switching to that in future. On a regularly used cars though, I tend to stick to normal oils.

Magnetic is technically not fully synthetic I'm led to believe. Last time I looked at this oils makeup it stated synthetically engineered which is not fully synthetic. Companies get round the legal side of things by wording correctly.

If you want your engine to last, particularly if you're going to keep it for a long time, change the oil once a year, or more, regardless of mileage, yes it maybe considered environmentally unfriendly but your engine will appreciate it?

John202020 said:

If you want your engine to last, particularly if you're going to keep it for a long time, change the oil once a year, or more, regardless of mileage, yes it maybe considered environmentally unfriendly but your engine will appreciate it?

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Have read all this thread? That's exactly what people who know are just saying..

jimboy said:

That's exactly what people who know are just saying..

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Well, the only thing I know is, that you consistently write "Magnetic", but it is "Magnatec". Quite a difference, my friend.

Well spotted fella. I'm obviously quoting what Castrol say about their "magnetic" properties that the oil magicly has.... I was being facetious....: