ive had my car since it was new and its still pretty new. 3800 mi. at only one year old. im retired and the wife/myself ride the bike or the train more than the car. as a result, it sits a bit/week. we were also (then when we bought it) living on 2 continents so it was in storage for several months nearly after we bought it. now, we live here, but still dont drive it that much daily.
at one year old and with only 3800 mi i changed the oil myself as well as the cabin air filter and the air filter. i used the fiat spec oil prescribed in the book (5-30W ACEA C2/Fiat 955535-S1) which for my choice/price range turned out to be a Castrol Magnetec brand. i used a fiat brand oil filter, other filters were generic. the engine air and cabin air filters were toast after one year. i think i got 2 more mpg after changing the air filter.
it is my opinion that when a car has just broken-in, the best time to drop that initial oil and filter out is soon. i think the first couple of oil and filter changes are the most important. after that maybe not so much. thoughts on this?
and, my chief question to you'all is: do you honor the fiat service intervals or use your own intervals?
the fiat book says 1.3MJ diesel intervals changes as per below:
oil + filter change - 18.5K mi
cabin air filt change - 18.5K mi
eng air filt change - 37K mi
diesel fuel filt change - 60K mi
in my previous life i owned a VW 2.0 TDI car. VW said change engine their oil (full synthetic) every 10K mi. i recall a thread in a VW forum i belonged to, where, someone like me said hey, shouldnt we shorten these intervals up a bit? someone replied something like this, "welcome to the brave new world of high tolerance manufacturing standards, and, to new breakthroughs in engine oil tolerances/stamina! if you change your oil early, you waste your money! join the brave new world!" something like that.
in summary then 2 questions 1) what is your opinion on initial break-in service intervals and 2) what about thereafter intervals?
thanks all.
at one year old and with only 3800 mi i changed the oil myself as well as the cabin air filter and the air filter. i used the fiat spec oil prescribed in the book (5-30W ACEA C2/Fiat 955535-S1) which for my choice/price range turned out to be a Castrol Magnetec brand. i used a fiat brand oil filter, other filters were generic. the engine air and cabin air filters were toast after one year. i think i got 2 more mpg after changing the air filter.
it is my opinion that when a car has just broken-in, the best time to drop that initial oil and filter out is soon. i think the first couple of oil and filter changes are the most important. after that maybe not so much. thoughts on this?
and, my chief question to you'all is: do you honor the fiat service intervals or use your own intervals?
the fiat book says 1.3MJ diesel intervals changes as per below:
oil + filter change - 18.5K mi
cabin air filt change - 18.5K mi
eng air filt change - 37K mi
diesel fuel filt change - 60K mi
in my previous life i owned a VW 2.0 TDI car. VW said change engine their oil (full synthetic) every 10K mi. i recall a thread in a VW forum i belonged to, where, someone like me said hey, shouldnt we shorten these intervals up a bit? someone replied something like this, "welcome to the brave new world of high tolerance manufacturing standards, and, to new breakthroughs in engine oil tolerances/stamina! if you change your oil early, you waste your money! join the brave new world!" something like that.
in summary then 2 questions 1) what is your opinion on initial break-in service intervals and 2) what about thereafter intervals?
thanks all.
