General Oil change

[philipb82]

Hello

With my wifes new job the car (JTD) is clocking anything up to 500 miles per week! With this sort of mileage I have been thinking about having an oil and oil filter change every 6 months. Aswell as with this I have the car serviced (air, oil, fuel filter and fresh oil) every 12 months or whatever mileage the manual states. Is this oil change frequency unnecessary or a good idea?

Thanks

Phil

 

[Clivvy]

its a good idea mate, very much so! Just check the service intervals for everything else (or fit a K&N replacement filter and not worry about that for a long time). The oil changes though are, to me, the most important. use decent oil twice a year and itll be fine, that includes the oil filter.

Keep an eye out for special offers on oil, at supermarkets, Halfords etc etc and stock up when its cheap.

 

[jatkinson]

I do a good 700 miles week easy and plan on giving my Jtd a service every 8k miles , i know that may be far to often , but id rather be spending £20 on oil and filter ( got a trade account ) and know its got good oil in always btw my jtdhas 184 k on a 52 plate so dont worry they go on for ever

 

[Yellow Peril]

Hello

With my wife's new job the car (JTD) is clocking anything up to 500 miles per week! With this sort of mileage I have been thinking about having an oil and oil filter change every 6 months.

Even doing it every six months you'll still be going 13,000 between changes, so yes - do it! And I would recommend using top-quality fully synthetic oil...

 

[philipb82]

Even doing it every six months you'll still be going 13,000 between changes, so yes - do it! And I would recommend using top-quality fully synthetic oil...

I may switch to a fully synthetic oil actually for the subsequent oil changes. At the moment i have some Shell Helix HX7 semi synthetic oil in and original UFI filters. Is it ok to change from a semi to fully synthetic oil? I've read about possible oil leaks if changing from one to another.

Phil

 

[Yellow Peril]

Is it ok to change from a semi to fully synthetic oil? I've read about possible oil leaks if changing from one to another.

Yes. In fact you're less likely to get leaks with fully synth as those oils are formulated to protect seals, gaskets, o-rings etc from deterioration.

 

[gadge]

And remember, there's no such thing as doing too many oil changes - it's the secret to a healthy engine

 

[Clivvy]

And remember, there's no such thing as doing too many oil changes - it's the secret to a healthy engine

absolutely right mate, all it is, is time, and a bit of money. Its the best thing you can do for your engine.

 

[paullawton2007]

spend the extra few quid for the better oil, i have Mobil1 0w/40 in my jtd ticks over better.

 

[philipb82]

spend the extra few quid for the better oil, i have Mobil1 0w/40 in my jtd ticks over better.

Isn't that too thin for the JTD as the manual says 5/10w 40 grade?

Phil

 

[paullawton2007]

dont know i think its 0w/40 cant remember its in the boot, put me reg in and said i want the best you have! £40 for 5ltr.

worth the extra penny or pound!

 

[philipb82]

dont know i think its 0w/40 cant remember its in the boot, put me reg in and said i want the best you have! £40 for 5ltr.

worth the extra penny or pound!

I suppose if it meets or exceeds the specification it would be fine. Anyway Mobil 1 is a good brand.

Phil

 

[mhowse]

Remember the first number on the oil relates to the thickness at colder temperatures, so the 0w or 5w would flow easy come the colder days at start up then be same thickness as the second number that being the 40 when warm from engine temperature
I keep thinking about getting the 5w for winter up here in scotland but the 10w/40 mobile slippery stuff in my jtd has been fine and not planning any trips to artic circle, just done mine and filter today, not even done 6k miles but as above try and think look after what you got and hope it returns the favour and not go popping any rear bushes.

 

[gadge]

absolutely right mate, all it is, is time, and a bit of money. Its the best thing you can do for your engine.

Certainly is bud, I do 4000 miles a year and still do an oil change every year usually around October time just in time for winter. I've always done this, I'm on my 8th car and I've never had any problems with any of my fleet (reaching out for some wood to touch )

 

[philipb82]

Has anyone used Comma oil? Is it any good? I've seen some Comma fully synthetic 5L in Motorsave for about £33. Other oils I've seen recommended for my car are Mobil 1 Super 3000 or something like that and Valvoline. I would prefer to stick to a decent brand. Although saying that I used Halfords semi synthetic oil for my new engines first oil change and I have no complaints about it. I suppose I'm a bit of an oil snob! I've discovered that a lot of oils nowadays are for both petrol and diesel engines like the Shell stuff I have in now.

Phil

 

[mhowse]

I have used comma often in the past but that was on previous car that was petrol, never had any problems with the car mechanicaly engine wise and was still going strong with 120k when sold, body was rusty and falling apart but engine was sound and getting through mot emmissions fine, would use again, there are many different theories from folk when it comes to oil myself is using correct spec and API/ACEA numbers and changing the stuff regular and had no engine problems from that theory so far ,

 

[philipb82]

I have used comma often in the past but that was on previous car that was petrol, never had any problems with the car mechanicaly engine wise and was still going strong with 120k when sold, body was rusty and falling apart but engine was sound and getting through mot emmissions fine, would use again, there are many different theories from folk when it comes to oil myself is using correct spec and API/ACEA numbers and changing the stuff regular and had no engine problems from that theory so far ,

What does API/ACEA mean?

Phil

 

[mhowse]

The API/ACEA numbers and letters are the specifications the oil meets , even the cheaper budget oils have those, but then that is when it gets very technical as it would seem more expensive oils have more additives, I do not know enough on that to comment, but if you have a manual for your car and look in the oil/lubricants section it will give details of what spec API/ACEA of oil is required for your engine, from reading manual for mine for jtd 115 for 10w/40 it should be atleast A3/B3 CD the A letter relates to petrol engine cars and B to diesel basicaly the oil in bottle can be used in petrol and diesel engine to those specifications , then for the 0 or 5w/40 the spec changes and should meet A3/B4 CF these are minimum spec the CD or CF letters I do can not remember and you will find most oils are CF these days but worth a little read on the bottle before buying..then you have the S letters think are sl or sm for 05w/40 ..but then you can read and research as much as you like and find you are only confusing yourself even more, so long as oil meets the minimum spec in the manual you can sleep better, and if you choose to spend £15 or £50 and they both meet the spec required the choice is yours, I tend to go for the medium price range and change more often, doing oil change at least 6k and not 12k..but starting a topic on oil is always a slippery slope to know-where as we all have different opinions..but do make sure the bottle of oil meets minimum spec API/ACEA and you be fine

 

[philipb82]

The API/ACEA numbers and letters are the specifications the oil meets , even the cheaper budget oils have those, but then that is when it gets very technical as it would seem more expensive oils have more additives, I do not know enough on that to comment, but if you have a manual for your car and look in the oil/lubricants section it will give details of what spec API/ACEA of oil is required for your engine, from reading manual for mine for jtd 115 for 10w/40 it should be atleast A3/B3 CD the A letter relates to petrol engine cars and B to diesel basicaly the oil in bottle can be used in petrol and diesel engine to those specifications , then for the 0 or 5w/40 the spec changes and should meet A3/B4 CF these are minimum spec the CD or CF letters I do can not remember and you will find most oils are CF these days but worth a little read on the bottle before buying..then you have the S letters think are sl or sm for 05w/40 ..but then you can read and research as much as you like and find you are only confusing yourself even more, so long as oil meets the minimum spec in the manual you can sleep better, and if you choose to spend £15 or £50 and they both meet the spec required the choice is yours, I tend to go for the medium price range and change more often, doing oil change at least 6k and not 12k..but starting a topic on oil is always a slippery slope to know-where as we all have different opinions..but do make sure the bottle of oil meets minimum spec API/ACEA and you be fine

Thanks for the info. I understand as long as the oil meets the required spec but is diesel specifc oil better than an oil for both petrol and diesel engines? I see alot of oils now suitable for both engines.

Phil

 

[mhowse]

The diesel spec oil is supposed to have more additives to help with the engine cleaning as the diesel engine produces more soot ,as you will notice it is not long before oil in diesel becomes black it does not mean the oil is bad in fact it means the oil is doing it's job and helping to keep the sooty parts at bay, I have always used diesel specific oil but have actualy put in an oil that is suitable for petrol and diesel this time to see if any difference, and so far no difference and no extra noise from the engine the oil quite often is not a real concern to me as I have a thing about changing it often , if I was to leave it in till service interval that is the manual by fiat I would certainly go for diesel type oil and no doubt spend that little bit more for the extra additives to help keep the engine clean as the oil would be working for a longer period of time, and many use oil that is suitable for both petrol and diesel regulary as they could not sell it if it did not meet the API/ACEA specifications,