Six Monthly Servicing, or every 5,000 km's, Good Idea or Waste of Money ?

[BENT_8]

Originally Posted by mik

"Oil can break down" that is the theory i go on too, and the type of use the vehicle gets you would think must have some bearing on that factor imo, in my own case as an old fart pensioner, my cars get a lot of short trips and cold starts , at times they barely even get to operating temperature and not getting hot enough to burn off contaminants(did i mention at times sitting in melbourne traffic jams idling for long periods :( ),
also running on cold start for more of the engines running time unless i'm mistaken with these modern engines still means a richer mixture, some of which does not burn completely and eventually dilutes the engine oil,
also the state and mileage of the engine i believe comes into play , both of my cars have over 200,xxx k's on them , cylinder/piston ring sealing you would think won't be optimal, so oil degradation would occur faster, and as i'm hoping to get another 100.000 + ks out of the engine before it needs a fresh'n up i'll stick with my servicing even if it costs a bit more, rightly or wrongly it makes me feel better .

Agreed, short trips and cold starts will cause contamination as the engine spends much of its life in cold start up mode, or with the choke on for those old enough.
Anyone who's driven a manual choke vehicle will attest to forgetting to push it right in on occasion when cold and bleary eyed in the morning.
If done often enough it will blacken the plugs.
That same crap ends up contaminating the oil eventually.

Efi reduces the problem as it controls the air/fuel ratios and adjusts them as the engine warms up, which is much quicker on modern engines.

What can be misleading is simply checking your dipstick for oil quality.
I do my own servicing and it is surprising how good the oil on the stick looks before I drop it.
I always use a clean oil pan when I dump my oil so I can inspect it afterwards.
The oil that fills that pan looks nothing like the oil on the stick, that's for sure.

[Veefore]

My BA runs on LPG and currently has about 164,000km on it. I had my oil tested at a few changes and different intervals and the testing showed that changing it at less than 10,000km was a waste of money with no measurable reduction in wear. It was not until around 13,000km that the oil began to lose it's effectiveness.
As the engine gets older and blow by increases it may make a difference to start changing it more often.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

[BENT_8]

Originally Posted by Veefore

My BA runs on LPG and currently has about 164,000km on it. I had my oil tested at a few changes and different intervals and the testing showed that changing it at less than 10,000km was a waste of money with no measurable reduction in wear. It was not until around 13,000km that the oil began to lose it's effectiveness.
As the engine gets older and blow by increases it may make a difference to start changing it more often.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

LPG is a cleaner burning fuel, so the oil doesn't get as contaminated.

[Benno73]

A lot of interesting comments, and some very interesting.
My Dad brought a new EA multipoint manual wagon in 89, he thought screw the manufacturer, and changed his oil every quarter, yep 4 times a year, with whatever was the cheapest oil up the street. Interesting I thought only being young at the time.
I started my apprenticeship with Ford in 1992, and was surprised at how dirty the oils were in cars that came through, and the endless head gasket replacements on the factory recalled EA front of head oil leak. Dads car however at 5 years old was one on the recall list but was only a very minor weep, and I do mean minor. Having now been a mechanic for a few years the old man trusted me to do the gasket for him at home. Trusting ol sole I say. Lol
When I pulled the head of it, the internals were like that of a brand new engine, I was gob smaked, I had changed many a head gasket with a lot less k's on the clock that didn't even come close to it in internal cleanness. Need I say that car was awesome, even coped a bit of a sideway hiding from me on the occasion.
Well in 2003 Dad finally brought a new BA and I got the EA. I wasn't quite as religeous on the oil changes, but every 5 to 8k it would get changed and pull like a trougen horse it did up till the day the missus crashed it in 2007. Over 400,000km on the clock, internals still looked good and drove exceptionally well.
With all this in mind I have an Uncle to whom brought a new XH panel van in 99 or 98, he added gas to it and ended up dropping the petrol of it and added more gas tanks, changed his oil.about every 10k or so being a lot of hwy k's and on gas the oil.didn't degrade or get as dirty as often. The head gasket had a slight weep at 640,000km so was replaced, the he s engine was reported by the mechanic to be solid.as and good for another 600 he said.
The car got sold at 730,000km still running strong.
I now own two eGasers, both I use Liqui Molly now as I've learned oils ain't oils and its the base oil that is used that will make or brake an oil as being good..
10/40 weight. If the oil is looking a bit dirty I'll change it sooner but that never happens, oil gets changed every 8 to 12k cause the gassers don't have the impurities in em that petrol does as the petrol will get into the oil.
Taxis's are often on gas and are constantly running at temp, they don't have as much cold start wear for the k's and don't get as much crap in the oil, so 15k would possibly be fine.
My motorbike and other petrol cars I've owned have always been very regular oil changes.
Then you mention turbo's and turbo diesel engines that start to get blow by due to forced induction, hey your car do with as you will.
Dads now new Range Rover sport says 25k between oil changes, what a joke, that's getting changed every 10 to 12k with the top Liqui Molly gear.
Also found out the other month, that Land Rover recommend Castrol edge Professional for their vehicles, can't buy it anywher but the dealer. The Castrol Edge up the street is the retail oil called Castrol Edge, and the oil from the dealer is what is known as the trade oil being called Castrol Edge Professional.
My BA gasser now has 272k on the clock n still going strong

I'm tired now might go have a lie down. Lol

[danzvtil]

Originally Posted by mac_man_luke

I get my ranger serviced every 6 months which works out to about 8000km

I find any longer than 6 months is a long time for a potential issue to hanging around eg worn brakes, loose bolts etc

Ford recommend 15,000km and 12months
Mazda recommend 10,000km and 6months
Same engine! tell me how they work that out....

The mazda/ford difference is purely marketing, fords fleet customers demand lower maintenance costs on paper, mazda doesnt have that pressure.

My work FG LPG utes all get done 15-20k, as the service interval can be 6-8 weeks in the busy times of the year, never have any engine issues over the 2 yrs we keep them.

I love hearing the JDM Tuner crowd brag about using mobil 1 every 1000 kays, what a feckin waste of money!

[superyob]

Originally Posted by EF_6

Synthetic oils these days are highly advanced....I would service every 15,000 just like the manual says......Plus you are contributing to wasting all the Black Gold that is in the ground and becoming harder and harder to produce.

This is off topic but my understanding is that due to recent massive oil discoveries, we will not run out for a very, very long time...

[Trump]

Originally Posted by superyob

This is off topic but my understanding is that due to recent massive oil discoveries, we will not run out for a very, very long time...

Shale and tar sands are hardly what I would call a massive discovery. They are nowhere near as energy dense as the light, sweet liquid crude oil that used to bubble up of its own accord in Saudi Arabia and the Northwest Shelf in WA. The only reason we are hearing more about them now is because oil is still holding at the US$100 a barrel mark and thus financially viable to process into liquid petroleum.

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by superyob

This is off topic but my understanding is that due to recent massive oil discoveries, we will not run out for a very, very long time...

Running out is not the problem, all you need is to have "tight" refining supply to drive the price through the roof,
international competition from major players like China buying up vast stocks can keep prices artificially high.

On topic,
When I was running my EB for work, I found that the highway fuel economy would begin to drop off
at around 8,000 km - not much just a smidge so I decided to keep with 10,000 km servicing.
the car ran faultlessly for +250,000 km until I sold it to my sister in law.....

Without surprise, the BA sedan exhibited the same characteristics as did the FG 1 Ute.

[EB#]

I do oil changes in my 2003 BA at 7500km intervals. I bought the car with 70K
on it (with a stamped logbook) and it now has run up to 220K over the last
5 years or so. The car runs as good as it did when I got it, never uses any oil
or coolant and has no leaks at all. Touch wood that the motor will stay like
that for a good while yet and I'll continue with the same oil change regimen.

I note that I do some oil changes myself, and some are done by my mechanic.
It was noted to me that a 7500km interval also provides more frequent
opportunities to give the car a general inspection for wear and tear whilst up
on the hoist.

[Bulletime]

Let the mechanic do it at the 15k and I do it at the 7500 (or 5k if done a track day). Daily fg xr6 turbo doing ~28,000 kms, doesn't cost much to do yourself anyway and it's rewarding.

[THE SLUG]

In contrast to my previous post about my AU only being serviced every 20,000kms or so, last week I picked up a BFII XT with 215,000kms, which has been serviced every 17,000kms or so up to 168,000kms. Runs absolutely beautifully and is so quiet, and it drives incredibly smoothly as well. Although 17,000km is a fairly large gap, doing 40,000kms or so a year means it's services were roughly twice a year, so regular servicing seems to of kept this thing in tip top condition mechanically.

[Cuyper]

Its more about the quality of the oil and tune of the engine than the amount of times you change it..

Back in the day (<80's pre injection), everything was blowing smoke at 200,000km's, these days cars are hardly run in at 200,000.. Big difference, nothings changed other than higher quality metals, leaner fuel mixtures and mostly better oil.

[saber]

Originally Posted by THE SLUG

In contrast to my previous post about my AU only being serviced every 20,000kms or so, last week I picked up a BFII XT with 215,000kms, which has been serviced every 17,000kms or so up to 168,000kms. Runs absolutely beautifully and is so quiet, and it drives incredibly smoothly as well. Although 17,000km is a fairly large gap, doing 40,000kms or so a year means it's services were roughly twice a year, so regular servicing seems to of kept this thing in tip top condition mechanically.

I share the same sentiments as above.

The old mans AUIII Egas ute has covered over 355000km, and is serviced every 15000km. It has maintained this 15000km service schedule since it rolled off the showroom floor.

Engine is in very good condition. Idles smoothly, still has plenty of power and torque to haul 1 tonne in the back, and most importantly, is still reliable as ever!

[frd906]

When I had my au, it had done around 420 000kms, I serviced the engine every 5000kms and the gearbox every 10 000 kms, fuel filter was done every 20 000kms

[Cuyper]

Originally Posted by frd906

When I had my au, it had done around 420 000kms, I serviced the engine every 5000kms and the gearbox every 10 000 kms, fuel filter was done every 20 000kms

But did it cure the rust that most likely caused it to go to the scrap yard or get you more than 300$ when it went there. I'm just wondering if the cost of all those oil changes really helped at all in the end.

[frd906]

Well it kept it going for a long time since that's the only car I had and I needed it for work....

[blackf6]

Twice a year for my cars. I only do 20km a day to work and back. Short trips, the old Boss 290 doesn't even get warm. (not good for it really)

[THE SLUG]

Originally Posted by teak81

Twice a year for my cars. I only do 20km a day to work and back. Short trips, the old Boss 290 doesn't even get warm. (not good for it really)

Definitely not good for it, short trips where the engine doesn't warm up is what kills them (which I'm sure you know).

[Windsor220]

Oil life depends a lot on sump capacity. Most manufacturers upped their servicing from 10k to 15k with a big jump in oil capacity. Some 90s 4cylinders only have about 2.5 litres of oil in them but these days they are more like 4-4.5 litres so if you have a newer car it can last a while between servicing.