Astra oil change frequency
Stephen
I just wondered what the recommended interval was for changing the
engine oil on a 1.4L petrol 56 plate Astra?
The Haynes book says 9000 miles or 6 months, which seems very frequent
to me. I notice in the small print it says Vauxhall's own
recommendation is twice that: 18000 miles or 12 months but Haynes say
they recommend it more often, especially if driving lots of short
journeys. What do you think?
It also recommends new plugs at 36000 miles or 4 years, and the car is
just over four years old and has done about that many miles. No
problems with the plugs so far so should I leave them alone, or should
I change now before problems occur. I see Eurocarparts sell NGK,
Bosch, and Denso. Which do you recommend? Why do they sell plugs but
not leads? Isn't it best to change both at the same time?
Thanks,
Stephen.
Mrcheerful
"Stephen" <ste...@nowhere.com.invalid> wrote in message
news:3d8nu658j56nhjg8o...@4ax.com...
yearly oil change is fine for most people's use, especially if you use
genuine oil/filter. many vehicles do not have plug leads any more. my
choice would always be ngk plugs.
James
> Hello,
>
> I just wondered what the recommended interval was for changing the
> engine oil on a 1.4L petrol 56 plate Astra?
>
About every 200 miles.
Dave Plowman (News)
Stephen <ste...@nowhere.com.invalid> wrote:
> The Haynes book says 9000 miles or 6 months, which seems very frequent
> to me. I notice in the small print it says Vauxhall's own
> recommendation is twice that: 18000 miles or 12 months but Haynes say
> they recommend it more often, especially if driving lots of short
> journeys. What do you think?
Who do you think knows best - the car maker or Haynes? However, you need
to use the correct oil as specified by the maker for their service
intervals - not some no brand supermarket stuff.
Most car makers say you should shorten the interval if the car is used for
short journeys or not doing many miles per year.
--
*OK, so what's the speed of dark? *
Dave Plowman da...@davenoise.co.uk London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.
ARWadsworth
> In article <3d8nu658j56nhjg8o...@4ax.com>,
> Stephen <ste...@nowhere.com.invalid> wrote:
>> The Haynes book says 9000 miles or 6 months, which seems very
>> frequent to me. I notice in the small print it says Vauxhall's own
>> recommendation is twice that: 18000 miles or 12 months but Haynes say
>> they recommend it more often, especially if driving lots of short
>> journeys. What do you think?
>
> Who do you think knows best - the car maker or Haynes? However, you
> need to use the correct oil as specified by the maker for their
> service intervals - not some no brand supermarket stuff.
>
> Most car makers say you should shorten the interval if the car is
> used for short journeys or not doing many miles per year.
My 04 plate VH Combo puts a light on the dash to tell me when the oil change
is due. It supposedly takes into account the mileage and type of journeys.
I have actually never used it as I get the correct oil for free and so I
just swap it at 9000 miles.
--
Adam
Dave Plowman (News)
ARWadsworth <adamwa...@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote:
> > Most car makers say you should shorten the interval if the car is
> > used for short journeys or not doing many miles per year.
> My 04 plate VH Combo puts a light on the dash to tell me when the oil
> change is due. It supposedly takes into account the mileage and type of
> journeys.
My BMW too. However, it says in the handbook the oil should be changed
once a year if you haven't done enough running for the service indicator
to come on. Later models may do this automatically.
> I have actually never used it as I get the correct oil for free and so I
> just swap it at 9000 miles.
Ok if it's free. The BMW stuff is about 13 quid a litre.
--
*'ome is where you 'ang your @ *
Dave Plowman (News)
<A.C...@DENTURESsussex.ac.uk> wrote:
> Thus spake Stephen (ste...@nowhere.com.invalid) unto the assembled multitudes:
> > I just wondered what the recommended interval was for changing the
> > engine oil on a 1.4L petrol 56 plate Astra?
> My year 2000 Astra 1.6 Club has a recommended change interval of 10,000
> miles or once per year whichever comes first, but I change mine (with
> filter) at 5000 miles and have it changed again at the 10,000 mile
> service.
Each time service intervals are extended some keep to the one they're used
to. Regardless of the fact that most engines don't wear out these days. ;-)
--
*A bicycle can't stand alone; it is two tired*
ARWadsworth
What's the spec of your oil?
My oil is only free whilst I do not charge my brother for any electical
works I do in his garage:-)
--
Adam
Stephen
<da...@davenoise.co.uk> wrote:
>Who do you think knows best - the car maker or Haynes?
Good point; I'll go with the Vauxhall recommendation.
The car has a service indicator but whether that takes account of the
number and distance of journeys or whether it just counts months and
miles, I don't know.
I thought I read some controversy about changing oil too often but I
can't remember the outcome of that.
>Most car makers say you should shorten the interval if the car is used for
>short journeys or not doing many miles per year.
I wonder why that should be? If it's not being used, then nothing
should be wearing out.
What's wrong with short journeys? Is it about not getting up to
temperature, water not evaporating, etc?
Thanks,
Stephen.
Dave Plowman (News)
Stephen <ste...@nowhere.com.invalid> wrote:
> On Sun, 05 Jun 2011 19:00:16 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
> <da...@davenoise.co.uk> wrote:
> >Who do you think knows best - the car maker or Haynes?
> Good point; I'll go with the Vauxhall recommendation.
> The car has a service indicator but whether that takes account of the
> number and distance of journeys or whether it just counts months and
> miles, I don't know.
One easy way is for it to use fuel use versus miles. Short journeys give
poor MPG - long ones good. That's how BMW do it on some models.
> I thought I read some controversy about changing oil too often but I
> can't remember the outcome of that.
Well, it's money down the drain. That's a good enough reason for me.
> >Most car makers say you should shorten the interval if the car is used
> >for short journeys or not doing many miles per year.
> I wonder why that should be? If it's not being used, then nothing
> should be wearing out.
Many products deteriorate without being used. Tyres, for example. Petrol
can go stale over time. So the same sort of thing with oil.
> What's wrong with short journeys? Is it about not getting up to
> temperature, water not evaporating, etc?
Yes. Until the whole engine including the oil is up to operating
temperature (and this takes much longer than the coolant gauge reading
normal) there will be moisture and gasses present inside the engine. Once
fully warm this gets driven off. Stop it before, and this moisture etc
contaminates the oil, sort of thing.
--
*If a thing is worth doing, wouldn't it have been done already?
Chris Whelan
[...]
> Good point; I'll go with the Vauxhall recommendation.
You know it makes sense ;-)
> The car has a service indicator but whether that takes account of the
> number and distance of journeys or whether it just counts months and
> miles, I don't know.
Most of them do that, and also take into account cold starts.
> I thought I read some controversy about changing oil too often but I
> can't remember the outcome of that.
Some limited research did indeed suggest that; you can Google it, but it
was just one small piece of research.
>>Most car makers say you should shorten the interval if the car is used
>>for short journeys or not doing many miles per year.
>
> I wonder why that should be? If it's not being used, then nothing should
> be wearing out.
>
> What's wrong with short journeys? Is it about not getting up to
> temperature, water not evaporating, etc?
By-products of combustion are acidic and collect in the oil; once the oil
is hot enough, they evaporate out. If it never gets hot, they build up
and have the potential to cause wear due to bearing corrosion.
Chris
--
Remove prejudice to reply.
Dave Plowman (News)
<A.C...@DENTURESsussex.ac.uk> wrote:
> Thus spake "Dave Plowman (News)" (da...@davenoise.co.uk) unto the assembled multitudes:
> > <A.C...@DENTURESsussex.ac.uk> wrote:
> >> My year 2000 Astra 1.6 Club has a recommended change interval of
> >> 10,000 miles or once per year whichever comes first, but I change
> >> mine (with filter) at 5000 miles and have it changed again at the
> >> 10,000 mile service.
> > Each time service intervals are extended some keep to the one they're
> > used to. Regardless of the fact that most engines don't wear out these
> > days. ;-)
> My habit is largely influenced by a motorcycling background, where I
> change the oil more frequently than recommended for the sake of keeping
> the engine sweet. It's worked for me over the last 30 years or so,
> though of course at the increased expense, but I don't regard it as a
> false economy.
When I first took an interest in engines, oil changes were every 3000
miles - and the engines had a life of perhaps 50,000. Some much less. Then
needed a re-bore and crank grind. De-coking was also likely required once
or twice in each engine's life.
Nowadays, 15,000 seems to be the norm and the engines outlast the car -
certainly in terms of wear. Broken cam belts or disastrous cooling system
failures excepted, of course.
--
*Growing old is inevitable, growing up is optional
John Henderson
> I thought I read some controversy about changing oil too often but I
> can't remember the outcome of that.
http://papers.sae.org/2007-01-4133/
John
Chris Whelan
I have some concerns about that data; it was obtained from just three
vehicles, and dates back to 2007. I've tried to get more up to date
information in the past, but it appears that nothing further has been
published, at least online.
John Henderson
> I have some concerns about that data; it was obtained from just three
> vehicles, and dates back to 2007. I've tried to get more up to date
> information in the past, but it appears that nothing further has been
> published, at least online.
It would be nice to find more telling evidence, although there
seems to be some confirmation of the trend. Eg,
"Testing with partially stressed oil, which contained some wear
debris, produced less wear than testing with clean oil." -
http://www.swri.org/3pubs/IRD1999/03912699.htm
I've also seen a claim that a Massachusetts Institute of
Technology study made the same finding, but found no reference to
the actual article.
John
Dave Plowman (News)
ARWadsworth <adamwa...@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote:
> Dave Plowman (News) <da...@davenoise.co.uk> wrote:
> >
> > Ok if it's free. The BMW stuff is about 13 quid a litre.
> What's the spec of your oil?
Castrol Edge 0W-30. Can be bought for less than the dealer changes, though.
> My oil is only free whilst I do not charge my brother for any electical
> works I do in his garage:-)
Ah. Could be very expensive oil. ;-)
--
*Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder *
Stephen
<da...@davenoise.co.uk> wrote:
>Many products deteriorate without being used. Tyres, for example. Petrol
>can go stale over time. So the same sort of thing with oil.
Now I'm getting paranoid: how long can you keep oil in the 4L bottles
you buy it in. I'm guessing I don't need to panic about the half full
one that's been sitting in the garage for a few months. After all, who
knows how long they have been on the shelf at the shop.
steve robinson
Unopened it has a shelf life of a few years.
Grimly Curmudgeon
drugs began to take hold. I remember Stephen
<ste...@nowhere.com.invalid> saying something like:
>Now I'm getting paranoid: how long can you keep oil in the 4L bottles
>you buy it in.
Years. Stop worrying.
Mrcheerful
I have noticed a few car parts are getting 'best before' dates on them:
brake parts and belts spring to mind.
Dave Plowman (News)
Mrcheerful <nbk...@hotmail.co.uk> wrote:
> I have noticed a few car parts are getting 'best before' dates on them:
> brake parts and belts spring to mind.
Yes. There are plenty of NOS parts for the SD1 since Rimmer Bros bought
the stock from the India factory. But things like brake cylinders usually
need the seals changed as they have hardened and no longer work. Even
wiper motor assemblies have to be stripped and re-lubricated. Of course
they were very probably badly stored in India. However, if it was vacuum
packed and kept in the dark it has more chance of surviving.
--
*Toilet stolen from police station. Cops have nothing to go on.
Dave Plowman (News)
Stephen <ste...@nowhere.com.invalid> wrote:
> >Many products deteriorate without being used. Tyres, for example. Petrol
> >can go stale over time. So the same sort of thing with oil.
> Now I'm getting paranoid: how long can you keep oil in the 4L bottles
> you buy it in. I'm guessing I don't need to panic about the half full
> one that's been sitting in the garage for a few months. After all, who
> knows how long they have been on the shelf at the shop.
I don't think new oil stored in its original container with the cap on
would be much to worry about. Petrol in a fuel tank can evaporate. Tyres
are exposed to light and air, etc.
--
*'ome is where you 'ang your @ *
Dave Plowman da...@davenoise.co.uk London SW
Stephen
<grimly...@REMOVEgmail.com> wrote:
>
>Years. Stop worrying.
Thanks. In that case I'll go ahead and order another one whilst ECP
have their 20% off offer on ;)
I think oil prices can only go up, so I may as well stock up now!
Thanks,
Stephen.