Discussion
I’m after a bit of wisdom regarding engine oil.
My car has covered around 4500 miles since it’s last oil change, the trouble is that was three years ago. The car has been unused for 19 months
I need to mot and tax the car before I drive it 50 miles to AAS for a proper service.
So the question is will the oil be safe to use? Or will I risk damage to the engine.
Before I get flamed…..I can’t change the oil myself due to a serious back injury so I’m a bit stuck.
I was thinking of getting a sample oil analysed first to see if it is still useable, has anyone done this and was it worth it?
Any thoughts guys
My car has covered around 4500 miles since it’s last oil change, the trouble is that was three years ago. The car has been unused for 19 months
I need to mot and tax the car before I drive it 50 miles to AAS for a proper service.
So the question is will the oil be safe to use? Or will I risk damage to the engine.
Before I get flamed…..I can’t change the oil myself due to a serious back injury so I’m a bit stuck.
I was thinking of getting a sample oil analysed first to see if it is still useable, has anyone done this and was it worth it?
Any thoughts guys
A quick update….
I decided in my infinite wisdom not to drive my car with three year old engine oil still in the sump. I managed to change the oil myself…just….it took me two days…not easy with an injured back.
Anyway I took my car to AAS today and had the gearbox oil and brake fluid changed, and all is well despite the horrific down pour on the way home.
Stuart thought my old engine oil would have still been good enough to drive to his place, but I couldn’t do it……maybe I a bit neurotic after all?
AAS had a lovely silver Monaro in for some work as well as a nice red 1960’s Mustang, and yes they are still very busy as usual.
Happy days.
I decided in my infinite wisdom not to drive my car with three year old engine oil still in the sump. I managed to change the oil myself…just….it took me two days…not easy with an injured back.
Anyway I took my car to AAS today and had the gearbox oil and brake fluid changed, and all is well despite the horrific down pour on the way home.
Stuart thought my old engine oil would have still been good enough to drive to his place, but I couldn’t do it……maybe I a bit neurotic after all?
AAS had a lovely silver Monaro in for some work as well as a nice red 1960’s Mustang, and yes they are still very busy as usual.
Happy days.
Edited by mfp4073 on Saturday 5th August 14:05
Well…..heads and a cam, believe me I would love that 
but my Mrs is quite unreasonable and will no doubt cause me further injury if I spend anymore $$$ on the car 
TBH, I took the car out last week for a gentle drive, the roads were dry and it was nice and warm, I had both windows down and well you can guess the rest…
I’ve actually owned this car for 16 years this month, I can’t believe it…..hopefully I’ll never have sell as that would be a really bad day.
I intend to put a few hundred miles on the clock this year if possible, however next year if I’m back to reasonable health I’ll try for a couple of thousand…..with a bit of luck.
I take it your car is complete now, (apart from the heads and cam) it certainly looks bloody good in the photos you posted, there can’t be many left that clean these days.
but my Mrs is quite unreasonable and will no doubt cause me further injury if I spend anymore $$$ on the car TBH, I took the car out last week for a gentle drive, the roads were dry and it was nice and warm, I had both windows down and well you can guess the rest…
I’ve actually owned this car for 16 years this month, I can’t believe it…..hopefully I’ll never have sell as that would be a really bad day.
I intend to put a few hundred miles on the clock this year if possible, however next year if I’m back to reasonable health I’ll try for a couple of thousand…..with a bit of luck.
I take it your car is complete now, (apart from the heads and cam) it certainly looks bloody good in the photos you posted, there can’t be many left that clean these days.
I’m surprised you’ve had steering wheel shake from your AP’s.
I take it you were running the DS 2500 pads?, if so that may have been your problem. I think they suffered from pad material transfer ?
Apart from the initial problem I had with the new AP kit ( fixed under warranty ) mine have been fine so far although I did change the pads early on to “Pedders low dust ceramic” which I believe do not suffer from this issue.
I take it you were running the DS 2500 pads?, if so that may have been your problem. I think they suffered from pad material transfer ?
Apart from the initial problem I had with the new AP kit ( fixed under warranty ) mine have been fine so far although I did change the pads early on to “Pedders low dust ceramic” which I believe do not suffer from this issue.
You’ve got me thinking now so I’ve just checked the service history regarding my AP’s.
They were fitted in 2018 and I’ve covered around 7000 miles since. Touch wood I’ve had no issues with any vibrations.
From memory I believe it’s critical to clean the wheel hub and rear of the disc when fitting. I smeared a small amount of oil on the hub to prevent future corrosion, I carried out the bedding in procedure as recommended and made sure the wheel nuts were torqued up correctly.
As your car is garaged and I doubt you drive it like you’ve just stolen it the only thing I can think of is brake pad transfer ( I believe the resin that bonds the pad materials together causes the issue when hot? )
My brother had standard factory brake disc’s and pads on his late model low mileage Dodge Challenger and that had the same issues, so it’s probably not a problem specific to AP’s.
I would certainly give the Pedders ceramic pads a go, but they have now gone up in price…oh what a surprise
I think the Range Rover disc conversion sounds pretty good, that or get some discs from Reylands motorsport which are the same size as AP’s but cheaper. Quite how AP can justify the cost is beyond me.
Keep us posted on how you get on
so I’ve just checked the service history regarding my AP’s. They were fitted in 2018 and I’ve covered around 7000 miles since. Touch wood I’ve had no issues with any vibrations.
From memory I believe it’s critical to clean the wheel hub and rear of the disc when fitting. I smeared a small amount of oil on the hub to prevent future corrosion, I carried out the bedding in procedure as recommended and made sure the wheel nuts were torqued up correctly.
As your car is garaged and I doubt you drive it like you’ve just stolen it the only thing I can think of is brake pad transfer ( I believe the resin that bonds the pad materials together causes the issue when hot? )
My brother had standard factory brake disc’s and pads on his late model low mileage Dodge Challenger and that had the same issues, so it’s probably not a problem specific to AP’s.
I would certainly give the Pedders ceramic pads a go, but they have now gone up in price…oh what a surprise
I think the Range Rover disc conversion sounds pretty good, that or get some discs from Reylands motorsport which are the same size as AP’s but cheaper. Quite how AP can justify the cost is beyond me.
Keep us posted on how you get on
Pit Pony said:
If you've got a bad back, the easy way to change the oil is with an electric pump down the dip stick tube.
Assuming one fits.
I got a pump last year from Lidl, and it took all of a few minutes to change the oil on my wife's 1.6 astra, but can't do it on my 1.4T astra. Some sort of restriction in the dipstick tube.
TBH I never thought about that. A good shout, I’ll have a look for one Assuming one fits.
I got a pump last year from Lidl, and it took all of a few minutes to change the oil on my wife's 1.6 astra, but can't do it on my 1.4T astra. Some sort of restriction in the dipstick tube.
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