Discussion
wormus said:
You chaps must like wasting money then? Most synthetics can be changed every 25k miles or so and there is a reason manufacturers specify oil change intervals so why change it twice as often?
What he says!!
There's an old saying that you can never change the oil too often, but modern synthentics last ages as wormus says. Service interval is 10K why change between that?
wormus said:
You chaps must like wasting money then? Most synthetics can be changed every 25k miles or so and there is a reason manufacturers specify oil change intervals so why change it twice as often?
One of my friends work at BP where they make and test Mobil 1 oil and he told me you can leave it in for 20K but when the oil goes dark brown or black you need to replace it because it cant protect the engine as well as its ment to.
Thats why when i owned My Mitsu Evo 7 the service interval was every 6months or 4500 miles,and that was Mobil 1. But my oil was black after 1 track day or about 1500miles.
So i think as long as you dont go over the 10K miles vauxhall say you will be ok, but i like to change it just before the goes to a darker brown colour.
i've always thought of it like this, peace of mind being the main factor:
if the oil is original colour: low level of contaminants and less wear
if the oil is black: higher level of contaminants and more wear (though probably not a huge difference)
i guess it depends on your personal view, i think i'd change the oil and filter once it had changed to a darker brown/black.
if the oil is original colour: low level of contaminants and less wear
if the oil is black: higher level of contaminants and more wear (though probably not a huge difference)
i guess it depends on your personal view, i think i'd change the oil and filter once it had changed to a darker brown/black.
Sorry, I disagree. I'm no expert but the colour of oil is not a good indication of its ability to lubricate, the only way you can measure that is using spectrographic oil analysis.
Anyone who's owned a diesel knows the oil turns black almost immediately but it still lubricates, it also gets darker as it heats and cools. If you use a decent quality oil & change the oil filter every 10k miles you will be fine. The most important thing is to check the oil level regularly as LSx engines tend to use a bit and like to be kept at the top of the cross hatching on the dip stick.
Anyone who's owned a diesel knows the oil turns black almost immediately but it still lubricates, it also gets darker as it heats and cools. If you use a decent quality oil & change the oil filter every 10k miles you will be fine. The most important thing is to check the oil level regularly as LSx engines tend to use a bit and like to be kept at the top of the cross hatching on the dip stick.
Edited by anonymous-user on Thursday 17th July 19:28
Yes but contaminants suspended in the oil reduce lubricating volume. In a way it's a bit like additives in petrol mean less actual petrol. Diesel oil goes black because of the sooty particulates that have bypassed the rings or that have baked if a turbo's involved.
Edited by Boosted LS1 on Thursday 17th July 23:38
I have had main service intervals of about 11K and changed it my self in-between. It is not especially difficult or costly. You can check loads of other stuff while you are about it. What price peace of mind. Haven't noticed any being used. I used the GM oil p/n read off the first service bill. I think the second time they used Mobil one without asking which was a little more expensive.
wormus said:
Sorry, I disagree. I'm no expert but the colour of oil is not a good indication of its ability to lubricate, the only way you can measure that is using spectrographic oil analysis.
Anyone who's owned a diesel knows the oil turns black almost immediately but it still lubricates, it also gets darker as it heats and cools. If you use a decent quality oil & change the oil filter every 10k miles you will be fine. The most important thing is to check the oil level regularly as LSx engines tend to use a bit and like to be kept at the top of the cross hatching on the dip stick.
Anyone who's owned a diesel knows the oil turns black almost immediately but it still lubricates, it also gets darker as it heats and cools. If you use a decent quality oil & change the oil filter every 10k miles you will be fine. The most important thing is to check the oil level regularly as LSx engines tend to use a bit and like to be kept at the top of the cross hatching on the dip stick.
Edited by wormus on Thursday 17th July 19:28
Wormus , i think you may be right!!! I have spoken to some top bod over at BP where they test the oil and he tells me your right and im wrong to an extent
He told me you can only see how good oil is by doing spectrographic oil analysis on your used oil. He told me to give him some used oil and he will test it for me. But ive just changed my oil so i can’t use mine. Now I’ve got to wait for say 6000 miles then ill get mine tested and ill let you all know what the results are. Or maybe if anyone is about to take out there 10,000 old oil let me have it and ill get it checked.
I'm also not an oil expert, but would agree with the above. My understanding is that the oil SHOULD change colour as it gathers contaminents if it doesn't get darker it's not a very good oil. Eventually these contaminents will thicken the oil, at which point I would imagine the lubrication properties would suffer. this isn't likely to occur within 10K however on a low stressed LS lump..
Just my tuppence worth. Be interesting to see any test results on the used oil though..
Just my tuppence worth. Be interesting to see any test results on the used oil though..
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