Oil change, shall I bother ?
Discussion
I service my car myself and keep on top of it, its a 2003 Saab 9-3 Aero, I did the oil change around the MOT last year and have just got it MOTd again, its only done 2500 miles since the last MOT, I changed it last year with £40 of fully sythentic oil and a genuine Saab filter, is there any point in changing the oil again now, 12 months and 2500 miles later ?
The car isnt worth much now and I think the engine isnt going to suffer too badly if I defer until next summer but I did read something about it getting more acidic over time or something ? its done 58,000 miles and runs very well.
The car isnt worth much now and I think the engine isnt going to suffer too badly if I defer until next summer but I did read something about it getting more acidic over time or something ? its done 58,000 miles and runs very well.
drop it yearly regardless of milage
oil degrades when stood aswell.
i change mine every 10k or yearly whichever comes first.
ive stopped the 5k oil changes like i used to do on all my other cars, overkill on a mild state of tune.
saying that i dont think you car will blow up if you dont, its a piece of mind thing
oil degrades when stood aswell.
i change mine every 10k or yearly whichever comes first.
ive stopped the 5k oil changes like i used to do on all my other cars, overkill on a mild state of tune.
saying that i dont think you car will blow up if you dont, its a piece of mind thing
Deva Link said:
J4CKO said:
its only done 2500 miles since the last MOT,
What kind (length) is its typical journey, and does it do a decent run now and again?My car (diesel Merc) only calls for a service every 2yrs, but I pretty well only use it for a couple of long runs per month.
Funny how we tend to worry about things like that, when half the population cant seem to change a bulb, not drive on bald tyres or look after their cars, usually worth a lot more than mine !
Its not a pride and joy type car by my standards but it does get looked after, it makes sense as then you get more when you come to sell it and it doesnt end up breaking down, not that its worth more than what, 2 or 3 grand.
Might look for an MX5 seeing as it does so little mileage.
If in any doubt, just do it. I too have read about acid levels and other such things.
I do mine at 3k miles, as I find that's just about then the oil starts to turn dark, so I consider the oil 'full' of the bits the detergents are cleaning out of the engine.
Although £40 of fully synthetic is probably overkill too, 10/40 semi would do just fine in our climate. Fully synth is engineered to last a lot of miles, so largely pointless for what you're using your car for.
I do mine at 3k miles, as I find that's just about then the oil starts to turn dark, so I consider the oil 'full' of the bits the detergents are cleaning out of the engine.
Although £40 of fully synthetic is probably overkill too, 10/40 semi would do just fine in our climate. Fully synth is engineered to last a lot of miles, so largely pointless for what you're using your car for.
Astra Dan said:
If in any doubt, just do it. I too have read about acid levels and other such things.
I do mine at 3k miles, as I find that's just about then the oil starts to turn dark, so I consider the oil 'full' of the bits the detergents are cleaning out of the engine.
Although £40 of fully synthetic is probably overkill too, 10/40 semi would do just fine in our climate. Fully synth is engineered to last a lot of miles, so largely pointless for what you're using your car for.
Saab specify Fully synth for that engine, will probably do it as its not a big job and will get my dad to get the oil and filter with his trade card, will be interesting to see how much cheaper it is.I do mine at 3k miles, as I find that's just about then the oil starts to turn dark, so I consider the oil 'full' of the bits the detergents are cleaning out of the engine.
Although £40 of fully synthetic is probably overkill too, 10/40 semi would do just fine in our climate. Fully synth is engineered to last a lot of miles, so largely pointless for what you're using your car for.
CoolHands said:
yeah 0.00001 seconds quicker to 60mph. Worth it.
BTW for an old shonker you will doubtless find it starts failing mot's on stuff like rust etc at some point. It won't be the engine that lets go - so leaving it until the summer isn't going to kill it.
2003 Saab, old shonker ?BTW for an old shonker you will doubtless find it starts failing mot's on stuff like rust etc at some point. It won't be the engine that lets go - so leaving it until the summer isn't going to kill it.
There is no rust anywhere on it and I cant see there ever being any, they just dont rust, ok, the suspension struts are a bit crusty where the paint has come off but having been over it fairly carefully I have yet to see anything on the shell.
A good fully synthetic oil should not degrade over 12 months and should still be ok if you have only covered 2.5k miles.I have an E46 M3 and it states in the service manual that you should change the engine oil at least every 24 months if the service intervals(around 12k miles ave) have not been reached first.
But then again for £40 or so its hardly gona break the bank!
But then again for £40 or so its hardly gona break the bank!
NiceCupOfTea said:
J4CKO said:
NiceCupOfTea said:
The Saab will be better on fuel & quicker! Depends what you are after though.
For having an oil change ?
Than the MX-5 you mentioned one post above!Astra Dan said:
J4CKO said:
Saab specify Fully synth for that engine, will probably do it as its not a big job and will get my dad to get the oil and filter with his trade card, will be interesting to see how much cheaper it is.
No doubt, but to last, what 10, 15 20k miles?Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff