Astra oil change frequency

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.

About every 200 miles.

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.

Thus spake Stephen ( snipped-for-privacy@nowhere.com.invalid) unto the assembled multitudes:

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.

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.

Ok if it's free. The BMW stuff is about 13 quid a litre.

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. ;-)

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:-)

Castrol Edge 0W-30. Can be bought for less than the dealer changes, though.

Ah. Could be very expensive oil. ;-)

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.

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.

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.

Well, it's money down the drain. That's a good enough reason for me.

Many products deteriorate without being used. Tyres, for example. Petrol can go stale over time. So the same sort of thing with oil.

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.

[...]

You know it makes sense ;-)

Most of them do that, and also take into account cold starts.

Some limited research did indeed suggest that; you can Google it, but it was just one small piece of research.

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

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.

multitudes:

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.

John

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.

Chris

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." -

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

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.

Unopened it has a shelf life of a few years.