A Question for the Car People

Marc

Marc

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My car is coming up to a year old and it had it's 1st service booked for the end of the month.

Yesterday, the app told me that the oil life was at 4% and this morning, a warning came up on the dash saying "change engine oil soon". We're due to drive up to the Lake District (from Bedfordshire via St Helens) before the service so, just to play safe, I've brought the service forward to next week.' If nothing else other than the beeping and warning message every time I start the engine will have driven me insane otherwise!

So, my question is, how likely would it have been for problems to have arisen had I not brought the service date forward? Would it affect fuel consumption for example?
 
I doubt it. I would guess (and it's only a guess!) that the 4% refers to its life in days rather than being based on anything more technical. Having said that, I would have done exactly the same and brought the service forward a few weeks just for peace of mind (and to prevent the beeping.)

Have fun and (guessing, since I know you prefer St Helens's preferred code!) enjoy the game.
 
Nod said:
I doubt it. I would guess (and it's only a guess!) that the 4% refers to its life in days rather than being based on anything more technical. Having said that, I would have done exactly the same and brought the service forward a few weeks just for peace of mind (and to prevent the beeping.)
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Yeah, I thought as much and yeah, it's the beeping that would ave been annoying more than anything else.

Nod said:
Have fun and (guessing, since I know you prefer St Helens's preferred code!) enjoy the game.
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Sadly, the stop is just to pick the in-laws up (although we'll be staying overnight). All the teams are playing in Newcastle that particular weekend anyway.
 
Good luck then!

That reminds me - better check to see if the Chiefs are home or away this weekend - I'll be coming past Sandy Park at around full time...
 
Fuel consumption is likely to be better on the new oil, but it wouldn't have caused any problems. My oil service message came on about 4 weeks early and I'd only covered around 8500 miles since the last service. It's nothing more than a reminder really.
 
fabs said:
My car is coming up to a year old and it had it's 1st service booked for the end of the month.

Yesterday, the app told me that the oil life was at 4% and this morning, a warning came up on the dash saying "change engine oil soon". We're due to drive up to the Lake District (from Bedfordshire via St Helens) before the service so, just to play safe, I've brought the service forward to next week.' If nothing else other than the beeping and warning message every time I start the engine will have driven me insane otherwise!

So, my question is, how likely would it have been for problems to have arisen had I not brought the service date forward? Would it affect fuel consumption for example?
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Get under the bonnet, check the oil level and if necessary stick a pint of oil in to tide you over. One year old car with siezed engine more expensive than £20 of oil surely.
 
Jim_Tod said:
Get under the bonnet, check the oil level and if necessary stick a pint of oil in to tide you over. One year old car with siezed engine more expensive than £20 of oil surely.
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£20 for a pint of oil,:eek: where the hell do you buy yours from? I know it gets referred to as liquid gold, but that is expensive,
 
It seems unlikely that the car would have a laboratory under the bonnet to do a chemical analysis of the engine oil every time you turn the ignition on, so it's more likely to be a timer or connected to the odometer to work out how much the engine has been used. Going over would have done no harm at all.

To be honest, so much stuff is on 24 month service intervals nowadays I'm slightly surprised you need to change it after a year. Even my 15 year old diesel Audi has "long life" services that are 24 months/24,000 miles, but I get it serviced every year anyway, because I don't have that much faith in engine oil longevity.

nilagin said:
£20 for a pint of oil,:eek: where the hell do you buy yours from? I know it gets referred to as liquid gold, but that is expensive,
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Yeah, even Castrol R is cheaper than that and it's insanely dear these days.
 
nilagin said:
£20 for a pint of oil,:eek: where the hell do you buy yours from? I know it gets referred to as liquid gold, but that is expensive,
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So you ignore the cost of fuel, etc to your nearest Halfords or equivalent which makes even more sense to do as i suggest.

Do you rely on a piece of electronics when there's a perfectly good dipstick ( not you nilagin) to check this with before you do a 6-700 mile round trip?
 
Jim_Tod said:
So you ignore the cost of fuel, etc to your nearest Halfords or equivalent which makes even more sense to do as i suggest.

Do you rely on a piece of electronics when there's a perfectly good dipstick ( not you nilagin) to check this with before you do a 6-700 mile round trip?
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This isn't about oil quantity, but the 'quality' of it.
 
Jim_Tod said:
So you ignore the cost of fuel, etc to your nearest Halfords or equivalent which makes even more sense to do as i suggest.

Do you rely on a piece of electronics when there's a perfectly good dipstick ( not you nilagin) to check this with before you do a 6-700 mile round trip?
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There's plenty of car dealers selling oil on eBay. I can get 5 litres of Ford Formula F (that's rebranded Castrol Magnatec for those that don't know) for about £25. A dipstick will only give an indication of the oil level not it's quality. Adding half a litre of fresh oil isn't going to restore the quality of oil that needs changing and at a year old I would be concerned about my engine if it needs topping up unless it's been given a hard time over the course of a year. My car is 4yrs old and it's never nèeded a top up yet.
 
don't modern cars test viscosity and use a light sensor to detect how contaminated it is?
how many miles has it done and how many miles does the manual say it could do?
are you doing lots of miles arround town? is it it a diesel?
 
Jim_Tod said:
Do you rely on a piece of electronics when there's a perfectly good dipstick ( not you nilagin) to check this with before you do a 6-700 mile round trip?
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As said, it's about the life of the oil, not the quantity. I haven't had to add oil to a car for over 20 years. And, as I've already said, the car is going in for its service next week, before we go to the lakes.

It was just a hypothetical question as to the possible effects of oil that's due for a change on the engine and/or fuel consumption.
 
I'd always err on side of servicing before doing a long journey. Worst case is it decides oil is filthy and puts the car in some kind of limp mode.

Also if it's serviced late it may affect warranties so it isn't a great idea to go off and do hundreds of miles when it's already got a service light on.
 
I would think 70% of cars on the road are running on oil far past it's best.
 
Oil life warnings are there to make sure you change the oil regularly and aren't any fixed law. I've run company cars for nearly 30 years, most of them were driven way past the oil change warning due to necessity of keeping on the road. The % warning is worked out from what type of usage the engine gets. Lots of stop start usage will drastically drop the lifespan whereas long haul will lengthen the time because the oil isn't cooling and heating constantly.
Personally I would have advised the garage it was at it's limit and just gone on holiday. Having said that what you have done has done no harm
 
Oil nneds to be replaced every X-miles or pretty much every 12-18 months but maybe @nilagin can provide more facts.
 
fabs said:
As said, it's about the life of the oil, not the quantity. I haven't had to add oil to a car for over 20 years. And, as I've already said, the car is going in for its service next week, before we go to the lakes.

It was just a hypothetical question as to the possible effects of oil that's due for a change on the engine and/or fuel consumption.
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I gave you a hypothetical answer that running out of oil might cause the engine to seize- is it worth the risk? Adding oil if low isn't going to do any harm and can only do good. Never having felt the need to add oil to a car over 20 years ( same car for 20 yrs or different cars and oil changed at service) you seem to have decided your approach a long time ago.

Your original post didn't say service would be before the trip.
 
Jim_Tod said:
I gave you a hypothetical answer that running out of oil might cause the engine to seize- is it worth the risk? Adding oil if low isn't going to do any harm and can only do good
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But the question wasn't about running out of oil (as has been pointed out at least twice), it was about the quality of the oil and its possible effects.

Jim_Tod said:
Never having felt the need to add oil to a car over 20 years ( same car for 20 yrs or different cars and oil changed at service) you seem to have decided your approach a long time ago.
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Different, more technologically advanced cars where I was happy to let the regular servicing take care of such things.

Jim_Tod said:
Your original post didn't say service would be before the trip.
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Oh, I believe it did.

fabs said:
We're due to drive up to the Lake District (from Bedfordshire via St Helens) before the service so, just to play safe, I've brought the service forward to next week
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Don't worry about it, it won't make a jot of difference. It doesn't turn into battery acid and dissolve your pistons because an app says 0% life. You may get better mpg on new oil, but it will be by an amount immeasurable on the road.
 
Jim_Tod said:
Never been serviced and had an oil change?
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It's regularly serviced and always had it's oil changed, but it's certainly never used any oil that it has required a top up.
 
Mr Bump said:
Oil nneds to be replaced every X-miles or pretty much every 12-18 months but maybe @nilagin can provide more facts.
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Oil should always be replaced at the designated service period for the vehicle although running over by a couple of hundred miles is unlikely to matter. If however the engine seldom gets warmed up properly I would recommend getting the oil and filter changed at least twice a year as condensation will seriously reduce the oils viscosity.
 
Working in the motor trade myself there are many variables that can effect oil life and all oil deteriates over time. for example if it is a diesel and it has done a diesel particulate regeneration the oil gets very hot and will suffer.
Most modern cars have a sensor that measures the viscosity of the oil constantly and if there is a problem will throw on a light.

Even if your oil is topped as per recomendations if it is outside the viscosity of the oil grade then it can cause more wear than would do with new oil in there.
There is also no harm in having the oil changed early if it's playing on your mind in fact I try to change my oil every 6months or so depending on if funds allow.

Hope this helps
 
bigrich110 said:
Working in the motor trade myself there are many variables that can effect oil life and all oil deteriates over time. for example if it is a diesel and it has done a diesel particulate regeneration the oil gets very hot and will suffer.
Most modern cars have a sensor that measures the viscosity of the oil constantly and if there is a problem will throw on a light.

Even if your oil is topped as per recomendations if it is outside the viscosity of the oil grade then it can cause more wear than would do with new oil in there.
There is also no harm in having the oil changed early if it's playing on your mind in fact I try to change my oil every 6months or so depending on if funds allow.

Hope this helps
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Thanks for that, very helpful. (y)
 
IF you don't change oil, eventually at some point something inside an engine will break. I will then buy it very very cheaply off you. That's basically what would happen.
 
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