Any value in early oil change ?

[Jules59]

Ive long been in the habit of doing my own oil changes half way between manufacturers intervals - so all oil changes would be at 5K or 6K increments.

My VRS TDI has now done 4K since April. Its the 1st car Ive had with variable servicing. I expect it will require servicing at about 18K (just a guess really).
Would an oil change at 9K seem reasonable or sensible ?
Or would anyone recommend changing at 6K as its a new engine still ?
Or am I a paranoid old git who will find any job to get out of the house and into his shed ?

Having said that waiting for upto 20K for an oil change with a diesel seems asking for trouble to me and IMO is probably mainly aimed at reducing servicing costs in a competitive market.

The thread on blown turbos at 54K is worrisome.

[mattbeef]

Your being paranoid wait until it tells you it needs changing.

Modern engines have moved on

[vRSLen]

No harm in an early oil change. if you look at people that do high mileage, they also know the value of it

[Babs]

Erm... surely variable and "DIY inbetween" don't mix?

[stacon]

If you wanted to change your oil more frequently, switch to fixed servicing intervals.
However, I agree with mattbeef, modern engines have moved on, I see no benefit in servicing early.

[Babs]

You should see the state of the oil after it's been in nearly 20k lol

[sorin83]

what does variable servicing mean?

in romania we have fixed servicing at 15000 km (9320 miles)

[Lummox]

If you do your own interim service the oil quality sensor will get confused and will throw the variable service regime out of kilter.

[tezza72uk]

Originally Posted by Jules59

Ive long been in the habit of doing my own oil changes half way between manufacturers intervals - so all oil changes would be at 5K or 6K increments.

My VRS TDI has now done 4K since April. Its the 1st car Ive had with variable servicing. I expect it will require servicing at about 18K (just a guess really).
Would an oil change at 9K seem reasonable or sensible ?
Or would anyone recommend changing at 6K as its a new engine still ?
Or am I a paranoid old git who will find any job to get out of the house and into his shed ?

Having said that waiting for upto 20K for an oil change with a diesel seems asking for trouble to me and IMO is probably mainly aimed at reducing servicing costs in a competitive market.

The thread on blown turbos at 54K is worrisome.

For the price of the oil and 20 minutes of your time I think it's a good idea to change the oil at the halfway point between long intervals, especially if you are going to keep it past the 3 year warranty . Other manufacturers have decided to reduce their oil service intervals because of turbo failure with diesels. Manufacturers are always pushing service intervals to appeal to the fleet buyers!

[vRSLen]

Originally Posted by Lummox

If you do your own interim service the oil quality sensor will get confused and will throw the variable service regime out of kilter.

But it is still 2 years or 20K is it not....

[Old Blue]

I have done it when I had a TDI caddy van and my present VRS just had it's second intermediate oil change. Porsche recommend that if I do under 9k a year in my Boxster that it has an oil change every year!

A lot of mechanics think it's not a bad idea. My personal opinion is that the oil gets really crappy and an oil change and filter is not that expensive so I do it.

[Lummox]

Originally Posted by vRSLen

But it is still 2 years or 20K is it not....

Yep, the maximum distance will still be as it was. Most are 18,500 these days.

However if you going to do an intermediate oil change you may as well stick to a fixed service schedule as your removing the oil of having the sump sensor anyhow.

[Jules59]

Thanks peeps - obviously divided opinions here.
A few mores Qs:
How does the oil sensor work ? Is is some kind of optical device sensing oil "blackness" ?
How would the electronics be aware of an oil change ?
How does the electronics calculate variable service intervals ?
Does it use an algorithmn (rpm and duration , mileage etc ) ?

[mattbeef]

Now of that you will have to wait for Ross (lummox)

I would say that it would measure the viscosity of the oil as this will become reduced due to age/mileage etc but this is only a guess on my part

[dan_the_v8man]

Originally Posted by Babs

You should see the state of the oil after it's been in nearly 20k lol

with a diesel it looks the same from 20k and turning over the engine for the first time after an oil change, black lol

[Lummox]

As far as I understand it its a resistance measurement of the oil. From this a program in the dash works out the soot content of the oil. From this it works out when you car needs its service.

[_ZS_]

Ah, variable servicing. Only reason that came about is to satisfy fleet managers. After 20k any oil is like liquid soot, even the super-duper long life stuff.

Really, all the manufacturers need out of the engine is 60k (when the warranty runs out), so 3 oil changes will suffice for that. If you want more than 80k out of your engine, then it's worth changing the oil more frequently.

Also consider changing the oil more frequently if your car is remapped. My Astra slaughters oil, as it's running 50hp above spec.

[soldatov]

Originally Posted by sorin83

what does variable servicing mean?

in romania we have fixed servicing at 15000 km (9320 miles)

We have the same in Croatia we change at 15,000km. In fact our old Nissan with nearly 240,000km clocked we always change at around 15,000 km and that car is still being used today.

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Octy 2, 1.9 TDI PD Ambiente 4x4 Combi and Nissan Sunny 2.0 DLX, Company Octy 1.9 TDI Tour Combi.

[Jules59]

How do I go about converting to fixed servicing if I wanted to do this and change the oil early.

[tezza72uk]

Originally Posted by vRSLen

But it is still 2 years or 20K is it not....

Yes, this would be additional oil change with the overall service interval being variable and still carried out by the dealer.