Thread: oil change, etc

As far as i was aware oil service was every 8-10k kms? have you had a look at the oil to see if its dark? oil change is pretty simple thing to do. i wouldnt bother paying an extra 100 bucks for them to change it when u can do it in 15-20 mins.

as for transfer case do you know when it was last serviced?

transfer case and gear box oil should be done every 20k kms. im pretty sure diff oil is 20k too but need someone else to confirm

i know there are "specified" service intervills out there but being a mechanic by trade i reckon its all down to how its driven(long highway runs/suburban/ofroad), quality of oil (often overlooked, i use mobel 1 fully synthetic in all my cars, yes you pay through the nose but i think its worth it, castrol is also good) age and condition of engine (if its on 200k+ and blowing a bit of smoke or rattleing away abit id go for 5k, not 10), unless its deisel in which case id be doing it every 5k.

where engine oil is tainted by carbon and other combustion byproducts (and fuel if youre motor is as floged as mine haha) and subjected to massive heat which speeds up the ageing prosses, diff/g.box/t.box arnt, i only change these oils if..
a) i just got the car and want to make sure its top quality oil in there
b)the oil is looking a bit dark
c) its hard to select gears
or iv been through deep water

the thing that ages diff oils is mainly the heat from the friction of the gears. lsd diff oil is different, i would be changing that more regularly.

Cheers, Andy

Oil changes should be either Kilometer OR time based.

If you are not doing many Ks you should change every 6 Months IMHO, and at the very most 1 year, although I would never leave it that long.

Honda Australia specifies 6 month oil changes on the Jazz and there is a legal requirement for them not to over specify servicing. This 10KK -15KK servicing arose both from the manufacturers desire to use low servicing cost as a sales tool and the fact they cannot prove that more servicing is required. BUT there are many disclaimers so that IMHO it is pretty impossible to meet the conditions for long servicing. Honda even say toonly change the filter ecvery second service. As if anyone would do that if they had any brains.

I usually change about every 7KK or 6 months even on tour.

When you think about it $70 or so for oil or filter is cheap insurance.

I used to change oil every 5KK on my wife's Mazda 121 which my daughter now drives. It has now done 240KK and does not use any oil between changes.
Regards Philip A

I change my oils at less than 10k or twice yearly .... I ALWAYS change the oil filter ... $10 for a Ryco Z9 filter is chump change. I use Gulf Western oil


Seeing as you have the 1990 ... These are the main items that rarely get checked >>>> I would check n replace the Transferr box oil .... Check n replace the Diff oils .... and check n replace the oil in the front CV's

Then find the nipples on the unijoints of the propshaft and give them a shot of grease


Might as well book the Auto in for a complete oil flush + filter replacement
And finally .... Replace all the coolant (Cause you never really know how old it is)


Cant comment on $ , as I do all my own mechanic'ing

Cheers
Mike

The one piece of equipment which works hard but is often the least maintained is that ZF automatic transmission. The clutch packs wear and deposit contaminants which then blocks the filter and gunk builds up in the box.

Servicing it is not a cheap job but it is certainly cost effective when compared to fixing it when it breaks or fitting a a c/o transmission.