Thread: TD5 engine life - discuss

Originally Posted by Islandnomad

With respect, I found my current mechanic on this forum, he is a highly regarded LR Specialist. I don't think that anyone who knows these vehicles and has specialised in them, could be accused of this "Your mechanic doesn't know what he's talking about".


I thought that good fuel, oil and air was "Preventative Maintenance 101"?

With respect,if your mechanic told you your engine needs 5K oil changes or will last longer with 5K oil changes I'll tell both of you your wrong,Preventative maintenance 101,how many post Tdi engines are made U/S by wearing out?,nil,how many are made U/S by overheating?,crap loads,preventative maintenance starts there. Pat

Pat, just sayin' what he said to me, "if it were his car". We were also talking about preventative maintenance and longevity. The cleaner you keep your oil, the lesser the wear, seems logical to me. As a mate of mine who's a boat builder says "it all depends on it's duty cycle".


What's U/S by the way?


I am of course tempted to stretch it out to 10,000 kms, as it will be cheaper, but cheap isn't always best long term.

U/S = "unserviceable".

Changing oil more frequently than is specified is unlikely to cause any problems, except cost, (assuming the work is done in a clean environment) but is also unlikely to provide any benefit.

Manufacturers over the last decade or two have spent a lot of effort in increasing maintenance intervals. In the case of the TD5 this includes the use of a very good oil filtration system and the specification of advanced (= expensive) engine oil.

John

With older oils the base oil used to break down more easily under load than the new oils. Even with synthetic oils some bases are better than others. TD5 spec oil is B2; currently available oil is typically so better than required spec by 2 generations.
Owner's manual indicates to change oil every 10k under extreme use, which can include going across the Simpson or stop/start traffic.... basically half a normal change timeframe. Basic rule of thumb for all service intervals.
Big issue with older Toyotas and Nissans, as their oil change is 5k to start with. ...

5K changes are needed for ''dirty'' engines such as the 2H,1HZ,3L,5L lift the rocker cover on them and there will be an inch of hard baked sludge surrounding the rocker gear,the 3L is used in the hilux and hiace and that engine will dirty it's oil to the point of it not being able to flow through the oil galleries and the motor will sieze,Honda petrol engines are the same,unbelievable performance but start missing oil changes or wrong type and good night. Pat

Originally Posted by Islandnomad

Pat, just sayin' what he said to me, "if it were his car". We were also talking about preventative maintenance and longevity. The cleaner you keep your oil, the lesser the wear, seems logical to me. As a mate of mine who's a boat builder says "it all depends on it's duty cycle".


What's U/S by the way?


I am of course tempted to stretch it out to 10,000 kms, as it will be cheaper, but cheap isn't always best long term.

10K mate,don't worry about it,spend the money on good oil and filters instead of replacement,let the motor idle for a minute on cold start-up before loading it to let the oil circulate and your good,Penrite is the go for oil. Pat

"With respect,if your mechanic told you your engine needs 5K oil changes or will last longer with 5K oil changes I'll tell both of you your wrong"


Pat I don't know, it seemed logical to me, but I hear you. So your saying that the TD5 engine does not benefit in terms of longevity (which is what this thread is about) from its oil being very clean, that surprises me but I'm no expert.


"how many are made U/S by overheating?,crap loads,preventative maintenance starts there. Pat "


Got to agree with you there too Pat, just installed an Enginesaver as it seems from my reading on here that overheating is the TD5's greatest enemy!


So what is the best oil to use I wonder? My last mechanic used Castrol Synthetic (which was expensive), my current mechanic uses Penrite.

There is only one way to tell if your oil needs replacing.
That is by oil analysis.

Regular oil analysis will also give some insight as to what is wearing in the motor.

Over servicing runs the risk of introducing contaminates into the motor.

The TD5 is a direct injection motor (inherently cleaner than indirect or pre-combustion motors) and has a brilliant filtration system, it's oil is unlikely to need changing because it's "dirty" but rather because it "wears out"

As Pat said overheating is probably the biggest killer of any modern motor.

So a low coolant alarm and a proper temp gauge, with an over temp alarm.

Tony