Oil Change - DIY or specialist - how often, and cost.

[Scumfrog]

It's  a job I'm happy to do myself, but I am aware that due to the value of the cars these days, in the future, potential buyers are going to want to see several regular stamps in the book, from a specialist.  So I'm wondering, how much I should pay for an engine oil and filter change?

For a car doing nominally up to 3,000 miles a year, would 18 months to two years be an acceptable interval?

Also the brake fluid - do the stamps matter that much and how often do you do it?

 

 

 

[Nige]

DIY it unless you've got a low mile minter with a book full stamps and want to a return on investment in a year or two.

Oil, filter, plugs, fluids, etc are all easy enough to do DIY but then technically shouldn't cost the earth from a specialist.  Oil and filter shouldn't take no more than 30 minutes with most cost down to the fact you need 2x 5litres of oil.

Valve clearances need doing 10k, again not hard but a bit fiddly so you might want a specialist to that.

I DIY all the repairs and servicing on mine.  Porsche and daily drivers.

I change the oil annually irrespective of low mileage.  I haven't touched the brake fluid for at least a couple of years so it's probably due.

 

[Scumfrog]

Not low mileage but engine rebuilt, not planning to sell any time soon, but it will happen one day, 5 or 10 years maybe.

[Ian Comerford]

DIY and keep the receipts for the oil and filters etc.  I do all of my own except setting the valve clearances and change the oil and filter every 3k miles.  Oil is cheap maintenance as far as I am concerned.

[Roy M]

13 hours ago, Ian Comerford said:

DIY and keep the receipts for the oil and filters etc.  I do all of my own except setting the valve clearances and change the oil and filter every 3k miles.  Oil is cheap maintenance as far as I am concerned.

I change the oil and filter every year. Due to family issues over recent years that's sometimes been less than 100  miles (and yes I am ashamed of it) butI still think it worth doing - after all what harm could it do compared to leaving old oil in?

[Scumfrog]

OK, so which oil do you use?

Porsche recommend 10w-60 Fully Synthetic. Their own brand is £230 for 12 litres.

 

 

[Roy M]

NOoooo!!!!!!! Not another oil thread?!?

I've been using VR1 recently after quite a bit of research ( usually by others I must add)

Might get some response about this but I also only use Mahle OC54 filters ( which I have just realised I have run out of!)

Edited October 14, 2022 by Roy M
Extra info re filter

[Beaky]

War & Peace volumes on which oil🙃, I use VR1 as recommended by my engine builder and two other highly respected Indies.

That said some very good alternative out there just remember Oil is like blood in ours cars!

[Nige]

It wouldn't have anything better than this in it from factory.  I've been using this for yonks.

https://www.opieoils.co.uk/p-60215-millers-oils-trident-professional-10w-40-semi-synthetic-engine-oil.aspx

But if you are feeling flush use this, but then if you're not pushing it about on the track it's probably not worth it.

https://www.opieoils.co.uk/p-115231-millers-oils-motorsport-cfs-10w-60-nanodrive-fully-synthetic-engine-oil.aspx

 

BTW don't use any flushing oils.

Edited October 15, 2022 by Nige

[Mobydick]

+1 for Millers too - have been using their stuff for over a decade now. 
They have a website that explains some esters and nano technology- also they have a tech line that you can call and they are very helpful too.

As indicated above, you have asked the nuclear question about oil choice - it is a hotly debated subject! Use the search and you will find some thought provoking stuff. 
In the end, none of us are tribology experts but there are some things to consider.
Back in the day , Porsche always recommended Mobil 10w40. I believe it’s jointly understood that many modern oils have reduced ZDDP content (down from 1200 to maybe 500?) and low ZDDP content will deliver excessive wear on the valves  on our cars- so suggest u avoid these.

On an oil change, a volume of old oil will remain in the car - hence avoid the drain flush additives etc.  Also, 10 Lit will suffice for an oil change - I’ve never put more than that in.  +1 for DIY … a bunch of stamps on classics don’t offer much value - the receipts will. If you are relatively new to oil changes be cautious not to over tighten the drain plugs - especially on the engine . You don’t want to strip the threads 

[Scumfrog]

Thanks for the advice.

I did settle on VR1 a few years ago, for other vehicles, but I just wondered what other people were using for these cars.

The motorsport stuff is overkill for me, but I'll decide in a couple of days if it's worth the extra.

One specialist I spoke to told me that he leaves the oil in the cooler in the car. Surely it can't be that hard to get the oil hot enough to open the thermostat? I've not checked very often, it does seem to get warm after a run but I do wonder how long it stays open as it never seems to be really hot, (lots of 40mph traffic around here). Can that be done with the engine idling with the car stationary, and how long does it stay open?

 

[SilverWT]

Even with the thermostat open the oil does not drain from the cooler circuit. Don't worry about it, it's normal and it's never done any of them any harm.

 

Mark

[Scumfrog]

On 15/10/2022 at 14:38, SilverWT said:

Even with the thermostat open the oil does not drain from the cooler circuit. Don't worry about it, it's normal and it's never done any of them any harm.

 

Mark

Perhaps not, but it's not very satisfactory to leave 2 or 3 litres of old oil in the system. Kind of makes it pointless to heat the engine up to fully drain the old oil.

Has anyone ever tried putting a drain plug in the cooler?

[Roy M]

Of course regular oil changes would dilute old oil to the point of irrelevance! I do remember posting on here some time ago that I now couldn't actually see my oil on the dipstick after an oil change because it was so clean!

 

[Scumfrog]

Sure, but I can imagine a few circumstances where you would want to change all the oil - e.g. switching to a different type (as I am doing now).

 

(I did follow a blog about 20 years ago where some people never changed the oil in a Mercedes, using good fully synthetic oil and testing it regularly. After 120,000 miles they found that it hadn't deteriorated that much, but started getting better as the car started to lose / use oil and they were topping up with new oil.)

[Ian Comerford]

Thinking about the layout of the pipes beyond the thermostat it would be difficult to insert a drain ‘tap’ in the right place to get it all out. I think it best to file it under “Too difficult”

[Nige]

You'd have to disconnect the hard lines totally or drop in multiple drain taps at various points and pump/pressurise it all out.

Or maybe a valve just after the thermostat that you can pressurise whilst the thermostat is hot enough to be open and push all the oil through back into the crankcase.

Seems a fruitless exercise.

[Kenny Senior]

The hard lines from Elephant racing have a brass tyre valve in, just after the thermostat. I always get an extra 1.5-2 litres out by attaching my compressor and gently blowing out.

[Scumfrog]

1 hour ago, Kenny Senior said:

The hard lines from Elephant racing have a brass tyre valve in, just after the thermostat. I always get an extra 1.5-2 litres out by attaching my compressor and gently blowing out.

That's the reverse of the solution I was thinking of - if you had a valve in the same position, could you attach a (clear vinyl) pipe to it and siphon the oil out?

 

[Chris T]

All clever ideas, but I'd stop worrying about it even if you are changing oil type. The amount kept in the pipe is such a small % and next oil change the residual 'wrong' oil will be absolutely negligible. If it was required, Porsche would have put in a valve when they made the car!