Engine oil change advice can rapidly be relegated to the annals of expensive myths!

Very often misguided advice regarding an engine oil change can see an owner spending money on unnecessary oil services. It’s also worth remembering that modern synthetic lubricants have made previously recommended engine oil change advice redundant.

How many times have you received the following engine oil change advice:

You need to carry out an engine oil change every 10,000 Km or 3 months.

This has to be the most popular piece of misguided advice bordering on an engine oil myth. While your vehicle is in warranty you have to abide by what your service agreement states – usually 15 to 20,000km or when the sensor triggers the engine oil service light. Don’t forget that if you don’t travel a lot you need to also carry out an engine oil change in a stipulated time. This you’ll find in your handbook.

If your vehicle operates in a very dusty or high temperature environment you may also need to change motor oil more frequently.

Finally if your car’s out of warranty you could well consider a quality Synthetic motor oil, such as that supplied by Habot Syntheic Lubricants. The benefits of using a quality synthetic engine oil are:

• Opportunity to extend engine oil service intervals, thereby saving on oil, labour and parts. 
• Synthetic motor oil is more stable at high temperatures, such as those found in Turbo charged applications. 
• Changing to a quality synthetic oil, can also marginally reduce your fuel bill through reduced oil drag.

Perform an engine oil change before a long journey.

The timing for an engine oil change is determined by the condition of the oil – for ease of maintenance this is often determined by the mileage the oil has covered. Therefore, the fact that you’ll be covering x km’s on holiday is immaterial: As long as the oil does not exceed it’s service life.

Of course there’s no harm in changing the oil if you think you may exceed the oil change interval while away; it just may be unnecessary cost.

Black oil, means time for an engine oil change.

This is an old school method of checking the condition of the motor oil. Black oil could still have plenty of life in it.

Because engine oil contains detergents it’s quite normal for it to discolour quite quickly as it cleans the engines internals. However if the motor oil becomes thick it definitely needs replacement; but this should not happen within prescribed oil change intervals.

If you leave this unattended you could be headed for an engine sludge problem.
In the old days it was quite normal for the first oil change to be sooner than the regular oil change intervals, however this is less common with new technology.

The first rule here is to follow whatever the manufacturer recommends WRT the first engine oil change.

Modern engines have achieved a high degree of fine machining and tight clearances, which together with superior lubricants often make run-in and reduced first oil change unnecessary.

This reduced mileage first change is often to remove the initial wear debris generated by the various surfaces bedding in.

There’s no benefit to change engine oil to a synthetic lubricant.

This requires a qualified response.

Firstly it’s a fact that Synthetic lubricants are superior in the following:

• More stable at higher operating temperatures 
• Are less prone to oxidation 
• Extend engine oil change intervals 
• Have a wider temperature operating range, therefore a thinner oil can be used and still perform well at operating temperatures while reducing friction and wear at low temperatures and on start up. 

So if you require any of the above then there’s definitely a benefit to be had by changing to synthetic oil at your next engine oil change.

However your initial cost for a quality synthetic motor oil will be higher than regular oil, but this can be offset by the savings through the extended oil change intervals. When you’re ready for your next engine oil change call Habot Synthetic Lubricants, for a quality synthetic engine oil.