Extraordinary prices for mundane engine oil

[november4]

"....A few tips you can do to keep the DPF troublefree.
Always carry a litre of DPF compliant oil in the boot as stated here Avoid mixing oils which are no compliant as it leads to issues. You should not be
making this mistake.Make sure all the drivers of your car are aware of this so careless mistakes can be avoided..."


My own muppetry proven empirically, I found the above advice from honda after the fact, honda diesel dtec

 

[Deleted User]

Outside certain enthusiasts, who buys engine oil? My car gets an annual service and every now and then the mechanic changes the oil. I've never had to touch it myself and I have no idea if £1.34 for 4L is a fair price or not.

This statement sums up the difference in people perfectly, because I have an Interest in older vehicles myself and probably 20 others I know service and maintain our own vehicles we all buy oil of various types.

So basically almost everyone I know would know the difference in types of oil and their prices.

Classic scooters run on 2 stroke pre mix so you need to 'touch' the oil on almost every journey.

Funny old world ain't it.

 

[Deleted User]

I’m a total motoring idiot.
Does it matter if you put the wrong grade of oil in your engine?

Vastly important, we have 5 cars and 4 motorcycles in our house and the range of oils vary between 0w30 fully synthetic to 20w50 mineral and everything in between so yes it is important.

 

[winjim]

This statement sums up the difference in people perfectly, because I have an Interest in older vehicles myself and probably 20 others I know service and maintain our own vehicles we all buy oil of various types.

So basically almost everyone I know would know the difference in types of oil and their prices.

Classic scooters run on 2 stroke pre mix so you need to 'touch' the oil on almost every journey.

Funny old world ain't it.

There you go. I'd put you in the enthusiast category with camper vans and scooters. That's a hobby isn't it, and I'd expect you to be doing at least some of your own maintenance. I wouldn't mind a camper myself except I don't think it would fit into our lifestyle and I wouldn't have the time to spend on it. My twelve year old Skoda doesn't have quite the same charm.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

Vastly important, we have 5 cars and 4 motorcycles in our house and the range of oils vary between 0w30 fully synthetic to 20w50 mineral and everything in between so yes it is important.

But there is the other factor, some/any oil is better than no oil, desperate times sometimes leads to desperate measures, but. make the journey, get home then get the wrong stuff out.

 

[Profpointy]

So it’s better to have the wrong oil rather than no oil.
But best to have the correct oil.

A pal of mine cracked the sump on his Jaguar based kit car he'd driven some way up an entirely unsuitable Landrover track. It was before mobile phones and help was a long way off, so he dropped the sump, lined it with plastic and refilled with a combination of the small amount of proper engine oil, cooking oil, and maybe even lard, and it was enough to get it running so he could drive to a town and get the sump welded and actually fill up with proper engine oil

 

[gbb]

I've never actually paid anyone, ever, to change my oil in around 45 years.
The 5w20 seems to be a relatively new grade, suitable in some Mazdas but not mine.
The 5w30 is a Ford/Land rover spec so I not going to use it either, doesn't meet the specs Mazda give for mine.

I am however going to buy 20 ltr of Mannol fully synthetic, correct spec for £54. Even Halfords own isn't cheap anymore, never had issues with it but then, I don't stretch change intervals, 6 to 10k at the most, aiming for 6k miles.

 

[Stephenite]

The Passat suddenly started complaining about the lack of coolant the other week. I've not had to buy coolant before. Luckily, there was a half-decent petrol station en route. I stopped there and flicked through the owners' manual. They didn't have a bottle with, exactly, the same numbers on so I asked the teenager working there. He said, as far as his training went, there were only two types of coolant - pink and blue. The small print on the back of the pink one was a close match, and the blue one way off. So the pink one went in.

 

[winjim]

See, I wouldn't ask my mechanic to test his own urine sample so I'm not gonna try to do his job for him. Fortunately I live at the top of a hill and he works at the bottom of it so in a worst case scenario I coast it down to him, kind of point at it making 'car not work' noises, he fixes it and drives it back up to my house. I see no reason to get any more involved than that.

 

[biggs682]

Engine oil is far from mundane and coolant is going the same way these days.

 

[notmyrealnamebutclose]

every 3k for my 250cc scooter, can get 2 oil changes from a 5ltl can, so not so bad

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

I’ll have to go and have a look at the ASDA, at Glasshoughton (near ‘Xscape’), as my Kodiaq also use synthetic 5w/30

 

[Deleted User]

But there is the other factor, some/any oil is better than no oil, desperate times sometimes leads to desperate measures, but. make the journey, get home then get the wrong stuff out.

Well of course it is in certain circumstances but the person was asking if it matters which grade of oil should be put in an engine and it does.

Put whatever you want where for me.

 

[Deleted User]

Engine oil is far from mundane and coolant is going the same way these days.

My old camper has to have 'G12' coolant as due to poor design the head bolts are permanently swimming in coolant and they can rot and break.

VW WBX engine, before anyone starts questioning.

 

[biggs682]

My old camper has to have 'G12' coolant as due to poor design the head bolts are permanently swimming in coolant and they can rot and break.

VW WBX engine, before anyone starts questioning.

Sure We use G12 coolant on the VW based Mercury marine engines