Vehicle service intervals

tsume

tsume

The Pervy Sage
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I have a car that has to be serviced every 15 000 km's or yearly. The car was serviced at 8000 km's during a yearly service. Would the next expected service be 15 000 km's or 24 000 km's?
 
23000km or yearly - whichever comes first. Check your service book.
 
It's pretty important to change the oil at least annually (and that includes a new oil filter). Modern oils are amazingly versatile, but shouldn't be in your engine for more than a year or so, irrespective of the mileage you've done.
 
Still on Service plan and under Warranty, 23000km or yearly, which ever comes first. No service plan or warranty, only every 15000km.
 
Venomous said:
just been through this with warranty staff at the dealer about the newer vehicle...

If you serviced last on 1 June, then by next year 1 June the car must be serviced again.

What they do then is an oil change and a general health check.

Then if your car gets to 15000km next December then it must go in and the FULL 15k service gets done. From there you then start counting a year if you will not drive 15000km by that Dec....

And if you do not meet with both those ultimatums then your warranty and service/maintenance plan goes flying.
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...

so
15, 30, 45.... has to happen even if not doing 15k in 1 year then yearly. And again yearly after the official services.
 
Venomous said:
...

so
15, 30, 45.... has to happen even if not doing 15k in 1 year then yearly. And again yearly after the official services.
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^ This
The oil breaks down so it has a finite life time and should be replaced at 10,000 or 15,000 km (whatever the manufacturer recommends).
The yearly services aren't as critical unless you're trying to maintain a full service history as specified by the manufacturer.
Let me explain why.

If a vehicle is driving over short distances, in stop start type traffic where the engine spends a lot of time idling, the vehicle isn't showing much distance travelled but the oil is still busy breaking down. So it's possible to have only driven 5000km in a year but the oil has degraded to the point where it needs to be replaced. Thus the one year recommended services by most manufacturers.

However if the vehicle is driven infrequently (e.g. 20km once per week) then the yearly service could probably be extended to a 2 or 3 year service.
That being said, a vehicle should be driven regularly enough to bring it up to operating temperature to boil off any condensation which may form inside the engine (the air breather allows air to be drawn into the crankcase where it can condense and start rusting the internal components).
 
Modern engine oils have various additives to increase (oil) performance - anti-oxidants, detergents, viscosity enhancers, anti-foaming chemicals, friction reducers, anti-corrosion agents, anti-sludging agents, etcetera. Once you start using an engine, many of these compounds begin to break down and lose their effectiveness. The "lifespan" of some of these compounds is tied directly to the amount of use (ie engine running hours), but others, like certain anti-oxidants and viscosity enhancers, start degrading with time once first brought to engine operating temp, say over 60 degrees. The formulations and quantities are optimised to last about a year or so.

Remember, lubrication is only one function of engine oil. Almost as important is temperature management - taking heat away from high-heat areas and spreading it around for more even metal expansion, etc, etc.

You need to change your engine oil every year, whether you've done 1000km or 30 000km on that oil.
 
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Arthur said:
... but others, like certain anti-oxidants and viscosity enhancers, start degrading with time once first brought to engine operating temp, say over 60 degrees. The formulations and quantities are optimised to last about a year or so.
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I wasn't aware of that.
Gone are the days of a simple mineral oil.
 
Paul_S said:
I wasn't aware of that.
Gone are the days of a simple mineral oil.
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It was news to me when I first heard it from a chemist at Total. But I can see how it could be so. It also explains why engine makers insist the oil gets changed irrespective of use.
 
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I don't think it's a conspiracy. Just they way chemistry works.

Contaminants and oxygen get it into the oil when first used, and this starts a process of chemical change that continues even when you don't run the engine.
 
beans100 said:
No service plan or warranty, only every 15000km.
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This is extremely poor advice.

SA is a very hot climate most of the year.

Cars that cover a small distance over a year are generally doing short trips and at low speeds. All oil get contaminated with the by products of combustion. You also get fuel oil dilution during warm up. When the is traveling on the freeway, the oil temp gets hot enough to burn off these contaminates. But when doing short/lower speed trips, this does not happen. Oil temp needs to be high for a length og time to do this.

Contaminates in oil can cause corrosive solvents to form. Note the additives get used up or broken down with use. If you do not change it correctly, you get wear in the engine. Most cars use a mineral or semi synthetic oil.

12 months max.


I would like to point out in other countries the recommendation on some cars is every 6 months. Oil degradation is not an exact science. Note Shell helix Hx5 is approx R200 for 5L. Not much saving vs engine damage.

You do not mention what car?

Diesel is another bugbear all together. I pity the guys with TURBO diesels out of warranty.
 
tsume said:
Called the service shop, they said my vehicle is once a year service or once after the 15k interval. So I should only bring it in at 23k.
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I would seriously work on the one year or every 15000kms rule, whichever comes first. If you don't and it's a new car, they will void your warranty and service plan.
 
Some new cars have a dynamic service interval. The car let's you know when to go in for a service. BMW, Mercedes come to mind.
 
Every year OR 15,000km - which ever comes first. This past year I did the 60,000km service on my car and it only had 44,000km on the clock.
 
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