Oil Life

[sheppy1]

Hi All

So I've owned my car since new and at around 20k miles I had to have the oil completely replaced, this was only about 11 months into owning the car (6 months ago). So now here we are 6 months (and one oil top up) later and the oil life indicator is showing 13% health even though I've only put another 6k miles on the clock...Doesn't seem right to me this...anyone know what's going on here and if I really need to have it replaced again when it hits 0%?

Thanks

[Rusty2009]

every 20K or ever year which ever comes first.

[sheppy1]

Not right then is it...as i say it will have been around about 7 months by the time it apparently needs changing again...not sure if i should do it or have VX look at it in case its a fault or what

[Rusty2009]

It's the way it works all out based on all different aspects engine starts etc etc. Mine always last bang on the year, but if I was doing lots of miles I would change the oil every 10K or 6 months just keep it all nice and fresh.

[sheppy1]

Okie dokie then, well I'll just get it changed as national tyres do it for like 45 quid do you know if they're able to reset the indicator or am I okay doing it myself using the brake pedal method? Or is that not accurate? Saw people reporting issues with that..

[sheppy1]

Anyone know about the resetting of the oil then? Will get it replaced next month but will only be at like 5% life so resetting to 100% using the stalk and brake method won't give me accurate results will it?

[Rusty2009]

Just use the stalk mate IIRC when I reset mine I had to use the brake pedal too after an update from VX

[sheppy1]

Awesome, thanks will book in with national tyres next month as they only want £48 for the whole lot...VX want £100+

[tucpal]

here you go mate we have a how to as always..

http://www.vxoc.org.uk/forum/Thread-how-...ce-message

[sheppy1]

Cheers for the link dude I did see this which is why I was asking about this method in the first place as I had no idea before seeing it that it could be done. Not really a true life indicator though is it if it just resets to 100 no matter what the health is...

[neilll]

How critical is the threshold in terms of potential damage to the engine please?

I've done 15,800 miles since April 2016 and in the last week my Oil Life warning has dropped from 5% to 4%.....my service is obviously not due for quite a while but if the engine is at risk I'd rather bring the service forward.

Thanks in advance for any advice

[stigeye]

Just get the oil and oil filter done, there's no reason you have to get everything else done on the service list just yet. I wouldn't leave it much longer as the viscosity of the oil will not be very good, at that will end in moving engine parts not being lubricated properly.

[neilll]

Just get the oil and oil filter done, there's no reason you have to get everything else done on the service list just yet. I wouldn't leave it much longer as the viscosity of the oil will not be very good, at that will end in moving engine parts not being lubricated properly.

Thanks....guess I'm gonna get used to splitting out oil changes from annual services on these new fangled engines!

[andy2174]

I change my oil&filter around every 6K, which is about every 3 months, its the life blood of the engine in my eyes and worth spending the money to change it frequently

[Jerry]

I agree with @andy2174
I also change the oil and filter more frequently than it is required.
Usually every 6 months or around 9K.

[stigeye]

I think 3 months is far too excessive, I have changed mine about every a couple of times since the beginning of last march, but that was out of necessity as I had a dpf issue only a couple of months after having a oil service and just thought it prudent to change it again as a matter of caution at quite a bit of diesel was injected into the sump due to numerous failed regens.

I have not done a oil and filter change for around 6 months and will be doing one shortly but that is down to the fact that our car rarely does any motorway mileage or speeds above 40mph which effects the dpf regen. This is purely a personal point though, my oil life sits at around 50% and I visually check it with the dipstick at least once a month to check levels aren't increasing. I could leave it for a lot longer but I like to tinker by nature, so I have 5 litres of Shell Helix ECT C3 and oil filter sat in our boot as I type.

Oil life will be a calculation purely based on mileage and dpf regens since last service, but in reality there is probably a lot more life in the oil than the computer stipulates, they just air on the conservative side. If you want to do oil services every 3 month or 6 months it is a personal thing based on your preferences and the type of journeys you take, but generally speaking, every 12 months is perfectly fine for the majority of drivers.

I am more inclined to stick a good diesel engine treatment and dpf cleaner in the tank 2 or 3 times a year just to help keep things nice and clean.

[andy2174]

3 months is pretty frequently, but, thats 6k miles for me, and its not a huge outlay for oil and a filter

[sanj424]

I change oil on mine roughly every 6 months, even I do only 11,000 km a year. Since the car is often in start stop conditions the oil life @ 6 months is around 45%. I get a good deal from the dealership service i bough the car from - cheap interim oil services - roughly just the cost of the oil and oil filter only. 

So annually I get 1 interim oil service, and 1 full service.

[irishastraowner]

Got my Oil changed and Oil Filter changed in Ireland. Was €56 and charged me an additional €25 as a surcharge for the type of oil that went in.,therefore €81 in total.He said it was €5 per litre therfore he is saying 5 litres of oil went it. Would this be correct?

[Rusty2009]

Got my Oil changed and Oil Filter changed in Ireland. Was €56 and charged me an additional €25 as a surcharge for the type of oil that went in.,therefore €81 in total.He said it was €5 per litre therfore he is saying 5 litres of oil went it. Would this be correct?

What engine?

[irishastraowner]

Got my Oil changed and Oil Filter changed in Ireland. Was €56 and charged me an additional €25 as a surcharge for the type of oil that went in.,therefore €81 in total.He said it was €5 per litre therfore he is saying 5 litres of oil went it. Would this be correct?

What engine?

1.4 litre

[Rusty2009]

Got my Oil changed and Oil Filter changed in Ireland. Was €56 and charged me an additional €25 as a surcharge for the type of oil that went in.,therefore €81 in total.He said it was €5 per litre therfore he is saying 5 litres of oil went it. Would this be correct?

What engine?

1.4 litre

4.0L