Is 6000 miles too soon to go onto Synthetic??

This is the Forum for all your Citroen Technical Questions, Problems or Advice.

Moderator: RichardW

Post Reply
reffro
Posts: 127
Joined: 01 Jul 2002, 15:24
Location: United Kingdom
My Cars:

Is 6000 miles too soon to go onto Synthetic??

Post by reffro »

Following on from my where to buy question, is 6,000 miles too early to go onto the 9000 5w/40 synthetic oil. Just I don't like the ides of the oil used to run in still being in the sump for 12,500 miles. I'll be using the synthetic oil as soon as I can, but I don't know how long to leave it before changing to synthetic with the 1.4 HDi engine I have in my C3.
I have only just bought the car, its 5 months old, having covered 5,000 miles in its first 3 months, was traded in, then only did 700 miles whilst at the dealer for 2 months waiting to be sold again. I bought it on Friday, I've done 400 miles over the weekend, and was thinking about changing the oil sooner rather than waiting 6 months until the first service proper was due.
pwatson
Posts: 263
Joined: 22 Apr 2001, 03:02
Location: E Midlands
My Cars:

Post by pwatson »

Know what you mean. Having been used to changing oil in my old BXs and wife's Xantias every 5000 miles, I was worried that leaving oil in my Berlingo for a year (10,000m)would do it harm. However, that's what Cit recommend and I have also read on other boards that this seems to be the norm with other cars so I'm leaving it. I also notice that the oil in our HDis is much, much cleaner than in previous diesels (where oil turns black in 5 mins!)Opinion seems to suggest leaving first lot of oil 'til first service while engine beds in (may even be different to "normal" oil??) then going to more frequent changes. But I will bow to superior knowledge!!
User avatar
AndersDK
Posts: 6060
Joined: 21 Feb 2003, 04:56
Location: Denmark
My Cars:
x 1

Post by AndersDK »

There is absolutely nothing wrong done by changing the oil sooner than service intervals suggests.
The sooner you get a newish lo-miler s/h car - the better it wil go & keep using synthetic oil.
As an example my common-or-garden BX16 had approx 135Kmiles on the clock when I got it. It was fitted with some sort of an aftermarket "oil-refresher" - which instantly scared me off [:0]
- sure ! - the oil in the engine was like ink and sticky between fingers - yuk [xx(] - and the oil filter can was rusty [:(!]
Such an engine would not gain running on synthetics. I tried it - and the result was blue smoke. Then I thought it better have some real fine oil to clean the engine - the best 0w-40 I could find.
The result was the same - but then the oil disappeared within 3Kmiles [:(]
Then I tried the prescribed mineral 10w-40 engine oil - no smoke - and no oil consumption [:)]
I even poured some tephlone additive in - and now after some 8Kmiles the engine is quiet again [^]
Just a tale to let you know that as soon as possible with a new(ish) engine give it the best oil you can get - and change it at prescribed intervals.
Then you are sure the engine will outlast the chassis.
NiSk
Posts: 1422
Joined: 24 Jan 2002, 20:11
Location: Sweden
My Cars:
x 1

Post by NiSk »

Your new C3 has synthetic oil in the sump from the start - thats why it doesn't need changing before 12 500 miles. If the instructions say to only top-up until the full service milage, then do just that. The only thing you should be carefull about is that modern diesels can consume oil during the first 10,000 miles. So keep an eye on the dipstick and top up as necessary.
//NiSk
Richard Gallagher
Posts: 803
Joined: 31 Oct 2001, 02:36
Location: South Bucks
My Cars:

Post by Richard Gallagher »

Whilst I cannot guarantee it on Citroens, I have heard from numerous persons within the trade that new cars are sometimes supplied with a special oil to encourage some engine wear in order to allow the engine to 'run-in' quicker. Therefore it is preferable to allow the oil to run in the engine until the first service as per the service schedule then after that maybe change to shorter intervals.
Interestingly have you noticed that the Purflux oil filter fitted to new Citroen engines has the writing on them printed in red rather than the usual gold? I've always wondered if this is some way of identifying 'interferance' or is it just a quirk?
Post Reply