bobbo Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 Help required again, I bought some good engine oil whilst in France recently for my Fiat 2.8 JTD diesel, but having just completed the oil change have only now noticed that the container reads "Essence". Should I dump the oil and start again or would it be OK to use. I only leave my oil in for 3000 to 4000 miles before I normally change it. The oil I bought is ACTIVA 7000 10-40W, and is to spec ACEA A3/B3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terrytraveller Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 Hi Robert, I would be inclined to dump the oil, I suspect the oil you are using is for petrol engines, the Activa oil you should be using will have Diesel on the container not "Essence". Regards Terry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel E Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 Dump it! The oil for petrol engines is to a totally different spec. You'll probably do more damage to the engine than less frequent oil changes. Incidentally, There's no great benefit from such frequent changes in a modern diesel engine, especially a motorhome's. Most vehicle manufacturers now specify oil change intervals for vans in terms of use (Long distance versus stop-start, for example). According to 'Honest John' in the D Tel: - never do the first oil change early - it's designed to run in the engine properly - roughly halve the interval between subsequent changes, change the filter as well, but only bother if you really want to extend engine life. Since a modern van diesel is good for 200,000 miles+, why bother? Your motorhome will be exceptional if it does more than 50,000 miles in its life! Our Renault has oil change intervals of 20,000 miles or two years, whichever comes first, for the sort of 60 mph long distance cruising we do. Mel E ==== Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 bobbo: The "Essence" marking on your French-bought oil indicates that the manufacturer (Total) is marketing it as particularly suitable for petrol-fuelled motors, but it doesn't necessarily follow that it will be unsuitable for your Fiat. You really need to check what oils Fiat specifies you should use. This information will normally be in the vehicle handbook and (if it's like the data in my Ford Transit manual) it may well indicate a specific brand/type as 1st choice, then oils with a equivalent grade/specification as 2nd choice, then (if you can't get choices One or Two) oils to a less stringent specification or even a different grade. If you find the Activa oil falls outside any of these categories it would probably be sensible to replace it even though I doubt running the vehicle with it would cause harm. A high quality petrol-motor-intended 10W-40 oil from a reputable maker should be OK in a commercial vehicle diesel engine even though it won't be as technically 'good' as the diesel-intended version. I hesitate to say this, but I'm pretty sure that, if you took your motorhome to many garages for service, you's end up with a generic oil (ie. Choice 3 above) rather than a motor-type specific one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobbo Posted July 25, 2007 Author Share Posted July 25, 2007 I think I'II take the "general opinion" as best advice and dump it, that way I want be worrying about it all the time. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basil Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 Mel E - 2007-07-25 10:48 AM Since a modern van diesel is good for 200,000 miles+, why bother? Your motorhome will be exceptional if it does more than 50,000 miles in its life! Mel E ==== Does that mean that our Boxer is 'exceptional' then having completed 79000miles since new (8 years old now and hopefully many more)? Bas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel E Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 Basil - 2007-07-25 12:33 PM Mel E - 2007-07-25 10:48 AM Since a modern van diesel is good for 200,000 miles+, why bother? Your motorhome will be exceptional if it does more than 50,000 miles in its life! Mel E ==== Does that mean that our Boxer is 'exceptional' then having completed 79000miles since new (8 years old now and hopefully many more)? Bas Bas, It certainly does! Yes, there are those of us who really use (but not abuse, of course) our vehicles, but the vast majority do about 2000 miles or less a year! Just look at the odometers when you walk round a show or somewhere like Browhills - and be astonished! Mel E ==== Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trooper Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 it all depends on the model of engine, the last , and new current model must have fully synthetic oil as it does not degradewith use, by contamination with products of oil breakdown, plus lubes better, in fact in tests the wear rate is reduced considerably. when I picked up my 03, bessacarr after its service I noticed the turbo was whistleing,so on getting home I checked on the oil fitted, they had in fact fitted normal diesal engine oil, I drained and put in fully synthetic as recomended by fiat and it was then sweet as a nut by the way, the grade is 5/40, expensive but good (^) Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest caraprof Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 Mel E - 2007-07-25 10:48 AM Dump it! The oil for petrol engines is to a totally different spec. You'll probably do more damage to the engine than less frequent oil changes. Incidentally, There's no great benefit from such frequent changes in a modern diesel engine, especially a motorhome's. Most vehicle manufacturers now specify oil change intervals for vans in terms of use (Long distance versus stop-start, for example). According to 'Honest John' in the D Tel: - never do the first oil change early - it's designed to run in the engine properly - roughly halve the interval between subsequent changes, change the filter as well, but only bother if you really want to extend engine life. Since a modern van diesel is good for 200,000 miles+, why bother? Your motorhome will be exceptional if it does more than 50,000 miles in its life! Our Renault has oil change intervals of 20,000 miles or two years, whichever comes first, for the sort of 60 mph long distance cruising we do. Mel E ==== This is why I joined this site - apart from a good argument now and then!I had no idea about oil changing not being a good idea on new diesel engines and was considering changing the oil on my new Renault Master in a week or so (8 months and 4500 miles) in the mistaken belief that I was doing good.Thank Mel E and every other technical wizard on this site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigelmgpp Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 Most oils these days are of the same quality, but the difference between oils in Aauchan is one has Gasoline the other has Diesel on it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trooper Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 one point, if you fit the incorrect oil in an under guarrantee engine and have a problem, tough; :-( don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 Afetr an initial 20,000 mile running in period I now use full synthetic oil - from Halfords when thy have their anual half price deals. It works out cheaper than semi-synth at other times. You can send oil samples away to be analysed as some big transport companied do but at that price its easier to change the oil and filter every 3/3 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.