Hi
Being a newb in the world of cars I need a spot of advice.
In Australia i have bought a nissan navaro. 10 year old diesel turbo. Oil change intervals are 9000 miles or 4500 in harsh conditions. Does driving 7000miles at a steady 60mph in 35 degree heat with some gravel roads in a month count as harsh? Would ypu have the oil changed now or leave it for another couple of thousand?
Ta
Definitely service that as harsh. You're also getting some serious dust so clean or replace the air filter. Penrite is ubiquitous and good oil. And spending $100 on oil is a lot cheaper than $5k on a replacement engine! (a friend's Navarra engine bit the dust last week and that's what he was quoted).
You'll find the temperatures are much higher than ambient when you're running on those roads. My father in law ran lots of (proper) trucks delivering out west and he reckons the heats the underside of the vehicles were exposed to were really extreme.
If you've room in the tub i'd have a 6th wheel too - i've known people get four flat tyres hundreds of kms from the nearest town... it's a slow drive back to civilisation. You'd be able to pick up a Navarra wheel from a scrapyard for next to nothing.
Ta muchly
Look at your dip-stick...
If your engine oil isn't the colour of artisan honey brewed by virgin druids, it needs changing. Especailly with a turbo in that heat.
I think it's a diesel so it will turn black pretty quick.
I think it's a diesel so it will turn black pretty quick.
Ahh fair enough.., I didn't spot that!... even so, with a turbo in that heat I'd change it at least once per year or every 4500 miles, whatever comes soonest.. a blown turbo could easily be an 'economic' write-off on a 10 year old car.
Turbos tend to share the same oil as the rest of the engine, but turbos can spin a lot faster than the engine RPM..they need clean lube.
Do not overlook air filters. they can get really bad really quickly
Oil changes are so cheap that if in any doubt it just makes sense to do it imo and turbos live and die on the quality of the oil. Decent oil can be cheap, though if you go to a garage you're pretty much in their hands on that. DIYing is usually easy and generally uses only basic tools, though, sometimes getting filters off can be hard thoughif the last person gorilla'd it on, and occsaionally they'll be in some terrible position.
Air filters usually last forever in the UK so we're used to not stressing about it, but you'll need to watch it- though hopefully with it being a truck they've put some thought into that in teh design
Oops. No one in the town i am in can do it. Booked in in darwin for friday. Only another 500 miles Hopefully ok. That will be 8000 miles
I only check service intervals yesterday. I assumed it would be 12000 miles not 9000
Edit - misread it. Looks like you've got it booked in ready to go.
Daft question.. ish. Always had petrol cars and know it takes a while for the car to go black - MrsF's car was changed 12 months ago, and it's still a clear brown colour.
New to me diesel van, on 2 year/20k mile intervals. Oil is as black as heck, but it's done 6000 since the last service 18 months ago. Do I do a precautionary change with 0-30 now, and the van is due for a service at the dealer in October (already paid for). From then on it will be 12 monthly as my mileage will be less than 8k.
Daft question.. ish. Always had petrol cars and know it takes a while for the car to go black - MrsF's car was changed 12 months ago, and it's still a clear brown colour.
New to me diesel van, on 2 year/20k mile intervals. Oil is as black as heck, but it's done 6000 since the last service 18 months ago. Do I do a precautionary change with 0-30 now, and the van is due for a service at the dealer in October (already paid for). From then on it will be 12 monthly as my mileage will be less than 8k.
I would've done it at the 12 month mark, but with you now being 6 months away from an already paid for service I can see the reluctance in paying to have it changed now. My experience is oil on diesels goes black very quickly.
I'm not a fan of how long some service intervals are, so I do annual changes on my van. That's partly because mine's got the 2.0 Ford diesel engine with the wetbelt, so more frequent oil changes are a sensible thing to help towards prolonging belt life. That's with <5k annual mileage too.
AIUI diesel oil turns black from soot from the combustion process, so it happens quickly and is not an indication that it needs changing. Petrol oil should stay golden, if it's gone black you've left it far too long.
On a related topic would a turbo intercooler hose leak cause increased oil consumption? It had a slight leak when i got it now fixed after 3000 miles. First 3000 miles its used just under half a litre. Almost nothing the last 4000 miles
You may as well just change it, but I'd be surprised if steady 60mph driving in 35c heat counted as extreme (unless towing or something).
I drove around the south of france and italy in 40c temps and the oil temp gauge was barely any different to back home (and still easily within the working range of the oil).
Might just change it - only had the van 3 months, but during that time I've been a bit 'immobile' (broken pelvis) - I'll get some Shell 0-30 (needs 6l) and a Mann filter. I've done 1500 miles in last 3 months. I'll be doing 12 months services there after.
I think with TJ it's the dust. Certainly check filters and a Navara doesn't use fancy oil so won't be a wallet breaker
On a related topic would a turbo intercooler hose leak cause increased oil consumption?
Potentially, long term changes to pressure difference can drive increased leakage and/or consumption. Especially if it's already worn/leaking a bit.
the oil temp gauge was barely any different to back home (and still easily within the working range of the oil).
Most cars only have coolant gauges these days, and have done for ~20 years, i need to get two or three levels deep into diagnostics to see actual oil temp, and even those that did have both, they are designed to stay "stable" over quite a wide range. You're not seeing the actual temp.
An undamped/filtered coolant or oil temp gauge goes up and down like a yoyo.
Most cars only have coolant gauges these days, and have done for ~20 years, i need to get two or three levels deep into diagnostics to see actual oil temp, and even those that did have both, they are designed to stay "stable" over quite a wide range. You're not seeing the actual temp.
An undamped/filtered coolant or oil temp gauge goes up and down like a yoyo.
@mert Well I thought it was a real reading tbqh otherwise I wouldn't have commented. To my recollection it's a smoothed version of the reading from the sump sensor.
You can look it up and make me look foolish if you want 😁 EA888 gen 3.
Looks like a couple of cars with that engine can show oil temp, but the default on the DIM is coolant. Need to go into a "performance view" to get oil temp shown.
And i wouldn't worry about looking foolish, i have colleagues here who thought that the coolant gauge was important as it showed the *actual* temperature. It barely moves when the temperature is in the normal range. Then goes mad once you're a couple of degrees over (or under).
can a turbo intercooler hose leak cause increased oil consumption
Yes, potentially you've got air into the engine that's not been filtered. That's not great, especially if you were in the dust.
It may also have meant the engine was working harder than normal.
But good to hear it stabilised after that.
Good thing you caught it.
Daft question.. ish. Always had petrol cars and know it takes a while for the car to go black - MrsF's car was changed 12 months ago, and it's still a clear brown colour.
Mine had its last service and oil-change just short of the stated distance, it was asking for the oil to be changed, about 1000 miles shy of the recommended distance, which was 40,000 miles. I bought it with 3300 miles on the clock, and the dealer did an oil change just to be certain then.
That was last November, it still hasn’t got to 40,000 miles - my mileage isn’t that high anymore.
OP's usage is not harsh usage - it's probably optimal for engine longevity! But it doesn't hurt to change it early when you've just bought the thing and might not entirely trust the paperwork on when it was last done anyway...
The oil and filter was changed before i set off.
The pipe that was loose was on the boost side so it was losing boost not sucking in air
270km to darwin and an oil change now. It will be 13500km and the usual interval is 15000 km
Ta folks. I have had the cruise at 95km not 105 the last 1000km
