Hey folks.

Going to be changing Nelly's oil again soon as I missed an oil change so doing it early this time.

What is the lowest viscosity oil I can use. Also is part or fully synthetic oil safe to use?

Thanks

10W40 ... 5W is problematic for 1,3

I'd go for 10W40, and I'd not waste money on synthetic in an engine that old.

I'd go 10W40 part synthetic and do it every 6k or so.

10w 40 semi-synthetic I use.

Will give some 10w 40 semi-synth a shot then!

Phil

If you use ordinary Mineral Oil then change it at 6,000 miles. With Semi Synth I'd let it go to 10,000...otherwise whats the point of paying the extra. The whole point of Synth is it holds its molecular structure longer. Our Alfa diesel easily goes 12,000 miles between changes....and before anyone asks..its done 106,000 miles with no problems and uses next to no oil. I've run two Favs and two Fels to over 100,000 and never had a problem using semi synth changed at 10,000.

I'm old enough to remember cars that had an oil change interval of 1500 miles..yep 1500. Oils have come a long way since then:)

Alfie

Thanks. I've done about 5k in my Fav since having it serviced. should be good for another 5k

Right folks. I've been lazy as of late and havn't got round to changing the oil in Nelly, or the rear silencer or the rear cylinder that's leaking but hoping to get at least two of those done this weekend.

Would anyone recomend using some oil flush type stuff on a 1.3?

I used it on an old ZX 1.9D some time ago and the amount of black sludgy stuff it brought out was amazing!

Phil

I use the 20w50 from Morrisons, Asda etc now as my oil leaks and I can't easily fix the leak, and it's probably not financially viable to get a garage to sort it (would cost as much as a clutch change) - I figure thicker oil is less likely to leak as well as being cheaper to top up. Have been topping up to maximum so going to try topping up closer to the lower/middle mark instead to see if that helps stem the leak.

Have used 10w40 with no problems when there was no leak.

I used a proper flushing oil on mine a few years ago and it caused no harm that I can tell (unless it caused the oil leak but I doubt it), no obvious benefit that I could tell either. Suppose it's worth trying anything if you intend to keep the car a while though I also tried a flush additive later which I think mainly thinned the oil - flowed out as fast as anything like water overflowing the top of my oil drain pan :eek:

Right well I changed the oil yesterday but didn't bother with flushing it with anything first.

The old oil was pretty dark and sludgy as it was overdue by about 1k miles.

Went for some 15w 40 semi synth oil as it was cheap at the motor factors (£17.99 for 5L) and the oil filter was only £2.99.

I think I will cut the next change a lot shorter next time and then go for the 10w 40 semi synth.

Just went cheap this time as I knew there would be loads of crud in there.

It always amazes me how much difference a simple oil change makes to this little engine. Next week it's check the condition of the push rods and do the valve clearances.

Also changed the oil on Sven's Pug 306 1.9 D... god that was bad! He had chosen to ignore the service indicator on the dash and it had gone more than twice over the recommended mileage to change it! Reset the indicator and told him to actually take note of it this time!

Apologies if you already knew this Phil, but oil in a diesel goes black after about 10 miles.

Apologies if you already knew this Phil, but oil in a diesel goes black after about 10 miles.

Lol... yes I did know that. But it was very sludgy too not just black. It seems to have cured the rough start/idle from cold anyway :confused: