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Well, finaly the right conditions arose to change my oil. The right facilities, weather and time to do it.

So this Saturday past, my friend and I jacked the car up... unplugged the sump and and let her bleed the black stuff.

And cor blimey! I'm lucky the engine hasn't blown up on me. That oil was blacker than any I'd seen before. The oil filter was full of what I could best descrive as oil jam. (I doubt it'd tate nice though)

It became clear to me very quickly just how negligent I had been.
I'm told I keep good care of my 6 by many. I wouldn't say so, letting it run for 70K miles on the same filter and oil! My head hangs with shame. There is no excuse... I simply... forgot.

So, with 4.25 litres of fresh 10w40 Castrol GTX, she's running smooth, refined and quiet.
In 3K miles I will change the oil again, this time for GTX Magnatec.

Time will tell if the clutch slip was due to oil contamination or not. My friend and I think we sourced the leak to the old filter, so maybe that'll solved itself now too, with the new filter.
Need to give the engine a good blasting to clean off all the oil that was leaked over the last 8 months.
Then I'll be able to see if I've cured the leak or not.

Time will tell.

i suggest you better do an engine flush... there are some flushing oils available or use a machine.. otherwise oil clots might be remaining in the engine.. gosh 70k is too much for an oil change..

Tut tut Bluey! 70K? go to the naughty corner!

Harshan wrote:i suggest you better do an engine flush... there are some flushing oils available or use a machine.. otherwise oil clots might be remaining in the engine.. gosh 70k is too much for an oil change..

Yep, thats planned in 3K miles when I change the oil again.

Going to give this new oil some time to work the old stuff loose.

DaiRees wrote:Tut tut Bluey! 70K? go to the naughty corner!

*Dons dunce hat and sits in corner facing wall*

It's funny really - Most of us 'enthusiasts' (including me) can get incredibly anal about oil change intervals and yet both Bluey and mjb have maybe shown that you can drag the time out (to an extent).

I must say though - leaving your oil change so long will cause deposits to build up which are not good. Amazingly though who would have thought that Blueys oil would have any lubrication left at all

I left the oil in my missus Shitroen AX for 2 years of door to door driving and it came out like Jelly

I think we can safely say that your engine is now 'run in'

The irony here is I'm usually very careful with my car. I keep a constant check on all the fluids and lights etc. I'm always making sure its road worthy. I'll always find a large glass window with which I can check my break lights are functioning as they should, and I'm forever checking my tire pressures and tread level, as well as the walls for cracking.

Still, changing the oil is something that just didn't register. Out of sight, out of mind so to speak. I just topped it up as and when needed.

If anything, I think I've proven the 2.0 Liter lump is a hardy bit of engineering.

Blue406 wrote: If anything, I think I've proven the 2.0 Litre lump is a hardy bit of engineering.

because its a very relaxed version of the engine you have to remember it only produces 132 bhp whereas in RFS form (gti6) it produces an amazing 167bhp, with no VVT or VTEC style variable inlet sh*t, the XU engines do just keep on going, as even the petrol versions use diesel internals hence why it just keeps on going

My excuse is money - I ain't got a clue how to get access to the oil filter, and obviously neither did National Tyres when they took over an hour to do it... They have a lift, experience and easy means of disposal which I lack, so I'm pretty much going to stick to waiting until I can afford the £20 for them to have a crack at it

Oil change every 3000? It'd bankrupt me ;)

mjb, oil filter is about 10 quid from the stealers and good oil (castrol) is 17 quid for a 4L bottle. Even *I* can change the oil so anyone can

mjb wrote:My excuse is money - I ain't got a clue how to get access to the oil filter, and obviously neither did National Tyres when they took over an hour to do it... They have a lift, experience and easy means of disposal which I lack, so I'm pretty much going to stick to waiting until I can afford the £20 for them to have a crack at it

Oil change every 3000? It'd bankrupt me ;)

It realy is a piss easy job. If you've got the 2l engine, the filter is right at the front and accessible.
All you need is a new filter and sump plug washer from the stealer (£10) and the oil.
An old washing up tub is enough to collect the old oil and take it to the local council dump which should have an oil container.

Altogether it takes about an hour to jack the car up, unscrew the sump plug, let the oil completely run out, change the filter (cleaning the mating surface beforehand) , recapping the sump with the new washer and cleaned up plug and then putting the new oil in. 4.25l for the 2Litre engine.

It really is that easy.

And the 3K mark is my own limit to catch up on 70K of neglect. After 3K I will change the oil again and this new oil I just put in will clean out the gunk in the engine, thereafter I'll only change the oil every 6K.

My oil has been changed every 4000 miles, or 6 months

I am the oil change nerd of the UK I always have been

Welton wrote:My oil has been changed every 4000 miles, or 6 months

I am the oil change nerd of the UK I always have been

Seeing as how much I use my 6, perhaps an oil change ever 4k and filter ever 8K would be beneficial?

I do my every 5k (i like round numbers, as i can remember when i should change it).

very easy job on the pugs, filter is on the front of the engine with plenty of space, decent sump bolt. I don't even bother jacking mine up, just whip of the under tray (the longest bit of the job), reach under and do it. Only takes a hour because you have to wait for all the old oil to come out.

Much better job that my old car with had a sump bolt you only had to breath on to round and the oil filter was on the rear of the engine half way up, had to use 12" extension and chain from behind the offside wheel to get to it! really don't miss that job!

I vowed NEVER to do my oil change again because last time I had to spend ages on the undertray and I mashed up my hand getting the old filter off.

I have been wondering though whether to leave the tray in place next time and let the oil dribble over the back of it? the sump plug is very near to the back of the tray.