Service intervals

[gunderhill]

So I see here in  Thailand many  vehicles  have a  10k km service interval inc  oil changes, I've often thought  this rather extreme so I was surprised to see the UK service interval on Mitsubishi Triton L200 is 12k MILES (20k km) or almost double  that of its  Thai  model counterpart. Ok engine is different so, what gives? Have seen different oil change intervals on other models also even in places like Australia whose climate varies dramatically.

Drumming up business for the Thai service depts or what?

Another example is 12k km oil change on Chevrolet diesel Colorado in the U.S and although a very slightly  different engine its basically identical, but 10k here on new models, older ones here  get 15k km.

[Kwasaki]

38 minutes ago, gunderhill said:

So I see here in  Thailand many  vehicles  have a  10k km service interval inc  oil changes, I've often thought  this rather extreme

Yeah it is extreme but they want your money, take it for a service when you want, that's what I do even from new.

But as said here "up to you".

[gunderhill]

10 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

Yeah it is extreme but they want your money, take it for a service when you want, that's what I do even from new.

But as said here "up to you".

Watched a  good  video from the guy on "Project Farm"  you tube he took  oil  from his old  pick up truck a  long  time overdue from the  specified change interval, he hadnt  done many  miles, now  I realise  short distance  cold starts   stop go traffic  has an effect but  none of this applied to his  truck, he  lives out  in the boonies. Got  it tested , said the oil still had a lot of  life left in it.

Manufacturers  have to put  in a  provison for the idiot  drivers I  guess and to keep their  claims down reckon this is  why they do it.

I don't do short journeys so  will change it when out  of warranty when I think its necessary. always thought 6000  miles on a  full synthetic  was  quite  frankly pathetic, although you could  say Thailands a  hot country,  once an engine is  up to temp its way  over 35c so any countries ambient temps in a moderate  range should be irrelevant if  anything it should  help the engine more as  no ICE  COLD  -6c+  starts when most wear  occurs.

[Kwasaki]

4 hours ago, gunderhill said:

always thought 6000  miles on a  full synthetic  was  quite  frankly pathetic, although you could  say Thailand's a  hot country,

Hot country is beneficial to an engine, if you want change full synthetic every 6000 miles ( 9600 kilos ) your wasting money, semi synthetic is a lot cheaper but still excellent oil for 8000 miles.( 12,800 kilos ).

As said here " Up to you."  ????

[Yellowtail]

Oil changes do not seem to cost much in the scheme of things.

 

I run full synthetic and (since I quit driving 50kkm a year)  change very 12 months. 

[gunderhill]

2 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

Hot country is beneficial to an engine

Yep thats what I said , no cold  starts, well maybe up in Loei 2  days a  year known it  be -2c  there very  occasionally but Im  down south lowest ever  in 15 years 13c one day well I mean night time low, daytime  high 28c.

[Banana7]

But shouldn't the first engine oil change be done before 10K KM? Some experts say that in the first few thousand KM some small metal fragments may appear as the engine is breaking in.

[Pilotman]

I had several new BMWs over the years. They all went into the shop after 1000 km to have that first oil change. When I got my last car here, a Toyota, I took it back after 1000km and insisted that they changed the oil.  They looked at me like I was crazy, but they did it. 

[Yellowtail]

54 minutes ago, Banana7 said:

But shouldn't the first engine oil change be done before 10K KM? Some experts say that in the first few thousand KM some small metal fragments may appear as the engine is breaking in.

 

I always get a change at 500mi. I always understood it to be due to the coating on bearings wearing off and to remove any other contaminants that might be in the engine. 

[Tuvoc]

In the UK I saw that BMW default to 18,000 miles which is nearly 30,000km, which can then decrease as the computer monitors your driving style and habits. Presumably lots of long hot running will get you close to that distance. I would not leave it that long myself !

 

10,000km here seems rather short, especially if you clock that up in 3 months as we have been doing. Oil changes are cheap though, so if you are planning on keeping the car several years I think it is worth doing every 15,000km or 1 year whichever comes first. But on this topic, even the experts disagree.

[JoePai]

3 hours ago, Banana7 said:

But shouldn't the first engine oil change be done before 10K KM? Some experts say that in the first few thousand KM some small metal fragments may appear as the engine is breaking in.

Not with modern engines because the close tolerances they now make them (and better manufacturing processes) the ‘early’ oil change is not necessary anymore - just follow the vehicle's handbook and all will be well

[JAS21]

7 hours ago, Tuvoc said:

In the UK I saw that BMW default to 18,000 miles which is nearly 30,000km, which can then decrease as the computer monitors your driving style and habits. Presumably lots of long hot running will get you close to that distance. I would not leave it that long myself !

 

10,000km here seems rather short, especially if you clock that up in 3 months as we have been doing. Oil changes are cheap though, so if you are planning on keeping the car several years I think it is worth doing every 15,000km or 1 year whichever comes first. But on this topic, even the experts disagree.

We had a 2007 520d and the oil change kms counter started off at 30,000kms and counted down. I don't remember exactly how many kms it actually did between oil changes. Sold it at 50,000kms and don't recall many oil changes, definitely not every time it went in. Later BMW reduced the oil change interval.

 

When you bought a BMW service was included in the price so any money BMW could save I guess they did.  I do know that this 30.000kms was dropped sometime later ... maybe based upon experience.  

 

I believe Mercs are one year or 10,000kms and Ford SUV nine months or 15,000kms.

[kwak250]

I change the oil and filter every 10k on my Hilux Revo mainly because i can get under it without having to lift it up.

My wifes civic goes to Honda every 10k or thereabouts as i tried to buy the honda oil and filter and it actually costs more than Honda charge for them to do it.

10k is probably more regular than needed but its cheap here think i paid 1700 baht for oil and filter in the civic .

Try to get honda in the U.K to do it for less than 4000 baht and you'd be lucky

Edited April 12, 2021 by kwak250

[rwill]

To keep the Ford warrant active you have to do services every 15K kilometers.

[Aomelia]

On 4/11/2021 at 11:26 AM, Banana7 said:

But shouldn't the first engine oil change be done before 10K KM? Some experts say that in the first few thousand KM some small metal fragments may appear as the engine is breaking in.

I didn’t want to wait til 10,000, I brought it down and changed it at 7,000k to Toyota , for first oil change 

Edited April 12, 2021 by Aomelia

[natway09]

With new engines being fully flushed after fitting they no longer need that 1,000 Km service as no "bits left in the block.

Also bearings being "fully sealed" no need for service if dusty conditions.

In saying that I do blow out the air filter & aircn filter every 5,000Km

Amazing the dust 

[NanLaew]

On 4/11/2021 at 11:26 AM, Banana7 said:

But shouldn't the first engine oil change be done before 10K KM? Some experts say that in the first few thousand KM some small metal fragments may appear as the engine is breaking in.

That applies to cast-iron lumps that were turfed out on the dirt floor at the foundry in Dagenham and the likes and then machined and assembled in less than clean room conditions.

 

 

Technology has moved on. It's a long time since I heard of anyone 'running in' a new engine but when he did, he had just bought a Hillman Minx.

 

[NanLaew]

2 hours ago, rwill said:

To keep the Ford warrant active you have to do services every 15K kilometers.

Once the warranty is done and you have the tools and inclination, you can do it yourself every 15,000 km for about half the price Ford charges and cheaper than most local garages.

[chilly07]

We do the  diesel pick-up every 6mths and the petrol saloon every year in accordance with handbooks. Worst cost is buying new batteries every 1 or 2 years although we are now using gel batteries which may last longer. Old batteries in use during power cuts using inverter! Tyres replaced every 3 yrs whether needed or not! V low mileages! In the UK I could get tyres batteries and oil to last forever but here her who must be obeyed calls the shots!

[KhaoYai]

I agree that service intervals recommended in Thailand can be over the top but much depends on the quality of the oil used. For most petrol or diesel engines in normal use an interval of 15,000 km using good quality oil is absolutely fine. 15,000 km is less than 10,000 miles - I usually change oil at 10,000 miles regardless of manufacturers claims of 20,000 miles etc.

 

However, always do a search on particular problems with your specific engine. For example, I have a 2010 Peugeot van with a 2.2 Ford duratorq engine. There is a known fault with the particular version of that engine that can lead to total destruction. However, I am reliably informed that the fault only occurs with engines that do not have regular oil/filter changes using quality oils. A friend who owns a garage looks after a fleet of the same vans - many of which have covered over 200,000 miles without problems. He has also had other vans with the same engine that have not been serviced regularly and have blown their engines at much lower mileages (one at 90,000).

Edited April 12, 2021 by KhaoYai

[thailand49]

First Toyota here in Thailand Yaris 2006-7,  currently have 117,000 serviced Toyota only yearly due to other vehicles we put in best 5000 Kilos yet I just take it in and let them do their things. 

 

They always come back with a list of things knowing after all these years I'm not going to have them do any of it unless I don't have a choice. The car runs smooth and like new in the beginning service was 1800 now 2800? for that money it isn't a biggy I think worth the money especially waiting and watching the two hostess legs.???? what else a old guy like me got to do?

[MrJ2U]

On 4/9/2021 at 10:07 AM, Yellowtail said:

Oil changes do not seem to cost much in the scheme of things.

Dealerships charge upwards of 3500 for an Oil change.  Stupidly I do this.  I've got all the upheep records when I sell it.

[rwill]

20 hours ago, MrJ2U said:

Dealerships charge upwards of 3500 for an Oil change.  Stupidly I do this.  I've got all the upheep records when I sell it.

I hope it is synthetic oil at that price.

[Yellowtail]

13 hours ago, rwill said:

I hope it is synthetic oil at that price.

 

Had the 60,000km service on the Fortuner a couple months ago, Baht 3,390 with full synthetic. Should be good for another year.

 

Isuzu service was about half that...

[gunderhill]

On 4/12/2021 at 9:07 PM, MrJ2U said:

Dealerships charge upwards of 3500 for an Oil change.  Stupidly I do this.  I've got all the upheep records when I sell it.

Well  I  sold my old  Toyota  Hilux about 6  months  ago, Id  had it 10+  years, I  kept  all the Toyota service  paperwork, when I sold it the buyer wasn't the least bit interested in any of  it or of  its  value in the sale, threw  the  lot  in the  bin 240k  km's oil change every 10 k only at Toyota.

[canthai55]

41 minutes ago, gunderhill said:

 oil change every 10 k only at Toyota.

Toyota does not make oil. And that is expensive - for some young man to remove/replace the drain plug and twist the oil filter wrench.

But Up 2 U

[JimGant]

On 4/12/2021 at 9:18 AM, kwak250 said:

My wifes civic goes to Honda every 10k or thereabouts

Speaking of Hondas......  If you've got the CVT transmission, that transmission fluid is what needs to be changed most often (or so I read). Thus, make that a must for every time you take it in for routine maintenance. (Unless you're poor, and would rather pay later for transmission work.)

[canthai55]

1 hour ago, JimGant said:

If you've got the CVT transmission, that transmission fluid is what needs to be changed most often

And buy it from Honda - one of the few times that this is a requirement.

If a Nissan CVT, buy Nissan, etc

[Yellowtail]

3 hours ago, canthai55 said:

Toyota does not make oil. And that is expensive - for some young man to remove/replace the drain plug and twist the oil filter wrench.

But Up 2 U

 

Yes, but it's pretty cheap for some old man not to crawl under the car...

[kwak250]

3 hours ago, JimGant said:

Speaking of Hondas......  If you've got the CVT transmission, that transmission fluid is what needs to be changed most often (or so I read). Thus, make that a must for every time you take it in for routine maintenance. (Unless you're poor, and would rather pay later for transmission work.)

I asked Honda and they said every 40k for cvt transmission fluid  but also thought changing earlier is better.