Nissan Patrol 4x4 (Africa)

I am in the habit of changing my Patrol's engine oil every 7 500km (normal service interval is 15 000km). So it gets serviced at the agents every 15 000km, and I change the oil and filter halfway between each service. It now stands at 65 000km.

I only use Total Quartz Racing 10W-50, which is a true Polyalphaolefin (PAO) synthetic oil formulated from Group IV Base Stock. This stuff is rather pricey at R370 per 5 litre. I also supply this to the agents when I take the Trollie in for a service.

Keeping in mind that I will probably only sell the Patrol when it is 10-15 years old and has done approximately 500 000km, I would be interested in hearing views on whether I would derive any real benefit from:

1. changing the oil so frequently;
2. using only true synthetic (read: "expensive") oil.

Logic tells me that no harm can follow, except to my wallet, but do I get any real benefit?

Hallo Wynvat,ek antwoord jou n afrikaans,my engels is op vandag.
Daar is niks fout met wat jy doen nie,jy mors net n bietjie geld,net n bietjie.
Vol sintetiese olie is ook goed,sonder om tegnies te raak,sy nadeel is ,n enjin wat hard werk moet jy meer gereeld die olie optop.Dit geld nou vir n enjin wat se toere altyd hoog hardloop.Die ander nadeel is jy kan nie die olie meng met n ander tipe of half sinteties nie,verder doen jy reg.
Dis altyd mooi om te hoor hoe mense goed na hulle rygoed kyk
Groete
Frans

This can become a very interesting discussion

I am with Frans on this one. There is nothing wrong with frequent oil changeing, but one of the specific benefits of synthetic oils is that they do not degrade as quickly as dinosaur oils, so 7500 km intervals on a petrol engine running synthetic oil would be a little excessive, I think. It would be interesting to experiment by doing regular oil sampling and analysis in order to determine what an appropriate oil change interval would be for your particular vehicle, oil choice and usage profile. Companies like Wearcheck can assist in this regard.

tour de frans wrote: Vol sintetiese olie is ook goed,sonder om tegnies te raak,sy nadeel is ,n enjin wat hard werk moet jy meer gereeld die olie optop.Dit geld nou vir n enjin wat se toere altyd hoog hardloop.Die ander nadeel is jy kan nie die olie meng met n ander tipe of half sinteties nie,verder doen jy reg.

Hallo Frans

I find the subject very interesting, although my knowledge thereof is very limited.

What I already understand about oil, is the following:

There are three different criteria which are important when selecting an appropriate oil.

First, the viscosity index, which ultimately pertains to the outside temperature in which the vehicle will operate.

Second, the API rating. The "S" rating pertains to petrol engines, and the "C" rating pertains to diesel engines. Generally, the further down the rating is on the alphabet, the greater the number of tests which the oil have passed, and the more modern it is. For instance, an oil with a rating of "SM" would have passed a greater number of tests, and would be more modern and advanced than an oil with a rating of say, "SJ".

Third, the category of base stock the oil is formulated from, i.e. Group I, II, III, IV or V. For purposes of this discussion, only Groups III and IV are relevant.

Group III base stock, I understand, is mineral oil that was subjected to the highest levels of refining available today in respect of mineral oils. Oils formulated from Group III base stock are commonly marketed as "synthetic" or "semi-synthetic" oils, but they are not "synthetic" in the true sense of the word.

Group IV base stock, I understand, is chemically engineered synthetic oil, also known as PAO's or Polyalphaolefins. Oils formulated from Group IV base stock are the only truly "synthetic" oils.

Synthetic oils formulated from Group IV base stock, are, in several respects, "superior" to oils formulated from Group III base stock, and for that matter also oils formulated from Groups I and II base stock.

I would apreciate a technical discussion to broaden my horizons.

Why would one have to top up more frequently in the case of hard working engines? And why can one not mix the oils?

I had a good 4x4 year last year where we went driving very often and in very difficult terrain.

I found that my engine oil was spent after just 7000km. It was black and sticky. I then realized that it is vital to service the engine more often the harder it works. From then on, 10K km service intervals, nothing more. And I clean my air filter regularly too. I must say that, with the snorkel installed, there is hardly any dust in there.

So, hard working engine = more frequent service. I try not to use too funny or exotic oils. When you get stuck in the wilderness, you might not get it....Basics

Hi Guy's
I'm no expert on the oil story but I can say that synthetic are superior to mineral oil's but as Tjaart points out if using fansey oils in remote areas you will run into problems when you need to top up oil.I say use a good mineral oil and do more frequent oil changes

I'm with Mayhem on this one, frequent oil changes with a good mineral based oil. I sometimes change my oil on my vehicle's and it's only done 1500km's, but it's been a year since the last oil change.

Ja, engines like clean oil....period, so there is certainly no mechanical disadvantage of doing more frequent changes.

The SA service interval on the 4.2D is 10 000km, but with the turbo fitted I use Delo 400 which is a high quality mineral oil, and change every 5000km. I`m hoping that this approach will get my Trollie to around the 600 000km mark (as with some of the guys in Aus) before I need to do any major work on her.

At the moment i do 10 000km's a year, "eish" 600 000km's is so far!