Oil change at 6000 miles?

[LR2boy]

I have a diesel Freelander 2 which is nearly 6 months old - and has done about 6000 miles. A number of people have told me that if I change my oil and filter every 6 months or 6000 miles I will prolong the life of my engine. Has anybody any evidence that this is true - or is this a tale put round by garages and oil companies?

[mmgemini]

I change my oil. oil filter and fuel filter every service. That's 6,000 miles or six months.

I use a good quality engine oil. In my case Millers XFE Diesel Exclusive.
My 300Tdi has 194,000 miles on it now.

[Llanigraham]

Oil gradually deteriorates, and although modern oils are much better quality, it won't do any harm to change more often, especially if you are only doing short stop-start journeys.
And no, I don't think it is a story being spread by the garages, but by people who know and want to get the best from their cars.

[TEMPL4R]

Diesels are "Dirty" engines, they create more carbon than a petrol and it gums up the system. Diesel oils have a greater amount of detergent in their list of additives, so always use a Diesel grade and the inside of the engine will keep a lot cleaner.

When manufacturers extended vehicle service periods, they just fitted a slightly larger oil filter on. It is mainly for fleet and lease companys to save them money. Admittedly, oil is better now, it has developed a lot, but I remember when the Metro came out with a 10,000 mile service interval when previously it had a 6000 miler. I asked the Dealers what Rover had done, same engine, etc. A filter about an inch longer, that was all.

Chris

[Snagger]

The TD5 engine has a much longer oil schedule because it has a centrigual oil filter in addition to the standard one, and this removes the fine dirt and carbon particles. However, carbon is acidic, so the old oil will start to corrode the engine. Engines without the centrifugal filter will also have a lot of abrasion from the carbon in the oil.

Most modern oils are of similar quality, but you pay a heavy price for the designer labels (Castrol, Millers and so on). Comma and the like are the same spec for half the price. This can, if you take a pragmatic view, allow you to change the oil every 3,000 miles instead of every 6,000.

Personally, I use an easier system of changing the engine filters and oil every time the odometer clicks past a xx5,000 reading and all the transmission oils awell when it passes a x10,000 mile point.