[imjimmy]

Originally Posted by nishantgandhi

That is completely wrong. If on mineral oil they are advising oil change every 10k kms, then you can easily go up to 20k kms on fully synthetic. That's a safe interval I feel. In any case, you can check the quality of oil through the dipstick as well. I noticed that even at 9k mark, oil was as good as new in my car.

The oil is usually not a limiting factor, but the Oil Filter most definitely is. Unless you buy a very high quality filter or a medium-good quality (Purolator PureOne, K&N etc) an oil filter won't filter efficiently after 15 k or so.

Keep in mind the driving conditions in India are very harsh. In most Indian cities the driving conditions would be classified under 'severe' category, for which the oil changes are more earlier than stated in the manual. This is a very different from say the USA where I've personally gone up to 10k miles on synthetic oil (with a good oil filter) without any problems..

[sgiitk]

Originally Posted by prashanthyr

I just got my City back from service. The SA gave me the option of both Mineral and Synthetic oils, with Synthetic being more expensive by about 1200 or so (essentially double the cost of mineral). I opted for Synthetic as a test. However, on enquiring the SA said one still has to change oil at 5k!

I think Honda is being conservative and asking for services every 5k

afaik the service interval for the City is now officially 10k (six months), oil change is 10k/12 months for synthetic . I remember seeing a post where the owner was 'conned' into 3 months, he made big noise, was given an apology and credit for the so called service.

@imjimmy; Our engines are no longer that bad, as to produce a lot of sludge. So I will be quite happy with the 12 months/10,000km routine. 12 months is desirable for synth as well since oil in the sump does oxidise, so even with synth you should not stretch much beyond 15 months.

[imjimmy]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

@imjimmy; Our engines are no longer that bad, as to produce a lot of sludge. So I will be quite happy with the 12 months/10,000km routine. 12 months is desirable for synth as well since oil in the sump does oxidise, so even with synth you should not stretch much beyond 15 months.

True. 10K/12 months is what I would recommend for synthetic oil changes. I thought that the 20k interval in my quoted post was too much, which is why I bought up the point on oil filter.

Also the engines in India are great, but the driving conditions are pretty harsh, that makes a difference.

[fuel_addict]

Even with synthetic oils, I would say 10K interval would be the max at which you should consider a change. I have been using synthetic oil on my Swift since 2 years now & recently in the Altis. The Swift's oil did turn blackish after 8K km forcing me to go for a change. Our driving conditions are harsh enough to warrant a change at 10K km or so. Like others have said, the quality of the oil filter also matters.

Benefits of syn oil have been spoken of quite often. While I haven't found any improvement in FE, the NVH levels and engine smoothness have shown enough reasons to recommend syn oil to anyone.

Can anyone using a diesel vehicle share their experience/recommendation on synthetic oil change intervals? I see most of the posts are based on petrol engines.

[krish82]

I use Synthetic oil in my Optra petrol, it has run 8k after the change and the color of the oil is as good as new. The service center guy says that you can drive til 15k minimum with your eyes closed. if you want to change earlier you are just wasting your money. He also said that even the oil filter need not be changed, don't know is that recommended or not.

Also i don't know what we mean by harsh driving condition in india, The average speed is less, so shouldn't be the load on the engine in lower side. I hardly rev my car above 3k RPM, But in abroad people may tend to rev till red line because of good roads and often run at higher rpms. So what do we mean by harsh, is it the dust or the ambient temperature or the fuel that we use.

Advantages that i have felt with synthetic:

1. I feel the torque is bit more, i mean if i was able to pull at 35kmph @ 5th gear, so now i am able to pull @ 30 kmph @ 5th gear with ease without knocking or judder.

2. Smoothness is there, But optra is already too quiet, cannot confirm this.

3. Feel good factor. Costlier oils which are used in race cars should be good in all conditions.

4. Also the cost difference is not that much if i change every 15K kms, i am just shedding 1 to 2 k more. Also i am saving in oil change labor in each service.

[raj.barcode]

I am been a fan of Synthetic oil from the day i changed it in my Skoda about 3years back

MY observations (for diesel cars only)

1) Engine is less noisier
2) change interval have literally doubled
3) oil seems much cleaner when changed (sometimes i think the change it too early)
4) feel the vehicle is not strained much when pushed to the limit

by the way my skoda had run excess of 85000 kms without any probs,
and then my elantra also with 65000 km has absolutely no probs, so does my new companion

All my diesel vehicle runs on shell helix ultra;

Finally is it practical and worth-while i say a big Yes

P.S: all my diesel vehicles have Pete's Box as basic setup

[psbali]

It is just a gimmick I am sure.. 15w40 Oil is recommended for my Aria and still the SA kept trying to push Synthetic oil. Though even for the semi-synthetic i.e. 15w40 the interval is 15k KMs in my Aria. So I am a bit surprised that how come I am supposed to change the synthetic oil in my SX4 at such regular intervals. For my SX4 the synthetic oil change interval is 1k kms and then 10k Kms and i guess every 10k kms after that.

And yeah I totally agree with a certain statement madde over here by someone.. Rather change mineral oil at regular intervals than synthetic oil after 20k KMs.

[sagarpadaki]

Originally Posted by raj.barcode

All my diesel vehicle runs on shell helix ultra;

Finally is it practical and worth-while i say a big Yes

P.S: all my diesel vehicles have Pete's Box as basic setup

Which diesel cars do you run on shell helix ultra?

[raj.barcode]

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

Which diesel cars do you run on shell helix ultra?

Skoda octavia, Elantra, Scorpio and Magnum all four, i have (had) been running on Shell helix ultra


This is what i use

P.S : i know people using Same oil for I20 crdi with very good results

[sgiitk]

@raj.barcode; Is this oil not primarily for petrols?

[sagarpadaki]

Originally Posted by raj.barcode

Skoda octavia, Elantra, Scorpio and Magnum all four, i have (had) been running on Shell helix ultra

Attachment 580192
This is what i use

P.S : i know people using Same oil for I20 crdi with very good results

Originally Posted by sgiitk

@raj.barcode; Is this oil not primarily for petrols?

I second sgiitk.That's why i asked which cars you are using this oil for.This is not a Diesel engine oil and the specifications do not meet the diesel requirements.Use Mobil delvac 1 which is the best you can get for diesel engines.Even the shell helix ultra DIESEL does not meet the modern diesel mill specification.Better not use this oil since it can potentially damage your car engines

[Deep_Shri]

Hello Everyone:

This is an interesting discussion. I have been mulling over shifting to synthetic for some time now. GTO has also posted his opinion on Synthetic elsewhere in the forum. I am still confused. Hence, this request for specific advice.

I have a Pajero and hitherto I have been changing the engine oil every 5000km using the mineral based 10W30 of Motul.

I read on the pocuk forum that it is advisable to use semi-synthetic for Pajero.

My question is: Would semi-synthetic suit the Pajero better or synthetic? I also read that that the type of material used in constructing the engine may have some bearing on the type of oil used. I am not sure how correct this is.

So would the experts share their view please?

Cheers!

[raj.barcode]

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

I second sgiitk.That's why i asked which cars you are using this oil for.This is not a Diesel engine oil and the specifications do not meet the diesel requirements.Use Mobil delvac 1 which is the best you can get for diesel engines.Even the shell helix ultra DIESEL does not meet the modern diesel mill specification.Better not use this oil since it can potentially damage your car engines

Originally Posted by sgiitk

@raj.barcode; Is this oil not primarily for petrols?

Sorry sagarpadaki, Sgiitk, oil is for both fuel injected petrol and turbo-diesel engines (attaching the pic taken from the shell helix ultra pack for your perusal)

The grades for oil to be used in the cars should match or better the specs as prescribed by the company

P.s: Hopefully the image clears all doubts

As per the specs which says ACEA A3/B4, oil grade is better than what hyundai i20, Elantra, Magnum, Scorpio, Xylo etc asks for (as per manual)


Regards

[sagarpadaki]

Originally Posted by raj.barcode

Sorry sagarpadaki, Sgiitk, oil is for both fuel injected petrol and turbo-diesel engines (attaching the pic taken from the shell helix ultra pack for your perusal)

The grades for oil to be used in the cars should match or better the specs as prescribed by the company

P.s: Hopefully the image clears all doubts

As per the specs which says ACEA A3/B4, oil grade is better than what hyundai i20, Elantra, Magnum, Scorpio, Xylo etc asks for (as per manual)


Regards

AFAIK,modern diesel mills require a minimum of API-CH4 and above.Atleast this is what my i20 manual says.There is no mention of ACEA A3/B4 specifications in the manual.This oil does not meet any of the API specifications

I don't have info about elantra,magnum,scorpio so cant comment on their requirements.

[rocky080]

Originally Posted by raj.barcode

MY observations (for diesel cars only)

1) Engine is less noisier
2) change interval have literally doubled
3) oil seems much cleaner when changed (sometimes i think the change it too early)
4) feel the vehicle is not strained much when pushed to the limit

Finally is it practical and worth-while i say a big Yes

P.S: all my diesel vehicles have Pete's Box as basic setup

I second Raj.barcodes' observations. As i also upgraded my Xylo engine oil to Castrol Edge fully synthetic engine oil after i noticed my beast struggle with pick up after long distance high speed runs on the company specified mineral oil. I have not had such issues after the upgrade.

@sagarpadki: please go through this link. http://wiki.seloc.org/a/Oil_Labelling_Explained

ACEA is the European equivalent of API(US) as far as i know.