[Hashim]

@Sawyer : I feel electric ramp will keep the vehicle more accurately in horizontal position without tilting to any side than ground, as ground can not always be prefectly levelled.

Gansan : Most probably Helix Super is mineral and only Helix Ultra is synthetic. Look at the Indian site: Shell in India - Shell Helix Products

[Takumi-san]

The inclination idea makes sense but its unlikely. Wont hurt to try though.

Question - how many of you change the oil / oil filter yourselves? Its easy enough and most of us abroad who are interested in cars do it ourselves. If not is it due to unavailability of tools? We get oil wrenches / oil pans from any local automotive shops since loads of people do it. I dont recall seeing this stuff in India , is this the reason?

Its more fun for sure. And you dont have to worry about the mechanic draining out oil when hot , complete or not etc.

[tsk1979]

Actually the reason is cost.
for 100rs, the mechanic will get down and dirty replace diesel and oil filters, clean air filter, prime the diesel hand pump etc., etc.,
Compare that to doing it in your home. You get messy with oil etc., have to get down and dirty.
So if it costed 20$ like in the US, definitely most of us will do it ourselves.

For those whose cars are under warranty they actually have no choice but to go to service station for such jobs

[Raccoon]

Originally Posted by Sawyer

3. The bottles of oil that I bought from the official Castrol outlet had more than the marked amount of oil in it. Either overfilled by Castrol, or a case of spurious oil overfilled somewhere else. Not likely, but something to worry about too!

Wont comment on the other things, but its extremely unlikely that you will get a drop of extra oil from a genuine Castrol container. AFAIK, all oil companies fill oil using automatic dispensers and the volume is also temperature corrected. And of all oil companies, Castrol is not nuts to let you have a drop extra than what you pay for... lol! Either you measured it wrong or the oil is spurious.

Originally Posted by Gansan

Shell Helix super does not state it is a synth oil on the label. So can we safely assume it is mineral? The sales guys are not well informed about this. The Shell India website is also silent about this. Shell Ausralia website however mentions it as mineral.
Shell in Australia - Shell Helix current range

Can we safely assume it is mineral in India too? If it happens to be semi synth by chance and we use it in a new (1000 KM) car, what will happen? I would like to clarify this before I make the switch.

It it does not say its fully synthetic on the can, then you can be damn sure its mineral.

Nobody can say for sure what will happen if you use semi-synth without testing as there are so many variables involved. But most likely, it will not be something remotely serious. In any case, your car has covered about 1,000 km right? So just don't spend too much thought on it.

[vdiatech]

what could be margin of error on such dispensers?

I have come across mineral water bottles, soft drinks, shampoos etc which have either had less than designated quantity or more.
Some of us notice and some of us dont.

[greenhorn]

apart from what tsk said, there is the small matter of disposing the oil. Workshops would only be happy to take it off you, but there is the whole business of draining it back into the can etc

[Sawyer]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

apart from what tsk said, there is the small matter of disposing the oil. Workshops would only be happy to take it off you, but there is the whole business of draining it back into the can etc

That is exactly what stops me from doing it. Contributory factors also are the hassle in getting under the car ( lot easier with a bike ), and that service is cheap in India. On the other hand, no one in India has started a Jiffy Lube operation of the kind there exisits in the US, where you can drive in and out for just an oil change. Combined with an automatic car wash, if you want that as well. It has now expanded to changing other fluids and beltsl, in the area of preventive maintenance that can be done on a drive in and out basis in an hour, max. Time someone started that here, should be a great success. In modern cars, if preventive maintenance is done regularly, there are very few breakdowns, and this would reduce the load on the company after sales as well. Companies would of course see this as a threat to their profits, and start the usual warranty termination nonsense, because most companies put self interest over customer needs and convenience. But it is an idea that is bound to get transplanted here as well, and the sooner the better.
On the oil disposal subject - I wonder how many garages do this in a manner that meets the letter and spirit of the law.
PS: I know for a fact that HM refuses to sell oil filters for Mitsubishi cars to walk in customers, unless the car is there for service. I am sure that other companies do similar things. For volume cars it does not matter of course, the spares makers access the replacement market directly and common consumable parts are easily available elsewhere.

[Takumi-san]

You are right TSK. We do have to drive down to the local garage or disposal unit to get rid of the old oil. No way could we dunk in down the drain here. We may get away with it in India but it really damages the environment. But then those FNGs which are by the roadside probably just dump it down some open drain too (if they dont sell it to be rebottled and sold in the first place).

Sawyer, you views as usual are revealing and accurate. However as someone pointed out, car makers drop their warranties if we go to other places for a 'service' even if it is so minor as oil change. That is not the case in Australia and we are protected by law that the manufacturer cannot let go off his responsiblity provided I have gotten the service done at an established registered garage. Also isnt someone in India right at this moment trying something of this sort (a Mr. Thakkar if I am not mistaken?). And isnt he running into stiff opposition by the manufacturers (except Maruti) ? As someone here mentioned it would definitely help if car makers shared their original parts and service manuals with established garage chains. Not only does it reduce pressure on their workshops but also allows healthy competition and keeps customers happier.

[Sawyer]

Thank you for the appreciation.
Jagdish Khattar has started a company, Carnation, that will provide independent, multibrand auto service of all sorts, so it is wider in scope than Jiffy Lube. Maruti is not opposing him at this time, because others are doing this anyway, and Jagdish was the Maruti MD for a long time! I am not sure how successful he will be, because preventive maintenance is one thing, and full range service is another. Time will tell! I get a sense though that he is also not quite focussed as much on customer happiness as he is on profits, going by what I read about his having imported parts from Honda Thailand for servicing Honda cars cheaper via his outfit, and Honda India, having gotten wind of it, getting quite annoyed about this. Not the long term thing to do, this Thailand import stunt, if what is reported is true.
Unfortunately, enlightened companies that realize that genuine customer happiness is the only thing that drives long term profitability are rare in India. Not that one can find them all over the place in developed economies either, but more of them have gotten there. It's a process!

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by Takumi-san

Sawyer, you views as usual are revealing and accurate.

Agreed. there's something to Sawyer's posts that says he knows a lot more than he would have us believe. Thanks Sawyer.

Rgds,

[sauravc]

Hi!

I had a problem with high engine oil consumption in my Indigo GLS (http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...go-petrol.html) and thanks to this forum could get it resolved!
This time it is the other way round. I had gone to Pune and on my way back to Mumbai went to a petrol pump and for a refuelling stop and also a customary check of Engine Oil and Coolant levels (I do this every time before a long drive). The petrol pump guy said I needed to change my coolant (which I had suspected) and also get a top-up of engine oil. He said that though I had enough oil, a top up would not be harmful. Since I was fresh from a high engine oil consumption problem, I did not want to take a chance and asked him for a top up. I was looking at a 1/2 L top up, but before I could bat an eyelid, he poured one full litre of engine oil!
I was not very comfortable, but decided to drive back. I had no problems on the road, but today before a cold start when I did a dipstick check, I saw the oil level was above the Max mark (I feel around 400 ml extra).
My question is: should I go to a mechanic and ask him to drain off some extra oil? Or let it be?

Regards,
Saurav

[clevermax]

Heard that extra engine oil can screw up the turbo, there have been complaints from Swift DDiS owners on this respect as MASS fill extra engine oil during service. (Heard from member ImmortalZ during tbhp meet last weekend)

[sauravc]

I have an Indigo Petrol version, so is it advisable to go for some draining of extra oil?

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

In percentage terms, how much extra is there? Look in the owner's manual and check the oil capacity. (400ML/required oil) X 100 gives the percentage of oil extra. I guess 5% extra is OK.

BTW< i think the bunk guy was taking your for a ride - sell some extra things.

[sauravc]

The capacity is 4.5L and the service station guys always used to put 5L. So I think, I have around 10% extra. So do you suggest, I go in for some oil drain off?
Yes, I do realise now that the bunk guy took me for a ride :-(