309 service

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Tue 6 Aug 2002 12:50
309 service - dave18
K93 309 1.4i, 81000 miles
For convienience I have just booked my car in at Halfords (AA). £146 covers the following:
-Engline flush
-Mobil 1 and filter
-Air filter
-Spark plugs
-Coolant change
-Fuel filter
-'Checks on brake fluid boiling temperature, steering, suspension and so on' (what exactly this covers I don't know)

I like using them as they do report back about anything they notice, which is reassuring. Plus, Peugeot have quoted me £250, god knows why.

I've just seen the post about Mobil 1 but it ended up talking about prices, is it worth me saving £20 and getting Magnatec or will Mobil 1 be of benefit considering the car does a lot of mileage (mostly delivering fast food!) and is sometimes driven quite hard?
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Tue 6 Aug 2002 18:10
309 service - Ben79
Concerning older engines, there is a thought that changing to a better (ie thinner and synthetic) oil may do more harm than good.

The common opinion seems to be to use a good oil of the correct spec for the car, for a 1993 Peugeot, probably something like Duckhams Hypergrade or Castrol GTX for basic engines would be fine. These oils are 15W50, and a thicker than Mobil or a synthetic oil.

It is believed that the thin oils can wash away carbon and dirt which is in fact almost holding your engine together, and may create an oil leak.

I ran a 1990 Peugeot 405 1.6 to 133000 miles with no engine problems and used Duckhams Hypergrade.

Stick with the cheaper oil.

Ben
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Wed 7 Aug 2002 15:05
309 service - dave18
I've got until Tuesday to decide.
I made the mistake of putting Mobil 1 in my old Polo, believing it would be of benefit. This exaggeratted an oil leak.
However the 309 is a 1.4i model ie the last of the 309's and the 1.4 used in all 1.4 306's. It's been serviced quite well and the 10-40 semi synth in there has been fine; that oil being still clean after 7000 miles. However given my high mileage (up to 500 per week including lots of short runs) I want to use the best oil that can be used. The car uses no oil at present.
Magnatec 10-40 or Mobil 1 are the choices.
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Wed 7 Aug 2002 15:19
309 service - Dizzy {P}
Dave,

Since your Peugeot 1.4 engine is not a particularly high-performance engine I don't think you would gain anything from using a fully synthetic oil other than the possibility of extending the oil change intervals.

I would stay with the semi-synthetic oil and avoid any risk of seal or gasket damage and leakage that some say can occur when going over to fully synthetic in an oldish engine.
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Wed 7 Aug 2002 15:22
309 service - dave18
What if flushing oil is used beforehand? The garage told me they will do this because its al old-ish engine. I'm not bothered about performance but I am about longevity because the car, um, takes some abuse. It has to get me through uni (which is 150 miles away so it'll be sitting around and going to the shops and then periodically doing a 300 mile run.)
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Wed 7 Aug 2002 19:18
309 service - Dizzy {P}
What I meant was that your engine is not producing say 100 bhp per litre so it shouldn't need any 'special' oil.

Flushing the engine should get rid of any carbon and sludge build-up that might otherwise be freed by the synthetic oil and swept into the filter, but I doubt if it would help regarding any possibility of gasket or oil seal damage or oil leaks.

The 2x150 mile runs will be excellent for the engine - remember that most wear is said to take place in the first few minutes from a cold start. I really don't think you have much to gain by using a fully synthetic oil.
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Wed 7 Aug 2002 20:53
309 service - M.M
Dave,

Dizzy is right, a far more basic oil will be fine for your engine. I look after a ZX 1.4 at about 130K and that engine is perfect, despite never having better than a straight 10/40 or 15/40.

More important is a 6K or 6 month change without fail. If it were my own car I'd not even spend £10 per 5lit.

A lot of oils are marketed on images of supreme performance, more crucial is the spec on the side of the can. Broadly similar oils of different makes can be in the same shop at £5.95 and £11.95.

Having said that if it gives you confidence by all means use a better oil. Semi-syn at tops will be OK.




David W
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