Focus TTdi - early oil change

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Wed 9 Jul 2003 20:29
Focus TTdi - early oil change - robert
Hi,

Miles on our new Focus TDdi are piling on now and she will be @ 6000 within a few weeks.

What are your thoughts on changing oil @ 6250 on a new engine? Some say yes, others say no until 1st service and then every 6250 miles from then on.

Comments appreciated .......

BTW - not one drop has been used from new.

Regards ............ Robert
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Wed 9 Jul 2003 20:30
Focus TDdi - early oil change - robert
Should have said - its a 12500 service interval ......
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Thu 10 Jul 2003 09:13
Focus TDdi - early oil change - Malcolm_L
It doesn\'t do any harm to change the oil (and filter) other than cost - which you may well recoup in the long term.
Diesel engines in particular work the oil very hard, it has to pick up and carry a lot of carbon in solution (Look at your new oil after a couple of hundred miles!)
If you intend keeping the car long term, change the oil every 6k instead of every 12.5k the engine will be in better
condition after 60k.

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Thu 10 Jul 2003 10:37
Focus TDdi - early oil change - Nortones2
Some people don't change their oil until 62,000 miles! OK: there are conditions, like having a truck with a big sump, by-pass filtration and oil analysis done regularly, but maybe it ain't necessary to change frequently if the oil is in good condition. See this link if interested: theoildrop.server101.com/cgi/ultimatebb.cgi

By the way, does anyone know an oil analysis company in UK, that doesn't charge too much? I'd like to check on my Honda's oil sometime, before changing at the makers 12,500 mile interval. Earlier if needed.
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Thu 10 Jul 2003 11:34
Focus TDdi - early oil change - John S
Nortones2

I'm interested in the comment about by-pas filtration. This implies that some of the circulating oil by-passes the filter, and only a proportion is filtered on the way to the bearings. This technique was dropped for cars many years ago (last one I can think of was the original 803 A series) as it's generally considered unacceptable on engines with relatively small oil capacities. So, very interesting it's used on trucks, especially as they have extended oil change intervals.

I'm aware that large plant determines oil change intervals based on oil condition, but that's probably cost effective when the cost of an oil change, plant or vehicle downtime and the potential cost of failure are taken into acount. With something like a steam turbine the oil company can turn up with a mobile processing plant and recondition the oil on site, but you're looking at several thousand litres of oil in that case. Yes, it's the scientific way to do it, but when you're looking at £20 or so for an oil and filter change on a car I doubt it's worth it.

Regards

John S
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Thu 10 Jul 2003 12:04
Focus TDdi - early oil change - BrianH
Nortones2{P} & John S,

Do a search on Yahoo UK using the key words 'Used Oil Analysis'.

By-pass filtration means a quarter of the oil flow is diverted into a much finer and larger filter which can filter down to 1 micron and take the water out. It takes about 20 mins to filter the sump capacity. The standard filter filters only to 15/20 micron. These filters sit side by side on a remote connection from the usual engine filter outlet.

Pay back on extended oil changes maybe 2 1/2 to 4 1/2 years depending on oil analysis. I am just into pay back.

There is a report of a truck in US going 409 000 miles with no oil changes and an independant check on strip down at 600 000 miles.
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