Disco 2 Oil change: go by mileage or time elapsed?

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GingerPuss

GingerPuss

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I was wondering whether people gave their Discos an oil service based on miles since last service - or time elapsed.

I gave my D2 Td5 oil and filters exactly a year ago - but I have only covered 1,829 miles in that time. Seems a waste to pay for 7L of oil and a new filter for so few miles.....or am I being foolish???
 
Mine's a 300 Tdi engine and I mainly service mine on neither of those options. It all depends for me on what 'work' it's done, ie, when we go to North Yorkshire and get the old muddy stuff going on then I service it pretty soon after. If all I've done is gentle 'newbie tours' green lanes then I don't worry.

What I do check regularly is the condition of the air filter, the wheel bearings, the oil levels and colour and as many pipes as I can see ... as well as the usual service stuff .. ;)
 
I would say that in reality it boils down to a sort of mix of the two, mileage and age.
If you're doing fewer than say 3000 miles a year, I would do it every 2 years or more, you should be able to see when the engine oil is getting dirty, but if you're doing 15000 or more a year then every 6000 miles would be a reasonable idea. I tend to change the drive train oils once for every two changes of engine oil. All filters get done with the engine oil.
I don't think engine oil degrades to that extent if left for a time, unlike brake fluid which is hygroscopic and absorbs moisture from the air.
 
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I would say annually or 5k whichever comes first.
Obviously 1.8k would have me sitting on the fence, but in the end Im sure I would just change the oil but probably not the filter.
 
I think it depends on how the mileage was accumulated. Several short journeys over the course of a couple of years causes condensation in the engine which affects the ability of the oil to do it's job. I have found that is the case with mine. I was doing several journeys of less than ten miles and I could see the affect of the condensation inside the oil filler neck. I now take the long way everywhere and try not to do less than 20 miles per journey. I should also add that often I was only using it once or twice a week at the most.

Col
 
GingerPuss said:
I was wondering whether people gave their Discos an oil service based on miles since last service - or time elapsed.

I gave my D2 Td5 oil and filters exactly a year ago - but I have only covered 1,829 miles in that time. Seems a waste to pay for 7L of oil and a new filter for so few miles.....or am I being foolish???
Click to expand...

To say it seems a waste to pay for oil and a filter given that oil changes are about the no. one cheap as chips thing you can do to keep an engine in good health, I would say you are being foolish. The mileage is very low, but that also suggests your Disco may be sitting about a lot, particularly through winter on cold damp days moisture ends up condensing on the inside of the engine and you get water in your oil, yes it will cook off when it is run again but it is always good just to get it out and refresh it. You could always just dump the oil and renew it at that mileage if you are looking for cost cutting options. My 90 does between 900-3500 miles a year depending on what I have been up to and I always change the oil and filter every year. Push it out another 4/5 months is probably reasonable too. 2 years in the sump though...

If you are concerned about the cost of oil may I politely suggest you are either buying over marketed over hyped big brand stuff which you are being ripped off for. I use an agrifleet or Mercedes 10/15W40 Fully Synthetic which costs about £40 for 25litres.
 
discomania said:
To say it seems a waste to pay for oil and a filter given that oil changes are about the no. one cheap as chips thing you can do to keep an engine in good health, I would say you are being foolish. The mileage is very low, but that also suggests your Disco may be sitting about a lot, particularly through winter on cold damp days moisture ends up condensing on the inside of the engine and you get water in your oil, yes it will cook off when it is run again but it is always good just to get it out and refresh it. You could always just dump the oil and renew it at that mileage if you are looking for cost cutting options. My 90 does between 900-3500 miles a year depending on what I have been up to and I always change the oil and filter every year. Push it out another 4/5 months is probably reasonable too. 2 years in the sump though...

If you are concerned about the cost of oil may I politely suggest you are either buying over marketed over hyped big brand stuff which you are being ripped off for. I use an agrifleet or Mercedes 10/15W40 Fully Synthetic which costs about £40 for 25litres.
Click to expand...
Wow, first sensible post.
Are you sure you'd not rather put £20 quid's worth of diesel in instead.
 
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