adrian996

Member
Hello.

I have a March 2016 Defender 90 2.2. I'm used to doing plenty of DIY stuff to my cars but haven't got 'round to sussing out how to do a DIY engine oil and oil filter change on this yet.

I only do around 5k a year in the car and that's also mostly short journeys.

Briefly, my 'Oil Service' message came on in the OBC display and I got a bit nervous about the viscosity of the oil. My Indy said that it was on a timer and that I shouldn't be too concerned about it. My local 'stealer' told me that; "....we're not really sure, sir. The only comparison that we can draw would be that of the current Ingenium engine and the same Oil Service indicator message on that would point to an oil viscosity issue."

I had to leave for a holiday (in the car) that afternoon - so I was 'forced' to accept this typically predictable, uneducated, money-grabbing 'opinion' of my local JLR Stealer and had them change the oil and filter that day.

So, not wanting to experience a repeat performance of the above; can anyone advise on a DIY for this job - or point me to a link on-line?

Also, given that I only do short journeys, is there a safe DIY way that I can try to keep on top of the DPF getting wrecked? (That is if a 30 mile A-road commute, 3 days a week is considered 'short'(???) - I do try to give the car a blast during the commute every now and then)

I was reconciled to the possibility of having to do a mid-service oil and filter change on this Landy before I bought it - as I only do short runs - and I've always done a 5k oil and filter change on all of my diesels anyway.

But can anyone finally answer my initial question of why the 'Oil Service' message originally came up? It might also be worth mentioning that the car was originally built around mid-October '15 but wasn't actually registered until March '16 - so I could get it on a 16 reg plate. My message came up around mid-October so that would fit in with the manufacture date - if this is just a timer triggered event(?) (Have I just answered my own question...?)
 
Someone much smarter than I will come on here who will be in the know. But personally I would change the oil at least once a year regardless of what mileage I had done. Condensation in the oil etc
 
Someone much smarter than I will come on here who will be in the know. But personally I would change the oil at least once a year regardless of what mileage I had done. Condensation in the oil etc
Thanks Mike. Yes, this would be a mid-service oil and filter change. Afraid I'm old school like that!
 
Are you achieving decent speeds on your a road commute, 50 plus? If so that should be sufficient for the dpf to run a decent regen.
 
By a proper filter strap and do it yourself mate, that way you can drain it for longer to, stealers don’t let it drip for long

Cheers
 
By a proper filter strap and do it yourself mate, that way you can drain it for longer to, stealers don’t let it drip for long

Cheers
Thanks - that's what I hope to do but can you point me at any DIY links or articles regarding an oiled filter change for this 2.2? Cheers. Adrian.
 
Surely to change it, even on the newer engines the process is the same. You just remove the sump plug and drain, remove the oil filter and replace and then refill.

If you have never done an oil change before and have not worked on a cars there are lots of youtube videos showing how to do an oil change. It is the same process for nearly all vehicles so it does not need to be land rover specific.

The most difficult part of it it will be resetting the computer to tell the car you have serviced it. I have an older pre-electrics land rover engines so I am afraid I cannot help you with that bit.
 
There are a couple of threads in the Engines section under TDCi. One covers the oil filter, another covers how to reset the service indicator. Not many posts in there, you will find them on the first page.
HTH.
 
You might want to get a copy of the recently published Haynes manual for the TDCi. Amazon doing them cheap at the mo. Regarding the oil service message, I think it is simply time related. I doubt the defender has anything remotely sophisticated as a viscosity measuring device. But the computer might trigger it early if it detects a certain number of DPF regeneration cycles (symptomatic of short stop start and low speed use) to suggest an early oil change (but this is an educated guess).
 
Don’t forget a new sump plug washer too
They don't have one. Being a ford engine they have a captive rubber seal on the sump plug, I get several uses out of one before a new one is needed. But always keep a spare one on the shelf just in case (which reminds me I used my spare on the last oil change so need another spare).
 
They don't have one. Being a ford engine they have a captive rubber seal on the sump plug, I get several uses out of one before a new one is needed. But always keep a spare one on the shelf just in case (which reminds me I used my spare on the last oil change so need another spare).
Fair one mate didn’t realise that!
 
You might want to get a copy of the recently published Haynes manual for the TDCi. Amazon doing them cheap at the mo. Regarding the oil service message, I think it is simply time related. I doubt the defender has anything remotely sophisticated as a viscosity measuring device. But the computer might trigger it early if it detects a certain number of DPF regeneration cycles (symptomatic of short stop start and low speed use) to suggest an early oil change (but this is an educated guess).
Thanks. Yes, I need a Haynes for it - can't seem to find it on Amazon though (...?) It's on the Haynes website at full price though.
Just read your post on how to extinguish the Oil Service message. Why oh why didn't I post here before I got stung by my Stealer??!! Doooooh!! They did me for £162 for oil and filter change + message reset - which I was assured was a great deal!! I'm guessing that the oil and filter costs were around £80 + an hour's 'labour'. Things were desperate at the time so I can't really moan about it but if I'd done it myself I'd have let it drain for at least 24hrs, etc.... New engine with 5k miles on it, swarf, etc.....They probably stuck the drain plug back in while it was still running out. Thanks again!
 
£160 Quid for an oil change... What a rip off.

The standard cost for an oil change when I live in America was $30 or roughly £20-25 quid.

I hate spending £40 in this country for just the oil and filter.
 

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