[sparkglow]

Hello People,

Greetings!

I am a new member of Team-BHP. I drive a pre owned Palio 1.2 ELX 2003 model in Chennai. I am due for an oil change on my Palio 1.2 , and need your able suggestions and opinions regarding the same. The car is currently running on mineral oil and the odometer reads 22.5K kms.

The previous messages posted on this group regarding engine oil change are pretty informative but not conclusive. Having read thru these messages, I am inclined toward opting for the synthetic oil for my car. However, I am not sure considering the cost of synthetic oils and the minimal usage of my car.My usage would amount to a maximum of 700 kms per month. Is it advisable to go for synthetic oils?

I gather from the previous messages that it is mandatory to change the engine oil every 7500 kms or six months whichever comes earlier. Is this condition applicable to both synthetic and mineral oils?

What is the difference between mineral oils and synthetic oils in terms of protection, performance and fuel efficiency?

Which is the recommended brand and grade of synthetic or mineral oil? How performance efficient is Castrol GTX Magnatec?

Do I need to do an engine flush if I change from minerals to synthetics or both? Is it recommended to flush the engine at 22.5K kms. Which is the best available engine flush oil?

Is engine decarbonization recommended or an engline oil flush would suffice?

Are engine / gear box oil additives recommended? If yes, then which brand to opt for and what are the benefits?

Do I need to change the brake/clutch, transmission & power steering fluids or top them up? They have never been changed...

Having done 22.5K kms so far, is it necessary to go for break drum & break shoe pad cleaning? The breaks seems to pretty responsive - and no screeching noises.

Too many questions but am afraid this is my first car.

I look forward to reading your suggestions.

Thanks & regards,

Tanveer

[humyum]

SparkGlow innovative nick man.Anways getting back to your questions
Yes dude according to your usage Synthetic oil will give u better protection as compared to mineral oil and is definately recommended.
If u are using oils like castrol magnatec u can extend your oil change intervals to 7500 km or 6 months otherwise with normal mineral based oil change it every 5000km or 6 months whichever comes earlier.
Mineral oils will be good during the initial periods and their performance will deteriorate more after use as compared to sythetic or semi sythetec oils.
With oils like castrol magnatec which is semi sythetic u can feel a change in engine smoothness,smoothness at highrpm and gives u added protection during cold starting of engine due to which less wear and tear of engine components.
I have been using castrol magnatec since about 10000 km with an oil change offcourse and must say the performace advantage can easily be noticed between mineral oils and castrol magnatec.
Castrol magnatec will be around 300 rs approx costlier than the normal oils for a 4 liter can but it is definately worth it.
U dont need any engine flush for changing the oils from mineral to synthetic although doing it wont cause any harm and carbon deposits in the engine will be removed to a certain extent.But if u a throughout job go for decarbonising and do it before u get the oil change done as after the decarbonising u will have to remove all the old oil and oilfilter and have to put new oil.Decarbonising will definately improve performance as well as fuel efficieny.
About transmission fluids they need to changed every 2 years or 20000km which evercomes first and i think they would have been changed while u would have given your car for the regular service.
About brake drum,brake shoe pad cleaning during your regular service they do remove the brake pads and clean them.Although i dont know about wheather they remove the drums and clean the drums and back brake liners also.
I hope this information answers many of your questions

[sparkglow]

Thank you, humyum for your informative reply. It was pretty helpful. However, I would love to read the comments of the other members of Team-BHP....

I have got a few more questions to ask....

Where can I get the decarbonization of my car engine done in Chennai? How much will it approximately cost?

Decarbonizing a 22.5K kms run engine will have any adverse affects?

Are engine / gear box oil additives recommended? If yes, then which brand to opt for and what are the benefits?

I look forward to reading your suggestions.

Kindest regards,

Tanveer

(Psst. Your name nick sounds musical and yummy! )

[Driven]

hi there,,
i beg to differ on that,, i got decarbonising done and the average kind of dicreased but the perfomce increased,,,
that is becouse of the carbon deposited on and near the injector,, flow of petrol decreses hence increasding ur average and decreasing the performance,,and once u get it cleaned,, ur perfomance is back,,,
it has happened to me,,,

but i relish the perfomance,, so it dosent matter,,
and if u want to get ur injector clesned,,, go in for products like BG,, these are german products and are 100 times better than products like wynes and all,,,

regards,,
driven








U dont need any engine flush for changing the oils from mineral to synthetic although doing it wont cause any harm and carbon deposits in the engine will be removed to a certain extent.But if u a throughout job go for decarbonising and do it before u get the oil change done as after the decarbonising u will have to remove all the old oil and oilfilter and have to put new oil.Decarbonising will definately improve performance as well as fuel efficieny.

[humyum]

Originally Posted by Driven

hi there,,
i beg to differ on that,, i got decarbonising done and the average kind of dicreased but the perfomce increased,,,
that is becouse of the carbon deposited on and near the injector,, flow of petrol decreses hence increasding ur average and decreasing the performance,,and once u get it cleaned,, ur perfomance is back,,,
it has happened to me,,,

but i relish the perfomance,, so it dosent matter,,
and if u want to get ur injector clesned,,, go in for products like BG,, these are german products and are 100 times better than products like wynes and all,,,

regards,,
driven

Dude decarbonising will definately increase the mileage as the engine will be breathing in more freely.Carbon deposited on the injector will cause the injector to clog and lead to drastic dip in performance but for optimum running of engine injector should be cleaned if clogged and mileage will definately increase as the optimum power will be developed and u wont be revving the engine hard as u would be with the clogged injector as with the clogged injector will lead to loss of power due to which we will be revving more to extract the max possible power
I think your mileage decreased after you got decarbonising done as the engine becomes even more free revving along with original compression is restored due to which u might be pushing it even more as u said u relish the power.Drive it normally and see the increase in the mileage figures

[nitrous]

SYNTHETIC. Period.
Loads of difference from the normal mineral oil.

I use OWS 10W40 and even the engine flush is OWS.
The recommended brands i know is Mobil1 and OWS.In Chennai, its very easy to source genuine OWS.Hence, i stick to it.

Off-topic: Check the Chennai-meet thread in the TeamBHP meet section present in the Shifting Gears section.

[Shan2nu]

Have been using mineral oil on the Vtec for almost 59K kms now. Thinking of switching to Castrol Magnatec. Not that mineral oil has been bad, but i just want to experiment with synth oil from now on.

Shan2nu

[sajivr]

Originally Posted by Shan2nu

Have been using mineral oil on the Vtec for almost 59K kms now. Thinking of switching to Castrol Magnatec. Not that mineral oil has been bad, but i just want to experiment with synth oil from now on.

Shan2nu

I got the oil change done for my fusion after 1500kms. From the job card, oil seems to be mobil1 (some 10w.. dont remember correctly). is it a synthetic oil? is it recommened to use synthetic oil on a new engine. Anyway I got it done from the dealor itself.

[drpullockaran]

Whether you have synthetic or semisythetic or mineral the oil change period in India in the dusty climates we are prone to drive our vehicles in, the oil change interval should be about the same which is any where between 5000 and 7500km. would suggest you choose straight mineral based oil and change the oil filter and oil more often with the money one saves when compared to pure synthetics. Synthetics are real good when long drain periods are contemplated but dusty climates are not taken into the equation and for India mineral oil will do.
Now coming to the specific oil mentioned here. Castrol magnatec is not synthetic but supposedly semi synthetic and I have used it and the Idemitsu's latest RACER version and can tell by experience that the Idemitsu beats the Castrol by a small margin if engine smoothness is your criteria. The other thing I noticed in my GTX is that after hard spirited driving when using castrol there used to be burnt oil smell outside the car but after using IDEMITSU thats a thing of the past. Fuel effeciency has remained the same. Bye and wear your seatbelts.
http://www.idemitsu-usa.com/page_257.htm
Please note the RACER engine oil sold by IDEMITSU in India is not synthetic.

[VIJAY KUMAR]

Hi,

As your Car already done 22.5 k on mineral oil. Use 10w40 semi - synthetic blend from Valvoline Cummins, "DURABLEND 10W40" This will give you the results which are far far better than any meneral oil & the pricing is amazing 4 ltrs will cost Rs. 800.00 max.

This mineral oils are derived from the crude oils by seperations & Synthetic Oils are derived in laboratory, these oils give the 100 percent accurcay of performance.

As the car has done 22 k & is about 2.5 years old, change the gear oils as these oils start loosing the properties of additives after 20k.

Doing 22 k you dont require to flush, as the sludge formation in the petrol cars are very low.

Valovline is availiable in india log in to the Web www.valvolinecummins.com or chennai office no 24355208/201.

vijay

[The Wolf]

I would suggest semisynthetic too for Indian roads. As someone already mentioned, semisynthetic and every 5000kms oil change is a great combo and works great. I use Castrol GTX magnatec and Im one happy customer...As drpullockaran mentioned, yes, after some gunning the burnt oil smell gets prominent with magnatec but its only smell without other effects so I ignore it. After using magnatec for around 10,000kms, I can confidently say that its damn good! There is something about this oil, doesnt matter what climate, region or condition your car is in....the performance remains absolutely consistent....for ex. the idemitsu that the showroom guys used to make the car feel a little rough after say a 250kms+ drive! I would vouch for magnatec unless you wanna go for Mobil 1 or the likes...

To extract optimum performance from you car, go for an engine flush every 25000kms with Bardahl/STP products and use Bardahl engine oil additive every 5000kms with your standard oil change. Also change gear oil and top up rest of them after a thorough cleanup job every 25000kms.

Engine Decorbonising is an arduous process better left to pro's every 1lac kms.

These are my 2paisa...

[ksethuram]

I would recomend you to go to fully synthetic. I had got my oil changed at 10K and could feel the difference while driving. The engine is silky smooth which can clearly be felt while redlining.

[s.prashanth]

any oil as long as u change it every 500kms, plugs every 10000 kms, engine flush once every 15000kms, with the engine protector from 15000kms once every 10000kms this is made by ows i swear by it, use a injector cleaner from brdhal once 10000kms or use iftex every tankful

[quicksilver]

Originally Posted by s.prashanth

any oil as long as u change it every 500kms, plugs every 10000 kms, engine flush once every 15000kms, with the engine protector from 15000kms once every 10000kms this is made by ows i swear by it, use a injector cleaner from brdhal once 10000kms or use iftex every tankful

I think you meant 5000 KMs for oil pal.... thats fine, but changing plugs every 10K? I don't think that is going to be of any significant advantage.... while manufacturer recommended change interval is approx 40K KM mostly for all Indian cars.

Moreover, there other fluids do not need a change that frequently, like the transmission fluid, power steering fluid etc. The best place to refer will be your service manual.

Between Mineral and Synthetic, Synthetic is definitely better in terms of engine performance and smoothness and while it allows a longer life time, people mostly change it in the regular interval or slightly longer. That makes Synthetic oils expensive... so it is your call... Almost everyone I know who use Synthetic Oil was only happy about it.

[tharian]

Bumping up this thread for some information.

My Figo 1.2 is due for the third service at around 18500 kms. I am planning on converting to fully synthetic oil at the service .

What I need to know is,
- if the Ford A.S.S will do it and should I purchase the oil myself and provide it to them.
-If the engine needs to be flushed before pouring in the fresh oil,
-What is the best brand recommened and how much is a litre.

Thanks in advance