Early "Change Engine Oil" message

[RSD7a]

Well, thanks for all the various suggestions. I especially enjoyed Jagmanx's underpants-based advice. There's a range of views from turn off the warning message (easy)and continue as before through to change the oil NOW. I've just spoken to the Bosch garage who services it at 10k miles just before I took delivery of the newly converted van (Devon Conversions, who are excellent btw) and he said definitely change the oil as there is a built in sensor which monitors oil condition. (He had nothing to gain from this advice as I'm nowhere near his outlet).
I can never get through to a human at our local Citroen so-called dealership, and as I write am waiting for a promised call back to discuss the situation but I"m not holding my breath.
At the moment I'm planning to bite the bullet and do the oil and filter change. What's the worst mistake, an unnecessary oil change or a knackered engine?

Not sure if the attached photo from the Citroen manual will be readable but it shows there are two parallel systems, one for service interval and another for oil quality.
Thanks again, all.

 

[trevskoda]

Modern engines are fussy about the oil. If you put the stuff they run on into an old engine it would kill it.

Total nonsense, there is a whole utube of tests on it, its just that you may be wasting money, but i can assure you i run most on semi of full sinth oils on very old engines and they have went 4 times round the clock.

 

[SquirrellCook]

Total nonsense, there is a whole utube of tests on it, its just that you may be wasting money, but i can assure you i run most on semi of full sinth oils on very old engines and they have went 4 times round the clock.

So you'd happily run a 0W-20 in your truck?

 

[Wooie1958]

Here we go again

 

[trevskoda]

So you'd happily run a 0W-20 in your truck?

Run 0/30 in car and 5/30 or 5/40 sinth in my van, i have also ran 10/40 and 5/40 in my triumph tiger cub, dont do it the other way round as mineral oil will bugger up the exhaust analyzers etc.

 

[REC]

We had similar issues with our Citroen relay, to change oil warning. As we had driven quite high mileage ( Portugal) the garage suggested changing it when we had a service at just over a year.....not a Citroen dealer just the local ex council place which does Mots and the occasional service / repair for those who know about them. Charged us £40 total.

 

[peter palance]

After changing the oil and filter, to reset the warning this may help.

I suppose there is a chance that when it was serviced the reset was overlooked.

just had my oil changed and filter, only done 1000 miles but,i change it for winter, keep smiling. deep joy stay jolly. ok.pj

 

[Pedalman]

I would never leave the oil change to manufacturers recommended intervals, that's just a sales pitch for cheaper servicing costs. If we want our engines to last a long time the oil needs to be clean, that is especially true with turbocharged engines where dirty oil can soon destroy the compressor / rotor bearing.

 

[RSD7a]

just had my oil changed and filter, only done 1000 miles but,i change it for winter, keep smiling. deep joy stay jolly. ok.pj

Matter of interest .. how much were you charged?

 

[RSD7a]

Bit the bullet and its all done. My days of crawling under vehicles are passed. 6.5 ltrs of 0w30, filter and 30 mins labour plus vat = £129 which hurt a bit. But it's done.

 

[Wooie1958]

Worth every penny for peace of mind and to protect your expensive toy

 

[Deneb]

That's not too bad. Decent oil to the correct spec & filter would have cost around £70 - £80 plus the cost of a diagnostic device able to reset the oil counter.

 

[RSD7a]

That's not too bad. Decent oil to the correct spec & filter would have cost around £70 - £80 plus the cost of a diagnostic device able to reset the oil counter.

Actually, it took them quite a while to do the reset, despite following Citroen instructions, then using a diagnostic device, then trying an alternative set of instructions which did the trick on the third attempt. So 30 mins labour charge not bad all in all.

 

[trevskoda]

All oil comes from the same shop but with different names on it, asda dont drill for oil they buy it in.

 

[Wooie1958]

All oil comes from the same shop but with different names on it, asda dont drill for oil they buy it in.

I think Tesco must make their own because there`s always plenty on the shelves

 

[jagmanx]

sometime they try to PALM it off. Olive buys some and the male offspring of MacDougal Son of Flour !)
Some of it costs peanuts. but Mademoiselle Chanel's is jus CoCo. Other types the password is "open sesame".
Anyway we have to pay as the have us over a barrel !

 

[jagmanx]

Is tesco's motto now "every Lidl helps " ?
In another supermarket the Valentines day flowers were late "Wait Rose".
I will go and lie down now.

 

[Stevie 25]

If the light is flashing for a while van will go into limp mode as it thinks something is wrong then needs diagnostics to reset it so get oil light reset ASAP it happened to me good job I was local when it happened

 

[mistericeman]

All oil comes from the same shop but with different names on it, asda dont drill for oil they buy it in.

It might very well all come from the same shop BUT not all of it is the same quality .

Same with fuels

Straight from the horses mouth (well a good friends mouth with 40 odd years experience working for Shell )

 

[Deneb]

It doesn't all come from a single shop. Some of it comes out of the ground, some of it (the majority for newer vehicles) is synthetically manufactured. It is refined or manufactured to individual producers' specifications, and each blend and add additives to create their desired products, before it even ends up in a shop.

Vehicle manufacturers also produce specifications for the performance of the oil that should be used in their engines.

So whilst I wouldn't necessarily use the specific make and type of oil recommended by the vehicle manufacturer, as that has more to do with commercial advertising and promotional agreements than being the "best" oil, it is important to establish that the oil you intend to use meets or exceeds the specification demanded by the manufacturer of the vehicle you intend to use it in. Individual oils have to be tested to gain specific approvals and for the oil producer to be able to quote the approval on the container.

So buy any old 5W30 oil for instance, and you might have no idea whether it was designed for use in diesel or petrol engines, or both, or whether it meets the specification required for the vehicle you intend to use it in. Plus modern synthetic oils intended for diesel engines are engineered to perform acceptably when diluted by up to 9% fuel, to cater for fuel post injection cycles during DPF regeneration processes. An emission control system compatible diesel oil should still perform at least as well when diluted to that level as a cheap generic off the shelf oil of the same viscocity straight out of the bottle. You can't guarantee the same of the generic oil if it ends up being diluted to a similar level, and cheaper mineral oils may not have the longevity or offer sufficient protection in all circumstances of use in modern engines.