So, having a friendly discussion in a pub not local to me or frequented very often and the subject of cars came up, specifically FFRR as mine had a attracted a few admiring / envious glances as it was parked right outside the window. I was swamped with the usual "expert" knowledge of how unreliable and flaky they are from people who, by their own admission, neither have or have ever owned one! This was much to my amusement and I simply countered with the standard facts that, with care and maintenance and regular oil changes (as mine is of course a diesel), they are not really any less reliable than any other mechanical contraption out there.

I mentioned that due to my numerous shorter than average journeys that I change the engine oil and filter at least 3 times per year I was met with gaffaws of derision and statements such as;

"changing the oil and filter that often is equally as bad for the engine"

and

"you should be doing at least 12,000 miles between oil changes, that's why they always breakdown"

I don't believe and of that for a moment and had a little chuckle but it did get me thinking about what other peoples opinion on it might be.

Other than the not considerable expense and time taken I personally cannot see a downside to changing the engine oil and filter as many times as you please but what do others think? _______________________________________________

2019 4.4 V8 Diesel Range Rover Autobiography, Byron Blue

Changing oil frequently can't have any downsides, other than to your (short term) financial circumstances and potential used oil disposal considerations. There might also be a potential moment of reduced lubrication upon initial start up post changing the filter, but this is very minor.

They clearly don't know what they are talking about.

Longer term (if you were keeping the vehicle forever), this could potentially save you money should the engine otherwise fail. 2011 Range Rover Vogue SE 4.4 TDv8

As you say down the pub which was full of . overfinch modified

Flippin brummy know alls Geoff

Apart from the cost and increasing the opportunity for f***ups, i.e. missing something, dropping something or the like I can't see any downside especially given the potential oil dilution issues.

If you plan on keeping your car for any length of time it's worth investing in it as with anything. Fuji White / Jet 2012 4.4 TDV8 Westminster

4 times in 18 months and 6000 miles for me and can’t see any down sides. 2012 4.4 TDV8 Vogue Santorini black ivory leather

My view is that there are only advantages (to the health of the engine) that can be gained by changing the oil more frequently. Giving the engine the cleanest, most undiluted oil possible is always a good thing.

I will change my oil every 6 months or 6,000 miles max and I have at times changed it in addition to this schedule such as when I did a trip to Prague last year so did a pre-trip full service and a post trip oil change (just over 2,000 miles of some fairly arduous driving).

I keep meaning to have some oil analysis carried out as I would be interested to see at what rate the oil actually degrades and what the ‘sweet spot’ is for an oil change - in terms of there is a measurable degradation of the oil that would make an oil change deliver a measurable benefit.

One thing for sure is that 16,000 miles or 1 year is too long!

When we had the boat it had twin Detroit diesels, these were two stroke diesels that had a sump with a large quantity of oil, they also had superchargers as the engine couldn't "suck"

It was strongly advised that you didn't change the oil frequently, you should leave it for so many running hours, it was something to do with the soot content and the fact these engine needed soot in the oil, indeed I heard of people who had wrecked their engines by frequent oil changes.

These engine are pre-war in design so maybe this myth about changing oil too much stems from old school engines. I'm far from an expert on this subject...

I don't think harm will come to modern engines though....

I do miss hearing them at WOT at the dizzy heights of 1,800rpm...





 Pete

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2014 L405 Autobiography SDV8 4.4 Loire Blue Ebony interior
2011 L322 Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8 Baltic Blue. Parchment over Navy Interior. Sold
2012 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged Ipanema Sand, Jet Interior. Sold
2002 L322 Vogue 4.4 V8 Epson Green, Ivory over Aspen Interior (Fatty Offroader) Sold
-Click for Project Fatty off roader-

I cant imagine that F1 teams leave oils and fluid in their cars for many races at a time? Im happy to do 1 to 1.5 oil changes per annum as its not my main car and I have different vehicles depending on the job in hand. I cant see any argument for "many oil changes are bed". Unless you are really bad at doing the job or cant count maybe! Current yokes
2012 4.4 TDV8 Westminster
2006 Disco 3
Scoobie GT wagon
Mx5 G Ltd
TT S Line
Pajero JDM Exceed

There is a certain merit in not changing the oil so often as engines age, you would think it would be the other way around but I'm an oldie and we are very obstinate and opinionated.

Carbon buildup within engines fills in all the little cracks, chips, gouges and imperfections that are wear & tear over time, keeping things like rings, bungs, gaskets sealed up nicely, but you don't want it to get out of control and strat clogging stuff like oilways, valves etc..

The theory being that if your flushing engines too often your flushing out the useful deposits as well as the harmful ones.

I'd stick to something sensible, changing oil on fatties more often than 5k is probably not a good idea if you're over 100k miles in my opinion and unless your rebuilding it I wouldn't flush it at all.

Just my tuppence worth. Fuji White / Jet 2012 4.4 TDV8 Westminster

There are no 'good' deposits IMO. Soot which precipitates out of suspension due to extended drain intervals will form sludge and reduce oil flow in crucial cold start situations. Here oil is thickest and needs to circulate as quickly as possible and soot loaded oil is thicker still. The base stock will be fine in normal use even after long use but the reason to change oil is the contaminants esp soot loading. 2012 TDV8 Vogue (L322)

Thanks for all the input, so in my mind I have always thought that as my RR is relatively low mileage, 57K, that regular fresh oil at say 5K intervals or every 6 months, would do no harm and it looks like there is considerable support for this notion. I understand the theory that maybe much higher mileage vehicles may actually benefit from less frequent oil changes due to the potential 'plugging' that soot, sludge, etc may do but I am definitely going to stick to my 2-3 oil changes per year and strongly argue my corner when the subject will inevitably come up again!  _______________________________________________

2019 4.4 V8 Diesel Range Rover Autobiography, Byron Blue

If anything other than oil was in anyway good for your engine don’t you think there would be many companies (inc car manufacturers) selling bottles of black sludge to pour in to your engine along with the oil…..
Anyone here put ‘Slick 50’ in their car  2012 TDV8 Vogue (L322)

A very good point!  _______________________________________________

2019 4.4 V8 Diesel Range Rover Autobiography, Byron Blue

That's one nice looking engine bay.