RustY© wrote:
wording to your own.

<quote> For deisel engines this is often the lowest spec and therefore
the cheapest oil.

lowest spec interpreted as crap by me.

I remain adamant that in fact turbo diesels use high spec oil.

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
Tell us your experiences - always interesting where there is consistency

"DCA" <dca860MAPS (AT) yahooMAPS (DOT) co.uk> wrote

You may be adamant but some do and some don't. I run a Ford turbo diesel
that requires oil to meet ACEA-A3-96 and ACEA-B3-96 or API SH/CD. This is
about the basic spec in the UK now and most supermarket own brands meet
this. What does your handbook ask for ?

In article <wJLOh.18517$5c2.12750 (AT) newsfe3-win (DOT) ntli.net>,
DCA <dca860MAPS (AT) yahooMAPS (DOT) co.uk> wrote:
Too many really to list here without boring everyone, but I've *never* had
a totally satisfactory experience at service time etc at a main dealer
over many years and several cars. I'm now sticking with my E39 well after
I'd normally change and am using an independant who is much much better.

I'll give you just one example, though. I put the car in for an oil
service and for a leak from the power steering to be fixed. Since I wasn't
sure about where the leak was from initially, I'd checked the engine oil
level. Which was near enough on minimum. I didn't top it up but booked it
in for the oil service and leak. On collecting the car, they'd charged for
removing and replacing a steering hose. The car had been valeted as usual.
But before driving off I opened the bonnet to check on the leak - only to
discover they'd not cleaned the engine undertray - or the engine itself
where the fluid had leaked on it. Nor had either of the steering hoses
been removed from the reservoir - they have crimps, and neither was new.
Idly, I also dipped the engine oil to find it still on minimum...

Went back in and talked to the supervisor. He was immediately defensive
saying that cleaning the engine etc wasn't asked for. He then said it was
impossible for the engine oil level to be wrong as they use a dispenser
that measures the exact amount needed for each model. On querying the fact
that the hose hadn't been removed as stated on the invoice he said it was
probably not one of the ones showing - despite that being where the leak
was coming from.

My conclusion was they hadn't actually touched the car apart from valeting
it...

They topped up the oil and cleaned the front of the engine while I waited.
But no apology. The service manager also implied I didn't know how to
check oil level properly. So of course I got him to show me how. Not that
the level on the dipstick went up.;-) And for a man so superior on oil
checking methods I was surprised he didn't take something to clean the
dipstick with him. But I kindly gave him a wipe from the box in the boot.

The leak was still there, so on my next clear day I removed the crimp,
trimmed the hose end and fitted a worm drive clip. That cured it. I also
changed the oil and filter - I run the car till the service indicator says
a change is needed and I wasn't going to risk that figure being doubled.

If you were getting some sort of bargain basement prices at a dealer some
inefficiency might be expected. But mine charges some 120 gbp per hour
plus top dollar for things like oil - over 12 gbp per litre. It's a lot
extra to pay for a cup of coffee in a posh waiting room...

--
*Laugh alone and the world thinks you're an idiot.

Dave Plowman dave (AT) davenoise (DOT) co.uk London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

RustY© wrote:
Min spec ACEA A3 spec (no number after it)
Doesn't mean anything to me - but it is bloody expensive

RustY© wrote:
ACEA B3 perhaps?

This is not low quality - B1 is low, B2 is medium and B3 is high
performance.

On Thu, 29 Mar 2007 13:16:04 GMT, "RustY©" <No.Mail (AT) All (DOT) Thanks> wrote:

Well you do run a FORD (fix or repair daily)


Sir Hugh of Bognor

The difference between men and boys is the price of their toys.

Intelligence is not knowing the answer but knowing where and how to find it!

Hugh Gundersen
hsg (AT) h-gee (DOT) co.uk
Bognor Regis, W.Sussex, England, UK

On Fri, 30 Mar 2007 19:06:13 +0000 (UTC), richard (AT) news (DOT) vrx.net (Richard Sexton)
wrote:


I have said this previously. I used to design and fit turbochargers to new
vehicles for Toyota in the early 1980s. this was a development stage in turbo
charging as you probably know and lots of knowledge have been learned and passed
on by persons like myself, Alan Allard, Turbo Technics et al.

One of the first things we decided not to compromise on was OIL. Mobil 1 was
just coming on to the market and was hard to get so we (Turbo Engineering) and
Alan (Allard turbochargers) decided to investigate the use of semi-synthetic
oils.

I went with Huntingdon Chemicals semi-synthetic and Toyota honored the warranty
through the dealers (they had to be retro fitted to avoid type approval
testing). We never experienced bearing wipe-out due to heat but were very
conscious of informing owners in no uncertain terms that the warranty would be
voided if it was found that the oil had burned onto the semi-floating bearing as
this would indicate a red-hot switch off after a fast run.

We used to say that it was wise to drive calmer for the last 5 miles home and to
leave the engine ticking over whilst you emptied the passengers and shopping
etc. to avoid burning the oil onto the bearings.

Developments in bearing cooling led to water cooled bearings that cured this
problem but not all manufacturers offered this so we designed a heat exchanger
system that is very similar to that used by some vehicle makers today.

One other problem we came across was that some people would OVERFILL the sump
and the oil level would cover the turbo bearing drain thus the oil could not
drain back into the sump and this will wipe a bearing instantly.

It is very easy to tell how a bearing assy was destroyed so nobody got away with
lying and all but one bearing failure was through stupidness and not doing what
was told.

The real bearing failure? - The bearing assembly was not machined correctly and
the circlip locating the semi-floating bearing was too tight and as the bearing
housing expanded the bearing stopped rotating. !00% free replacement + labour
costs from IHI.

Remember instructions are there to be followed - Use crap oil at your own risk
or be sensible with it. Remember you can by an awful lot of chap oil for the
price of a turbo explosion - probably a new car as well.........


Sir Hugh of Bognor

The difference between men and boys is the price of their toys.

Intelligence is not knowing the answer but knowing where and how to find it!

Hugh Gundersen
hsg (AT) h-gee (DOT) co.uk
Bognor Regis, W.Sussex, England, UK