Am curious if anyone has been using a longer oil change interval (OCI) for their X300 than the typical 3000 miles for oil/filter changes and has long term experience with the results?

Normally I'm not one to try to save just a few bucks to stretch OCI, and in many cases a normal 3000 mile interval means 3-6 months before an oil change for most owners so cost shouldn't really be a factor. But in my case a 3000 mile interval means I need an oil change just about every month as I drive 2000-3000 miles monthly. As you can imagine that can get expensive.

Practically all of that mileage is highway mileage, literally over 90% so I wondered if a 5, 7 or even 10k mile OCI might be reasonable in this application. The issue of course is not just oil stability but also filter performance. And I use the Jaguar filter.

So any experience or thoughts on a longer OCI for the AJ16?



P.S. Not looking to start an "oil thread" or "filter" debate




.

 

Good luck with that.

What is the factory recommended interval?

 

I used my XJR primarily on the highway, about 65 miles/day. I changed oil and filter every 5000 miles. Nothing bad happened.


Cheers
DD

 

The only real way to know that isn't just opinion and hearsay is to have an oil analysis done. It's not too expensive, and then you'll know what an appropriate interval is for your car under your driving conditions.
What is Oil Analysis

 

I go 5 to 7k between changes, use synthetic only and I only use the NAPA gold larger oil filter. Been doing that for 6 years now and 40k miles, no problems so far. Put 199k on our old Explorer that way before we sold it, still going strong some 3 years later so I'm told.

 

Sure you can stretch oil changes out quite a bit, if you make sure you test and top off as needed. Good quality oil and filters are a must. Years back I owned a 96 X300 XJ6. Purchased in Houston with 106k miles and immediately drove it home to Albuquerque. Upon arrival at home I changed engine oil and filter, oil used was Mobil 1 10W40 with Hastings filter. At 3000 miles, mostly interstate highyway, I had oil analysis performed, was like new. Analysis again at 5000, oil slightly dirty but no breakdown, so I swapped the filter topped off oil level and drove another 5000 miles. Went ahead a drained oil at 10000, replaced oil and filter, this time with Mobil 1 High Mileage 10W30. Had analysis performed on the 10000 mile drained oil, virtually no breakdown. I continued a 5000 mile filter, 10000 mile oil and filter service regiment until I sold car with 260k miles on it, no problems. Car is still on road today being driven by friends, last we talked the odometer was at 340k. Note- I also used the 5000-10000 mile service schedule on the 91 XJS V12 I owned with no engine problems. Used this oil service schedule for a 98 Bimmer 528i which finally gave up a head gasket when wife drove 70 miles after water pump quit. Oil quality has improved vastly over the last few decades, and replacement intervals have increased substantially, my 2011 XFR manual has oil change interval of 15000 miles!

 

I go between 5,000 and 7,500 miles between oil changes using oils with a higher total base number. So usually a synthetic or HDEO (Rotella, for example). For me that's 2 changes per year, usually spring and fall. No issues.


Edit: and most of my miles are highway miles.

 

I'd doing about 10,000 km (6000 miles) between changes
My mechanic puts in Castrol Edge to the XJR
it doesnt get very dirty after 10000km

There is a lot of oil in an AJ16 - about 7 litres.
My Aussie 4 litre Falcon only holds about 4 - 4.5 litres, so that oil is working twice as hard as in the Jag

 

Thanks for all the feedback, very encouraging.

.

 

When you had the analysis done was nitration one of the tests performed? It often isn't, yet it's an important quality to know in used oil.

 

I don't recall. Was 7+ years ago, many pints and naps since then. I'm going to have oil analysis done on my 97 xjr6 later and will check.

 

I also suggest using an ACEA A3/B3 rated oil be used for extended OCI. I switched to the High Mileage version of Mobil 1 10w-30 because it carries the A3 rating and is fairly easy to come by in USA.

 

I find the economics of the oil change debate quite persuasive:
Jaguar recommend an oil change every 10000 miles, so if you drove the car out of the showroom and ran it "by the book", you would have changed the oil and filter 15 times in 150000 miles. Using Halfords prices for a Castrol semi synthetic oil, I estimate that an oil and filter change would cost around £80, assuming you did it yourself, and didnt have to pay to dispose of the oil. (Clearly, it is possible to use more expensive oil than this, but at £60 for 8 litres this seems fairly middle of the road.)
The cost of oil and filter changes for 150000 miles by the book is therefore £1200.
For those of you changing the oil and filter every 3000 miles, the cost would be £4000, and for those of you changing every 5000 miles, the cost would be £2400.
Whilst I would accept that the engines with the most frequent oil changes will, all other things being equal, have less wear, I would have to doubt whether the benefit of the reduced wear could equate to the extra cost of achieving it.
The fact is that these engines are extremely robust, and were designed to use modern lubricants which are themselves designed to last for much higher mileages. Stick to the manufacturer recommended service intervals, use a decent quality oil and filter when you do change, and pocket the savings. Chances are you will never wear your engine out, but if you do, you will have many hundreds if not thousands saved towards the cost of repair or replacement.

 

That's expensive oil! That's about double what I pay for Shell Rotella full synthetic.

 

If 10K miles is the factory recommended interval, and given that it would be based on the use of conventional oil, then using synthetic or semi-synthetic is needlessly driving the oil change costs upwards.

 

Agree completely, hence my question as it is costing me a fortune (relatively speaking) to maintain the 3k mile OCI.

And well, now that you mention it, I just went and double-checked the X300 maintenance schedule and the recommended OCI is indeed 16,000 km or 10,000 miles

So, that would have one believe that an OCI of 5, 7.5 or 10k miles is indeed OK versus the 3k mile OCI I've had stickered to my windshield reminder tag from the dealership



That would also then lead me to believe the Jaguar EBC9658 oil filter is therefore good for the full 16k km or 10k miles OCI??






...another case for checking the manual I guess


.

 

Those recommendations are "normal service" which is really best case. If you are doing short trips, cold weather, dusty conditions, extended idling etc, then the change interval should be shortened.

There is an interesting trend now where maintenance is included for the first few years, so the intervals are getting longer. It's basically designed to get the car through the first lease period, while keeping costs down. If you wanted to keep the car long term then changes should be more frequent to ensure a long engine life.

 

Exactly why I'm doing my XFR at 10,000 interval instead of the 15,000 per manual, and of course using Rest of World recommended grade instead of the US EPA dictated fuel mileage driven grades.

 

Yep, that's very true.

I'd consider mine definitely "normal service" given my typical driving situation, probably ideal.

So I think my approach will be to get some quality oil designed for longer OCI and have it Blackstone tested at 3, 5, 7.5 and if still testing well, 10k mile intervals. If 10k still tests well, ideally I'd probably feel best about going to 7.5k miles as that is 3-4 months for me.

Again, just wondering if the Jaguar filter is up to that interval, although it should be if 10k miles is the factory recommended OCI. I have one out in the garage and may cut it open to see how it is built.

.

 

The presumption that many of us fall under severe service and need to shorten the interval might be incorrect. AFAIK, Jag has never published a definition unlike other OEMs. As Jag was owned by Ford during the era these cars were built, it might make sense to use their definition.

If this logic is acceptable, virtually none of us would qualify as being severe service.

Regarding the filter, yes they're good for the same interval as the oil.