Unfortunately, I have had my car serviced at the dealership for over 10 years.

I have just learned my oil has always been changed with an unsynthetic, a blend. Oil change is $108.00. I was always under the impression it had to be synthetic.

Also, about 4 years ago, the dealership told me, despite what the manual says, I should not use Premium grade gas, that it is their experience mid-grade is better for my car.

So I did what they told me.

Can anyone please advise?

kittyanne

2001 XKR
52k miles

 

I cannot comment on the oil other than to say that I do not use a synthetic. As for the gas, I use premium, however, you can use any grade you want. The difference is in the anti-knock additives. Since our engines have knock sensors that will adjust the timing if pre-detonation (knocking) occurs, no damage will be done to the engine. However, your performance will suffer when using lower grade fuel because of the timing adjustments made by the knock sensors.

Mark

 

KA;

Unless you are a very speedy kitty or even fast tom cat it is unlikely anyone would notice performance issues except under extreme use on the basis of premium vs regular fuel.

As for oil, modern oils are so good these days that if you were changing regularly, ie under 15,000 miles per change, and annually it will be fine.

It is a bit surprising that a dealer would sanction that since warranty claims can be invalidated for not using the proper fluids....this would only be an issue in a major component failure.....which come to think on it might apply to the famous timing chain tensioner failures of pre 2003 XK's....you will be fine on the engine itself though and if you are changing the oil regularly it will not effect the tensioners which is a flawed design problem on the 4.0 engine, plastic parts, rather than an oil/synthetic quality problem.

cheers,

jj

 

It may be different in the US, but in the UK Jaguar dealerships don't use fully synthetic oil. They use a quality grade mineral oil conforming to the industry standard specifications given in the Vehicle Care Manual.

If your car has been regularly serviced at a Jaguar dealership on a mileage or time frequency (10K miles or 12 months - whichever comes sooner), there will be no issues with the oil used.

Graham

 

I don't understand why you wouldn't just use the full synthetic oils for longevity and superior lubrication. They only cost a little more than high quality dino oil or blends, and they really do keep the engine and parts more protected. You don't have to spend $8-9/qt for the top stuff, but a premium filter and oil always pays off...especially in a Jag. Lots of places will do a change for a lot less than $108, though. If they are charging $10 for the filter, that comes to $12.25/qt. for the oil (unless they are also charging for the R$R of it). Even Amsoil isn't that expensive.

I do my own, but for those who don't I'd say changing twice as often at half the price is far better.

 

I have two Jags. A 95 XJ6 and a 2000 XK8. In the 95 I use Castrol oil and always have with no problems at 115K on the clock. On the XK8 since it had be using Mobile1 oil when I got it I continue using it. As far as gas is concerned I have always used regular gas in both cars. The energy is the same. The only difference is the octane which is the burning rate. I drive the cars in a conservative manner and never under high power. Driving fast in my area would result in rearranging the front end with deer antlers for a hood ornament. The engine adjusts for the octane and unless you want maximum power a lower octane will work just fine. The mileage will be the same since the energy in the gas is the same.

I know this is going to cause a lot of comment.

 

A couple of things come to mind here:

One, $108 includes labor which, at recent levels, hovers around the $100/hr mark. For that you get someone that has a bit more on the ball than your typical 'it was here or McDonald's' quickie lube oil changer.

Absolutely nothing wrong with blends. One of the best and most economical on the market is the oil sold by most Ford dealers - Motorcraft (which is Havoline, made by Texaco.) Obviously it meets the specs and is typically the same price or less than name brand conventional oils. Certainly nothing wrong with using full synthetics but there's no real benefit to using them either. Oil still gets dirty and leaving it in your engine for extended periods of time and miles is counterproductive to why most people purportedly use it in the first place. If one were racing or driving interstate speeds eight to ten hours/day then it would be cost effective. For the average Joe/Jane, not so much.

Secondly, dropping one or two grades of gasoline is not going to be any 'better' for your engine. Cheaper, maybe. Doubtful, probably. It's kinda funny, spend more for oil you don't need and cheap out on gas you might. These days there is so much alcohol in the fuel that detonation isn't really much of an issue. Add in EGR systems and knock sensors and it's pretty unlikely you'll have any detonation unless you're buying your fuel in Mexico. However, relying on knock sensors to counter knocking from using cheap fuel is ridiculous. On one hand you'll save a few pennies per gallon, on the other hand you'll lower your mpg due to retarded timing - how silly is that? Then there's the added carbon build-up that normally accompanies reduced efficiency from retarded timing.

Just my opinions... ;-)

 

Changing the oil with a quality big name oil and a quality filter is very important. (A standard orange Fram filter is not a quality oil filter.) As long as the oil meets required standards, synthetics are not really required. I have seen some synthetic hybrid oils that were very reasonably priced. I hate to say it, but I buy what's on sale.

As far as gasoline, my local 87 and 89 grades are 90/10. Our 93 octane is 100% gasoline. I'm using the 93 octane, as I don't drive my car every day--or even every week. The 90/10 gas breaks down quickly if not promptly used, and the acids produced eat up anything rubber in the fuel system. I just don't want that to happen. Jags have enough demons without rubber clogging up the fuel system.

If your car has 52,000 miles, you're another seldom drive'em Jag owner. I would suggest using 93 octane, and just watching the fluid levels in your car closely. I'm not big on changing oil every 3 months if the car's garaged. I religiously change my oil every 5K miles no matter how long it's been. I'm just thankful Jags don't take 15 quarts and a $15 oil filter (like the diesel pickup truck I seldom drive.)

Note: My recently departed son in law was a ASE Master Mechanic, specializing in Chevy's. He once disassembled a port injected Corvette motor that had been running with full synthetic oil. He said @ 25K miles, the bearings and engine internals looked like they had zero miles. He was impressed with the stuff. If there is any place that leaks slightly, synthetic oil will find it and make it much worse. There is a dollar trade off, however.

 

Sorry for your loss BM.

+1 on your son in law's observations.

I was converted to synthetics years ago when I read an article, Car and Driver?, where guys in SCCA racing said that before synthetics they had to rebuild engines every two or three races and that on synthetics, Mobil 1, they could go an entire season on one engine, no rebuild.

They said the same thing as your Son in Law no detectable wear the engines looked brand new.

That has to be worth the higher cost of synthetics alone.

cheers,

jj

 

I have only used synthetic oils, from my understanding Jaguar only recommends fully synth.... Just done an oil change and used Texaco Helix 5-30, Jaguar at the moment are using Castrol Magnatec 5-30, that seems to be there latest flavour of the month before it was Havoline as Beav has said.

Synthetic oils really keep the engine clean, I will probably always use them

 

Thank you all for your help. Not sure if I understand everything.

Cannot wait to get to see Bob at British Auto.

kittyanne

 

Good call Kitty.....please keep us up to speed and drop back here often