My car had a new turbo in March, complete with new oil and oil filter. I don’t use it every day so it hasn’t done many miles since then, BUT the miles it has done have been towing my caravan.

I’m planning a road trip to Northumberland/Innerleithen/Wales at the beginning of October and wondering if I should get the oil changed before I go?

It’s a 3 litre turbo IC diesel 4×4.

Thank you!

I wouldnt.

If it was changed a few months and not many miles ago I wouldn’t either.

Hell no.

Six months and “not many” miles.

It’s not due for at least another six Months (depending on the car)

It will really depend on how many miles you’ve done. More that 3,000 and I’d change it.

If in doubt change it – and the filter.

Hth
Marko

Great, thanks – I can always rely on the STW hive mind! It’s a road trip to do cycling by the way, so I thought it would be ok to ask on here lol. I’m dying to ride at Innerleithen, rode there years and years ago before the trails were made. I hope it doesn’t rain.

How many are not many miles?
Look at the oil on the dipstick? Is it nice and clear, or is it black? If its the latter change it, if its nice and clear with only a hint of discolouration leave it.

Blimey, if I changed the oil in my cars once it turned black, I’d be changing it every hundred miles.

Look at the oil on the dipstick? Is it nice and clear, or is it black? If its the latter change it

Unless a car is brand new, Oil goes black after a few days !

If people are changing their oil once it goes black then I’m setting up a Mobile Oil Change Service so that people can get home from the shops safely !

It’s a diesel, their oil goes black very soon after a change

*is vacillating again*

If I ask the garage they will obviously say to change it.

*gripped by indecision*

*starts shaking like Lemmings did before they blew up*

Don’t bother getting it changed. I can’t see any reason to do so unless it has done significant miles since the last change (or it’s been years).

Why was the Turbo replaced?

If it was due to bearing failure I’d change the oil after a maximum of 3,000 miles. Also check the guarantee on your replacement turbo. It may demand you replace the oil after a certain number of miles.

If in doubt change it . . . 🙄

When I bought it the seller said it had a “new” turbo. It pulled ok at speed on motorways but, thinking back, was never very enthusiastic when towing. It worsened steadily. I was getting wastegate chatter and no boost – the car was gutless up hills and would go into limp mode on even the slightest incline. I’d never owned a car with a turbo before so didn’t have anything to measure it against.

When I took it to the third (because the first two thought it was the air flow meter – which I replaced) garage they said the turbo was reconditioned – rather then new as claimed by the seller – and that apparently you can’t successfully recondition Garrett turbos. (A friend had also previously noticed that the turbo had been painted).

It goes like a rocket with the new turbo. This is the back story to wondering about changing the oil pre-trip. If it is a turbo-eating car, maybe I would be best to bite the bullet and put new oil in.

Depends how old the vehicle is and how many miles are not many miles. I changed my oil [granted a car] every 4000 due to its age. New car and higher grade oils I’ll change every 10k although book says 20k but that’s just crazy in my eyes. Doesn’t cost much for an oil change but engines cost a fortune.

With that history id be changing it

Garrett turbos cant be recon ? So why do they sell redress kits ? According to loads of folk who have done the T25 rebuild from 200tdi all you need to do is ge tthe turbo bearing assembly balanced midway through rebuild and its good to go.

Its correct that since 2004 Garret VNT Turbos can’t be “officially” reconditioned.

There are no Genuine spare parts available for them, and they will not issue calibration details.

So although there are plenty of people claiming to recondition them “fully” they will be using non genuine parts, and pretty much guessing at the calibration.

I was getting wastegate chatter

Anyone else just get mildly aroused?

Fair enough, learn something new every day . My t2 equipped engine is going to the scrappys anyway – no replacement for displacement , double the power and a good chunk lighter 🙂

It’s a 2001 car. I do roughly an average of 500 miles per month.

To make things more interesting, the 3 litre engines from 2000/2001 have a reputation for blowing up. They are prone to overheating between pistons 3 and 4. Crack the head. Apparently the oil galleries weren’t designed big enough and also the EGR system overheats the engine. Apparently – this is all stuff learned from an Australian owners’ group.

I’m inclined to believe as Nissan, quietly acknowledging the fault, produce a “spare part” for this, to whit, a new engine block for when the old one lets go. Nissan also make a new dipstick for it (which is simply shorter than the old one so you can put more oil in). When I bought the car I knew this but couldn’t afford the 2002 onwards model. It had the old, longer, dipstick – now has the new, shorter, dipstick which is now shown on Nissan’s parts list as the correct one.

The engines which blow up seem to do so in Australia, in sand driving, so are obviously going to get hotter. Their fix is to do away with the EGR, and fit a fan under the bonnet to aid cooling to the rear of the engine.

Blow it – I’m going to get the oil changed! 😆

DIY, it’s piss easy…

Im NO expert but if I was in your situation Id take the car for a good run on once or twice a month before going away and measure oil usage. Dont drive regular short journeys and dont turn the ignition off straight away when stopping. Let it idle.

Ive never towed but Id warm the car up fully before hitching up the caravan.

I.e mechanical sympathy

tbh I don’t think it’s a bad idea to change the oil 3k after a turbo change.

Diesels will blacken their oil very fast.

Just make sure you use the correct oil – both weight and type (ie mineral, semi or fully synthetic).

Hora – im with you dude – i have noticed that alot folk jst rock up and switch off turbo engines these days

My dad drove turbo’d jcbs when i was young ( my names luke im 5 and my dads bruce lee ;))

It was drummed into me from an early age – start the motor pootle it about the site get it warmed up before starting work – never start up in the morning an rock on . And at the end of te day give it 5 or 10 minutes idling to get a few cycles of fresh cooler oil through the turbo before shutting down.

Dunno if modern turbo diesels are the same But i certainly adopted it on my 80 landy

I hope it doesn’t rain stops raining. That’s about the situation I’m afraid.

Modern Common rail? Diesels dont I think?

what car is it?

I went into a Nissan dealer and asked them about letting the engine idle after working it hard (ie, should I fit a turbo timer). After the usual sniggering and sneering at a woman asking mechanical questions they said that was just for sporty engines.

Nevertheless, if I do tow a long way/uphills/in heat I let the engine run on for a bit. I don’t bother if I’ve just popped out to Tesco. I’ll try to remember to do it always from now on.

I always warm it up before towing – more for the gearbox oil really but also to get the oil round the engine too. It never uses any oil or water between changes. I take it for a good old blare up the A10 every now and then (I think it likes that!)

Nissan Patrol GR 3 litre turbo ic diesel 2001 5 speed manual (ZD30 engine).

…that was just for sporty engines.

O Dear. No wonder the motor trade get such a bad press.

Always let any turbocharged vehicle idle for a few minutes after a long run or when the engine has been working hard. The flow of oil through the bearing helps cool it.

Hth
Marko

Bad press? It gets better, when I went in to collect an air filter (Nissan dealership in St Albans) they were most condescending – they said I was “lucky to get the filter … because it’s an old car”. Sorry, but 11 years old is NOT an old car.

Anyway, I got my own back. I asked them which way up it should be fitted (it’s not obvious, no markings on the air box, no wear or detents or anything, just slightly thicker rubber ring at one end than t’other).

So, the two salesmen got all butch and swaggery, took it out of the box (imagining no doubt that it would be obvious). Oh how their faces fell when they realised they didn’t know!

I stood there, patient, waiting… One said he would go and ask the “techs” – he came back holding it on its side – he said it went in like that (sideways).

I’m sorry to say, in retaliation for all the times I’ve been talked down to, sneered at, ignored and generally patronised in various garages over the years, I shook my head, said they were wrong and laughed right in their faces.

I walked outside, popped the bonnet, undid the clamps on the airbox, fitted the filter, clipped the airbox lid back down, shut the bonnet, got in the car, waved and drove off.

Why oh why do men in the motor trade behave in this way?

Thing is, the worst you can do by changing it is waste some money/destroy the environment. Personally I wouldn’t change it, wouldn’t even consider it tbh but it’s not that much to spend if it brings you peace of mind.

OTOH, the car may smell your fear. My car knows not to **** with me, due to the cautionary tale of the last car, but if I show it even a hint of weakness it’d probably spit its clutch or something. It’s currently overdue an oilchange in fact, just to show it who wears the trousers.

LOL at Northwind – you’re right, the car definitely has the upper hand! I am just its hapless human slave …

Google and read The Engine Oil Bible for all you need to know about engine oil.

I presume the oil is semi syntheic? 5-40w or the like?

i used to swop out every 6k miles or so, which was about half the recommended distance, total driving distance was over 300k miles and would have been further except for tinworm and a mental driver.

never bothered my arse with pre and post warming with engines of that era, agricultural and very forgiving.

i’m on a fully syntheic and common rail now so swop out every 10k, still more often than recommended and don’t bother my arse with pre and post warming either, only up to 110k atm though.

If it were mine I’d change the oil making sure it had the correct grade for the engine. the “recon turbo’ didn’t work out too well I’d be making sure I knew exactly what my engine was running on after that.

Turbos kill the oil pretty quickly. I reckon with a brand new one I’d be thinking about changing it at 3k. Depends on the oil too. A good fully synthetic will last a lot longer than some cheap crap.

Strain the oil through some fine denier ladies tights, boil for 1 hour adding a 1kg bag of fine granulated sugar and stirring thoroughly, then cool instantly using a contraption and some liquid nitrogen, store in a cool dry place out of sunlight.
After 12 hours if you can still taste the sugar repeat once again.

Blimey – I upped my service intervals from 10k miles recommended to 15k miles due to the high miles I was doing (32k miles/yr, now down to about 20k miles/yr). Admittedly, it sits on the A1/A14 not really doing a lot as it’s a big engine in a little car so quite unstressed, I imagine.
It’s a 1.9 TDi & gets new oil every 15k miles and very rarely gets left to idle once I arrive somewhere….

It reached 196k miles today. I wonder if I should be a bit more considerate to it!
In my defence, it does get nicely warmed up before being ‘given the beans’ and I always get stuff done when it needs doing rather than hanging on.

The right oil. There’s another fun excursion into the world of motoring. As soon as I got the car (March last year) I had all oils changed and all filters.

I wanted a fully synthetic and Opie Oils’ database agreed and suggested Fuchs Titan 5W-40 fully syn.

The Owner’s Handbook reckons 20W-40 or 20W-50 for “hot and warm areas” but does not specify whether that should be mineral, semi or full synthetic – but it was printed in 2000 and I don’t think synthetics have been in use that long? Also Nissan update their recommendations periodically (as new products emerge I guess).

The garage which fitted the turbo, and to whom I stated, in these words “It’s got fully synthetic in it now, and I would like you to put fully synthetic back in it please. I don’t mind if it costs more, I want to protect the engine” – put in something called XFE 10-40 semi, and when I reminded them I had asked for fully syn, got a bit shirty and reprimanded me with “It’s what it says in the book”.

So, what oil for a Nissan Patrol?

Remember the most important thing to do with any turbo charged engine is to let the engine idle for a few minutes before you turn off the ignition. This will allow the bearings in the turbo to cool especially important if the vehicle is towing something. Turbo’s get incredibly hot because they are powered from the exhaust gases from the engine and they spin at several thousand rpm, if you turn off the engine the oil supply is stopped, the oil in the turbo carborises and this leads to damaged bearings and ultimately failure. X Trails very prone to turbo failure because of this. New oil in a diesel engine will blacken after a few miles, don’t worry about that. I would change oil every year or 8 to 10k which ever comes first.