At 3 months and 6000 miles the hydraulic tappets on this deisel were a-tappeting away rather noisily so I changed the oil with Vauxhall fully synthetic (£70)
At 6 months and 12000 miles the oil is black and they are starting to be noisy again.
So what happened to 20000 mile oil changes and what would be a good idea to check or do?
Cheers
Tom
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The oil will go black in the first few miles it's the soot from a diesel, as for the tappets take it back to vx it's under warranty let them fix it.
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The thing is that the evidence is now confirmed that they are quiet when the oil is renewed so there must be significant change in the oil over only 5000 miles?? The garage is bound to put new oil in....and have fixed it for 5000 miles.
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Be careful on the oil you are using. I had my diesel Meriva serviced by Vauxhall main dealer and he used a part synthetic (I think). It was 'only' £23, not £70.
The handbook has several paragraphs on this subject, as as I remember it specifies an oil that ends in the letter B, which I think stands for semi-synthertic long life.
It may be that the fully synthetic is too thin and produces tappet knock?
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The handbook has several paragraphs on this subject as as I remember it specifies an oil that ends in the letter B which I think stands for semi-synthertic long life.
There isn't a semi synth longlife oil.
The semi synth is 10w-40
The fully synth is 5w-30, but there are two types, standard, and long life.
Here is the recommended oil for the Meriva.
www.vauxhall.co.uk/vx/owners/engineoils.do#Meriva
2003 onwards 5W-30 ACEA A3 / B3 - ECO-Service
2004 onwards 5W-30 ACEA A3 / B3 - ECOService GM-LL-A-025, GM-LL-B-025 - ECOService Flex
2006 onwards 5W-30 GM-LL-A-025, GM-LL-B-025 - ECOService
The abrieviations mean:-
GM = General Motors
LL = Long Life
A or B = internal designation (A = Petrol engines, B = Diesel engines)
025 = validity index
Higher validity indices indicate progressively more refined classifications.
Oils with higher validity indices can be used.
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I think Vauxhall need to recommend fully synthetic because of the service intervals needed to keep company car fleet managers happy. If car is yours & you can change the oil yourself, (beyond worrying about the tappets not pumping up correctly), I'd buy Vauxhall's own lovely semi synthetic oil which is really good value & change oil & filter every 6000 miles.
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I know that the main dealer does use only semi synthetic even when they shouldn't -they don't always even have the fully synth in stock.
Is the best answer really that we need to have an oil and filter change service every 6000 miles? I remember that on my Morris Ital decades ago.
Cheers
Tom
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as posted 06 my onwards need fully synthetic oil as per above quoted spec , if you take it to the dealer thats what they should fit you should not need to ask, but i would make sure that the correct oil has been fitted , if its noisey then get the garage to ring the vauxhall tech desk and get a case number raised for it so that if it later causes problems then you can refer back to the case and will have a better chance of a good outcome , please bear in mind that six thousand miles of short journeys will make the oil deteriate much quicker than an engine that gets up to full working temp on a regular basis, Regards TB
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Thanks topbloke. As half the mileage was done on the continent over 10 days, it wasn't from start stop driving.
New oil stops it though, so it seems that fully synthetic doesnt work well, at least on my car, for more than 6000 miles and semi will no doubt do even less well.
The garage doesn't use fully synth and (although they didnt argue the point initially) I cant forsee them ever doing anything other than arguing the point about how much noise a diesel should make with an occasional discount on the oil.
At £70 for 5l is there an alternative that I can justify buying every 6000 miles?
Cheers
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i do hope that the price that you quote "£70" is supply and fit because that is a lot of money
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nope but I think it included the filter
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Am I right that this 1.7 is a development of the Isuzu TD unit that first saw the light of day in the Cav/Astra circa 1993?
That engine had a 4500 mile oil change interval which for busy sales people could mean a service every month or so however Vauxhall changed the interval to 9000 miles to appease the fleets. IIRC this shook out to be interpreted as higher mileage vehicles could stretch to 9000 between oil/filter changes though lower mileage (read mainly private) should still be done at 4500. I had a company Cav a the time though was only doing around 15k p/a so stayed on the 4500 change cycle.
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>>Cav/Astra circa 1993?
Nova, mid 1990.
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I suppose that a good question would be "in reality, just how many cars are OK to have 20k service intervals"?
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At 20000 miles the oil change has not fixed the knocking this time. It is not deisel knock because it is only under load. Basically I now believe that it is bearings and an insider tells me that it isnt good, is common and that Vauxhall know about it but are not admitting it. I dont know how long this particular engine has been around since relevent modifications. That is fairly vital as it would show how much of a problem it is going to become over time for Vauxhall to deny it and the chances of getting Vauxhall to have to accept the reality.
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