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[Nick W]

Changing the oil more frequently will reduce the amount of mayo produced as it will have less time to accumulate.

Personally, I used to change mine every 10k miles, but because of the usage, that meant every 8-12 weeks. Some days were over 250 miles, so it was barely ever cold...

I did mine annually, which tended to be about 9k miles. That left a smear of mayonnaise on the cap. Emptying a 5l can into the engine would be just below the max mark on the dipstick, and it would be just below the 1/2 way mark by the time the next change was due, without a top up in between. Mileage was mostly sub 10 mile commutes, with an 1800 mile holiday trip and occasional single long runs.


Apart from one accidental fill of 5-30, it got whatever 10-40 was in the 200l drum at work. Don't know what brand it was, and don't care - it's never made a noticeable difference in over 30 years of working on cars.


One of the many things I preferred about the Omega than the 525 I had before it was that it was much less fussy on the servicing - the BMW had a variable oil-service indicator that never made it to 5000 miles, or without a top-up, and it always needed new spark plugs at that change too. The only part that was better was that lacking an adjustable front suspension. alignment wasn't an issue although like all strut front ends it still wore out control arms.

[Marks DTM Calib]

I would suggest oil cooler first, before rings/head gasket.

Never

Please explain how the oil cooler gets water in the oil (the oil here is much higher pressure than the water) and the header tank does not look like a Hellmans advert 

Similarly rings........they don't get water into the oil..

This is the common old engine not getting hot issue.

[Enceladus]

Yep. Low miles and engine not fully warmed up. Won't do the back box any good either.

Warm the engine and drain the oil. Clear the crankcase breathers and unblock the breather bridge. Change the oil filter and refill with 10W-40 semi-synthetic. Run for 1000 miles or so. Try and do a longer trip maybe once a week, bit hard at the moment I know. And then change the oil and filter again.

I would advise not to use 5W-30 or any of the fully synthetic oil grades unless the engine has been using this from nearly new. At best your engine is now at least 18 years old, so full synthetic will likely induce awkward to fix leaks. Stick with the 10W-40.

[johnnydog]

I would advise not to use 5W-30 or any of the fully synthetic oil grades unless the engine has been using this from nearly new. At best your engine is now at least 18 years old, so full synthetic will likely induce awkward to fix leaks. Stick with the 10W-40.

I agree with this recommendation about using 5/30 Fully Synthethic oil as good as it is for modern cars, changing the oil to a thinner viscosity on an older car isn't always beneficial.
When I got my 3.2 estate, I decided to treat it to 'the good stuff' although in all its history it had been filled with 10/40 S/S.
After a short space of time it developed the 'warm oil' smell usually associated with minor oil leaks onto hot engine components. I decided to drain it off and filled it with 10/40. Although I never actually saw any visible oil leaks, the 'hot oil' smell disappeared a week or so later and it has been fine ever since.