2003 S-type R. Synthetic oil. How often should I change? Garage says 3 months.

 

This will have more to do with mileage than wall-clock time. What's your annual mileage like? Personally I change oil every 5,000 miles. 5W30 semi-synth.

 

Grab JTIS (free here) and it has the servicing schedule
Says 1yr / 10K miles. Jag are engineers so it will be conservative. Reduce if you have specific reasons such as extreme climate (actually, they have another schedule for that) or track use or some such.

 

 

Thanks. I drive around 13K per year.

 

Interesting. I live in Upstate NY, so 4-5 months of snow...if that helps you give me advice on how often to change the synthetic oil (13K per year driving). Many thanks.

 

Also check oil levels monthly. These motors are known to consume some oil

 

If I were you, I'd change it twice a year, or every 7,000.
Aye. My 1999 3.0l uses about a litre every 1,500 miles. I consider that quite acceptable.

 

I think I'd change garages after hearing a recommendation like that. Sounds like the classic upsell that we all hate.

You sharing Norri?

Serious reply for the OP:

Jaguar's factory recommendation for oil change is 10,000 miles or one year whichever comes first, given standard driving conditions. Severe service is half that interval I think.

No one has come up with any evidence that suggests that there's anything wrong with this standard interval. The engines are known to live long and happy lives with it in fact.

Another, perhaps more important point. The factory recommendation is for standard dino oil, not synthetic. Jaguar provided no 'credit' or extensions for synthetic and in fact did not mention it's use at all in earlier manuals. They are certainly not mandatory.

Given that the only real benefit of synthetics is an extended change interval, it seems like waste to use such oil and change it at less or equal frequency than good old dino.

With all that in mind, please use whatever type of oil and change interval that makes YOU happiest.

 

I disagree. I think it shouldn't be expected to lock away and carry engine crud/acids/etc. for longer than mineral oil, particularly in big thirsty engines. For me, the main benefits of the synth are better cold-start protection, better shear stability and less oxidation.

 

Of course I'll share, I'm just watching the snow and wondering if my flight is really on time this afternoon.

Extreme according to that manual thingy is below -22F and above 122F.

 

Hope your flight works out. We're getting some snow here but not the snowmageddon they've predicted

Yes, that's the theory the marketeers promote. If you ask the engines, they apparently couldn't care less.

- Bob is the Oil Guy is the best place to re-beat these horses to death if you're interested. They've been at it as their raison d'etre since 1992 and have yet to conclude anything. My own studies go back to the early 80s with no different results.

 

If you are going to use the 10k interval make sure you use an oil filter that is rated for at least 10k miles. The cheap ones are not. I am doing a 10k interval with synthetic and a mobile 1 filter rated at 15k miles.

 

I use Amsoil 5w30 Signature series synthetic oil and Mobil-1 extended live oil filter for 1y/10 k intervals

 

Mine too! I remember old IL4 Pinto units being completely knackered after 35,000 miles and needing rebuilding or binning. That wouldn't even be considered a decent run-in now. It's not all down to CAD and modern metallurgy, surely??

 

Yes, to a large degree, plus greatly improved oil additives packages, better fuels and additives, the elimination of lead in fuel, better fuel management systems and even the much maligned pollution control systems and regulations have all contributed to incredibly durable engine that last almost forever- in spite of what some owners do to them.

An acquaintance is a field service engineer for GM in the US and was telling the tale of a new Corvette ZR-1 owner who decided to do his own oil change. Not knowing or understanding that it is a dry sump engine and there is virtually no oil in the pan when the engine is stopped, he interpreted the mere dribble that came out as a sign that the engine had completely run out- and added 6 qts. to the crankcase.

The overage clogged the PCV system and supercharger completely. Had he not shut the engine off it is almost certain it would have hydrolocked and destroyed itself.

He then asked not just for warranty, but for an entire new car.

 

That person with the ZR-1 would be referred to on this side of the Atlantic as a Five-Star Ocean-Going Gobshite.

Yeah, there certainly is all that. A lot of new stuff, particularly turbodiesels, is starting mandate full-synth in the service documentation though.

 

There are certainly vehicles, both diesel and petrol that do require use of synthetics for good reason. I wouldn't second guess the OEM and substitute dino on any of those. The requirement most frequently is to do with heat soak-back after hot shutdown and an issue with dino oil coking in oil passages or galleries. Turbo units frequently have this issue.

 

Jag's own filter is a lot cheaper than doing extra oil changes. Using a cheap filter would be unwise IMO.

 

Seems to me you could apply that to any modern DOHC unit with a reasonable high specific power output.