Oil change intervals

[turnleftwhere?]

I've recently taken possession of a peugeot 306 1.8 16v, its a 2001 model with just 27k on the clock.

The service intervals are a miserly 20k or 2 years for oil changes and filters etc. To me this sounds like a long time to keep a sump of oil. I'm guessing its for the benifit of fleet companies not having to service so often, but is it really doing the engine any good?

Second question, anyone know what the intervals for cambelt changes are? Theres no mention of it in the service book, and after 5 years i know its still on its first belt.

Cheers in advance for any ideas.

[Mr Whippy]

I'd do the oil at 12k and 1yr which was the interval for almost all petrol Pugs until the late 90's when they decided, suddenly, that the same engines could cope with 20k and 1yr for the Gti6, and 2yrs or 20k for some of the other models :rolleys:

Peugeot eh

As per cambelt, 5yrs or 50k as a rule of thumb.

Check www.pug306.net for lots of info on the models.

Dave

[MGBV8]

http://neptune.spacebears.com/cars/st

With quality oils long oil change intervals do not appear to give rise to abnormal wear.
There is some evidence that wear metals go up after an oil change.

[Justin S]

my mate has a garage and has noticed that the manufacturers are shortening the oil changes now,as they ahve been having a few engine wear problems.I would always change my oil once a year minimum.Our Audi tdi is treated to one every 6 months.It only cost me the oil and filter and peace of mind. Cambelts don't always last the specified time also.A peugot belt only takes a couple of hours for a mechanic to do.Mate does one in 40 mins,although he does the water pump too,if it runs on the belt.He has seen a puma recently,always serviced by Fords,with 100k for a cambelt,with 50k on the speedo needing a new engine after the cambelt went,also time is an issue as well as mileage.

[renegade07]

I think there is nothing wrong with regular oil changes, especially with high performance cars. Oil is an engines blood source so to speak! Keeps eveything running sweet. Keeping oil in too long could be bad. Over time the oil molecules break up, and arent as efficient at doing their job. Regular changes of oil (eg 3k or 6k) means the oil is fairly stable. I would say regular oil and filter changes every 6k miles are the way to go, with decent quality oil to!
I have mate who used to own a Subaru Impreza P1, and he religously changed oil at 3k miles for peace of mind. Also helped he was a mechanic, and could get oil and filter cheap!