Oil / Oil Filter

[julian924s]

Hi - I'm a new CDTi SRi 150 owner and I want to change the oil / oil filter - never had a diesel or Vauxhall before and got a couple of questions. The car's an 08' plate with 12.5k on the clock. Oil level is good but it's jet black in colour.

1) is this an easy enough DIY job, always done this on my other cars.
2) is it best to stick to the recommended Vauxhall oil, I don't mean viscosity, but actual Vauxhall brand oil.

Thanks - J.

[Graham]

Yes easy job to do. Remove engine guard from beneath car 6 screws, remove drain plug with a container below. Then when emptied remove filter, and replace with new one.

Most people on this forum use the vx oil 5/30 fully syn as its no too pricey for cdti.

[dv8]

i got friendly with the local VX, as i had the car serviced by them (only for 1st 3 years), they agreed if they supplied filter and labour, i can supply the VX oil, as they admits its very pricey. worth asking. would rec GM 5/30.

[julian924s]

Thanks, just rang my local VX dealer and 5ltr's of fully synth oil was £56 and £10 for the filter. Now the car's 7 months old but has done 12.5k so I'm wondering whether it would be better to book it in and get it's 1st service early or do it now myself now and then when it's serviced in another 5 months time it would be changed by them as well ... ?

[dv8]

I do mine mate every 10k or 12 months (which ever is 1st), and depending on the driving on the past i often just have a n oil and filter every 6 months or so, have been doing this for years on all my old cars and vans.
There are loads of discussion threads on this, its down to cost and choice.
if your gonna keep the car, then service it well, if its a stop gap for a few years, save yourself some money.
good luck

[julian924s]

Thanks, well it's a keeper alright so I'll dip into my pocket and give it an oil change asap.

J.

[Graham]

Yes i would change it now, you cant change the oil enough in my opinion. Every 6 months for me, or 5000 miles what ever comes sooner.

[solorider]

i would recommend you have your car serviced at a vauxhall dealership for the first 3 years,that way if anything goes wrong or any rework it will get done when it needs to be done rather than a few years later,also if there is a faliure when the car is just out of warranty you will have a better chance of getting the car fixed.if you service the car your self you will have little or no chance to have any warranty work done especialy if the car is just out of warranty

[bygumlad]

You can do it yourself like I did but suggest you get yourself a spare sump plug first as mine was mega tight which appears not uncommon, When trying to undo mine, it was starting to shear the hexagon and not unscrew so ended up chiselling mine off and it was a mess, see this thread. Car needs to be on ramps so you can lower the under engine flap enough to allow you to get a bowl underneath to catch the oil. Plug doesn't have to be totally removed to drain, just loosened a couple of turns as its got drain holes in the plug itself. You'll also need a 32mm socket to remove the oil filter which is right behind the engine low down, access either from top or bottom and is not the easiest filter I've ever changed. http://www.vectra-c.com/forum/showthread.php?t=62775
mine is a cdti 120, same bottom end as cdti 150
Happy christmas! Bygumlad

[julian924s]

Thanks all again, spoke to my local VX dealer and am going to do the oil / filter myself this weekend and then take it in for it's 1st service at a year old in April next year as well. For the sake of £60 odd I think it's worth doing now.

J.