Dear car gurus here, i have some issues that bother me in this country, as regard to how we Nigerianize everythin as if we are different from other countries. For instance: Almost Every car manual would stipulate btw 3000km and 10000km as a guide to know when your engine oil is due for change. But in nigeria every mechanic would want u 2 change your conventional engine oil atleast, every two months, even if u did not drive up to 1000km. I asked why, many said because of d weather and hold ups on our roads. Are there no occasional traffic jam in Japan? USA and other countries that manufacture these cars?
Yes weather condition is a factor, but that would be extreme weather of summer or winter.
Again, our weather is neither hot nor cool. As far as i can remember, i'v not seen snow in Nigeria. Apart from some part of d north that are very hot, places like lagos and PH, we have average weather that maybe cool in d morning, hot in d aftanoon vise versa. Now that cars are being manufactured in Nigeria, D question is, are they going 2 reduce the mileage, say 1500km to 5000km based on imaginary percieved hold ups or would d manual be d same as the mother countries? Do date have anything to do with oil change rather than usage? I went into an arguement with a mechanic who told me 2 change my car engine oil that are yet to drive up to 980km when i told him that is been 4 months since i change oil, because i only drive d car on sundays. Someone should pls educate me more on this

This is my opinion and once based on my oqn personal experiences.

I consider Nigeria driving situations to what the manufacturers will refer to as extreme operating conditions.

I physically get muscle ache and generally tired after driving a day in Nigeria yet I can drive 24 hours non stop in the US with no issues. If the operator that is sitting comfortably in the car is experiencing that then what can we expect the engine and other systems to be experiencing.

(I'm pretty certain that those guys that are loosing engines left and right are doing so due to oil starvation due to extreme angles and sloshing o foils in the crankcase away from the oil pickup tube).

The best method to determine oil change interval is to send your used oil to a lab for testing (please don't tell me that doesn't exist in Nigeria. It does and you just have to do the research to find it).

Save for that then the next best method is to follow the manufacturers recommendation for extreme conditions.

Thought as much

silvoice: Dear car gurus here, i have some issues that bother me in this country, as regard to how we Nigerianize everythin as if we are different from other countries. For instance: Almost Every car manual would stipulate btw 3000km and 10000km as a guide to know when your engine oil is due for change. But in nigeria every mechanic would want u 2 change your conventional engine oil atleast, every two months, even if u did not drive up to 1000km. I asked why, many said because of d weather and hold ups on our roads. Are there no occasional traffic jam in Japan? USA and other countries that manufacture these cars?
Yes weather condition is a factor, but that would be extreme weather of summer or winter.
Again, our weather is neither hot nor cool. As far as i can remember, i'v not seen snow in Nigeria. Apart from some part of d north that are very hot, places like lagos and PH, we have average weather that maybe cool in d morning, hot in d aftanoon vise versa. Now that cars are being manufactured in Nigeria, D question is, are they going 2 reduce the mileage, say 1500km to 5000km based on imaginary percieved hold ups or would d manual be d same as the mother countries? Do date have anything to do with oil change rather than usage? I went into an arguement with a mechanic who told me 2 change my car engine oil that are yet to drive up to 980km when i told him that is been 4 months since i change oil, because i only drive d car on sundays. Someone should pls educate me more on this

dn't have much knowledge of car engine operations, but am looking at the possibility of the size n' number of cylinders varying with the interval of oil change.
Meanwhile, which car make are we talking about?

[quote author=Bossforeva][/quote] is not issue of a particular car. It's a general believe here in nigeria that we should service cars at most every 2 months for conventional oil and six months for synthetic oil, regardless of mileage. Am thinkin that it's a bad idea to change oil with date, like weekly, monthly etc. rather than usage. Reason is that a car that cover 3000miles in Nig. within a week might be due for change while another that is yet to make 1000 miles after 4 months would stil be fine.

CityNG:

The best method to determine oil change interval is to send your used oil to a lab for testing (please don't tell me that doesn't exist in Nigeria. It does and you just have to do the research to find it).

Save for that then the next best method is to follow the manufacturers recommendation for extreme conditions.

this is exactly my point. Atleast it has nothing to do with date.

Oil Change Interval is a combination of different factors. In defining "extreme driving conditions", the vehicle manufacturer considered a number of things:
1. Short trips of less than 5 miles (which do not allow the engine to warm-up)
2. Constantly driving in dusty areas in which case engine is at a low speed most of the time.
3. Driving in traffic (traffic here does not refer to traffic lights but gridlocks. In Abuja for instance, We hardly have this level of traffic situation except for those who live in Karu, Nyanya, Mararaba and its environs). This is what they call "stop and go driving". Most city driving will generally fall under category 1 above.
4. Towing a trailer or regularly carrying heavy loads
5. Driving in a very hot or very cold weather.

If you drive in any of those conditions, you will consider your driving to be severe. Therefore, oil change will be in line with the manufacturer's recommendations.

I use myself as an example, I live in Abuja and drive within the city everyday and drive moderately. I change my engine oil at 5000 miles or 6 months. I also use synthetic oil and 6 months because at this point, the oil starts to loose some of those protective additives. I have not done an oil analysis to determine this but available research seem to conform with it.

But again, I tell people that going by the manufacturer's recommendation would never endanger your vehicle. This is in terms of the oil viscosity and change interval.

However, some people argue about our weather as the reason for the frequency of oil change but Nigeria can not be considered in the category of severe weather as indicated on point 5 above with the adjective "very".

bravolad: Oil Change Interval is a combination of different factors. In defining "extreme driving conditions", the vehicle manufacturer considered a number of things:
1. Short trips of less than 5 miles (which do not allow the engine to warm-up)
2. Constantly driving in dusty areas in which case engine is at a low speed most of the time.
3. Driving in traffic (traffic here does not refer to traffic lights but gridlocks. In Abuja for instance, We hardly have this level of traffic situation except for those who live in Karu, Nyanya, Mararaba and its environs). This is what they call "stop and go driving". Most city driving will generally fall under category 1 above.
4. Towing a trailer or regularly carrying heavy loads
5. Driving in a very hot or very cold weather.

If you drive in any of those conditions, you will consider your driving to be severe. Therefore, oil change will be in line with the manufacturer's recommendations.

I use myself as an example, I live in Abuja and drive within the city everyday and drive moderately. I change my engine oil at 5000 miles or 6 months. I also use synthetic oil and 6 months because at this point, the oil starts to loose some of those protective additives. I have not done an oil analysis to determine this but available research seem to conform with it.

But again, I tell people that going by the manufacturer's recommendation would never endanger your vehicle. This is in terms of the oil viscosity and change interval.

However, some people argue about our weather as the reason for the frequency of oil change but Nigeria can not be considered in the category of severe weather as indicated on point 5 above with the adjective "very".

thanks a løt ur coment is very educative and useful. I belong to category 1. But do ordinary oil have time to lose it protection on engine like synthetic?