Few Questions about oil

[leon_richard]

Whats the difference between variable and fixed servicing?

I know for my car it recomments 5w-30 to 10w-40, but what difference would using the thicker oil have?

I seem to remember being told by someone it's best to use the thicker oil as an engine gets older, but i think thats just a myth.

[paul b]

Fixed servicing (which I recommend) is when the car is serviced every 10k miles or 12 months, whichever comes first. Variable servicing is effectively longlife servicing where the car could go 20k or 2 years between servicing. Being on the longlife service intervals requires you to use longlife oil rather than normal oil designed to be changed every 10k in the car.

If you read through this link (http://www.castrol.com/castrol/genericarticle.do?categoryId=8264018&contentId=7007302), the 4th paragraph explains the difference between the two viscosity ratings better than I can put into words!

If your car is still under the manufacturer's warranty, it may be void if the incorrect oil has been used and is deemed to have been a factor in the car developing a problem.

IMO, using thicker oil as the engine gets older is a myth too. Personally I've never found the need to do that.
Paul :beerchug: