Diary of an Ordinary Van

[Vee4]

Don't be a Dipstick ... *



Well, actually, please do. It looks as if the Ordinary Van will need some more oil before its first service at 15,000 miles.

Obviously, the Handbook recommends "Ford or Motorcraft Formula E SAE 5W-30 Engine Oil or alternative SAE 5W-30 engine oil meeting the WSS-M2C913-B specification". Web searches are pointing me towards Castrol Magnatec 5W-30 A1 as the best readily available oil for a top up:

http://datasheets.bp.com/bpglis/lubtds. ... enDocument

Some thoughts:

(1) Does anyone have any strong opinions about the correct oil to use?
(2) On the Mk5, I got out of the habit of checking the oil in the DI engine between services, because it never needed any - and it remained like that until its last few thousand (out of 270,000) miles. Is it normal for the TDCI to need an occasional top up?
(3) How much will I need to take the oil level up to the top mark (the photo was taken on level ground with the engine cold)?

* Poster-size 'check your oil' reminder: http://www.commaoil.com/media/view/29



Edits: added thumbnail of Comma poster 12 Mar 2010.

[Altransit]

can I call you 'Al'?

You're most welcome to, Mr Four .............. sorry, Vee

[madmark_50484]

can I call you 'Al'?

You're most welcome to, Mr Four .............. sorry, Vee

Now you should of said only if "I can call you Betty"

[Altransit]

It looks as if the Ordinary Van will need some more oil before its first service at 15,000 miles.

I'm not a big fan of a 15k oil change interval, myself, so I have already changed the oil at 8k in the Focus TDCi that I have, even though it will be getting changed again at its service interval of 12.5k ( by courtesy of Coconut )
Any good quality semi-synthetic 5w-30 oil will do IMO, thats what I used anyway

[Vee4]

I'm not a big fan of a 15k oil change interval

I know what you mean - 15,000 miles seems like a long time/distance. The original V4 (see avatar) would have the oil changed at 500 miles, after 'running in', then at 5000 mile intervals.

Reading the runes (what the numbers mean):

http://www.lubrizol.com/EuropeanEngineO ... ction.html

Interactive comparison chart (brew your own):

http://sas-origin.onstreammedia.com/ori ... index.html

It's all too complicated. I think I'll go to Halfords and buy some 3-IN-ONE. Cleans, lubricates, protects - what more could you want? Since 1894:

http://www.3-in-one.co.uk/index.php/history

[Vee4]

It only plays one kind of music!



Having a collection of 'podcasts' in MP3 format, I thought it would be good to catch up on some listening while driving the Ordinary Van. A read through the Audio Handbook lead me to believe that the 6000 CD would play MP3 files as long as I was careful about the disc format and file names. I tried several different approaches with CD-R and CD-RW but to no avail. The 6000 CD spat them out with a 'CD ERROR' message. A browse through the various Ford-related forums indicates that this is a common experience. Have any Forum members succeeded?

Luckily, I have some burning software that automatically renders MP3 to PCM on a drag and drop basis, so I made a regular Audio CD without much time penalty in the processing. The penalty is paid in having less program material on the disc because the audio is decompressed. The CD-RW disc works for this, so I can just load what I need for the journey.

Now I can listen to both kinds of music - country and western, as played at Bob's Country Bunker by The Blues Brothers in the eponymous 1980 movie.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080455/quotes?qt0320035

http://www.bluesbrotherscentral.com/mov ... ry-bunker/



YouTube in B&W but still a classic. It ain't no Hank Williams song! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5N35kQAPv0

Edits: reduced size of Blues Brothers photo, corrected ambiguity in 'eponymous' reference, added YouTube link.

[V184]

ive just bought a 2010 model and thats 20.000 mile services

[Vee4]

I've just bought a 2010 model and that's 20,000 mile services

Which engine is that?

[ake]

My van used about a pint of oil in its first 12000k miles, but since then its never had a drop between services (now on 68k), I usually get mine serviced at around 12k intervals

The oil you can buy at the parts counter of your Ford dealer is what we use for occasional top ups

[Vee4]

My van used about a pint of oil in its first 12000k miles, but since then its never had a drop between services

I was hoping you'd say something like that. It's what I would expect, assuming no faults develop.

[winterheating]

dont forget that oil level should be between min and max, its not an empty to full scale, best to keep just below max level.

i think the ford formula e stuff is made by castrol aswell, the cheaper excell is made by shell.
i get the formulae e for £15 for 5 litres , you can see the difference in that oil strtaight away, i could almost drink it......ah.

[V184]

I've just bought a 2010 model and that's 20,000 mile services

Which engine is that?

2.2 140

[Vee4]

I've just bought a 2010 model and that's 20,000 mile services

Which engine is that?

2.2 140

Does that mean they've changed them all? It used to be that the diesels were all 15,000 except the 3.2/200 TDCi which was 30,000 (!) miles:

http://www.ford.co.uk/Commercialvehicle ... tabid=tab1

The Ford website is not always up to date.

[Vee4]

Now you should have said only if "I can call you Betty"

A Paul Simon fan, perhaps? Sample of track available here: http://www.rhino.com/shop/product/paul- ... e-replica#

Mk7 content? Yes, this CD (Graceland) is sometimes part of the Ordinary Van's contents.

[ake]

I prefer The Sound of Silence, 'Hello Darkness my old friend' usually quite appropriate the way I get thru headlight bulbs