1.3 mjt oil changes

[bubble]

Whilst driving today my oil light started to flash and a mesage displayed to change the oil. Thought I would pop by the dealership on the way home to check it out thinking it could be a fault as I have only covered 5000 miles so far. I was informed that this is correct and I needed an oil and filter change and the cpu clock reseting (£75).
Apparently the oil and filter are not apart of the yearly service. The car dictates when the oil needs to be changed. It is something to do with the number of times the particulate filter recharges itself (engine runs hotter, and the cpu cucks more fuel at the engine to compensate which contaminates the oil - so I am told). The CPU counts the down the number of recharges until it gets to zero then the messages keep coming.
So it now appears that the servicing of the derv burner is by far more expensive than the two petrol alternatives with the posibility of two oil and filter changes a year (£150 on top of the yearly service) based on average milage.
Can't even do the oil and filter change myslef as the cpu needs to be reset.
PITTY THIS WAS NOT INDICATED IN THE INFORMATION FOR SERVICING COSTS ISSUED BY FIAT FOR THESE VEHICLES!!

[Tino]

What kind of driving do you do? I find it hard to believe that you have had that much particulate build up and oil contamination so soon.

Did you get an "Oil soon" or "Oil now" message?

[ensonricky]

V interesting, I agree Fiat should be more upfront about this as a lot of people have commented how much cheaper standard servicing is for the diesel.

[bexx]

Jees that could work out pricey. If the ECU needs resetting each time I wonder if it could be taken somewhere else (cheaper) or if Fiat dealers can only do this. x

[Tino]

What kind of driving do you do? I find it hard to believe that you have had that much particulate build up and oil contamination so soon.

Did you get an "Oil soon" or "Oil now" message?
I'm not exactly sure of the typical oil change / reset as they change with driving cycles, but the intervals I believe are around 10K, 30K, 70K, 90K kilometres.

There is a manual procedure I believe to reset the oil lamp, and this is recorded in the ECU each time it is done. So if you did it manually it would be noted!

I actually have access to a diagnostic tool and am going tocheck my Remaining distance to oil change. Hope it isn't soon

[bubble]

Originally Posted by Tino

What kind of driving do you do? I find it hard to believe that you have had that much particulate build up and oil contamination so soon.

Did you get an "Oil soon" or "Oil now" message?

Change oil now. My car is mainly used in connection with my job. I work 1 mile from where I live, and as a building inspector I do small regular trips (so stop start type driving). At weekends I do longer trips of open road of say 20 - 30 mile trips. and very occasionaly trips involving motorways for 2 - 4 hundred miles.
Considering the range I would consider that to be average mixed driving.
My style of driving is sedate (light on the throttle changing through the gears as soon as the engine will pull in them and rearly exceed 50 - 55 mph.

[pizzapaolo]

Oh great, i don't remember seeing anything about this in the manual. I'm about to hit 5000 miles too.

I reckon my filter kicks in once per tank of fuel - not sure if this a lot or not, it seems to last quite a long time though, a good 5-10 mins. I always have instant MPG set on the computer so you know when it kicks in, mpg drops by about 20

[Aus500]

I have come accross this system in Merc Trucks from time to time. It lets you know your service intervals by calculating a whole gambit of info including Oil vicousity, start stops, fuel quality etc. Your service intervals change depending on the service period, too, so 5000 is a good square number.

Right. To reset your ECU. This works on almost all cars and does it no damage what so ever. Disconnect the battery for between 5 and 10 miniutes. When you reconnect the battery, the stored info in the ECU will be lost and the ECU will revert back to Defualt settings. All the major info like milage etc will remain, but minor things like Radio stations, Trip computer settings, and the info that lets the computer know that it is coming up to a service and the subsiquent service lights will be dumped and that troublesome flashing light will (should) be gone!

[bubble]

Thanks for that input aus 500, at least can now change my own oil once the warantee has expired.

[Tino]

Originally Posted by bubble

Thanks for that input aus 500, at least can now change my own oil once the warantee has expired.

I think I may be able to tell you how to do it without disconnecting anything, but only when your warranty runs out