Follow the owner's manual!

[Torrid]

Far be it for me to question the maintenance schedule of one of my cars, but my 2000 Jaguar S-Type 4.0 V8 calls for conventional oil every 10k miles or 12 months, whichever comes first. Capacity is 6.9qts and while 5w-30 is preferred, 0w-30 and 5w-40 are approved for use as well. It seems that most owners use Castrol GTX 5w-30 or Mobil 1 5w-30.

I have always used Mobil 1 5w-30. The car always burns a quart every 4k miles which I have seen is very common for this car. We've had the car for three years now and average 9k miles a year. I end up changing the oil about every 6-7k miles. At this point I should do yearly oil changes and even with the consumption I would not use conventional for this extended of an oil change.

So here's the question, is there any reason for me to not do yearly oil changes? I'll either keep using Mobil 1 or the Castrol 0w-30 or 5w-40 I have in my stash. I'm also going to try the Mobil 1 in my GTO as well since I found out my oil loss was a leak and not consumption.

 

[aquariuscsm]

Does it list a "severe" schedule?

 

[Spector]

I believe the 6.9 quarts has a lot to do with the 10K recommendation. Mobil 1 every 10K or once a year will work fine. Have you tried the 0W40 or 5W40 to reduce consumption.

 

[ChrisW]

With [nearly] a 7 quart sump, I'd say that a yearly/10k OCI is not out of the question, all things considered, that it's not a lot of short trips and perhaps twice a month there are trips to bring the oil up to full operating temp for 20 minutes or longer. The quart top-off over the year/10k would make me more at ease for running that OCI, however, a UOA would be more definitive.

 

[bigjl]

I don't think they used dino in that vehicle in the UK. As there were links between Ford and Jaguar starting around that time I wouldn't be surprised if 5w30 was a common choice.

Put it in the Mobil oil UK site and it, no surprise, says to use good old Mobil 1 New Life.

I actually like the look of the S Type though many in the UK say the front looks ugly.

The 4.0 was not that common in the UK with most being either 2.5 or 3.0 V6 or the very popular 2.7 TD as fitted to the several Land Rover products and the XF till recently.

 

[Torrid]

I think I am going to put the Castrol 5w-40 in it to see if it helps consumption. With it being a long life oil it will easily hold up for a year.

To tell you the truth I wasn't a fan of the S-Type at first but my wife wanted it. I was planning to get a new daily driver soon to make the GTO a weekend car. I love the Jag so much now after taking it on longer trips that I am tempted to get my wife a Range Rover Evoque in a year or two since wants to get a crossover and I plan to just drive the Jag.

I love the sound of the 4.0 motor and at 280bhp it is no slouch. I know I am due for more maintenance including trans fluid and differential service. I can easily do the differential on it as it looks like it won't be any different than the GTO, but the transmission doesn't have a dipstick. I don't want to risk overfilling it.