1. What kind of vehicle you have?
2004 (?) Citroen Xsara Picasso (Minivan version) with the 1.6l turbo diesel engine producing 110 HP (supposedly more boost than the 90 HP version).
2. What your owner's manual says -- not just viscosity, but certifications (look for acronyms like API SM, ILSAC GF-4, etc.) and change intervals as well?
From what I remember reading in the owner manual:
Required A3/B3 or A5/B5 oil. The oil sump is about 4 liters.
3. Where you live?
France, close to Paris.
4. How you drive (easy? hard? fast? slow?)?
He drives it hard as he doesn’t drive conservatively while the car warms up, but short shift to save fuel. Doesn’t allow for the turbo to cool down in the last kilometers after a long drive.
5. What your daily drive is like (short trips? long trips? city? highway?)?
Annual driving is about 10.000 miles more or less. A little more than 7.000 miles are highway driving from their home near Paris to my mom countryside house which is about 350 kms away. They go over there for a few days, about every 3-4 weeks. The rest of the driving is short trips: really short trips (less than 2 kms to go downtown) or errands (going pick up my brother's children for the day (15 kms one way), going see friends for a dinner, or going for some shopping).
6. Whether your car has any known problems?
About one year ago, my dad’s car got an Engine Light on. Since it happened in the Alps, after the car sat for few days and that the light went off after that, he did not take care of it.
Since then, he got the Engine Light on several times, usually after a cold night. Near Paris, cold night means about 30 F, humid.
So, he went to the dealer the next day to get it check, but since the light was off, the mechanic could not pull any code (Is that normal?).
Another time, he got the Engine Light on, so he went directly to the dealership in order to get the code pulled out. This time. they charge him for pulling the code (quite expensive to erase a code), and told him that the turbo could have calamine in it (code was related to the turbo, no more info on that), as he was babying the car too much, short shifting to save fuel. He told him to do some redlining on 2nd and 3rd when the engine is warm enough in order to help the situation.
Question
Currently the dealer puts Total Ineo 5w-30 A5/B5 Energy Conserving bulk oil (I am not sure, that is the 1 liter bottle he is giving him for top off with the oil change), and I am wondering whether this oil is strong enough for the way my dad drives his car.
My look of it is that he drives the car too hard when it is still cold but after that he short shifts the first 3 gears in order to improve his fuel economy. The other thing is that he doesn’t allow his turbo to cool down and I am wondering if part of his problem is that some oil cooked in the turbo bearings.
He did some Italian tuning as the mechanic told him, but only after 5 minutes of driving (coolant was up to temp). I told him the oil was not hot yet, and to double the time or wait 20 minutes to do that.
Now, he said he will change his habits, doing some Italian tuning each time he goes on the highway, and start to cool down the turbo exiting the highway.
But, should he not use an A3/B3/B4 oil instead of an Energy Conserving A5/B5 oil?
Should he stay with a 0/5w-30 oil or move up to a 0/5w-40 oil instead?
PS: I saw that now, there are new categories too: C1, C2, C3, and C4.
Thanks for any help.
2004 (?) Citroen Xsara Picasso (Minivan version) with the 1.6l turbo diesel engine producing 110 HP (supposedly more boost than the 90 HP version).
2. What your owner's manual says -- not just viscosity, but certifications (look for acronyms like API SM, ILSAC GF-4, etc.) and change intervals as well?
From what I remember reading in the owner manual:
Required A3/B3 or A5/B5 oil. The oil sump is about 4 liters.
3. Where you live?
France, close to Paris.
4. How you drive (easy? hard? fast? slow?)?
He drives it hard as he doesn’t drive conservatively while the car warms up, but short shift to save fuel. Doesn’t allow for the turbo to cool down in the last kilometers after a long drive.
5. What your daily drive is like (short trips? long trips? city? highway?)?
Annual driving is about 10.000 miles more or less. A little more than 7.000 miles are highway driving from their home near Paris to my mom countryside house which is about 350 kms away. They go over there for a few days, about every 3-4 weeks. The rest of the driving is short trips: really short trips (less than 2 kms to go downtown) or errands (going pick up my brother's children for the day (15 kms one way), going see friends for a dinner, or going for some shopping).
6. Whether your car has any known problems?
About one year ago, my dad’s car got an Engine Light on. Since it happened in the Alps, after the car sat for few days and that the light went off after that, he did not take care of it.
Since then, he got the Engine Light on several times, usually after a cold night. Near Paris, cold night means about 30 F, humid.
So, he went to the dealer the next day to get it check, but since the light was off, the mechanic could not pull any code (Is that normal?).
Another time, he got the Engine Light on, so he went directly to the dealership in order to get the code pulled out. This time. they charge him for pulling the code (quite expensive to erase a code), and told him that the turbo could have calamine in it (code was related to the turbo, no more info on that), as he was babying the car too much, short shifting to save fuel. He told him to do some redlining on 2nd and 3rd when the engine is warm enough in order to help the situation.
Question
Currently the dealer puts Total Ineo 5w-30 A5/B5 Energy Conserving bulk oil (I am not sure, that is the 1 liter bottle he is giving him for top off with the oil change), and I am wondering whether this oil is strong enough for the way my dad drives his car.
My look of it is that he drives the car too hard when it is still cold but after that he short shifts the first 3 gears in order to improve his fuel economy. The other thing is that he doesn’t allow his turbo to cool down and I am wondering if part of his problem is that some oil cooked in the turbo bearings.
He did some Italian tuning as the mechanic told him, but only after 5 minutes of driving (coolant was up to temp). I told him the oil was not hot yet, and to double the time or wait 20 minutes to do that.
Now, he said he will change his habits, doing some Italian tuning each time he goes on the highway, and start to cool down the turbo exiting the highway.
But, should he not use an A3/B3/B4 oil instead of an Energy Conserving A5/B5 oil?
Should he stay with a 0/5w-30 oil or move up to a 0/5w-40 oil instead?
PS: I saw that now, there are new categories too: C1, C2, C3, and C4.
Thanks for any help.
