DIY Oil Change for LR4

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avslash

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Every single chance I get. I'm a 48 year old hoon. My teen daughters laugh their asses off at their old man skiing park

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Quijote

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My latest Blackstone labs report below.
blacstone LR4 report Oct2020.png
Note that the first report shown (2017) was based on the last time I had put on the OEM Castrol. The last three are based on using Mobil1 EP 5W-20.
 

Slowpoke13

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My latest Blackstone labs report below. View attachment 11886 Note that the first report shown (2017) was based on the last time I had put on the OEM Castrol. The last three are based on using Mobil1 EP 5W-20.
That’s a nice timeline. However, I have no clue what I’m looking at. Can you help me out? Most of the numbers appear similar. Are you saying that there is very little change between OEM and the Mobil EP? Where do you show improvement? I’m curious. I started using the Mobil EP and have been happy thus far.


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Quijote

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I should point out that I am very happy with how the Mobil1 EP 5W-20 is doing in nearly all measurements - except for the magnesium reading. I'm surprised that Blackstone doesn't bring it up. It went from 12 on that last OEM Castrol change to many hundreds ever since. But I guess all else is same or better, so nothing to worry about?
 

ryanjl

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Every time this thread gets bumped up, several oil-nerd forum members' spidey-sense tingles, me included.
 

ryanjl

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Since it seems like there are some new forum members who likely want to know about oil, here's the collective knowledge in this thread (I think; others can feel free to modify):

1. If you change your oil every 6k to 7.5k miles, any quality full synthetic will probably be okay.

2. Land Rover's original spec is really only achievable through the Gucci Castrol (available from your dealer, Atlantic British, and a few other places), and maybe Ravenol and Motul. An online search says that Mobil 1 Extended Performance can meet this spec, too, but there's been some debate.

3. If you go by the research that says the Land Rover spec has been superseded, then that opens up a few more oil options for you.

4. Supernerds like myself buy expensive oil (I use Motul) and change it every 6k to 7.5k miles regardless.

5. The original spec in the 5.0 engines at least was 5w-20. Land Rover now specs 0w-20 in its newer engines, and will use that oil if you take your LR4 into the dealer for an oil change. Most here (I think) still prefer to use the 5w-20.

If you are still under warranty and really worried about this, I bought my LR4 back in January 2016 with around 40k miles on it. It had a CPO warranty on it. I believe it had dealer service before then. I changed the oil every 6.5k miles or so with Mobil 1 EP. In December 2018 at around 80k miles, my CPO warranty covered the timing chain & guides replacement, and my dealer didn't question me at all on what oil I was using. Your experience may vary. Since then, however, I've been using Motul as I'm now on my dime for anything that goes wrong.
 
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Quijote

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That’s a nice timeline. However, I have no clue what I’m looking at. Can you help me out? Most of the numbers appear similar. Are you saying that there is very little change between OEM and the Mobil EP? Where do you show improvement? I’m curious. I started using the Mobil EP and have been happy thus far.

Well, the numbers are as good as or better than the Castrol. The high aluminum reading (potentially suggesting engine wear) went down. The borderline flashpoint values improved, etc. As I mentioned above, my only concern in magnesium, but Blackstone doesn't appear to be concerned.
 

Quijote

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If you are still under warranty and really worried about this, I bought my LR4 back in January 2016 with around 40k miles on it. It had a CPO warranty on it. I believe it had dealer service before then. I changed the oil every 6.5k miles or so with Mobil 1 EP. In December 2018 at around 80k miles, my CPO warranty covered the timing chain & guides replacement, and my dealer didn't question me at all on what oil I was using. Your experience may vary. Since then, however, I've been using Motul as I'm now on my dime for anything that goes wrong.

This is a long thread, so I will re-state my plan. I used the Gucci OEM Castrol throughout the warranty period. Before I decided to switch to the Mobil1 EP 5W-20, I decided to get a baseline lab report on my last Castrol oil, which is what I did. Since then, I've been doing yearly lab reports to track the Mobil1 "performance" compared to the OEM Castrol.
 

gsxr

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I should point out that I am very happy with how the Mobil1 EP 5W-20 is doing in nearly all measurements - except for the magnesium reading. I'm surprised that Blackstone doesn't bring it up. It went from 12 on that last OEM Castrol change to many hundreds ever since. But I guess all else is same or better, so nothing to worry about?
Magnesium is part of the oil's additive package, similar to zinc, phosphorus, and moly. Mobil-1 has much lower calcium and higher magnesium. Nothing to worry about here.

You want to monitor wear metals, and if using extended drain intervals, TBN.


upload_2020-11-16_10-27-0.png


I use Mobil Accutrack analysis, which shows the additives separate from other items. Note that Red Line has higher zinc/phosphorus/moly, but even lower magnesium.

upload_2020-11-16_10-30-14.png
 

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