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Had the NB serviced today and the mechanic suggested I use their oil (Fuchs fully synth) instead of the usual Castrol Edge 5-30 I use.
One factor is the Castrol 5 litre packs that leave you with a litre wasted, but also he swears by Fuch's quality .
Have I done the right thing? Motor has 79K kms.

As long as it's not a low SAPS oil it should be fine.

Lost me, I'm afraid.
SAPS? Slimy and pretty slow?
Some interesting entries in Google (South African Police?) etc.
Please exploin.....

Low Sulphated Ash, Phosphorus, Sulphur. There seems to be a lot of it about for the modern Euro engines and diesels in particular. It is not good for older design engines and can result in premature cam/tappet wear.

Some bedtime reading: http://www.westernoil.com.au/upload/file/Information%20sheet%20-%20Low%20SAPs.pdf

Fuch's make some Fuching good oil. We had a Fuch rep do an oil QA session with the W.A. club many moons ago.

Silvia wrote:One factor is the Castrol 5 litre packs that leave you with a litre wasted,...

Wasted?
use 1L of the previous oil + 1L of new oil to flush.
Simple.

I doubt that running a litre of the same oil through the engine constitutes "flushing" and probably just wastes the oil.
I'm doing checks on Fuchs ("Fooks", apparently) oils, and I see there is one specially formulated for certain Mazdas. I'll report back when info is clearer , but their website looks impressive...

Silvia wrote:Fuchs fully synth

That'd be FFS oil
The spare litre could come in handy if you need to top up between services.

Use it next service? I have a drum that I put my extra litre or so in, and after a few changes you have enough to do one without paying.

Dann

Well, needing 4 litres for a change , at around one change a year at 10,000km, that would mean using quite old opened oil
The garage has bulk oil (Fuchs Titan Super GTO 10-30) @under $8 litre.
So $30 a time with fresh oil seems a better deal.....and it seems the Fuchs is good stuff.
Have you noticed how much the price of Castrol Edge has gone up now?

I use the extra to top up the oil I burn

You do not even need full synthetic for the NB and most service providers will not use a full synthetic unless you specify and supply etc. The guy probably offered Fuchs because of a business connection.This brand I would suggest is probably not a mainstream supplier. The beauty of Castrol is availability and also worth checking prices with the usual players.

Oil does not go 'off', especially snythetics. I am sure if it is kept sealed inside your garage there will be no problems using it in a year, or two. I've used oil which was 7 years opened with no problems (looked fine, smelt fine, tasted great!).
Fuchs is just another brand-any brand name oil will suffice. He is just trying to make more money off you.

Not really. He suggested I use 3.8 l. Fuchs synthetic oil recommended for MX5 @$7.70 - around $30. I was using Castrol Edge 5l at around $58. Not exactly a rip off...
And if oil doesn't go off, why do they specify oil changes by time as well as mileage?
When I ask mechanics about this they invariably say oil deteriorates after exposure to air,humidity etc.

oil being used in an engine is subject to in service demands- heat, pressure etc. Oil in a sealed container on a shelf for a reasonable period is not under the same stress. If you need some info you can easily ring one of the oil companies who give advice and recommendations- I have done this on a few occasions. The 3.8l of oil is merely the capacity of the engine. If you buy 5l you have some left over for another day and if the mechanic supplies ex his bulk stock you get charged for ~3.8l.