Engine oil brands

[Deeps]

If others, like me, carry a 1 litre bottle of spare engine oil in the boot or have some in the garage, can I ask what brand and grade you are using? In fact, if the CX-5 has ever had an oil change at the dealers/workshop, what brand/grade of oil have they put in; if you know of course that is.

A short while back now I ordered a litre bottle of Mazda's own branded oil - well it's branded Mazda but what brand is behind that is anyone's guess. I've noticed that my dealer doesn't in fact stock Mazda branded oil and does it really make a difference at the end of the day.

[xtrailman]

My local dealer who is authorised to service but not sell now, used DPF DEXELIA oil.

I imagine as they are still Ford dealers that the Kuga gets the same.
I believe the main thing is to use low ash oil.

[BigAl]

Can't remember the last time I carried spare oil around with me. Just a thought - perhaps anyone with the known issue of oil level increasing should bottle the excess and sell it back to Mazda...

Alan.

[Deeps]

Just a thought - perhaps anyone with the known issue of oil level increasing should bottle the excess and sell it back to Mazda

I'm very much touching wood here but it might just be the case that Mazda have now got the handle on this increasing oil level problem with the upgrade model. Being pretty much nervous regarding this issue it was touch and go as to whether I'd go the CX-5 route but with Mazda being the only SUV dealer within comfortable travelling distance of me I ended up taking the chance. On first taking delivery the level was smack on the maximum mark and now, during the running-in period, the level is slowly dropping with oil actually being used which is common with brand new engines. So if this pattern carries on I'll have no excess oil to sell back to Mazda. As said though - touch wood and fingers crossed. 

[xtrailman]

My car has oil level over the max to start with on collection new.

In fact after two services with the last car on both occasions the level was too high and I had to return the car to have about a cup full removed. It really isn't hard to fill correctly, I used to carry out my own oil changes 45 years ago.

Having read your post of oil usage maybe I should just leave it?
On 2 occasions the oil was changed by the local GK garage, new car was delivered via another GK garage, both are now Perry's.

So I'm not sure if Perry's data base holds the incorrect oil capacities, or if the mechanic just doesn't bother to check levels?
I did check the oil level before I drove home when I collected the new car Wednesday, but because the oil was so clear I couldn't determine the level, but I could see it had sufficient.

Last Xtrail I had the oil level was below the full level after a service, but from a Sheffield dealer.

[BigAl]

Just a thought - perhaps anyone with the known issue of oil level increasing should bottle the excess and sell it back to Mazda

I'm very much touching wood here but it might just be the case that Mazda have now got the handle on this increasing oil level problem with the upgrade model. Being pretty much nervous regarding this issue it was touch and go as to whether I'd go the CX-5 route but with Mazda being the only SUV dealer within comfortable travelling distance of me I ended up taking the chance. On first taking delivery the level was smack on the maximum mark and now, during the running-in period, the level is slowly dropping with oil actually being used which is common with brand new engines. So if this pattern carries on I'll have no excess oil to sell back to Mazda. As said though - touch wood and fingers crossed. 

As far as I know, the only people who've ever had this issue are doing VERY low mileages resulting in more frequent CAT regens (dumping the scavenged diesel back into the sump ). At 25k miles per year it's never affected me and - equally - I've never had to top either car up between services at all.

Alan

[ColinX-5]

Exactly the same with me except I do 22k 

[xtrailman]

Well  there was a lot of Australian owners with oil rise problems, and a lot of them where only doing motorway miles.

[Deeps]

While on the subject of oil, would anyone happen to know the amount of it required to bring the dipstick reading up from low > normal? There doesn't appear to be a reference to it in my version of the manual.

[xtrailman]

When i had a service on the xtrail i checked the oil before taking the car away, level was only at 75%, chap topped it up and said it would only be about a cup full.

When i complained about the cx-5 being over filled after service TWICE, they said the same, different garage, Mazda tech said the Cx-5 diesel sump was such that the heat sink inside effectively acted as as a taper, so the higher you went the less oil was required to get the same increase shown on the dip stick.

It was his way of saying that my 8mm above the full level wasn't that much diesel dilution.

[Catamong]

Oil, what's that..?

My CX5 now has over 30k on the clock, and I've never had to top it up.

The same with the Volvo XC90 I had previously, I did 60k in it and never had to put a drop in it, (and that was with a 18k service interval).

It seems to me that modern engines don't need topping up..?

Cat.

[xtrailman]

So you get no oil rise?
Or do you but its not noticed because oil is burnt off.

That's why I want my level at the full mark, due to oil dilution.

[ROCKETRON]

I dont know what would happen if your engine burnt oil and dilution made up the difference, as it would never reach the x mark you would assume that everything is ok, until i suppose there would be a warning to say that oil quality was bad. Although i have not had an engine that burnt oil for years a lot of the 6 cylinder petrol BMW's burn a fair bit but that still seems fairly rare.

[Deeps]

The 'x' mark was a modification added later to the CX-5. Some members may have the original dipstick without this 'x' mark whilst others may well have bought their cars following the modification. Either way, this was introduced basically as a way of stating that the oil is approaching being overly diluted. First release models owners were pulling up at the side of the road when the instrument cluster illuminated believing the oil level was low but in fact discovering that oil levels were far too hight and it was the resultant lack of viscosity that was causing the instrument panel alarm. In Australia they complained bitterly saying, quite rightly in my opinion, that replacing the original dipstick wasn't in any way a solution to the problem to the problem only a means of indicating that there indeed was a problem. A further solution I am advised was a firmware update although it has to be shown whether or not this has really made a difference. Either way, it has made me a bit jittery in this regard and I find myself checking the oil level far more frequently than has ever been the case previously with ownership of other vehicles.

As I mentioned earlier, my oil level has in fact dropped to a level approximately midway between the max and min marks and appears to have stabilised about that mark with the oil that has been consumed taking place during the vehicles running-in period.

[Deeps]

So a few days ago now I added some Mazda Original Oil 5W 30 as per the manual and my first thoughts were of how 'thin' this oil appears to be. After adding a touch I put the cap back on the bottle and checked the printed blurb on the back in case I'd missed the instruction of 'shake well before use'. 

Further research on the web appears to demonstrate that Mazda oil is a highly rated and quality oil which appears to be produced by Idemitsu who are the biggest oil producers in Japan. That said, this short Flash video would suggest that Total (under licence) are the producers in Europe. Whatever, this original oil is not unduly expensive over here (I paid €12.39/Litre) via Amazon so it's looking highly likely that I shall order 5L before the car is due for it's next service and tell them to put this oil in.

http://www.lubricants.total.com/partnerships/automotive-partnerships/mazda.html