2007 Range Rover oil change observations

[sky jumper]

just drained the factory fill from a friend's 2007 Range Rover Sport SC. 500 miles on the factory fill. he wanted to change it before a 4k mile road trip out west.

Tried to use an oil extractor to avoid dropping the hefty undercarriage tray -- only got 3 quarts out (8.5qt capacity).

So I took the tray off and pulled the plug (btw, same drain plug as my dad's 1998 Grand Marquis). first 6-8oz of oil that drained looked like dirty water, not motor oil. I actually stopped the flow, thinking I had pulled the wrong plug. the rest looked like regular drain oil.

the pan has a small, narrow, low section that dips down far below the rest of the sump. this is where the drain plug is.

I'm wondering if the oil pick up does not reach down there, and the oil basically sits and stagnates (not that it should ever look like water, though).

also (rant)... the drain plug faces front, so you get a strong horizontal stream of oil that plows into the back side of some kind of metal canister, where it then proceeds to splash out in every direction making a huge mess. why on earth would they do this? it would've been so easy to point it downward.

other than the stupid oil pan design, I love the truck. 390hp supercharged engine and handles like a sports car. he says it gets 8mpg.

 

[max2k1]

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first 6-8oz of oil that drained looked like dirty water, not motor oil.

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Does your friend do a lot of (repeated) short trips ??
Does the truck ever get up to operating temps ? (as in trips >15+ miles or so ?)

If not, what you saw *could* be the accumulated moisture. I am, of course, speculating based on the info in your post.

Since water is heavier than oil, it makes sense that it was the one that drained out first (and then the regular oil).

Suggest doing an UOA to verify the moisture "theory"

 

[SaturnIonVue]

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... the drain plug faces front, so you get a strong horizontal stream of oil that plows into the back side of some kind of metal canister, where it then proceeds to splash out in every direction making a huge mess. why on earth would they do this? it would've been so easy to point it downward.

other than the stupid oil pan design, I love the truck. 390hp supercharged engine and handles like a sports car. he says it gets 8mpg.

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Sounds like one of the marvels of British engineering! The Brits seem to have an earned reputation for over-engineering just about anything on wheels.

 

[JBRIII]

I have an 02 Discovery. It seems a little easier to work on. Plug and filter are easily accessable and nothing is in the way of the stream. I would have him take it to the dealer as service is free for the first 50K. And believe me you want to do nothing to void that warranty, because he WILL need it at some point.

 

[sky jumper]

service is free, but they will only change the oil every 7500 miles. he didn't want to wait that long, and I wouldn't either.

We put a purolator oil filter on -- that would not void the warranty, would it??

 

[double vanos]

Whatever you do, you don't them to know that you have tampered with the car in any way.

If this vehicle has trouble while on this upcoming trip and the dealer sees a non-factory oil filter on the car, they'll begin to wonder just how far your home servicing has gone and try to mess with you.

I agree with taking care of the car, just use official manufacturer parts while in warranty.

My .02 cents worth.

 

[JBRIII]

I'm wondering with the moisture you mentioned if he has blown a head gasket already? LR's are famous for it, especially the inducted models. How's the coolant level?

 

[max2k1]

Wow -- I sure hope it is NOT a blown HG @500 miles !!!
Wayyyyy too early .....

 

[sky jumper]

well I sure hope it's not a HG. I didn't take note of the coolant. there was a plastic reservoir near the front of the engine bay with red fluid in it -- I'm assuming that was either coolant or PSF. I don't know what color LR coolant is. whatever it was, the reservoir looked full.

 

[JBRIII]

That's it. It uses Dex Cool. It's probably just moisture in the oil. What oil did you put back in it? Not sure of the spec on the SC motor.

 

[m2200b]

Since its under warranty with dealer changes for awhile- Just do a UOA on your next in between dealer sample. When the warranty is over a fumoto drain will cure that splash and hopefully you can access the fumoto lever w/o pulling the whole skid pan. Sometime artful cutting of the skip pan will give you access to the drain valve once you install it.

 

[sky jumper]

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.. What oil did you put back in it? Not sure of the spec on the SC motor.

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so get this -- he shows up with 2 cases of Syntec 5W50. the guy at Pep boys told him that was the required grade. we pop the hood and the filler cap clearly states "5W30 -- Land Rover suggests Castrol". owner's book also specifies 5W30.

since it was late Sunday night he didn't want to go looking for more oil, and wanted to put the 5W50 in. I wouldn't let him.

So... I sold him my last 6 bottles of GC green, 1qt PP 5W30, 1qt Synpower 5W30, and topped off with leftover M1 5W30EP from a 5qt jug . Looking back I wish I had just given him 8qts of Synpower, but oh well. I wasn't planning to use the GC anyway (gave my Maxima cold start TC knock), I was just holding on to it for the novelty of it.

I advised him to use GC gold from now on.

 

[JBRIII]

Thought it was 5w30 but wanted to verify. The high Compression 4.6L spec 5w30 and my Normal 4.0 Litre spec's 10W-40.

 

[Dallas_E500]

RRS HSE calls for 8.5 qts of Castrol GTX 5W30. Decided to go with GC 0w30 for my OC - vehicle at the dealership getting it. With this news I will be sending my oil for analysis very often to ensure no issues.

Thanks Paul for send me this link

 

[Jett Rink]

If it takes 8.5 quarts of oil, I would think it would be fully capable of going 7,500 miles on any 5w30 SM. That's a lot of oil, compared to most cars out there. In the future I'd just stick to that interval, particularly if Land Rover will do it for free for the first 50,000 miles.

Lots of fellas on this forum would be in heaven with that much oil in the engine!

 

[Dr. T]

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If it takes 8.5 quarts of oil, I would think it would be fully capable of going 7,500 miles on any 5w30 SM. That's a lot of oil, compared to most cars out there. In the future I'd just stick to that interval, particularly if Land Rover will do it for free for the first 50,000 miles.

Lots of fellas on this forum would be in heaven with that much oil in the engine!

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Precisely why changing it out with US frequency is such a waste of time, money, resources and brain cells....especially at 500 miles.

 

[sky jumper]

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Precisely why changing it out with US frequency is such a waste of... brain cells....especially at 500 miles.

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now there's a useful and intelligent post -- hostile opinion with nothing to back it up. I've got an idea -- why don't you go drop $80k on a new truck, leave the factory fill in for 7.5k mi, and then cut open the $10 oil filter to see what has been washing through the BPV and on to your bearings?

or perhaps you didn't understand the situation (it was change it now, or wait until 5,000 miles)? or perhaps you didn't catch the part about the watery liquid draining from the pan that was clearly not engine oil? or maybe you haven't seen the UOAs & horror stories of people leaving the factory fill in too long?

yet you accuse others of being brain dead? wow.

 

[Vaca]

SJ,

Put the original oil filter back on so there'll be no room for suspicion by the dealer when the inevitable warranty work comes due.

The original filter will be fine up to 7500 miles when the dealer does the "first" change.

 

[Dr. T]

I did just that last year....dropped $70k on a BMW truck and left the factory oil in for 7.5k and hence the observation that changing it out at 500 miles (1.5 fuel fill-ups?) is a complete waste of time. Nothing hostile, just my observation.

5k miles would have been completely fine too...especially in Euro. engines with high capacity, cleaner combustion, better quality engines, better filters, and A3 oil requirements.

Now, the real questions we should be asking are: Did the witches brew

of oil used meet Rover's specs? Do the 4 different brands used together have any mixing/addative clashing issues now or down the road? Does Rover spec. A3 5-30's or any A1 or dino (non-ACEA rated) 5-30?

 

[sky jumper]

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I did just that last year....dropped $70k on a BMW truck and left the factory oil in for 7.5k and hence the observation that changing it out at 500 miles (1.5 fuel fill-ups?) is a complete waste of time. Nothing hostile, just my observation.

5k miles would have been completely fine too...especially in Euro. engines with high capacity, cleaner combustion, better quality engines, better filters, and A3 oil requirements.

Now, the real questions we should be asking are: Did the witches brew

of oil used meet Rover's specs? Do the 4 different brands used together have any mixing/addative clashing issues now or down the road? Does Rover spec. A3 5-30's or any A1 or dino (non-ACEA rated) 5-30?

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Again -- did you cut open your oil filter? did get a UOA? then how do you know it was fine? your opinions are based on conjecture & the direction of an OEM looking to save money on its free oil service, nothing more. go look around for BMW factory fill horror stories -- there are several on this very board.

And from what I've seen on the 3 series, BMW does not specify 7.5k for its factory fill -- they go by the oil life computer, which in the cases I've seen will not indicate a change until well past 15k miles, by which time the filter is completely clogged and in bypass, and wear is off the chart - all at the direction of BMW and their "free oil service". are you saying your truck is different from other BMWs? and just "happens" to be the same 7.5k that LR specifies?

and you are still avoiding the observed watery liquid -- according to you he should've just left that in?? real smart.

and the "witches" brew, as you call it, far exceeds LR's spec of dino 5W30. heck, they specifically recommend "Castrol 5W30" - no mention of synthetic, but even Syntec 5W30 is not A3 rated -- again maybe you missed this in the same post where I described the "witches brew". good grief.

and all modern oils are designed to be compatible. "additive clash" as you call it is a myth you read somewhere online that has no basis in fact with modern oils.

oh, and BTW, I'm not sure where you're from but calling someone a "waste of brain cells" is, in fact, hostile. and now I'll be a bit hostile -- get a clue, and support your opinions with fact/data or keep them to yourself.