Help Needed

[jamesg747]

Hey,

My engine oil light came on the other day. I have researched on here the correct oil 5w-30 or 5w-40. I promptly called in to the nearest service station and looked for either. all i could find was 0w-40. the guy in the shop said i could get 10w-40 which was "basically" the same. he seemed to know what he was talking about so in a rush i bought it and wacked it in!! approx 1ltr!!

im in a little panic now thinking i could of done the wrong thing. its booked in for a service on monday and will be making sure they put the correct oil in. until then, what should i do? continue to drive, stop driving, cry, kick the bollox who sold me it in the head, kick myself in the head for listening to him??

thanx everyone, i appreciate many have probs come up with similar problems!!

also, any recommendations on spark plugs, filters etc etc??

thanx

[kelv1962]

10-40 is not the same as 10-30 but if you are having a service soon carry on driving it will not harm the engine over a short time. with filters and spark plugs use genuine parts if you can

[burnstar]

as long as you put fully synthetic in there you should be ok. if you put something else in there then really over the next 4 days I don't think it's going to do any damage as I doubt the oil will break down that quickly, just don't go on a long drive

[ging]

You have put the wrong oil in, but that is not such a problem
The biggest problem is you let the oil light come on, not sure about the very latest models, but none i am aware of have an oil level sensor, so when it gets low enough to set off the oil pressure light, you are way too low.
At this point putting almost any oil you could get your hands on in was the right thing to do

10w40 is not necessarily any different to 0w40 or 5w40 at operating temperature but at cold temps when you start up it is a lot thicker, especially at sub zero temps, with a good fully synthetic 10w40 oil you would probably not increase engine wear significantly unless you were starting up in -15 or below ambient temps, but if you are not running the correct oil long term you can run into problems regardless of the SAE grade being correct for the climate or not, the ACEA grade is just as or maybe even more important when choosing oil that is not bmw longlife approved. but a week with the wrong oil is not going to significantly increase the wear on your engine, infact even the cheapest mineral oil that's new will probably give better protection at this point that the oil which has done a year or 2 in your engine, if any damage shows up it'll be the result of you running it low not putting in the wrong oil for a week

1L may still not be enough depending on how low it was, if it's still under warranty you will want to make sure it's above the min line on your dipstick before putting it in for service, and not mention that you put in the wrong oil, there is no real way for them to find out unless you tell them.

[mab01uk]

I have seen Mini engines rattling with the oil pressure light on because the oil level has been allowed to get so low........some owners think you don't have to check under the bonnet between 2 year service intervals anymore and then wonder why they need an expensive new or rebuilt engine!

[Cooper S Jon]

you should have gone with 0-40 & my guess is the 10-40 is semi & not fully synth..

Quote: Originally Posted by mab01uk

I have seen Mini engines rattling with the oil pressure light on because the oil level has been allowed to get so low........some owners think you don't have to check under the bonnet between 2 year service intervals anymore and then wonder why they need an expensive new or rebuilt engine!

then try & blame the car manufacturer for their own stupidity.

[jamesg747]

hey thanx for your responses.

Not judging women or anything, but the one who had it before me had no clue about how to run and look after her car. im just thankful she only had it for 6 month before she sold it. as far as the engine goes, it runs smooth, no rattles, clicks or bangs. I literally drove it 10miles before the engine light went on and pulled over within half a mile of it coming on. (can i just say, the dipstick is incredibly difficult to read).

I realize i might get a lot of criticism for buying a car private but genuinely think I have bought a good one......once the kinks have been ironed out!!

as far as the 1ltr goes, i put a smaller amount in rather than too much as in the back of my mind i was worried about putting the wrong stuff in. After having a mitsubishi fto in the past which never let you drive too hard when you have just started the engine and i guess its stuck with me.

thanks again for your advice guys. very much appreciated. fingers crossed the service goes well