Oil change on two-cylinder DAFs: how often ?

[dafix]

Hello,

The user's manual of my DAF46 specifies that the engine oil has to be changed every three months. This surprises me a bit . I changed the oil last May and I have just checked it using the dipstick: it looks clear (and the level is OK). I would like to know your experience regarding oil in DAFs (33, 44, 46) after some years: do you change it every 3 months as specified, every 6 months, every year ? Notice that I don't drive my DAF very often (less than 1000 km per year).

[andrew]

Daf cars were manufactured when car engine oils didn't have the ability to last as long as they do now. If it helps you, I change the oil in my Daf 33 every 3,000 miles, or every year, whichever comes first. As I drive the car approximately 3,000 miles per year they usually coincide! I use semi-synthetic Castrol Magnetec 10W/40, which is as near to the oil recommended by Daf, and I genuinely believe Magnetec oils to be better than others. I also clean the gauze filter and this involves changing the gaskets surrounding it, together with the bronze sump plug washer.

Remember that oils work harder (and deteriorate more quickly) when the engine is cold, so fewer long runs in your car are better than many short ones!

[starider]

Hi, Yes definitely 3,000 miles[after all it only takes 3 1/2 pints].Castrolite was the recommended grade or similar.Also at this mileage the belts should be adjusted and the vacuum valve adjusted if necessary.
Remember if being driven during the winter[both 32,33,44,46] need to have the lever on the air cleaner intake putting on the winter setting[W] and the plastic shield slotting in front of the engine.This helps the engine to get up to an efficient temperature quickly and to ensure the heater works well............starider

[dafman50]

I change oil on all Dafs every 3000miles or yearly if not much mileage.

[Nick the man with a daf....]

experience taught me on daf 46, every 1500 miles, leaves it any longer and it suddenly blacks off and just looks vile, i did lots of miles including weekends where i would do nearly 600 miles or so visiting friends, of you can see it beginning to look dark on the dipstick it's long overdue, they only hold 2 1/4 litres and it works a lot harder than it does in a water cooled engine

[dafix]

Hello, Thank you all for your input. I was more concerned about the periodicity than about the mileage because, as I wrote, mine is low (1000 km / 600 miles) and probably below the limit for oil change. It looks therefore reasonable for me to change the oil every year. The sump of my DAF46 is currently filled with cheap mineral 15W40. I read some time ago that semi-synthetic or synthetic oils should be avoided for old engines because of the chemicals they contain that remove the soot from inside the combustion chambers (which actually need to be coated with soot, to a certain amount, to be gas-tight). Also, they would be less efficient than mineral oils for acting as a coolant (which is probably important for an air-cooled DAF).

[Nick the man with a daf....]

i always ran 20-50 mineral in mine, yes its true modern oils do indeed "clean" as they are designed to be used in turbocharging as its to stop the bearings getting dirty in the turbo, but as to soot keeping an engine gas tight it does more harm than good in my eyes, as it will cause rings to stick and block the engine ports, just a good quality oil, but please consider if your car is only doing tiny journeys all the time maybe even with the choke on a bit that this is far harder on oils than being used a lot, as the petrol from the choke can find its way into the oil and thin it, I would just keep an eye on the colour, if its dark enough to look like its gong dark on the dipstick then change it