1996 P38 DIY Service After Import

Hi Guys,

I am a proud owner a a 1996 HSE V8 range. It is a Japanese import. I have a few questions on doing a DIY service. First I would like to change all fluids starting with the engine oil.

Reading through pass forum posts, i noticed 10w40 or 15w40 being used, My Questions is will this be ok in a tropical climate on a engine with 123km.

I will post some pics in a few.

Thanks.

If you have an import, you may want to invest in a Faultmate, so that you can alter the settings for lights, windows etc. to suit St Lucia (and your) requirements. Plus I am sure you will need it for diagnostics in the future....

Thanks magictiny,

I have asked for a price quote for the Faultmate Nano Kit, it will come in handy since we only have 1 landrover dealer, and their prices are not logical. I will make my purchase before the year ends.

Guys, Did the oil change, with 15w40 Castrol Syncentic Blend. It all seems fine so far.

Will be back here if there are any issues

The type and rating of oil is a very emotive subject on here and comes down to personal choice. Some people are quite happy with mineral 20W50, others with semi-synthetic
5W40 to 15W40 and others who swear by fully synthetics such as Mobil 1 etc. You'll find many different opinions on each if you do a search on the subject. It's whatever you're happy with. I don't think it's quite as critical in St Lucia as you're hardly going to get the freezing temperatures that dictate the different grades of oil that we have to use in Europe etc.

gstman said:

we have 1 landrover dealer, and their prices are not logical.

Click to expand...

that made me chuckle a bit!

gst, i run a p38 in the tropics like you. use a 20W40 mineral oil. i used to use synthetic but read somewhere that there was no point with this engine design and that it actually works better with plain mineral oil. as derek says though, everyone has his own view on oil so all i'll tell you is i'm very happy with what i'm using although that might be because owing to driving conditions, dust and fuel quality concerns i change oil and filter 4 times a year regardless of mileage covered, i change my fuel filter 3 times a year and my air-cleaner element is inspected monthly (along with all fluid levels such as brake and power steering etc) and changed when needed.