159 Oil Change

[V AR 164]

Hi all,

It's probably been mentioned numerous times, but I was wondering what's the process of changing the oil on a 2.4jtd.

Not asking how to physically do it, but the notification came up on the dash last night telling me to change the oil. If I do change it, will the message go away or will I need to get someone to hook it up to a computer to reset it?

Really don't wanna get a service shop to charge an arm and a leg to do something I could do in my sleep.

Cheers, Andrew.

[bazzbazz]

Sorry, NEEDS to be reset by Diagnostics. Why? Below is an excerpt from an article I wrote for the QLD Alfa Club Magazine which explains the reasons -

The Simple Oil Change
In the past one could just take any Saturday morning, get under the hood and change the Air filter, plugs, oil and oil filter, start her up and feel most satisfied with a job well done. All you had to do was make sure that the filters and plugs were of the correct type, the plugs were gapped right, the oil was of the correct specification. AND you hooked up the Computer Diagnostic suite and reset the oil parameters in the Engine ECU..... Eh? What?

Yup, that's right. If you own a 159 Diesel or 1750TBi, any Giulietta, Giulia or 4C you need to reset the oil change monitoring parameters when you change the oil. (Oh crap I hear you say?) And no, it's not just to reset the Oil Level indicator in the dash. It's much more than that, and if you don't have it done, it can cause trouble.

In the Petrol engines it resets all the adaptive parameters related to the oil quality from the control unit. In cars fitted with Multi-Air engines, oil quality is critical in these engines, and not using the correct spec oil or having the oil monitoring system not function correctly can lead to the Multi-Air unit getting gummed up and throwing tantrums.

With the diesels, resetting the oil parameters is necessary every time the engine oil is replaced, and when the 'low oil pressure' led blinks in the dashboard.
Why?  As your Diesel drives along, soot builds up in the DPF (Diesel Particulate Filter) When the soot gets to a certain level, it carries out a DPF Regeneration. This means that extra fuel is injected into the engine so that it doesn't burn in the engine itself, but passes into the exhaust and then the DPF, where it burns at extremely high temperatures. This basically incinerates the soot and cleans out the DPF. The problem is that some of this extra diesel fuel gets past the pistons and into the engine oil, degrading and thinning it. You can well imagine the results if this condition becomes too severe.

[Citroënbender]

So the short term option is licenced MES and the longer term option includes DPF.

[V AR 164]

Well then.....

Seems like I'm booking it in for an oil change 

[Citroënbender]

Perché?

Dealer service will nearly cost more than oil plus MES (licenced) and cables. And you have nothing for it other than an invoice.

Will Mick A help you learn the process?

[bazzbazz]

Mick does it as a living, if he taught everyone in his area how to do things for themselves he would soon go out of business.

[Citroënbender]

Yes, but he did help Andrew a bit with the 164 heads, that's why I mentioned him.

[As the day goes]

So the short term option is licenced MES and the longer term option includes DPF.

So no DPF means cleaner ol that means it can be replaced longer than the authorized 2 year interval?

[Citroënbender]

What writes off a 159? It's more likely to be minor collision damage or accrued neglect than a specific motor problem.  The current crop of long-in-the-tooth 147s and 156s are our template for such.

[bazzbazz]

So the short term option is licenced MES and the longer term option includes DPF.

So no DPF means cleaner ol that means it can be replaced longer than the authorized 2 year interval?

Alfa themselves state that if the car is driven in extreme/harsh/city driving conditions the oil should be changed every 12 months.
As we live in one of the hottest, dustiest countries with not the best quality of fuel supplies I suggest to ALL clients to get their cars service every 10,000km/12 months.

[As the day goes]

Except Tassie.  More like Sicily?

[Citroënbender]

Sicily probably has a better murder clean-up rate, and superior healthcare. 

[As the day goes]

Sicily probably has a better murder clean-up rate, and superior healthcare.

Inspector Montalbano would agree

[V AR 164]

Cheers for the replies,

Would the program MultiECUScan (MES) enable me to reset the service intervals and such? I would really like to be able to do all the servicing myself.

I already have a high quality bluetooth OBD2 adaptor (ELM327) and wondering if it will work with the MES program on a laptop? Or would I need to purchase the cables to connect it to my laptop physically?

Cheers, Andrew.

[As the day goes]

Well you can give it a go and if it don't work, buy the cable. 

I use the cable on the Alfa.

On the Kia I have used both until I dropped the wireless adaptor into water.