I’m curious…if a cup of transmission fluid will fix a broken camshaft, will it fix a flat tire too?
The only information you gave us was that the owner of the car Knows nothing about his car, doesn’t understand a word the mechanic says (six camshafts indeed!) and deliberatly uses a cheaper oil than is called for on his oil filler cap. That isn’t a basis for an uplifting philosophical discussion.
Having owned a Mini I can state that the oil change interval is exceedingly long and your friend changing it every 6000 miles is changing it more than twice as often as required. That probably negates any ill effect of using non-synthetic oil.
A long freeway drive is about the best thing you can do for your car so that likely isn’t an issue either.
Mini engines are small so there is no way in hell they’ll last 600,000 miles.
A broken camshaft is an exceedingly rare thing and virtually impossible to be caused by the wrong oil. No oil, yes. Sludged oil, maybe but unlikely. Synthetic blend, not a chance.
All chidings aside for not using the manufacturer’s spec oil, there is no way that your friends broken camshaft was caused by using a synthetic blend oil with a 6000 mile change interval.
This failure is likely either a manufacturing defect in the shaft or just plain normal wear and tear on a high performance engine. Many other problems would have happened first had there been this sort of damage from the oil type. Things like broken valves or thrown rods or destroyed rings.
My best guess is this was a random failure of a part. It happens.
It doesn’t matter the size of the motor.I’m sure there are Civic owners that have reached the 600,000 mile mark.
Good point, old wrench; but the engine must be one with some design quality in it!
Remember in the sixties you could buy small European cars such as the Ford, Austin, GMs Vauxhalls, French Renaults, etc. All of them had engines that would need overhauls by about 60,000 miles. They had poor quality and long strokes.
The VW Beetle was the first one that with regular oil changes, would not burn out prematurely. A social worker in Alabama drove her 60s Beetle 700,000 miles and had two engine rebuilds; unheard of for a small car at that time.
Then later came good Japanese cars that had small engines that would last as long as many domestics. Other German cars also improved their engines mostly because Germans drive at very high speeds on their freeways.
With the same quality design, I agree small engines last just as long. One oil company in the Arctic specifies the smallest available engine in all their normal light vehicles; They warm up quicker, and last longer than big V8s.
If you’re using the oil specified, why would you change it twice as often? Riddle me that.
I’ve not heard of any car reaching a documented 600,000 without a rebuild of some type. Rumors, claims, sure, but serious documentation would be required. A Mercedes diesel with 1,500,000 on it had 6 engine rebuilds.
I rode in a cab a few years back that had just over 600,000 miles on it. It was a V8 Cadillac, rear drive, when they built them to last. The driver had bought it used with about 40,000 miles on it, and had been the only driver since.
Another very high mileage fleet car I rode in was an 80s Mercedes Turbodiesel in Malaysia, which had just over 1,000,000 kilometers (620,000 miles) on it. The company had similarly bought it used with low mileage. The turbo may have been replaced, but the engine was original, according to the driver.
There are a few more documented cases, but, I agree that reaching 600,000 miles without an engine overhaul requires a lot of highway driving and careful maintenance.
P.S.
Found a few more documented cases. Robert Derden of Madison, WI, bought a chauffer driven 1956 Cadillac and used it as a taxi. When last reported many years ago, the car had 850,000 miles on it and had only had a transmission replacement and normal maintenace; the engine was original and not overhauled. The owner was going for 1,000,000 miles; I hope he made it.Many regulars are likely familiar with this one.
There is a 1983 Toyota Celica with just under one million miles, originally from Nevada, and still going strong with the original engine intact.
A 1960 VW Beetle in the US went 850,000 miles and still completely “original”
Also, for owners and co-owners of these cars, I recommend the newer six-tip needles. Using this newer technology prevents those bothersome and wasteful “misses” and ensures that you hit something while using. BD offers them in 100 Unit syringes with the newer six-tipped needles pre-attached in sterile packaging. Good luck and don’t forget to wash your hands before you roll your cotton balls!
If the MINI is a Turbo model, a full synthetic is defintitely needed. Agree that driving style and not knowing how that 30,000 miles per year was accumalated raises a lot of questions.
The European oil change intervals are mainly driven by environmental concerns, and as a result, oils have substantial additive packages. Long engine life is not the priority.
However, I recently rented a car (Vauxhall) in England, and the interval was 20,000 MILES!!! I can’t imagine an oil made that would last that long and still provide LONG ENGINE life. The crankcase capacity ofthis car was only 4 liters.
Volkswagens have about a 10,000 mile interval or so. If you trade the car when the warranty expires, you will likely be OK. If you want the car to last, change at 5,000. A regular poster here often says; “oil is cheap, engines are expensive”.
To leave the oil in that long, especially if the engine is turbocharged is economic folly. Americans drive nearly twice as much as Europeans and accumulate 200,000 miles as a matter of course. Some engines are sludge prone as well, and frequent oil chnages help reduce this tendency.
Finally, the US has climate extremes; living in Minnesota and parking outside in the winter, as well as regularly driving across the US SW in summer represents conditions Europeans usually do not encounter.
However, ZombieWoof, feel free to put 10,000 miles on between oil changes on your turbochrged VW with city driving only in Phoenix. Or towing a trailer across the US.