Newcomer needs advice--thank you!

[stevefellegy]

Glad to find this forum! Thank you!

I recently purchased a 2004 Land Rover Discovery II SE with 135K on it and love it.

Two questions:

1. Can I use synthetic oil such as Shaefer oil in this engine without doing any damage? Any advice in that regard?

2. Do I have to use or better to use non-ethanol/non-oxygenated gas vs. regular?

THANK YOU!

Steve Fellegy
Lake Mille Lacs, Mn.

[stevefellegy]

Adding one more concern I have:

Not realizing it says "premium only", I filled the Rover with regular gas the first time and my service engine light came on--saying via the code that the oxygen sensor was the reason. Then I put premium in several fills but didn't know some premium has ethanol/oxygen in it and some does not. Now I have a station that sells non-ethanol/non-oxygenated gas and will use that from now on if need be. So---my light keeps coming on after being re-set. Do I need a new oxygen sensor or not worry about it?

Thanks!!

And sorry if my questions and or concerns have been covered here before...I appreciate any help/advice in this regard.

Steve Fellegy
Lake Mille Lacs, Mn.

[stevefellegy]

No answers or help? I realize these might be dumb questions but I am not a mechanic expert and need to feel good about maintaining my new ( to me) Rover. None of the mechanics in my area have any experience with these engines etc. that I know of or feel comfortable with.

Thanks again for any good advice in regard to my questions/ concerns in my two other posts.

Steve Fellegy
Lake Mille Lacs, Mn.

[Lowest Bidder]

Hello Steve,

I am a newcomer on this forum as well, and I did not sleep at a Holiday Inn last night.

Synthetic oil will not hurt your truck because chemically it's not so different from dyno oil apart from some impurities in dyno. Dyno oil has carbon chains of various sizes, because they can't filter it as much as they would like to. Synthetic oil is made chemically from scratch, and they can make carbon chains exactly the size they want for better lubrication and cooling. Carbon chains are like balls of different sizes, say golf balls and basket balls. If you were body surfing on a carpet made with balls of different sizes, it would not be as comfortable as surfing on a carpet composed entirely of golf balls. Same thing for lubrication.

I don't know Shaefer but I use Shell Rotella T6 full synth in everything I own that needs motor oil, including a 35 year old Honda motorcycle that I love dearly.

I wasn't aware that some premium fuels had ethanol in them, but I always use premium and I'll keep an eye on what's in it from now on. Using premium when the owner's manual says regular is useless, using regular when the manual says premium is asking for trouble.

You do not mention what code you got exactly, so it's kind of hard to comment on that.

Georges

[stevefellegy]

Thanks for the reply.

The code was saying it is the Oxygen Sensor. It comes on again after it is re-set --about 200 miles later--even though the "clear" gas is in place 100 percent. Maybe the first regular fill I put in this thing did that sensor in?

My concern about the synthetic oil comes from the fact that older high mile engines such as mine is now, might start leaking oil ( rear main seal etc. ) if synthetic is intro'd to it now after years of regular oil. Valid concern or not--I have no idea.

Thanks again. Any legit insight I get here is much appreciated.

[Lowest Bidder]

Well, engine oil is always the start of lively debate on any forum I have been a member of.

They say that since the carbon chains in synth are all the same size and pretty small, they can all pass where the larger carbon chains of dyno oil will not. But dyno oil contains those small carbon chains as well as bigger ones. So if there was seepage before with dyno oil, you could expect more flow through seals and gaskets with synth. Synth oil contains the same soaps and stabilizers and solvents than dyno so it's won't degrade the seals and gaskets any faster.

In any case, the problem is not the oil in itself, but the aging seals and gaskets.

[Sintonics]

Hi Steve,
I have had so many similar problems. Check your fuse box under the hood, fuse #2. should be a 15 amp. If its popped then most likely you will have a wire grounding out on one of the front two O2 sensors. possibly one of the rear two but check by unplugging the wire harness just above each sensor one at a time trying a new fuse until it no longer pops. then you will know which it is. then after you find it you can replace or just leave it unplugged and reset the computer. Now if in a couple days your engine light returns and a horrible smell hits you its time to get those convertors checked. That was my issue and I had to just do it myself cause three different garages charged me for nothing. they cant figure out fault codes... Do it yourself.

[stevefellegy]

Thanks for the advice...