[Jmy2008]

Hi all, I own a 2008 Jimny that has always had oil changes around the 6000km mark and have always used Nulon 5-30 fully synthetic oil.
My Jimny has only done 49000 kms and has never used oil until recently when I noticed that after 2000 kms from its last service the oil level has dropped about 2 mm on the dipstick. Most of these 2000 kms has been highway driving as I have just moved to SA and have been travelling from Vic to here and over here the limit is 110 and which means the Jimny is sitting on almost 4000 rpms. I sent an email to Suzuki Australia about this and a couple of other queries (which I will bring up) and they were no help stating that the correct oil is 0-20 and that I should consult a service centre for all the correct info. Only problem with this is I use to work at a major dealership that also included Suzuki and none of the service personnel or mechanics had any training or knowledge on Suzuki vehicles so that is why I have posted here.

Second part of gaining some info is when should I be changing my engine belts including the timing belt? I have not done many kilometres but my Jimny is coming up for her 5th birthday.

Thanks in advance, Paul

[joel]

Jimny manual says its acceptable to use 1 liter over 1000km so I wouldnt stress about 2 ml.

[Mike57]

Hi Paul

I have a 2009 model and done 21,000 km, so a little behind you. I have done some long trips up to the NT and done a lot of high revving as well on some high country trips. I never drive around the city and only do highway driving in order to get somewhere for wheeling. I have never had to add oil to my engine. Sitting on 4,000 RPM all day should not be a problem, we all do that on long trips. I use Castrol Magnatec 10W-40 which a little heavier than the one you are using?

I am no expert in this area but I would think that as any engine wears it can be expected to consume a little oil but 49,000km is still pretty new. Maybe try a slightly heavier oil. I assume you checked for leaks. I change mine every 6 months or so because I don't do enough km to go by that.

As for belts that info should be in the maintenance section of your manual. Mine says to replace at 80,000km. You can just inspect the external belts for wear and tightness. Replace them if they are becoming slack or frayed. For the timing belt my book says to replace every 100,000 km.

Mike

[Jmy2008]

joel wrote:

Jimny manual says its acceptable to use 1 liter over 1000km so I wouldnt stress about 2 ml.

Sorry, the oil level has dropped by 2mm not used 2ml.
Cheers, Paul

[Jmy2008]

Thanks Mike, reply appreciated.
Paul

[droverdave]

2mm is hardly anything mate, top it up and see how it goes.

Timing belts, have a km life and a year life specified from the factory.

no idea what suzuki specifies, but subaru for example is 5yrs or 100,000km, whatever comes first.

Timing belt is not a big job on a suzuki anyway, rwd small capacity engines make timing belts nice and easy.

[Jezza86]

oil degrades through its life cycle and different components of the oil actually wear differently. old oils thin out and break down, and lots of round town driving means that the thinned out broken down oils stay in the engine. highway driving (or towing, or heavy loads over a long period) puts more stress on the oil, and this causes the finer, thinner, damaged oils to flash off first. what this means on a dip stick is after a lot of local driving, doing a big trip on old oil you can see a noticeable drop in volume.

the damaged oils are more volatile, but still lubricate decently. if your getting to the end of a 6000k change cycle then this is why you would have only seen 2ml disappear. if you were changing oil at 15000K intervals you might think you actually have a leak or something else dodgy going on.

finaly, i can use my chemistry for something zook related

[Jmy2008]

Once again Gents, thank you for the replies and advice.

Paul