Thread: 55,000km 4.5 year oil change

So I bought a 1999 LR Discovery 2 V8 about 3 weeks ago, bought it unseen from Christchurch and drove it back to the Waikato about 1100kms.
Drove really well and was impressed with the power and smoothness of the engine and gear box.
Just before my trip home I checked the usual things water level, oil etc and noticed the dipstick came out looking pretty black, as I usually only drive diesels I thought it a bit odd but didn't think too much of it.

I bought some oil and a filter to do the oil change and got to work last night after work, upon draining the oil I was a little concerned as the oil seemed to be a bit thinner than I would expect, was very black had and quite a bit of sludge. Thought that was definitely overdue an oil change.
Then the excitement really began, the oil filter felt like it was welded in place, is was so tight I bent my filter wrench all out of shape and had to use a long screwdriver to get more leverage on the strap wrench. Upon removing the filter I found some interesting information written on it.
See picture below:


If you can't read it, someone has written on it 139,153km and 27/2/13.
Now I assume this is when it was last changed, and considering that was 53,900km and 4 and a half years ago it's no wonder it was black and sludgy!

I had no option but to carry out the oil change with my current oil, which I did with no hiccups, no engine light and seemed to run ok.
I'm thinking of calling the previous owner and asking when he thinks the last oil change was done, he seemed a good guy and had taken great pride and care with the vehicle.
Not sure if the garage he took it too was ripping him off or if he was a good liar.

I'm likely going to change the oil and filter again after a few hundred kms, depending what the dipstick looks like.
I've not heard good things about doing engine flushes as they can sometimes do more harm than good, but I am toying with the idea of running diesel engine oil (of the same spec) through as have heard that the detergents can help with a sludgy engine and in some vehicles folk will run diesel oil anyway as has better anti-wear additives that modern petrol engine oil.


Let this be a warning to people buying second hand vehicles, do your home work and check the vehicle out thoroughly.
I usually try to view a vehicle before buying, but wasn't an option on this occasion.