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The Engine Oil Bible I am a pro-car, pro-motorbike petrolhead into basic maintenance. This s ite is self-published to s pread my knowledge. knowledge. By reading these these pages, you agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless harmless the author, any spons ors and/or site providers agains t any and all claims , damages, costs or other expenses that aris e directly or indirectly from you fiddling fiddling with your vehicle as a result of what you read here. If you hurt your vehicle or yours elf, don't blame me. Translated versions of this site:

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Spare Parts hdxperts.dk Spare parts for Diesel Engines CAT® & Cummins® Page Navigation Engine oil basics/rea ding the W numbers/Sludge/Shelf life

High mileage oils/oil pre pressurisation/viscosit pressurisation/viscosity/oil y/oil changes

How much do you value the engine in your car? The life of your engine depends in no small part on the quality of the oil you put in it - oil is its lifeblood. People typically don't pay much attention to their oil - oil is oil, right? In the bad old days, maybe, but engine oil underwent something of a revolution in the 80's and 90's when hot hatches, 16-valve engines and turbos started to become popular. Combined with the devast ating problems problems of black death the death the days of one oil catering for everyone were over. Take Castrol for example. T hey led the field for years with their GTX mineral oil. This was eventually surpassed by semi-synthetic and fully synthetic oils, including GTX2 and GTX3 Lightec. Those were surpassed by Formula SLX and most recently, Castrol GTX Magnatec. All manufacturers have a similar broad spectrum of oils now - I just mention Castrol in particular as they're my oil of choice for my own cars.

What does my oil actually do? Your engine oil performs many functions. It stops all the metal surface surfaces s in your your engine from from grinding t ogethe ogetherr and t earing themse t hemselves lves apart from friction, and it transfers heat away from the combustion cycle. Engine oil must also be able to hold in suspension all the nasty by-products of combustion like silica (silicon oxide) and acids. Finally, engine oil minimises the exposure to oxygen and thus oxidation at higher temperatures. It does all of these things under tremendous tremendous heat and pressure. If your Mustang heads are heads are in need of repair, check out AmericanMuscle.com

How do I read the numbers around the 'W'? For example example 5W40? As oils heat up, they generally get thinner. Single grade oils get too thin when hot for most modern engines which which is where multigrade multigrade oil comes in. in. T he idea is simple simple - use scienc e and physics to prevent the base oil from getting too thin when it gets hot. The number before the 'W' is the 'cold' viscosity rating of the oil, and the number after the 'W' is the 'hot' viscosity rating. So a 5W40 oil is one that behaves like a 5-rated single grade oil when cold, but doesn't thin any more than a 40-rated single grade oil when hot. The lower the 'winter' number (hence the 'W'), the easier the engine will turn over when starting in cold climates. There's more detail on this later in the page under both viscosity viscosity,, and SAE ratings. ratings .

A quick guide to the different grades of oil. Fully Sy nthetic 0W-30 0W-40 5W-40

And another thing about brakes.... Following on from last week's post : there is no excuse, ever , for using your brakes in a line of steady-flowing traffic. Being a nervous Nellie and tapping your brakes, even for a moment, causes your brake lights to come on, causing the person behind you to think you're slowing down, meaning they're likely to apply their brakes too. And so on back down the line until, on a motorway, about a mile behind you the traffic will come to a complete stop and your nervous driving has caused a phantom traffic jam for no reason. The answer to this is simple : take your foot off the accelerator. The car will slow down - trust me. It doesn't matter if you're driving a manual or an automatic - once you take your foot off that pedal, the car will slow down. Not as much as it does with the brakes, but enough, in normal traffic, to accommodate the slight variations in speed and following distances that you get on motorways and main roads. Of course the reason this happens, for the most part, is because (a)people are just not taught to drive properly any more and (b)people spend so much time texting, using their phone or otherwise being distracted whilst in their mobile entertainment complexes that when they finally do look out the window, they realise they're a bit too close to the person in front. So I'm with Jeremy Clarkson on this one - people who brake in steady flowing traffic need to be taken outside and shot.

Fuel ec onom onomy y sav ings Enhances engine performance performance and power Ensures Ensur es engine is protec ted from wear and deposit build-up build-up Ensures Ensur es good cold st arting and quick circulation in freezing temperatures temperatures Gets to moving parts of the engine quickly C harac te ristic s Better pro Better protec tec tion Good protection within the first 10 minutes after starting out Roughly Rough ly three t im imes es bet ter at reducing engine engine wear Increased oil change intervals - don't need to change it quite so often

Mineral 10W- 40 40

03/24/2014 07:00 AM

C harac te ristic s

Se mi- sy nthetic 5W-30 10W-40 15W-40

Latest blog entry

C harac te ristic s Basic pr prot ec ec ti tion for a va variet y of en engines

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Car Bibles : The Engine Oil Bible 15W- 40

Oil needs t o be c hanged more oft en

What the heck was Black Death? Black Death first appeared in the early 80's when a sticky black substance was found to be the cause of many engine seizures in Europe. It was extremely frustrating for vehicle owners because dealers and mechanics had no idea what was going on. Black Death just wasn't covered under insurance - if your engine had it, you paid to fix it yourself. Many engines were affected but Ford and Vauxhall (GM) suffered the most. Faster roads, higher under-hood temperatures, tighter engineering tolerances and overworked engine oils turned out to be contributors to the problem. The oils just couldn't handle it and changed their chemical makeup under pressure into a sort of tar-like glue. This blocked all the oil channels in the engines, starved them of lubrication and caused them to seize. I don't recommend this but you can reproduce the effect with a frying pan, cooking oil and a blowtorch. The cooking oil will heat up far quicker than it's designed to and will turn to a sticky black tar in your pan. Either that or it will set fire to your kitchen, which is why I said "don't do this". Anyway, burning kitchens aside, Black Death was the catalyst for the production of newer higher quality oils, many of them man-made rather t han mineral-based.

Black death for the 21 st century There's a snappy new moniker for Black Deat h now: sludge. T he c ause is t he same as Black Death and it seems to be regardless of maintenance or mileage. The chemical compounds in engine oils break down over time due to prolonged exposure to high temperatures and poor maintenance habits. When the oil oxidises, t he additives separate from it and begin t o c hemically break down and solidify, leading to the baked-on oil deposits turning gelatinous, like black yoghurt. What doesn't help is that due to packaging, modern engines have smaller sumps t han their older c ounterparts, a nd so hold less oil. This lower volume of oil can't hold as much crap (for want of a better word) and that can lead to earlier chemical breakdown. The most common factor in sludge buildup is a combination of mineral oils, a lack of maintenance by the car owner and harsh driving conditions. However, a 2005 Consumer Reports article discovered that some engines from Audi, Chrysler, Saab, Toyota, and Volkswagen appear prone to sludge almost no matter how often the oil is changed.

What does sludge look like? I was contacted by a BMW driver who had been having a particularly harsh time with sludge and was discussing it on the Bimmerfest forums. He posted some images of his problem and other readers posted similarly-framed images of the same engine components in "normal" condition. Here are two of those photos. On the left is what the cam case should look like in a well maintained engine when photographed through the oil filler cap. On the right is what the same type of engine looks like when suffering sludge buildup. In this example, the consensus was that the sludge buildup was caused by an overheating engine, oil that hadn't been changed for 20,000 miles of stop-go city driving, a lot of cold starts and a period of about 12 months in storage without an oil change. Pic ture credit: Ketchup at the Bimmerfest forums

Curing sludge There are no hard and fast rules for curing an engine of sludge buildup. If it's really bad, flushing the engine might be the only cure, but that could also cause even more problems. If flushing the engine results in bits of sludge getting lodged where they can do more damage, you're actually worse off. It's interesting to note that some race techs have reported sludge buildup in race engines as a result of afte rmarket additives being used in conjunct ion with the regular oil. The chemical c omposition of t he additives isn't as neutral as some companies would lead us to believe, and combined with particular types of oil and high-stress driving, they can cause oil breakdown and sludge to appear. The lesson from them appears to be "don't use additives".

When is sludge not sludge? Easy; when it's an oil and water emulsion from a leaking or blown head gasket. If this happens, you get a whitish cream coloured sludge on the inside of the oil filler cap that looks like vanilla yoghurt or mayonnaise. The cap is typically cooler than the rest of the cam case and so the oil/water mix tends to condense there. If the underside of your filler cap has this sort of deposit on it, chances are the engine has a blown head gasket. A surefire way to confirm this is if your oil level is going up and your coolant level is going down. The coolant gets through the breaks in the head gasket and mixes with the oil. When it gets to the sump it separates out and the oil floats on top. A more accurate way to check for this condition is to use a combustion leak tester, or block tester. If you're in America, NAPA sell them for about $45 (part #BK 7001006). If you're in England, Sealey sell them for about £70 (model number VS0061). Combustion leak testers are basically a turkey baster filled with PH liquid, with a non-return valve at the bottom. To use one, run your engine for a few minutes until its warm (not hot) then turn it off. Use a protective glove (like an oven glove) and take the radiator or reservoir cap off. Plug the bottom of the combustion leak tester into the hole and squeeze the rubber bulb on top. It will suck air from the top of the c oolant t hrough the non-return valve and bubble it through the PH liquid. If t he liquid changes c olour (normally blue to yellow), it means there is c ombustion gas in the c oolant which means a head gasket leak. There is one other possible cause for the mayonnaise: a blocked scavenger hose. Most engines have a hose that comes off the cam cover and returns to the engine block somewhere via a vacuum line. This is the scavenger hose that scavenges oil vapour and gasses that build up in the cam cover. If it's blocked you can end up with a buildup of condensation inside the cam cover, which can manifest itself as the yellow goop inside the filler cap.

Note:

VW / Audi sludge problems While the the 1.8T engines in Audi A4's, Audi TT, VW Passat, Jetta, Golf, New Bettle, are all very prone to sludge build-up, Audi/VW does not have an extended warranty for them from the factory. The factory warranty is 4 year/50,000 miles but it can be extended if purchased. Although Audi/VW now has 10,000 mile service intervals, oil changes can be done between "services", and should be done if the vehicle is

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Car Bibles : The Engine Oil Bible driven in heavy traffic, offroad, and non-highway use. Also, Audi/ VW will only warrant an engine if the customer has proof of all their oil changes. As of 2004 I belive all 1.8T engines must use synthetic oil. So if you own one of these sludge-prone engines, what can you do? Obviously, Volkswagen Audi Group (VAG) states that you use only VW/Audi recommended oil. You should also keep up on your oil changes, making them more frequent if you drive hard or haul a lot of cargo. The most important thing for the VW or Audi owner is this: if the oil light comes on and beeps the high pitch beep that almost everyone ignores, pull over and shut the engine down immediately. Many VAG engines can be saved by this procedure. Have the vehicled towed to a VAG dealer. Their standard procedure is to inspect the cam bearings; if they're not scored, the oil pan will be removed and cleaned out and all the crankcase breather hoses and the oil pickup tube will be replaced. They'll do an oil pressure test with a mechanical gauge, and hopefully will also replace the turbo lines. Finally, the turbo will be checked for bearing free-play. The VAG turbos run really hot even with proper oil and coolant supply - that's why you need a good quality synthetic in them.

Toyota sludge problems For their part, Toyota have the dubious honour of having the most complaints about sludge buildup in their engines - over 5,000 in 2008 alone. At the time of writing there is a class action suit going on against them. Details can be found at www.oilgelsettlement.com

Saab sludge problems For an example of sludge in a Saab 9 5 Aero with only 42,000 miles on it, you might be interested to read my case study on this engine, put together with the help of a reader. Our sludge case study . Like the site? The page you're reading is free, but if you like what you see and feel you've learned something, a small donation to help pay down my car loan would be appreciated. Thank you.

Mineral or synthetic motor oil? Mineral oils are based on oil that comes from dear old Mother Earth which has been refined. Synthetic oils are mostly concocted by chemists wearing white lab coats in oil company laboratories. The only other type is semi-synthetic, sometimes called premium, which is a blend of the two. It is safe to mix the different types, but it's wiser to switch completely to a new type rather than mixing.

Synthetics Despite their name, most synthetic derived motor oils (ie Mobil 1, Castrol Formula RS etc) are actually derived from mineral oils - they are mostly Polyalphaolifins and these come from the purest part of the mineral oil refraction process, the gas. PAO oils will mix with normal mineral oils which means you can add synt hetic to mineral, or mineral to synt hetic without y our engine seizing up (although I've heard Mobil 1 is ac tually made by reformulating ethanol). These bases are pretty stable, and by stable I mean 'less likely to react adversely with other compounds' because they tend not to contain reactive carbon atoms. Reactive carbon has a tendency to combine with oxygen creating an acid. (As you can imagine, in an oil this would be A Bad Thing.) They also have high viscosity indices and high temperature oxidative stability. Typically a small amount of diester synthetic (a compound containing two ester groups) is added to counteract seal swell too. These diesters act as a detergent and will attack carbon residuals. So think of synthetic oils as custom-built oils. They're designed to do the job efficiently but without any of the excess baggage that can accompany mineral based oils.

Pure synthetics Pure synthetic oils (polyalkyleneglycol) are the types used almost exclusively within the industrial sector in polyglycol oils for heavily loaded gearboxes. These are typically concocted by even more intelligent blokes in even whiter lab coats. These chaps break apart the molecules that make up a variety of substances, like vegetable and animal oils, and then recombine the individual atoms that make up those molecules to build new, synthetic molecules. This process allows the chemists to actually "fine tune" the molecules as they build them. Clever stuff. But Polyglycols don't mix with normal mineral oils. While we're on synthetic oils, I should mention Amsoil. They contacted me and asked to point out the following: Amsoil do NOT pro duce or market oil a dditives and do not wish t o be assoc iated with oil additives. They are a formulator of synthetic lubricants for automotive and industrial applications and have been in business for 30+ years. They are not a half-hour infomercial or fly-by-night product, nor have they ever been involved in a legal suit regarding their product claims in that 30+ year span. Many Amsoil products are API certified, and ALL of our products meet and in most cases exceed the specifications of ILSAC, AGMA etc. Their lubricants also exceed manufacturers specifications and Amsoil are on many manufacturers approval lists. They base their claims on ASTM certified tests and are very open to anyone, with nothing to hide. Amsoil recommend engine oil additives are NOT to be used with their products. They have a pretty good FAQ on the Amsoil website: Amsoil FAQ (external link). T here is also a partic ularly good page talking about testing Amsoil in taxis.

If I put new, fully synthetic oil in my older engine, will the seals leak? This question comes up a lot from people who've just bought a used vehicle and are wanting to start their history with the car on fresh oil. The s hort answer: generally speaking, not any more. The caveat is that your engine must be in good working order and not be leaking right now. If that's the case, most modern oils are fully compatible with the elastomeric materials that engine seals are made from, and you shouldn't have any issues with leaks. The longer answer:

Mixing Mineral and Synthetic oils - current thinking Here's the current thinking on the subject of mixing mineral and synthetic oils. This information is based on the answer to a technical question posed on the Shell Oil website: There is no s cientific data to support the idea that mixing mineral and synthet ic oils will damage your engine. When switc hing from a mineral oil to a synthetic, or vice versa, you will potentially leave a small amount of residual oil in the engine. That's perfectly okay because synthetic oil and mineral-based motor oil are, for the most part, compatible with each other. (The exception is pure synthetics. Polyglycols don't mix with normal mineral oils.) There is also no problem with switc hing bac k and forth betw een synthet ic and mineral based oils. In fact , people who are "in the know" and who operate engines in areas where temperature fluctuations can be especially extreme, switch from mineral oil to synthetic oil for the colder months. T hey t hen switc h bac k to mineral oil during the warmer months.


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Car Bibles : The Engine Oil Bible There was a time, years ago, when switching between synthetic oils and mineral oils was not recommended if you had used one product or the other for a long period of time. People experienced problems with seals leaking and high oil consumption but changes in additive chemistry and seal material have taken care of those issues. And that's an important caveat. New seal technology is great, but if you're still driving around in a c ar from the 80's with its original seals, then t his argument bec omes a bit of a moot point - your seals are st ill going to be subject to the old leakage problems no matter what newfangled additives the oil companies are putting in their products.

Flushing oils These are special compound oils that are very, very thin. They almost have the consistency of tap water both when cold and hot. Typic ally they a re 0W/20 oils. T heir purpose is for c leaning out a ll the gunk which builds up inside an engine. Some hybrid vehicles now require 0W20, so if you're a hybrid driver, check your owner's manual. Also I believe Honda switched to recommending 0W20 in 2011 to meet their CAFE ratings (thinner oil gives less drag on engine parts which improves - fractionally - the mpg). If you look at 2010 models vs 2011, you'll see things like the Element and CR-V getting a tiny mpg boost in the official figures despite being the exact same car. They achieved this by remapping the gearbox shift points and dropping the cold viscosity rating on the oil. In reality unless you live in northern Alaska, or do an above average number of cold-start short journeys, 5W20 ought t o be more than suitable.

Note:

Do I need a flushing oil? Unless there's something seriously wrong with your engine, like you've filled it with milk or shampoo, you really ought never to need a flushing oil. If you do decide to do an oil flush, there's two ways of doing it. You can either use a dedicated flushing oil, or a flushing additive in your existing oil. Either way it's wise to change the filter first so you have a clean one to collect all the gunk. (This typically means draining the oil or working fast). Once you have a new filter in place, and the flushing oil (or flushing solution) in there, run the engine at a fast idle for about 20 minutes. Finally, drain all this off (and marvel at the crap that comes out with it), replace the oil filter again, refill with a good synthetic oil and voila! Clean(er) engine. For the curious amongst you, looking in the oil filter that was attached when you did the flush will be an educational exercise in the sort of debris that used to be in your engine. Of course, like most things nowadays, there's a condition attached when using flushing oils. In an old engine you really don't want to remove all the deposits. Some of these deposits help seal rings, lifters and even some of the flanges between the heads, covers, pan and the block, where the gaskets are thin. I have heard of engines with over 280,000km that worked fine, but when flushed, failed in a month because the blow-by past the scraper ring (now really clean) contaminated the oil and ruined the rod bearings.

Using Diesel oil for flushing A question came up some time ago about using diesel-rated oils to flush out petrol engines. The idea was that because of the higher detergent levels in diesel engine oil, it might be a good c leaner / flusher for a non-diesel engine. Well most of t he diesel oil specificat ion oils can be used in old petrol engines for cleaning, but you want to use a low specification oil to ensure that you do not over clean your engine and lose compression (for example). Generally speaking, an SAE 15W/40 diesel engine oil for about 500 miles might do the trick.

Which oil should you buy? (the short version) That all depends on your car, your pocket and how you intend to drive and service the car. All brands claim theirs offers the best protection available - until they launch a superior alternative. It's like washing powders - whiter than white until new Super-Nukem-Dazzo comes out. For most motorists and most cars, a quality mainstream oil is the best, like Castrol GTX. Moving up a step, you could look at Duckhams QXR and Castrol Protection Plus and GTX3 Lightec. The latter two of these are designed specifically for engines with catalytic converters. They're also a good choice for GTi's and turbo engines. Go up a step again and you're looking at synthetic oils aimed squarely at the performance market like Mobil-1. To help you through the maze of oils available, there's a site available now (the motor o il evaluator) that aims to lessen the confusion with a relatively balanced scoring system based on published specifications such as viscosity and pour point. It's a good starting point if you're looking for even more in-depth info.

Which oil should you buy? (the long version) Quality Counts! It doesn't matter what sort of fancy marketing goes into an engine oil, or how many naked babes smear it all over their bodies, or how bright and colourful the packaging is, it's what's written on the packaging that counts. Specifications and approvals are everything. There are two established testing bodies. The API (American Petroleum Institute), and the European counterpart, the ACEA (Association des Constructeurs Europeens d'Automobiles - replaced CCMC in 1996). You've probably never heard of either of them, but their stamp of approval will be seen on the side of every reputable can of engine oil. The API The API classifications are different for petrol and diesel engines: For pet rol, listings st art w ith 'S' (meaning Service category, but you can also think of it as Spark-plug ignition), followed by another code to denote standard. 'SN' is the current top grade but 'SH' is still the most popular. For diesel oils, the first letter is 'C' (meaning Commercial category, but you can also think of it as Compression ignition). 'CJ' is the highest grade at the moment, (technically CJ-4 for heavy-duty) but 'CH' is the most popular and is well adequate for passenger vehicle a pplica tions.

Note:

Castrol recently upgraded all their oils and for some reason, Castrol diesels now use the 'S' rating, thus completely negating my little aid-memoir above. So the older CC,CD,CE and CF ratings no longer exist, but have been replaced by an 'SH' grade diesel oil. This link is a service bulletin from Castrol, explaining the situation.

The CCMC/ACEA The ACEA standards are prefixed with an 'A' for petrol engines, 'B' for passenger car diesel, 'C' for diesel with particulate filter, or 'E' for heavy-duty diesel. (The older CCMC specifications were G,D and PD respectively). The ACEA grades may also be followed by the year of issue which will be either '04 or '07 (current). Coupled with this are numerous approvals by c ar manufac turers which many oil cont ainers sport with pride. The full ACEA specs are: A1 Fuel Economy Petrol † A2 St andard performance level


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Car Bibles : The Engine Oil Bible A3 A5 B1 B2 B3 B4 B5

High performance and / or extended drain Fuel economy petrol with extended drain capability † Fuel Economy diesel † Standard performance level (now obsolete) High performance and / or extended drain For direct inject ion passenger car diesel engines Fuel economy diesel with extended drain capability †

† Not suitable for all engines - should ONLY be used in engines specifying this fuel efficient grade. Refer to the manufacturer handbook of contact your local dealer if you're not sure. Mineral oils: E1 E2 E3 E5 E7

Non-turbo charged light duty diesel Standard performance level High performance extended drain (1999) High performance / long drain plus American/API performances. - This is ACEAs f irst att empt at a global spec . Euro 4 engines - exhaust aft er treatment (EGR / SCR)

Part / full synthetic oils: E4 Higher performance and longer extended drain E6 Euro 4 specification - low SAPS for vehicles with PDF (see below) Low SAPS diesel (Sulphated Ash, Phosphorous, Sulphur) For diesel engines fitted with a diesel particulate filter (DPF) - a filter unit in the exhaust that takes out the microscopic soot particles. Regular diesel oils used in engines that have a DPF can cause the filter to become blocked with ash. C1 Low SAPS (0.5% ash) fuel efficient C2 Mid SAPS (0.8% ash) fuel efficient, performance C3 Mid SAPS (0.8% ash) Many OEM are now using their own specifications to capture these specifications. eg. Mercedes 229.31/51, BMW Longlife 04, VW 507 00 etc. There is also a trend now towards manufacturers requiring their own specifications - in this case the OEM specification is the one that needs to be adhered to. If it says BMW Longlife 04, the oil must say this on the pack to be suitable for use. Typically, these markings will be found in a statement similar to: Meets the requirements of API SH/CD along the label somewhere. Also, you ought to be able to see the API Service Symbol somewhere on the packaging:

Beware the fake API symbol Some unscrupulous manufacturers (and there's not many left that do this) will put a symbol on their packaging designed to look like the API symbol without actually being the API symbol. They do this in an effort to pump up the 'quality' of their product by relying on people not really knowing exactly what the proper API symbol should look like. To the left is an example of a fake symbol - it looks similar but as long as you remember what to look for, you won't get taken by this scam. Amsoil are one of the biggest inadvertent offenders of the fake API symbol. Take a look at one of their labels here on the right. See that little starburst that says "Fuel efficient formula SL-CF"? It's actually not an API-certified SL or CF oil. (To be fair, some Amsoil product s are API certified and they do have the correct labelling, but their top-tier products do not). The issue of their lack of API certification on these products caused such a stir at Amsoil that they had to generate a FAQ to answer the most commonly-asked questions. You can find a copy of that here : Amsoil & API Licensing. It explains everything logcially and clearly, and it's not scientific doublespeak. Which is nice. A Brief History of Time API ratings Some people have asked about the old standards, and although they're not especially relevant, some rampant plagiarism from an API service bulletin means I can bring you all the API ratings right back from when the earth was cooling. the table below to see the ratings. Petrol Engines Category Status

Service

Diesel Engines Category Status

CJ-4


Service

Introduced in 2006 for high-speed four-stroke engines. Designed to meet 2007 on-highway exhaust emission standards. CJ-4 oils are compounded for use in all applications with diesel fuels ranging in sulphur content up to 500ppm (0.05% by weight). However, use of these oils with greater than Current 15ppm sulfur fuel may impact exhaust aftertreatment system durability and/or oil drain intervals. CJ-4 oils are effective at sustaining emission control system durability where particulate filters and other advanced aftertreatment systems are used. C J-4 oils exceed the performance criteria of C F4, CG-4, CH-4 and CI-4.

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Introduced in 2002 for high-speed four-stroke engines. Designed to meet 2004 exhaust emission Current standards implemented in 2002. C I-4 oils are formulated to sustain engine durability where e xhaust gas recirculation (EGR) is used and are intented for use with diesel fuels ranging in sulphur content up to 0.5% weight. Can be used in place of C D, CE, C F-4, CG-4 and CH-4

SM

For all automotive engines presently in Current use. Introduced in the API service symbol in November 2004

CH-4

Introduced in 1998 for high-speed four-stroke engines. CH-4 oils are specifically designed for use Current with diesel fuels ranging in sulphur content up to 0.5% weight. Can be used in place of C D, C E, CF4 and CG-4.

SL

Still current but nearly obsolete

For all automotive engines presently in use. Introduced in the API service symbol in 1998

CG-4

Introduced in 1995 for high-speed four-stroke engines. CG -4 oils are specifically designed for use Current with diesel fuels ranging in sulphur content less than 0.5% weight. C G-4 oil needs to be used for engines meeting 1994 emission standards. Can be used in place of CD , CE and C F-4.

SJ

Still current but nearly obsolete

For all automotive engines presently in use. Introduced in the API service symbol in 1996

CF-4

Current

SH

Obsolete

For model year 1996 and older engines.

CF-2

Current Introduced in 1994 for severe duty, two stroke motorcycle engines. C an be used in place o f CD -II.

SG

Obsolete


CF

Current

Introduced in 1994 for off-road, indirect-injected and other diese l engines including those using fuel over0.5% weight sulphur. Can be used in place of C D.

SF

Obsolete


CE

Obsolete

Introduced in 1987 for high-speed four-stroke naturally aspirated and turbo engines. C an be used in place of CC and CD.

SE

Obsolete


CD-II

SD

Obsolete


CD

Obsolete Introduced in 1955 for certain naturally aspirated and turbo engines.

SC

Obsolete


CC

Obsolete Introduced in 1961 for all diesels.

SB

For older engines. Use this only when Obsolete specifically recommended by the manufacturer.

CB

Obsolete Introduced in 1949 for moderate-duty engines.

SA

For much older engines with no performance requirement. Use this Obsolete only when specifically recommended by the manufacturer.

CA

Obsolete Introduced in 1940 for light-duty engines.

SN

For all automotive Current engines presently in use. Introduced in the API service symbol in November 2010

Introduced in 1990 for high-speed four-stroke naturally aspirated and turbo engines. C an be used in place of CD and CE.

Obsolete Introduced in 1987 for two-stroke motorcycle engines.

Grade counts too!The API/ACEA ratings only refer to an oil's quality. For grade, you need to look at the SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) ratings. These describe the oil's function and viscosity standard. Viscosity means the substance and clinging properties of the lubricant. When cold, oil can become like treacle so it is important that any lube is kept as thin as possible. Its cold performance is denoted by the letter 'W', meaning 'winter'. At the other end of the scale, a scorching hot oil can be as thin as water and about as useful too. So it needs to be as thick as possible when warm. Thin when cold but thick when warm? That's where MultiGrade oil comes in. For ages, good old 20W/50 was the oil to have. But as engines progressed and tolerances decreased, a lighter, thinner oil was required, espec ially w hen c old. Thus 15W/50, 15W/40 and even 15W/30 oils are now commonplace.

The question of phosphorus and zinc. Phosphorus (a component of ZDDP - Zinc Dialkyl-Dithio-Phosphate) is the key component for valve train protection in an engine and 1600ppm (parts per million) used t o be t he sta ndard for phosphorus in engine oil. In 1996 the EPA f orced t hat t o be dropped t o 800ppm and then more recently (2004?) to 400ppm - a quarter of the original spec. Valvetrains and their components are not especially cheap to replace and this drop in phosphorus content has been a problem for many engines (especially those with flat-tappet type cams). So why was the level dropped? Money. Next to lead, it's the second most destructive substance to shove through a catalytic converter. The US government mandated a 150,000 mile liftime on catalytic converters and the quickest way to do that was to drop phosphorous levels and bugger the valvetrain problem. Literally. In the US, Mobil 1 originally came out with the 0W40 as a 'European Formula' as it was always above 1000 ppm. This initially got them out of the 1996 800ppm jam and knowledgeable consumers sought it out for obvious reasons. Their 15W50 has also maintained a very high level of phosphorus and all of the extended life Mobil synthetics now have at least 1000ppm. How do they get away with this? They're not classified as energy/fuel conserving oils and thus do not interfere with the precious government CAFE (corporate average fuel economy) ratings. (See my section on the EPA and fuel economy in the Fuel and Engine Bible for more info on this). This also means that they don't get the coveted ratings of other oils but they do protect your valvetrain. The same rule of thumb is true for racing oils like Royal Purple because they're not classified as energy / fuel conserving, it would seem they still contain good quantities of ZDDP. In fact, as a general rule-of-thumb, staying away from XX-30 oils and going to 10W-40 or higher might be the way to go if you have an older engine. 10W-40 and above is generally also not c onsidered to be 'gas saving' and like the Mobil example above, doesn't mess with the CAFE rating. If you live in England, Castrol market a product with ZDDP in the product description - 'Castrol Classic Oil With ZDDP Anti-Wear Additive' although it's not mainstream enough to be available everywhere. You'll have to find a specialist dealer. Castrol Classics. In the US, Rislone manufacture an oil supplement to boost the ZDDP content of your existing oil. Rislone Engine Oil Supplement .

API rating backward compatibility and 2V engines This sec tion contains information from Bruce Danc e, Brian over at bigcoupe.com and LN Engineering and their combined experience with API ratings and 2 valve engines

If you own a two-valve spark ignition engine or certain diesel engines (which do not have to meet recent emission standards) the only sensible (ie widely available) oil to put in right now is synthetic or semisynthetic to meet API SL/CF and not a higher rating. As I touched upon above, oils with a CG and higher rating typically don't contain enough ZDDP, and the replacement friction modifiers don't work in


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Car Bibles : The Engine Oil Bible

highly loaded valve trains (generally older engines especially those with 2V design). If you try to compensate by adding a ZDDP additive into a newer oil it still might not work because of interactions with other additives in the oil. Why the discrepancy in the ratings? The API no longer include a valve train wear test that accurately simulates 2V cam follower loading. They do perform a test that simulates 4V loading and then they allow a lot of wear to occur and still 'pass'. The ACEA tests are a lot tougher but still not tough enough. Whilst the newer CG, CH and higher API oil standards should be 'better in every way', they are really just 'improved in some ways '. Hence t he increasing use of manufact urer-spe cific standards. There is a lot of info kicking around on the web on this topic because it has caused a LOT of problems with some engines especially Porsche aircooled units. One of my readers found out when he went to buy oil for his (modern 4V common rail diesel) Nissan that they expressly prohibit t he use of CG or higher rated oils. Nissan mandate that owners use CF oils in these engines. It's worth noting that the CF spec was already out of date when these engines were built but Nissan did not use the latest API spec because it wasn't good enough! The fact that API have dropped the CF tests/standard does not in any way improve the later oils that do not meet this standard.

Marine Diesels and other special considerations. Inland Marine Diesels (and certain road vehicles under special conditions) can (and do) glaze their bores due the low cylinder wall temperatures causing the oil (and more importantly the additive pack) to undergo a chemical change to a varnish-like substance. The low temperature is caused by operat ing under light load fo r long periods. This is related to engine design, some engines being nearly immune to it and others susceptible. The old Sherpa van diesel engines were notorious for this problem. The "cure" (such as it is) is to use a low API specification oil, such as CC. Certain engine manufacturers/marinisers are now marketing the API CC oil for this purpose under their own name (and at a premium). You'll find some modern engines where its industrial/vehicle manual states API CF and the marinised manual states API CC/CD. {Thanks to Tony Brooks for this information.}

Marine Oils. I sometimes get asked "why are marine engine oils so expensive and why can't I just use regular motor oil in my marine engine instead?". Well, the National Marine Manufacturers Assoc iation Oil Certificat ion Committee ( click here for more info ) introduced a four-stroke engine oil test and standard called the 4T certification. This specification is meant to assist boaters and manufacturers in identifying four-stroke cycle engine oils that have been specially formulated to withstand the rigors of marine engine operation. The certification was prompted by the growing influence of four-st roke engines in t he marine market and t heir unique lubricat ion demands. So the simple answer is t hat regular road-based engine oil products don't contain rust inhibitors and won't pass the 4T certification. Lakes, waterways and the sea are a lot more aggressive an environment f or an engine to operate around t han on land. Note : the NMMA have long had a similar specification for 2-stroke oils destined for marine use, called the TC-W3® certification.

The eBay problem This paragraph may seem a little out of place but I have had a lot of problems with a couple of eBay members (megamanuals and lowhondaprelude) stealing my work, turning it into PDF files and selling it on eBay. Generally, idiots like this do a copy/paste job so they won't notice this paragraph here. If you're reading this and you bought this page anywhere other than from my website at www.carbibles.com, then you have a pirated, copyright-infringing copy. Please send me an email as I am building a case file against the people doing this. Go to www.carbibles.com to see the full site and find my contact details. And now, back to the meat of the subject.... Like the site? The page you're reading is free, but if you like what you see and feel you've learned something, a small donation to help pay down my car loan would be appreciated. Thank you.

Engine oil / Motor oil Shelf Life. I couldn't decide whether to put this in the FAQ or the main page, so it's in both, because I get asked this question a lot. Typically, the question is along the lines of "GenericAutoSuperStor e are having a sale on WickedlySlippy Brand synthetic oil. If I buy it now, how long can I keep if before I use it?" In general, liquid lubricants (ie. oils, not greases) will remain intac t for a number of years. The main factor af fec ting t he life of the oil is t he storage condition for the products. Exposure to extreme temperature changes, and moisture will reduce the shelf life of the lubricants. (an increase of 10°C doubles oxidation which halves the shelf life) ie. don't leave it in the sun with the lid off. Best to keep them sealed and unopened. Technically, engine oils have shelf lives of four to five years. However, as years pass, unused engine oils can become obsolete and fail to meet the technical requirements of current engines. The specs get updated regularly based on new scientific testing procedures and engine requirements. But t his is only really a c oncern if you've bought a brand new car but hav e engine oil you bought for t he previous car. An oil that is a number of y ears old might not be formulated t o meet t he requirements set for your newer engine. If your unopened containers of engine oil are more than three years old, read the labels to make sure they meet the latest industry standards. If they do meet the current standards, you might want to take the extra precaution of obtaining oil analysis before using them. An oil analysis will check for key properties of the oil and ensure that it still meets the original manufacturing specs. Of course the cost of getting an analysis done on old oil is probably going to outweigh going and buying fresh stuff. So it's a double-edged sword. As a general rule, the simpler the oil formulation, the longer the shelf life. The following is a guideline under protected conditions - indoors at about 20°C: Product Base Oils, Process Oils

Shelf Life 3 years

Hydraulic Oils, Compressor Oils, General Purpose Lubricat ing Oils 2 years Engine Oils and Transmission Oils

3 years

Industrial and Automotive Gear Oils

2 years

Metal Working and Cutting Oils

1 year

The f ollowing are signs of s torage instability in a lubricant : Settling out of the additives as a gel or sticky liquid Floc or haze Precipitates /solid material Colour change or haziness


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Car Bibles : The Engine Oil Bible Water contamination in a lubricant can be detected by a "milky" appearance of the product. >>next page

Nano Lubricant Additives lowerfriction.com Add few grams to lubricant oil and start saving energy and money now Page Navigation Engine oil basics/rea ding the W numbers/Sludge/Shelf life 2k Like


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High mileage oils/oil pre pressurisation/viscosity/oil changes

These pages were last updated on 15 th December 2013. Copyr ight © Chris Longhurst 1994 - 2014 unless otherwise noted. Important Copyright info.

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