Oil Spec

[Isaac Hunt]

Probably not the best place to ask, but I could never settle on Piston Heads forum and there are some knowledgeable folk on here, so i'm gonna ask the Q anyway.

 

As well as tooling around in some chod, which all take a 10W40 I also have some 'other end spectrum' stuff on the family fleet.

 

Up until a couple of recent fleet changes, it was quite simple, all of the non chod took a fully synthetic 5W30 to the Ford 913 Spec, no probs, keep some oil and a filter on hand for each and given a bit of spare time on a nice day when an O+F was due and we were sorted.

 

We've now changed a couple of cars on the fleet.  One takes low saps 5W30 Fully Synthetic C1 Ford M2C934-B Spec, the other low saps 5W30 Fully Synthetic C3 GM Dexos 2 Spec.

 

So that is 3 different specs of 5w30 Fully Syn.   I get the low saps low ash 'improvement' and the 'long life' claims but how much different is C1 to C3, can't be that much sureley.  

 

Which is the higher spec ?

 

And given I change at a Max of 10k miles despite schedules of 16k and 20k, I'm thinking why can't I just use the low saps high spec in everything.

 

Just wondering cos i'm old enough to remember everything took 20W/50 and the hardest question was 'Castol, Duckhams or Other'

[Squire_Dawson]

I agree it is baffling and a far cry from the days when 'Armstrong Siddeley approve Filtrate'. If the cars are getting on I'd just use the correct weight and composition oil of a quality make. I can't see an independent garage keeping stocks of a plethora of similar oils.

[SiC]

I seem to remember that the difference between C2 and C3 is that both are low SAPS, but iirc C3 reduced fuel economy but at the expense of increased engine wear.

 

My Civic CTDi requires 6l of 0W-30 C2/C3 oil which is both rare and flipping expensive. This makes it around £60 for oil change oil alone. Plus the Honda specified change interval is 12k/1yr (probably no bad thing).

[Richard]

Oil does seem to have got really expensive. I always used to do oil changes at 5k because it was easier to keep track of than 6k, not any more though.

[Bren]

 

Job done.

[Timewaster]

^^ We used to sell a pallet of that stuff a month knocked out for £2.99

 

Most people would say the car had done 100 000 and burns a bit so this will do.

 

Then wonder why the engine shat itself about a month later.

[Tayne]

Of those two quoted specifications one is for GM cars and one for Ford?

That being the car, the fact that they both have a C number is irrelevant.

Use the GM one in the GM car and the Ford one in the Ford car.

 

The engine in my car was designed to use BMW LL01 oil and when that standard was superseded in 2004 (with LL04 oil) they were made backwards compatible. Therefore mine would have had LL04 oil put in it when the first owner took it to the dealer from 2004 onwards.

So I put LL04 oil in it which I buy in bulk from an eBay supplier.

[Parky]

Doesn't have to be expensive, have a look at Nielsen CdG. Total Oil, high spec, mostly designed for modern Peugeots and Citroens so meets all the low SAPS specs, etc.

 

https://www.nielsencdg.co.uk/acatalog/Total-Quartz-Ineo-MC3-5W30-Engine-Oil--157103-5-Litre-TOT_157103.html

 

This meets some very high specs and costs £21 for 5 litres. And being made by a "proper" petrochemical company should be a reasonable indicator of quality

 

EDIT - just looked at the tech sheet and it has a Dexos 2 licence as well

[dave21478]

[SiC]

I have just done an oil change on my Saab with Asda full synthetic 5w-30 Dexos 2 spec that I bought for 15quid. It seems to like it as the engine has gone a lot quieter and smoother. No idea who refines & bottles it but I should imagine it's going to be a big name brand behind it.

[Richard]

Doesn't have to be expensive, have a look at Nielsen CdG. Total Oil, high spec, mostly designed for modern Peugeots and Citroens so meets all the low SAPS specs, etc.

 

https://www.nielsencdg.co.uk/acatalog/Total-Quartz-Ineo-MC3-5W30-Engine-Oil--157103-5-Litre-TOT_157103.html

 

This meets some very high specs and costs £21 for 5 litres. And being made by a "proper" petrochemical company should be a reasonable indicator of quality

 

EDIT - just looked at the tech sheet and it has a Dexos 2 licence as well

 

I call that quite expensive. I used to pay under £5 for 5 litres from Ford, I could do oil and the three filters with genuine parts for not much over £10.

[Parky]

indeed it is more expensive than that, but compared to the prices in most garages/orange fronted stores, it is pretty reasonable. And would Ford still do that deal?

 

I have a Costco card and occasionally they do promos on oil, but rarely do they get much cheaper than the Neilsen prices in my experience. At the mo I can get Castrol Edge for £25-ish from them which is very good considering Halfords want £40+ for the same thing.

[gordonbennet]

I can't be arsed with all this angel tears oil spec either, a perusal of the handbooks of all our cars shows a variance of oils is permissable, from 5/30 up to 15/40, no low saps stuff needed (though its easy enough to find in the same 5/40), so i buy 20/25 litres of fully synthetic 5W40 when either Millers or Morris comes up at the right price, though stepped out of me comfort zone and just bought some Shell Rizla or whatever its called from Opie whilst on offer @ £21ish for 6 litres (5 plus 1).

Got enough different gear oils to start a sodding refinery, so one engine oil spec will do.

The cars all run lovely and use no oil between services.

[Tayne]

I call that quite expensive. I used to pay under £5 for 5 litres from Ford, I could do oil and the three filters with genuine parts for not much over £10.

How long since you owned a Ford, Richard?

 

[Timewaster]

I think if its changed often enough then don't worry too much.

If you have a modern with 20,000 intervals then get it exactly the right spec.

[SiC]

If you have DPF filters then you especially need low SAPS. A lot of manufacturers retrospectively changed their spec to it after a whole wraft of DPF problems and failures.

[cros]

image.jpeg

Job done.

Cheap 20/50 isn't cheap any more. I saw 5litres of stuff equal to the Formula 1 ambrosia for £18 in one of those shops that only sells shit- makes Lidl oil look like a bargain. For what it's worth, I don't bother with 20/50 any more even though I have several cars that are said by 'experts' to require it. As long as the oil pressure stays up I sling it in, piss thin synthetic is fine so far. If the B series starts squeaking I'll let you know

[steveo3002]

anyone tried the mannol oil from ebay....sounds good spec /price 

[Richard]

How long since you owned a Ford, Richard?

 

IMG_4459.JPG

 

 

Not that long, less than 15 years. In that time the minimum wage has gone from £4.10 to £7.20 (and mine only beat its 2001 level a couple of years ago) and I've gone from paying a tenner for the posh stuff to paying double that for no-name stuff and even then only by shopping around and looking for special offers.

[Parky]

SIC used the Mannol autobox fluid, seems to be fine

[gordonbennet]

Yes, either the Scooby or (now deciding whether to sell or keep) Landcruiser is running Mannol's transmission fluid and the changes on both are smooth as can be.

 

I've also been getting Exol transmission lubricants delivered from their Northampton site, seems to be good stuff (well none of the diffs or transfer boxes have shit 'emselves), they also offer a full range of engine lubes in 20 or 25 litre drums at decent prices, i had toyed with giving their engine oils a tryout.

[Isaac Hunt]

I found an explanation on the diff between C1 & C2 which was the % SAPS content, C1 is the lowest. It is amazing how many 'right oil' sites actually come up with the wrong oil v the handbook.

 

Still can't work out what is do special about the GM Dexos 2 stuff

 

 

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