Oil labelling explained

[Ben Longden]

Tim, This thread is just brilliant mate. I have learnt so much from it even I am astonished!
Thanks for all the info.

Now a stupid question.... for a worn engine, would you advise on sticking with MBs oil change intervals as per the handbook, or increase them, to say 5000km between oil and filter changes?.... note this is for a WORN engine, of around 300,000km plus.

Cheers,
Ben

 

[chrisf-1]

ATF

Hi my Q is a strange one last year I owned a BMW 530D auto on which I changed the transmission fluid with fluid that was given to me by a friend in fact 20 litres of it and even though I no longer know the spec of it I did at the time and it was spot on for the beemer and did the job very well 29,000k miles no problem would anyone like to hazard a guess for suitability for my 1999 pre facelift w208 cabriolet as it appears never to have been done and a look at the colour dirty brown me thinks I ought to do it I realise this sounds risky but if anyone knows the spec for beemer fluid maybe they could advise me if it is suitable after all both are German upmarket cars and I do not think in those days they were much different and I certainly do not want to go and buy more of the stuff I still have 12 litres of it

 

[oilman]

It could well be fine, but without specs, I'm not going to say yes or no for sure.

Cheers

Tim

 

[chrisf-1]

The spec was correct for the bmw at the time but I no longer know what that was thanks Chris

 

[oilman]

Hi Chris

What I'm saying is that autos can be fussy, so without knowing the specifications that the oil meets, I'm not going to give a definite answer, regardless of whether it was fine for the BMW. It's likely to be fine for the Merc, but some autos, like the ZF boxes many German cars use, are pretty much the fussiest things that we deal with. Okay, older ones weren't as bad, but I can't be 100% certain without knowing specs.

Cheers

Tim

 

[chrisf-1]

I fully understand what you are saying I was hoping someone might know the spec for bmw then I would could be pretty damn sure thanks again Chris

 

[chrisf-1]

Hi again I have found out the ATF make and coding and would be very grateful if you could tell me if is suitable for my 1999 W208 320 CLK CABRIOLET SPORT the details of the ATF are (CASTROL) ALLISON TRANSYND TES-295 there is another No of which the first letter is not legible but could be an A or a B the rest is N-011001 the gentleman who acquired this for me assured me he has used it on all cars that he has been asked to work on and never had a complaint with it Many thanks Chris

 

[oilman]

Hi Chris

It meets the Dexron IIIG spec which is a pretty high ATF spec. However it is not Merc approved, so I have no way of confirming if it is suitable or not.

Cheers

Tim

 

[YesMan]

First of all,THANK YOU oilman for your post.Very informative indeed!
Altough i don't (yet ) own a Mercedes,a friend of mine does,and he asked me to shop a good oil for his car (2001 C220 CDI 105 KW).We live in NE Italy (Bologna),winter brings a few °C below zero,while summer can get as hot as 40 °C(normally 32-35 °C average temps).I tend to buy the Castrol Edge 5w40 FST
Api: sj/cf, sl/cf
Acea: a3/b4
Mb 229.3
Bmw longlife
Porsche gl
Opel gm-ll-b-025
Vw 502.00/505.00/505.01
for him,what do you think about it,would it be a good choice?
Oh,a last thing,i own an old Opel Astra G 2.0 DTI 74 KW SW (december '99),timing chain,259000 KM,the engine is,i would say,perfect for it's age as it doesn't give me any kind of problems (many of it's KM are made on Germany's highways).It's filled up with Castrol GTX 10w40,i understand it doesn't meet the newer standards (the price reflects it,as it cost half in confront of other newer Castrol oils).My question is:for a '99 engine, is it good enough,does paying double for a better oil worth it in your opinion?Thank you again!
Cheers

 

[oilman]

Hi

The Edge 5w-40 is ideal for your friends Merc and the GTX 10w-40 is fine for the Astra.

Cheers

Tim

 

[YesMan]

Perfect,much appreciated,have a nice evening Tim!

 

[cellutron]

I know this thread goes back a few years or so, and may be the knowledgeable Oilman has retired by now- but I am still not happy with the terms 'synthetic', and 'semi synthetic'. Is being 'synthetic' an advantage over 'semi', or 'non-synthetic' and can it be used in old and new engines the same? Am I wrong in thinking that essentially all oils are synthetic due to the chemical composition to cater for a wide variety of protection they provide? Or even the fact that oils are processed by-products, just like petrol and diesel, and parafin, etc?

 

[oilman]

No, not retired yet, I have a long way to go for that.

This may help you to understand synthetics, semis and mineral oils a bit better.

http://www.opieoils.co.uk/pdfs/tech-articles/Basestock-categories-and-Descriptions.pdf

A synthetic will offer better protection than a semi or mineral oil. This is because synthetic oils are designed to fulfil a purpose, rather than mineral based oils that are modified to get as close as they can to being ideal. Also, synthetic oils will last longer, so that it will take longer for the oil to degrade, meaning that a better level of protection is maintained for longer.

Synthetics are often fine for older engine, although there needs to be some caution in pre 1980 engines due to the seals used. If a pre-80 engine has been rebuilt with new seals, it is generally fine to use a synthetic. With most new engines(especially Mercs, BMW, VAG), you need a synthetic oil.

Cheers

Tim

 

[IceBoy]

Hi Oilman,

229.3 or 229.5

Which engine oil should I use in the following cars:

Mercedes E320 CDI 2004
Mercedes C220 CDI 2008

Thanks
IceBoy

 

[oilman]

Hi

Just replied on Pistonheads. Does the C220 have a DPF? I assume the E320 doesn't.

Cheers

Tim

 

[50876]

Hi oilman

Had my 2007 350SL serviced yesterday at my local MB dealer (Stratstone glasgow) I noticed on the invoice that the oil used was " LOWASH Deisel Ultra 5W-30". I presume this is a deilsel specific oil. Before I question the dealer is this a problem for my petrol engine?

John

 

[oilman]

Hi oilman

Had my 2007 350SL serviced yesterday at my local MB dealer (Stratstone glasgow) I noticed on the invoice that the oil used was " LOWASH Deisel Ultra 5W-30". I presume this is a deilsel specific oil. Before I question the dealer is this a problem for my petrol engine?

John

Good Morning,

Most modern oils will be fine in a Petrol or Deilsel car. As long as it meets your MB spec it won't matter.

Cheers
Phil

 

[50876]

Thanks Phil

John

 

[Dale Minton]

Manual Transmission ATF MBZ 236.2/6 1.5litres
http://www.opieoils.co.uk/performance_lubricants/pdf/fuchs/TITAN_ATF_3000.pdf

Automatic Transmission ATF MBZ 236.10 7.3-8.2litres
http://www.opieoils.co.uk/performance_lubricants/pdf/fuchs/TITAN_ATF_4000.pdf

Cheers
Simon

Hi Oilman, I hope you're well.

Have you an opinion on adding small quantities of 2-stroke oil to diesel (i.e. the pros and cons). This has been a point of interest and discussion on another thread within the forum and I'm always open to being educated about these sorts of things and am presently a non-believer in its true merits but I am believer in the placebo effect.. I do possess a BMW Alpina D10 which has a pretty sophisticated and powerful bi-turbo diesel engine; I also have some tech friends who work for Bosch on the R&D side and I know their opinion. I'm open to persuation if my reliable 220,000 miler (on regular diesel) could benefit from such a tipple from time to time.

Thanks

 

[oilman]

Hi

It's a bit of an old tech thing and it can help with some older engines, but there are other fuel additives that can do a better job in new cars.

There doesn't seem to be a lot in the way of proper technical advice with 2 stroke in diesel, but this study is useful.

http://www.fuelexpert.co.za/2-stroke-oil-in-diesel-technical-study.php

Cheers

Tim