Engine oil?

[Crossthreaded]

Straight off I'll apologize for posing this question as I know it is a commonly asked one on most forums. However having now found it difficult to buy from TPS (I used to use their Quantum oils in my older vehicles) and now just about to take over the servicing, warranty now expired, of my new(ish) - 2016 1.0 litre 3 cylinder 95 hp CHZB engined Ibiza ST ecomotive, I find myself unsure as to what might be the best oil to use. I'm especially aware of the highly stressed little engine fitted to this car with it's turbo and high pressure direct injection system being of particular concern. I'm also concerned about the, much reported, problem of inlet carbon fouling on direct injection petrol engines and the increasingly popular opinion that lubricating oil formulations are, at least in part, the guilty party. The SEAT sticker under the bonnet recommends Castrol oils and the main dealer, who has looked after her during her warranty period, tells me they use Castrol oils but can't actually tell me what the specific product is that's in the old girl's sump? Strange don't you think?

I've got her on a mileage/yearly regime for which Castrol recommend their edge 5W-40 (or 5w-30LL which I guess would be for extended intervals?). The temptation is to just use the 5W-40, and I'm sure that would be just fine, but wonder if there is a better option? Regarding other vehicles in the "family fleet", I'm running both the FIATs on Fuchs. The old Cordoba 1.9 tdi was on Quantum as was the Fabia The Astra and Jazz are on TradeTEC (slightly nervous about the tradeTEC but the Astra - with it's VVT sprockets - has been on it for a couple of years now and seems fine?) The Ibiza's little turbo DI petrol engine will, I suspect, be much more demanding of it's oil than any engine I've yet owned.

 

[everson38]

Straight off I'll apologize for posing this question as I know it is a commonly asked one on most forums. However having now found it difficult to buy from TPS (I used to use their Quantum oils in my older vehicles) and now just about to take over the servicing, warranty now expired, of my new(ish) - 2016 1.0 litre 3 cylinder 95 hp CHZB engined Ibiza ST ecomotive, I find myself unsure as to what might be the best oil to use. I'm especially aware of the highly stressed little engine fitted to this car with it's turbo and high pressure direct injection system being of particular concern. I'm also concerned about the, much reported, problem of inlet carbon fouling on direct injection petrol engines and the increasingly popular opinion that lubricating oil formulations are, at least in part, the guilty party. The SEAT sticker under the bonnet recommends Castrol oils and the main dealer, who has looked after her during her warranty period, tells me they use Castrol oils but can't actually tell me what the specific product is that's in the old girl's sump? Strange don't you think?

I've got her on a mileage/yearly regime for which Castrol recommend their edge 5W-40 (or 5w-30LL which I guess would be for extended intervals?). The temptation is to just use the 5W-40, and I'm sure that would be just fine, but wonder if there is a better option? Regarding other vehicles in the "family fleet", I'm running both the FIATs on Fuchs. The old Cordoba 1.9 tdi was on Quantum as was the Fabia The Astra and Jazz are on TradeTEC (slightly nervous about the tradeTEC but the Astra - with it's VVT sprockets - has been on it for a couple of years now and seems fine?) The Ibiza's little turbo DI petrol engine will, I suspect, be much more demanding of it's oil than any engine I've yet owned.

Hey pal. I believe this will come down to personal choice and opinion. Some will say follow what seat say. Others will say no try x y and z without non of us having any real science backing to why we think other brands so it's just personal opinion. I'm at stick with what manufacturer says. But if you wanted more if you look on YouTube type in project farm - engine oil test. He does a series of test and makes a tournament out of various oils. This may help you decide as it does have some type of science behind it. Plus a good watch.

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

 

[Crossthreaded]

Hey pal. I believe this will come down to personal choice and opinion. Some will say follow what seat say. Others will say no try x y and z without non of us having any real science backing to why we think other brands so it's just personal opinion. I'm at stick with what manufacturer says. But if you wanted more if you look on YouTube type in project farm - engine oil test. He does a series of test and makes a tournament out of various oils. This may help you decide as it does have some type of science behind it. Plus a good watch.

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

Thanks for the Project Farm heads up - I'm going to enjoy viewing a few of those.

If ever there was a world populated with "snake oil" and "smoke and mirrors" it has to be the world of fuels, lubricants and additives. why can't we have more clarity I wonder?

 

[RUM4MO]

Ha! Clarity takes money from the supplier's fat pockets.

I moved from Quantum Gold, to Fuchs Super Synth, then to Mobil One ESP 5W-30 and have just stayed with the Mobil One ESP 5W-30 and always only ever buy it from Opie Oil in Cornwall and when their price is at its best.

Now you could/should think that using that is treating my cars a bit too well, but I use it on both my cars and my daughter's Ibiza and I'd need to keep using it on both our cars to be able to buy the oil in the correct quantity and at the right price.

There used to be someone on one of these motoring forums who would freak out if anyone had the nerve to question Castrol being the best and best value for money, but I think that they are just living on their name - yes good quality, but at a price which implies that they are the best.

SEAT used to have a Repsol sticker on the slam plate - but maybe not now as that company is wholly owned by China!

Edit:- on the newer versions of the 1.0TSI engines, ie those sold after the new approvals, they must always be refilled with VW spec 508 oils, and that means 0W-20 I think, the reason being that they received their latest approval rating using that oil, using any other oil would cause something terrible to happen - like a drop in MPG and a rise in emissions! The reason why I chose 5W-30 over 5W-40 is mainly due to the 5W-30 being ever so slightly better overall for economy fuel wise.

Another Edit:- many/most VW Group workshops appear to still be using 5W-40 or 5W-30 oils to refill these engines, as it is what the workshops stock in bulk!

 

[Crossthreaded]

Re your edit comments RUM4MO, the 5W-30 that I just tipped into the Jazz when I serviced it last weekend "frightens" me enough with it's thinness. 0W-20 would probably put my old heart into coronary arrest!

Interesting to find someone else who's used Fuchs. I'm not really sure why but I like the brand (maybe because it's German? and I equate that to precision and quality?) Opie recommended I look at their "Titan Race Pro" range but I don't know if I could justify the expense to my "personal financial adviser" AKA wife.

By the way I tried the dealer again and got a different voice on the phone who said it would have been 5w-40 if it was on a mileage/yearly service plan.

 

[RUM4MO]

Yes, these newer oils for a bit "runny" but remember that there was two ways of looking at this years ago:- thicker oils might give better protection in high impact points, thinner oils get round quicker so get to work protecting the parts quicker.

I think that the really thin "new" oils give best fuel savings and emissions levels - but over a 10 year period of ownership will they give enough "wear" protection?
I'd think that that is me just getting concerned too much, like you over to difference between 5W-40 and 5W-30.
My Audi S4 has, while under the Audi warranty period, been refilled with 5W-30, then 0W-30 before I started servicing it and returned it to Mobil One ESP 5W-30.
VW Group price 5W-40 502 spec oil as the cheapest, so still opt for that for fixed servicing of older cars as it is good enough for 12 months 10K miles. My wife's August 2015 Polo 1.2TSI 110PS would have left the factory filled with 5W-30, but as we bought a 3 year service package, it would have been changed during PDI from variable servicing to fixed servicing and so it was refilled with 5W-40 at its first and second yearly service, now when third year service comes, I'll be refilling with 5W-30 Mobil One ESP.

The Fuchs thing, well while lots of us VW Group DIYers bought and used Quantum oil for the oil changes, someone butted in and said that the oil used at the engine plants was Fuchs, and at that time the Titan Super Synth - and that was a lot cheaper than the Quantum Gold, so followed the herd and changed to that. Then Fuchs seemed to drop the Titan Super Synth option and move onto the Titan Race Pro range, I found that that one sounded a bit expensive, so jumped to Mobil One ESP 5W-30 but always buying it at from Opie Oils with usual motoring forums discount.

Edit:- the German effect, my wife went through the "must be AEG" phase when she refurbished the kitchen in our previous house, that meant - dish washer, fridge/freezer, washing machine and vacuum cleaner! We moved into a bigger house a few years later that had a built in dish washer, so that got sold, 28 years later fridge/freezer is still okay, washing machine needed a new controller when not too old, it also needed a new motor - old AEG motors are built so that you can't replace the shaft bearing, that cost more than a basic washing machine - but it is still working well, so only leaves the vacuum cleaner - it started dislodging its speed control board when you pressed the ON/OFF button, that remained annoying, the power cord retractor spring broke early on, the top cover broke too much and so was left off, the hose used to refuse to rotate and so fractured and got replaced and the lower cover catch sheared off - that was fixed using a suitably trimmed rubber, oh and original quality bags became very difficult to source! So, after taking my wife out for a pub lunch last Friday, she just had to go to John Lewis and check out what was available, though she seemed to have done her research, and she bought a Meile vacuum cleaner, while checking/comparing with a Sebo I blabbered on about German quality being very over stated - now I see that this Meile is built in Germany!!! No future issues with bags it seems, you just remove and eject the debris and wash out the container, very Dysonish!

 

[Crossthreaded]

A wee while ago I remember reading a Fuchs press release where they were proud to announce that they were now the suppliers - replacing Castrol - of Quantum oils. I tried to find out if the oils were identical to that in their own branded containers but never really got a definitive answer. Like you I suspect these very thin oils are all about fuel economy at, possibly, the expense of component longevity. I suspect I'll end up running "Twinkle" (the Ibiza) on 5W-30 as a compromise between rapid initial circulation and robust hot performance and likely a Fuchs product - but not that certain yet - plenty of time though, service due March next year.

Domestic appliances? My great accomplishment, and it's become a long term point of honour, has been keeping our old Electrolux upright vacuum functioning. Bought new to celebrate moving into this house around 35 years ago, I've rebuilt it twice - complete strip down and rebuild - and it's still going strong actually needing very few new parts to keep going. I believe Electrolux now is not the Electrolux I knew of old so quality may be compromised? My daughter in law has an upright Dyson ball thingy which works very well some of the time but is, to my mind, too complicated. Two motors, lots of "unnecessary" moving parts - that deflector that switches between the main vacuum bar at the front and the hand wand - I recon I see it maybe twice a year because something on it isn't working. My older boy has a "Henry" which impresses me with it's simplicity and rugged construction. If the Electrolux "dies" before I do I could be very tempted by a Henry. I find I actually like a bagged cleaner so that will suit me just fine.

About 5 years ago my friend, who has his own kitchen fitting business, convinced my Mrs to have our kitchen redone. I didn't think there was that much wrong with the old one? But must admit the new installation looks brilliant. Over the years we bought mostly Bosch appliances for our old kitchen and I've found them pretty good. My pal is tied up with Hotpoint and the new installation has all built in units (can't wait for the first failure - getting the dishwasher or fridge out looks like it could be "fun" and will it ever line up properly when a new one is "slotted" in?) so the old units couldn't be used. 5 years down the road and everything seems to be working well but it's quite noticeable how much more noisy the Hotpoint stuff is compared with the Bosch. I will probably replace with Bosch if the need arises.