What oil should I buy
So what should I buy?
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 - which was the CCMC). 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 petrol, listings start with '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, which recently replaced 'SM' and 'SL'. 'SH' will be found on most expensive oils, and almost all the new synthetics. It's basically an upgraded 'SG' oil which has been tested more sternly.
· 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 applications.
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 So the older CC,CD,CE and CF ratings no longer exist, but have been replaced by an 'SH' grade diesel oil.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 themselves, explaining the situation.
The CCMC/ACEA
The ACEA standards are prefixed with a 'G' for petrol engines and a 'D' or 'PD' for diesel. Coupled with this are numerous approvals by car manufacturers which many oil containers sport with pride. ACEA replaced CCMC in 1996 primarily to allow for greater read-across in test programs (eg. for viscosity, viscosity modifiers and base oil). The CCMC specifications were G (1 to 5) for gasoline, D (1 to 5) or heavy duty diesel and PD1 and PD2 for passenger car diesel. ACEA though have a slightly different nomenclature they can be summarised as A for petrol, B for passenger car diesel and E for heavy duty diesel. The ACEA grades may also be followed by the year of issue which will be either '04 or '07 (current).
The full ACEA specs are:
· A1 Fuel Economy Petrol †
· A2 Standard performance level
· A3 High performance and / or extended drain
· A5 Fuel economy petrol with extended drain capability †
· B1 Fuel Economy diesel †
· B2 Standard performance level (now obsolete)
· B3 High performance and / or extended drain
· B4 For direct injection passenger car diesel engines
· B5 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 Non-turbo charged light duty diesel
· E2 Standard performance level
· E3 High performance extended drain
· E5 (1999) High performance / long drain plus American/API performances. - This is ACEAs first attempt at a global spec.
· E7 Euro 4 engines - exhaust after 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)
Cross Conti Enterprises
Specialist In Fuel Additives and Lubricants .
Cell: +255 - 786 605248 / 2121496 Dar Es Salaam
Tanzania
