Hi,
for some time now engine oils with a viscosity of 0w-40 seem to have been targeted as "poor performers" by some people on here. Excessive "shearing", "excessive valve train wear" and "excessive ring/bore wear" are the most popular issues raised - I have never seen any substantiation for this!
The Euro engine manufacturers have not seen any evidence of this either and are increasingly using this viscosity as a factory and mandatory service fill!
Perhaps it is now time for the "knockers" of this most popular factory fill synthetic oil viscosity (regardless of the Brand) to lay their facts out on the table for us all to see!
Firstly, some background information:
1) It is the factory fill viscosity at Porsche for all engine types and is retrospectively recommended by Porsche for all engines from MY73 *especially with cold starts below -20C)
2) It is the factory and service fill for Mercedes Benz/AMG (most engine families)
3) It is marketed by most European Oil Companies
4) It is Approved and Listed by many European manufacturers for petrol and light diesel use after having passed their specific test protocols
5) These lubricants are specified in multi turbo engines for 12k miles OCIs and beyond in some engines (MB Assyst determined OCI's average around 11k here)
6) Most 0w-40 viscosity oils are significantly less viscous than most 5w-40 oils in the popular "start-up zone" of say from 0C to 25C
7) The reduced viscosity (0w-40 to 5w-40) in the warm-up zone (say 10C to 80C) is very significant when dealing with some engine's phasers, hydraulic actuators and switchable valve gear
8) Most Euro service providers here in Australia use this viscosity product (various Brands) as a service fill (our ambient range is from -15C to 50C)
The following Companies market at least one or two variations of this viscosity product (Motul has 3) as well as 5w-40 lubricants - and most have done so for the last several years;
Addnol
AGIP
ARAL
BP
Castrol
Chevron-Texaco-Caltex
DEA (German Shell)
ELF
ExxonMobil
FUCHS
Grupa Lotos
Hellas
Kendall
Motul
U-Tech
Shell
Spectr-Auto
Valvoline
Westfalen
Note that all of the major Oil marketing Companies are represented and that the above Brands are Approved and Listed by at least one or more European engine manufacturer(s)!
There may be others too!!
So I would welcome structured information with dataphotos of excessive valve train wear and where excessive shearing (if factual) of any of these oils has caused engine damage or reduced engine life when being used as specified - please provide here for us all to see! Specific AMG, VW, BMW, Porsche and Mercedes information is most welcome as it is in some cases their factory fill (as mentioned earlier)!
I'm sure most will agree that a few ppm of Iron, Copper or Lead etc in UOAs - one oil to another - is NOT meaningful data!
One poster Ted (Tooslick), recently stated this;
"I may have misspoken...it seems wear was reduced by 50%-70% compared to the Mobil 1, 0w-40, rather than the mere 25%-40% I had predicted in the previous thread. LOL!
I think the 5w-40 vs 0w-40 issue is pretty much settled, at least in terms of wear protection."
So now please "deliver the goods" and give us the evidence to support this statement and others of a similar nature!! Ted, starting with what your definition of "wear" is may well be appropriate!!
Emotive statements, one liners or unsupported "opinions" etc are not the evidence required - just the documented facts that can be substantiated!
Note: I am NOT connected to ANY Oil Company in any way. I am a Commercial user of Castrol, Mobil and Shell lubricants
Regards
Doug
for some time now engine oils with a viscosity of 0w-40 seem to have been targeted as "poor performers" by some people on here. Excessive "shearing", "excessive valve train wear" and "excessive ring/bore wear" are the most popular issues raised - I have never seen any substantiation for this!
The Euro engine manufacturers have not seen any evidence of this either and are increasingly using this viscosity as a factory and mandatory service fill!
Perhaps it is now time for the "knockers" of this most popular factory fill synthetic oil viscosity (regardless of the Brand) to lay their facts out on the table for us all to see!
Firstly, some background information:
1) It is the factory fill viscosity at Porsche for all engine types and is retrospectively recommended by Porsche for all engines from MY73 *especially with cold starts below -20C)
2) It is the factory and service fill for Mercedes Benz/AMG (most engine families)
3) It is marketed by most European Oil Companies
4) It is Approved and Listed by many European manufacturers for petrol and light diesel use after having passed their specific test protocols
5) These lubricants are specified in multi turbo engines for 12k miles OCIs and beyond in some engines (MB Assyst determined OCI's average around 11k here)
6) Most 0w-40 viscosity oils are significantly less viscous than most 5w-40 oils in the popular "start-up zone" of say from 0C to 25C
7) The reduced viscosity (0w-40 to 5w-40) in the warm-up zone (say 10C to 80C) is very significant when dealing with some engine's phasers, hydraulic actuators and switchable valve gear
8) Most Euro service providers here in Australia use this viscosity product (various Brands) as a service fill (our ambient range is from -15C to 50C)
The following Companies market at least one or two variations of this viscosity product (Motul has 3) as well as 5w-40 lubricants - and most have done so for the last several years;
Addnol
AGIP
ARAL
BP
Castrol
Chevron-Texaco-Caltex
DEA (German Shell)
ELF
ExxonMobil
FUCHS
Grupa Lotos
Hellas
Kendall
Motul
U-Tech
Shell
Spectr-Auto
Valvoline
Westfalen
Note that all of the major Oil marketing Companies are represented and that the above Brands are Approved and Listed by at least one or more European engine manufacturer(s)!
There may be others too!!
So I would welcome structured information with dataphotos of excessive valve train wear and where excessive shearing (if factual) of any of these oils has caused engine damage or reduced engine life when being used as specified - please provide here for us all to see! Specific AMG, VW, BMW, Porsche and Mercedes information is most welcome as it is in some cases their factory fill (as mentioned earlier)!
I'm sure most will agree that a few ppm of Iron, Copper or Lead etc in UOAs - one oil to another - is NOT meaningful data!
One poster Ted (Tooslick), recently stated this;
"I may have misspoken...it seems wear was reduced by 50%-70% compared to the Mobil 1, 0w-40, rather than the mere 25%-40% I had predicted in the previous thread. LOL!
I think the 5w-40 vs 0w-40 issue is pretty much settled, at least in terms of wear protection."
So now please "deliver the goods" and give us the evidence to support this statement and others of a similar nature!! Ted, starting with what your definition of "wear" is may well be appropriate!!
Emotive statements, one liners or unsupported "opinions" etc are not the evidence required - just the documented facts that can be substantiated!
Note: I am NOT connected to ANY Oil Company in any way. I am a Commercial user of Castrol, Mobil and Shell lubricants
Regards
Doug