european 5w 30 motor oil,

[charliebay]

I need help!!

I have an american car here in europe with a 4.6L V8 engine,
and I have to do an oil change real soon,

Does anyone know if the european versions of 5w30 are equivalent to the american 5w30 oils? Here in europe, I am
told by everyone that all of the 5w30's are mandatorily 100%
full synthetic, which is somewhat annoying since I prefer conventional in my car.. nonetheless, the question is using
european versions of the 5 w 30 should be ok, right?

Or can it be dangerous..

 

[Steve S]

Euro oils seem more stout!! I would use them .

 

[charliebay]

most of the oils here in europe have pretty much gone over
to full synthetic, the ones that remain in conventional are
10w40 and 15w40, but you can't find 5w30 in semi synthetic;

I just want to make sure that I don't need to change grades,
because theirs match or are equivalent to american standards;

some of the bottles say sae 5w30, and most of them also have
the certification with the API symbol, which is good, otherwise though, I wind up finding for example Shell 5w30 full synthetic made for european cars and their cars are so tiny!! Gosh, it's unbelievable!! I would normally think that the their smaller engines would takessofter oil...

 

[charliebay]

p.s. most of the cars we see out here are citroen, renault, vw, bmw, mercedes b., small cars though like Opel, or tiny little Ford cars made specifically for europe only: ford mondeo;
I've got the big Ford american v8 engine,

 

[Kira]

Hello, In what make and model car is this engine? What year? Auto or manual? Kira

 

[Trav]

If you are in in Germany ATU has decent prices.
Shell Helix ultra diesel blue bottle 5w-30,semi synthetic is also for gas engines or Liqui Moly 5w-30 both work well in American Ford engines,Castrol Edge RS is great but expensive.
If you are close to Nurnberg PM me and i can give you a few contacts that know their way around the auto business with U.S cars there.

It is only a full synthetic if it says Voll synthetic.If you see Grundöle auf Basis von Synthesetechnologie it is a semi synthetic most probably gp III

BTW not all cars are tiny my own car in Nurnberg has 6.0 ltr displacement.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: charliebay
some of the bottles say sae 5w30, and most of them also have the certification with the API symbol, which is good, otherwise though, I wind up finding for example Shell 5w30 full synthetic made for european cars and their cars are so tiny!! Gosh, it's unbelievable!! I would normally think that the their smaller engines would takessofter oil...


The European specs are pretty robust. A big V-8 that doesn't rev much isn't going to be harder on oil than a small engine that has to rev a lot. The only concern is the price.

 

[charliebay]

Hi Kira,

The yr. is 2000, Mercury Grand Marquis engine (Ford Crown Vic, same engine,) Automatic 4.6L v8;

 

[charliebay]

ok, thank you for your response!

Actually we are in France, neighboring Germany, and I have
yet to run into ATU as a brand.. The Shell Helix (Ultra),
I think I may have seen this one, Blue bottle, but normally I'm told that if it's deisel it's deisel only.. are you certain that the Shell H.U. deisel 5w30, is good for natural gas too? That would be stupendous, and the deisel bottles tend to be less expensive.. thank you,

 

[charliebay]

if you have contacts in France that would be nice..

I actually haven't seen Liquid Molly 5 w30, I believe that
might be a bit more available in Great Brit., Otherwise,
if we can confirm that Shell Helix Ultra (Deisel) works
on gas engines, and it's even semi synthetic, that would
be great.. I'll begin doing research there..

 

[charliebay]

Ok, that's true.. then that would mean that if I found
a few motor oils that are 5 w30, with specifications for
say EU Ford vehicles, but was still nonetheless sae5w30,
then I would be able to use it in my engine, irrespective of the difference of the "specification" code;


Here's the example:
WSS MC2193A 193B 193C, Ford specs for specific EU Ford cars; I can find this oil in Castrol(BP) and Motul(France), also Total(France), all three of those motor oil companies clear
those specs. My vehicle specs are: WSS MC2153G,

Will I cause damage to my engine for following different specs. even though the grade viscosity was the same sae 5w 30;
It seems like a foolish question, but those specs can be very important as they govern and regulate very particular types of engines. Or are the specs just about Motor Oil marketing?

 

[Trav]

I just bought some Shell Helix Ultra diesel 3 weeks ago and it also has a SM rating.Look at the back of the blue bottle carefully for gasoline engine specs,on the front it appears to be a diesel only oil but the specs give it away as being for either.Being in France it maybe different but i don't think so.

Yes it is much cheaper and works well,i know a lot of GI's running it in U.S. cars and trucks without issue.

If an oil is approved for gasoline engines and meets the requirements for your engine then you will be fine regardless of the manufacturers specs listed or not,chances are Euro oils wont have anything except API and euro specs listed anyway.
Stay within the manufacturers OCI.

BTW if you can still find the blue jugs of Helix diesel 5w-30 with gas engine specs stock up on it as it appears Shell is going through some sort of a product consolidation program where some of the lower priced offerings are being eliminated with pricier alternatives.

ATU is a parts store chain in Germany,sorry no contacts in France.

 

[charliebay]

Ok, I have caught up a little bit on the research, after going around to a few stores, and I wound up finding Shell blue bottle 5w30, it has an API of SJ, and in this case, it was totally a fluke that I found it, because it was at a little supermarket!
Anyhow, this bottle is not deisel, but rather natural gas, and it says Helix, ESSENCE Economie Carburant; I haven't found this anywhere else, not even at their equivalents here of AutoZone, or Pep Boys, I think it might be outdated; There is another bottle that is silver/Grey, and it is Heliz Ultra Extra, and I have seen that one in mostly in dark grey though, The blue bottle deisel, you are referring to is absolutely available, good deal; I will verify that the specs. and coordinates work for gas engine model vehicles also then on those bottles, thank you;

In the meantime, what does manufacturer's OCI mean,? And I wonder what these API ratings are in reference to; SJ, SL (maybe not SM I think SM is found quite a bit on the 5w40, full syn.)
seems to be the range my car operates in,


Thanks for your help..

 

[Steve S]

I wouldn't use the natural gas oil It may not have the best additive package for petrol . OCI= Manufactures Oil Change Interval. The SL and SJ and SM are the SAEs oil ratings. SM is the latest and they are what type of oil the manufacture recommends for the engine ,comming soon is SN . Syn oil wouldn't be bad for your engine and depending on the oil type you can take advantages on longer oil change intervals etc if you engine is in good tune and mechanical condition, it would help offset the added cost of the oil. I am not sure I may be wrong and I am too lazy but the ACEA is the European ratings for motor oils [ like AE or A5 etc], look up the website and get the explaination of the ratings they are very good, .

 

[Trav]

OCI= Oil Change Interval.

Here is info on the API grades,its pdf.
http://www.api.org/certifications/engineoil/pubs/upload/EngineOilGuide_March2010.pdf

You will find a lot of SL oils offered, not because they are inferior but do not meet the lower zinc specs required by SM.
Some would say this spec offers greater protection and i also believe this to be the case in certain engines with flat tappet cams.

You can use this SL grade as well as SM in your 4.6 with confidence.
The lower zinc spec is supposedly to protect the cats from fouling, but unless the engine burns oil like grandmas frying pan it’s a non issue IMHO.

One benefit from running oil like the shell Helix diesel is it really cleans the engines internals very well.

Correction: I called my son and had him look at the bottle in the garage, it is SL spec oil.
The SM was on a bottle of edge RS I bought for my car.
Here are the actual specs on this oil.

Shell Helix Diesel Plus VA 5W-30

ACEA A3/B4
API SL/CF
FORD M2C 917-A
Es ist namentlich freigegeben von:
VW 502.00, 505.00, 505.01

Shell Helix Diesel Plus VA 5W-30
Dichte bei 15°C kg/m³ DIN 51757 855
Flammpunkt nach Cleveland °C DIN ISO 2592 220
Dynamische Viskosität bei –20°C mPa s DIN 51377 3250
Kinematische Viskosität
bei 40°C mm²/s 91
bei 100°C mm²/s 14
DIN 51562
Viskositätsindex (VI) DIN ISO 2906 160
Pourpoint °C DIN ISO 3016 -33
Durch Weiterentwicklung

 

[TugaSaudade]

And a great oil it is, i'm sure it will be a great choice for the OP car.
My "small" Skoda Fabia with a 1.4 4 cyl 101hp VW engine is using it for the past month
Since it meets VW50501, it is capable of a 9000miles/15000km OCI max.
A 5 liter jug costed me 50€ in my country, Portugal.
Oil is more expensive in Europe..

Castrol Magnatec 5w30 is also not a full synth and with is polar properties, coul also be a good option.
A 4 liter jug costs 42€ at my local supermarket.

 

[charliebay]

What I found here in France is the following for Shell Deisel
Motor Oil:

Shell Helix Extra, Ultra (Dark Grey Bottle, Not Blue)
5 w30 Deisel Motor Oil

ACEA C2 C3, A3/A4
VW 504.00 507.00
BMW Longlife -04
Mercedes 229.51
Chrysler MS 11106

This bottle however, does not list an API, and that would be maybe another cause for concern since normally my u.s. car needs to have Ameican Petroleum Institute certification;
The major brands do write API on some bottles, but not on all of them, it's a little bit random;

I can keep looking for the blue bottle, Your specs. are from a different jug altogether;

Your Shell fufulls the Ford WSS M2C 917A, and I would have to look that up to find out which Ford EU car that might be;
I certainly appreciate all the information. This is very helpful, to everyone. They seem to market the oils differently in different countries, not diffucult to find in Portugal though; very interesting..

 

[charliebay]

then you're suggesting that I go with European 5w30 Deisel..

on a mercury grand marquis, 4.6 v8 engine.. does that sound right? Ford says use conventional oil.. which is just regular motor oil, not deisel motor oil..

I just did a little research on most of the Ford EU cars here, and most of them are deisel engines. Ford cars USA are mostly natural gas cars and take regular motor oil, not deisel. Or, are desiel motor oil and gas motor oil interchangeable?
My question is whether or not Deisel cars or trucks, whether or not they normally take regular gas motor oil, or they they always take deisel motor oil. I've never owned a deisel motor engine..and that's why I don't know. Thanks for your feedback by the way;

 

[charliebay]

Most of the Ford vehicles in EU, are deisel engine,
the specs that include, wss mc2 193a, 193b, 193c,
and then cars with specs wss mc2 917c, all of these are
Ford with v4 v6 Deseil engines--

If my car is not deseil, it seems unwise to follow the motor
oils that are suitable for those Ford deseil engines, even if,
it's 5w 30 Motor Oil..

This is starting to get kind of scary.. a regular gas engine,
takes regular gas motor oil right? or can I put deisel motor oil in my natural gas engine??

I know nothing about Deisel engines;

 

[Trav]

The oil you found with the vw spec 504.00 and 507.00
Should be fine in a gasoline engine.Apparently they did not get API certs for gas engines on this oil but the fact it is approved for VW gas engines tells a different story.

Quote:
Volkswagen introduced it’s own specifications for engine oil in the mid 1990′s and these cover Volkswagen, Skoda, Audi and Seat made cars.

There are two new VW standards for oils, 504.00 for petrol powered engines and 507.00 for diesel powered engines. Introduced in late 2005, whilst these are separate standards every oil made to date has meet the requirements of both standards. Hence why VW refer to the standards as 504.00/507.00.


This oil should be perfectly ok in your 4.6 if you cant find the blue bottle Helix VA.