A couple of questions to the experts here please.
1. Do Fiat put fully synthetic Selenia 0W-30 in Euro 6 TwinAir engines from brand new? The perceived wisdom over the years has traditionally been that the first 10K miles should be with mineral oil to allow the engine to bed in - with new tech engine manufacturing methods-wise, is this now no longer the case?
2. My other half has a 62-plate Panda TA with 22k miles up. Am I right that it's a Euro5 engine that uses 5W-40 fully synthetic? I presume I'm OK (best) topping it up with 0W-30??
Many thanks in advance.
TIT (! Hadn't realised until now that was the acronym for my handle!)
Hi bud,
Happy to advise
1) 0w30 is now used as the factory fill in the Twinair engine. The old way of mineral oil for the first 1-10k was absolutely correct, however now this is not only not required but is also a very bad idea.
Manufacturing casting operations and tolerances in modern engines are very exacting, parts are now discarded if they are even slightly out of tolerance, many years ago this was not the case.
Mineral oil was used under the basis of parts being able to bed together and wear together in a specific manner, in doing so improved efficiency and allowed parts to match perfectly. Due to both a combination of very very demanding manufacturing and engine oils, this is not only not needed but as the parts are matched from the factory, excessive wear would actually blunt efficiency and shorten the lifespan of the engine. I've seen testbed engines at work being stripped after 30k simulations with cross hatching and casting marks on load facings and bores, they look brand new. With that in mind, shows the advances in manufacturing and lubricant tech involved.
Also it has to be kept in mind that modern engines are very efficient and most run much cooler than before, small turbocharged engines are a exception to this rule. The temp inside of the turbo for example in operation is massive and rapidly causes oxidisation through thermal shock to the oil. Synthetic oils of groups 3-5 are very much capable of handing this heat and providing cooling to hotspot areas of the engine, whereas mineral would rapidly break down, creating carbon deposits and coking, increased shear, oil film failure, temp instability, acidic environmental stress and chemical instability. Not a good mix.
2) While the Euro 5 engine was supplied with 5w30 FS from the factory, a service bulletin was issued to fiat service advised that 0w30 should be used moving forward during servicing on all Twinair engines, excluding none forced induction engines which are not available in the UK, on this engine it's optional.
5w40 shouldn't be used in this engine, if currently filled with 5w30 (check service invoice), top up with 5w30 until next service fill. If 0w30 is in use then use that to top up. Try not to mix grades unless it's a absolute emergency and if so, make sure the oil is changed sooner rather than later.
Any other questions pop them up or send me a pm and I'll happy try and help
