Technical 5W30 for Panda 2019 1.2 69k (EURO6+) ?

[Diwiak]

Hi,

Panda been at garage for timing belt change and guys changed oil with filter as well, they used some Shell HX8 5W30 which they're mostly using from barell, said its much cheaper than Selenia and wont affect anything (Fiat recommended is KPE 5W40), local temperatures are varying from -20 to +35C max .

Should I care of that, or is it allright till next (approx 5000 miles) oil change?? Selenia is hard to find and is pretty expensive from Fiat dealer.

Thanks

 

[The Panda Nut]

Selenia is just and oil brand and one I intensly dislike due to bad experiences with it in our Panda, The Shell sounds a reasonable substiture, In the handbook it will give a chart showing the correct grade for different temperatures so the recommended oil may vary in different countries, I suspect either 30w oil will do no harm for one change cycle. If the car rattles a lot on start up due to the oil draining from the hydraulic valve lifters (if will quieten down a few seconds after starting) then change the oil sooner than the normal interval. I have tried Selenia and rate it as BAD, Our Pandas are both 69hp and run on 5W40 C3 Castrol Edge semi synthetic and do not rattle at all on start up. Using Castrol the cars can be left for 2 to 3 weeks before any rattle is noticed on starting. Using Selnia they both rattled very badly. Shell oils are some of the best quality so if you have no statup rattles I would be happy.

 

[jrkitching]

On the non-turbo 4 cylinder petrol engines, I wouldn't worry too much about using a slightly different oil to that specified. The 1.2 isn't highly stressed and for normal driving, any reasonable quality oil will likely be just fine; after all, the core engine was developed to run on a 10/40 semi synthetic. And we've seen plenty of posts from folks who've run engines with no oil visible on the dipstick for considerable periods of time, and even those seem to survive unscathed.

The TA and the diesels are a different story, and I'd be much more concerned about using the correct oil in one of those.

 

[Diwiak]

Thanks for responses. Iam more worried if such oil wont harm consumption, emissions and affect cat converter effectivity, as well if oil pump will work well.
With selenia KPE 5W40 Iam hearing that valves rattle after week or two of non-using, starting it in less than week its not-audible.

 

[The Panda Nut]

Selenia..... No thanks. TA only. Castrol Edge C3 Semi or fully synthetic 5w30 does the job well for me.

 

[FiatMatt94]

Selenia..... No thanks. TA only. Castrol Edge C3 Semi or fully synthetic 5w30 does the job well for me.

I agree with the Selenia, I didn't like it very much either, when I did the first oil change at 3.5k I used Selenia but when the next oil change came at 12k I used Castrol Magnatec 5w40 with genuine FPT filters & have stuck with it ever since as there was a noticeable improvement over Selenia, I read somewhere that Fiat doesn't own Selenia anymore as they sold it off to some Malaysian firm which probably explains why it isn't as good as it once was

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Regarding the Selenia engine oil. Some years ago I placed quite a big order with S4p - a supplier I really like and have got good stuff from at very reasonable prices - I decided to order some service stuff at the same time and included the recommended Selenia engine oil. It was immediately obvious that the tappets (1.2 Eco Dynamic Panda) were more prone to cold start rattle. I persevered for a couple of months and then changed back to my usual Fuchs Titan 5w-40 whereupon a dramatic improvement was observed. I've never bought it again. So, a one off example, but I'll not risk it again.