Technical Oil and Filter

[Adam1984]

Hello,

So am looking at changing the oil and filter on my Panda 1.2 (2015 Petrol)

I know oil might all be the same or is this not the case. Can different brands of oil be better for the engine and make the car run smoother.

I have currently a Mann filter and Castrol Oil.

I am looking to change to Mahle filter, and looking at oil brands like Shell Helix Ultra 5W40, Total Energies 9000 5W40. Anyone used Shell and is it much better than Castrol?

Or what other filter and oil would you recommend?

 

[Whippetmaddad]

All the oils your looking at are of excellent quality so your OK with any. If they are all available in the same shop I'd go with Shell.
Male filter.

 

[Adam1984]

All the oils your looking at are of excellent quality so your OK with any. If they are all available in the same shop I'd go with Shell.
Male filter.

You mean a Mahle filter?

 

[KPat]

I am looking to change to Mahle filter, and looking at oil brands like Shell Helix Ultra 5W40, Total Energies 9000 5W40. Anyone used Shell and is it much better than Castrol?

You need a 5W40 C3 oil. Shell Helix Ultra is the wrong oil. Shell Helix HX8 ECT 5W40 is the correct one. Whatever oil you get just make sure it meets the Fiat 955535-S2 requirement. The difference between a Mann and Mahle filter is really splitting hairs.

 

[Adam1984]

You need a 5W40 C3 oil. Shell Helix Ultra is the wrong oil. Shell Helix HX8 ECT 5W40 is the correct one. Whatever oil you get just make sure it meets the Fiat 955535-S2 requirement. The difference between a Mann and Mahle filter is really splitting hairs.

I have cancelled the order for the oils and the filter. I had some Fuchs Titan GT1 Flex 3 5W-40, put in about a month ago with a new Mann filter, I thought new oil and filter would make my engine better, I am still getting rough idle and really bad acceleration problems. Maybe clean the VVT Solenoid with some Carb spray?

 

[Herts Hillhopper]

I have cancelled the order for the oils and the filter. I had some Fuchs Titan GT1 Flex 3 5W-40, put in about a month ago with a new Mann filter, I thought new oil and filter would make my engine better, I am still getting rough idle and really bad acceleration problems. Maybe clean the VVT Solenoid with some Carb spray?

Changing oil will not make an engine run smoother... if the engine is running 'rough', then one of three things is wrong: not enough, or too much fuel; not enough, or too much air; and not enough spark, or the sparks are happening at the wrong moment.

So you need to look at these things to sort it. But note that poor running is hard to diagnose... really, it is best left to a trained mechanic to be honest. (Not me!)

The things that mechanic might look at include...

Air is a good one to start with: is the air filter clean? are all the tubes and pipes between teh point the air comes in (behind the left headlight), all the way to the point the air goes into the engine (at the back, on the 'manifold' -- the section of four tubes taking air into the engine) correctly connected, free from spits in any rubber parts, and with connections tight?

Sparks is next to check. I think you have told us it had new spark plugs recently. But are the 'coils' -- the electronic units that produce teh spark - working correctly? Are all the wires to these in good shape? Its hard to test a coil pack (the unit that makes teh spark) but your code reader will show if there is a problem with them.

And fuel: so many things here can cause an issue, and to be honest are not things 'we' as home mechanics can easily check: blocked or faulty fuel injectors (the units that spray the fuel into the engine at the right moment) -- these can only really be tested by a specialist. But you can try using super unleaded fuel in the tank -- the main thing this has is cleaning agents to help make injectors work at their best. (bt see below about a long fast run -- super fuel or injector cleaner won't do much pootling around town. Other things to check include the fuel pumps (one in the tank, one on teh engine) -- but again this is one for a specialist. And how 'fresh' is teh petrol? Petrol goes off in teh tank, especially if not used too often. Keeping the tank full helps as that means there's less 'free space' for the fuel vapours to evaporate into.

When did teh car last get a good run on a fast rod/motorway? A 20 mile fast ri is often helpful in getting an engine back into better health -- some here call it an 'Italian Tune-up' -- literally a fast drive using as many revs as is safe to 'clear the cobwebs'

 

[Adam1984]

Changing oil will not make an engine run smoother... if the engine is running 'rough', then one of three things is wrong: not enough, or too much fuel; not enough, or too much air; and not enough spark, or the sparks are happening at the wrong moment.

So you need to look at these things to sort it. But note that poor running is hard to diagnose... really, it is best left to a trained mechanic to be honest. (Not me!)

The things that mechanic might look at include...

Air is a good one to start with: is the air filter clean? are all the tubes and pipes between teh point the air comes in (behind the left headlight), all the way to the point the air goes into the engine (at the back, on the 'manifold' -- the section of four tubes taking air into the engine) correctly connected, free from spits in any rubber parts, and with connections tight?

Sparks is next to check. I think you have told us it had new spark plugs recently. But are the 'coils' -- the electronic units that produce teh spark - working correctly? Are all the wires to these in good shape? Its hard to test a coil pack (the unit that makes teh spark) but your code reader will show if there is a problem with them.

And fuel: so many things here can cause an issue, and to be honest are not things 'we' as home mechanics can easily check: blocked or faulty fuel injectors (the units that spray the fuel into the engine at the right moment) -- these can only really be tested by a specialist. But you can try using super unleaded fuel in the tank -- the main thing this has is cleaning agents to help make injectors work at their best. (bt see below about a long fast run -- super fuel or injector cleaner won't do much pootling around town. Other things to check include the fuel pumps (one in the tank, one on teh engine) -- but again this is one for a specialist. And how 'fresh' is teh petrol? Petrol goes off in teh tank, especially if not used too often. Keeping the tank full helps as that means there's less 'free space' for the fuel vapours to evaporate into.

When did teh car last get a good run on a fast rod/motorway? A 20 mile fast ri is often helpful in getting an engine back into better health -- some here call it an 'Italian Tune-up' -- literally a fast drive using as many revs as is safe to 'clear the cobwebs'

Hello,

Thank you very much for all the information.

So yes I won't bother changing the oil and filter. I put in about a month ago, Fuchs Titan GTFlex 5W40, and a Mann Filter.

I had a new Mann air filter put in last week and this is still happening so think we can rule that one out.

I had some NGK basic sparks put in back in March, is this an ok brand, or try a different kind? I have a code reader the VLinker MS and Fiat MultiEcuscan so will try do a full scan this afternoon. Unless you know another suitable app for my code reader for Fiat?


With the fuel, do I just keep using Super Unleaded. I was thinking of getting a system cleaner like Cataclean, or think just try shell V Power instead? I roughly go from full to empty in 2 weeks on a rough count of 250 miles per tank.

I do a motorway journey home once a week usually on a Friday on the way home from work. This is about 15 mins on the motorway.

Thanks

 

[Herts Hillhopper]

Hello,

Thank you very much for all the information.

So yes I won't bother changing the oil and filter. I put in about a month ago, Fuchs Titan GTFlex 5W40, and a Mann Filter.

I had a new Mann air filter put in last week and this is still happening so think we can rule that one out.

I had some NGK basic sparks put in back in March, is this an ok brand, or try a different kind? I have a code reader the VLinker MS and Fiat MultiEcuscan so will try do a full scan this afternoon. Unless you know another suitable app for my code reader for Fiat?


With the fuel, do I just keep using Super Unleaded. I was thinking of getting a system cleaner like Cataclean, or think just try shell V Power instead? I roughly go from full to empty in 2 weeks on a rough count of 250 miles per tank.

I do a motorway journey home once a week usually on a Friday on the way home from work. This is about 15 mins on the motorway.

Thanks

that last bit - 250 miles per tank - sounds very low (based on a 37 litre tank, thats 30 miles per gallon...)

Those plugs are a perfect brand - but which 'version' of plugs (the type number is more important than the brand). I believe the correct ones from NGK are labelled ZKR7A-10

You can get these, or the genuine Fiat originals if you prefer, here:

Alfa Romeo | Fiat - 1.2/1.4 8v Spark Plug 55190788

www.shop4parts.co.uk

The MultiECUscan app is the only one that works properly with the Fiat... but its not a code you are looking for but live data from the sensors (and will need to know what that data is telling you. I don't...)

Give it that long, fast run it needs and you may well find things improve quite a lot! (a trip of 20 miles at 60mph...)

 

[Adam1984]

that last bit - 250 miles per tank - sounds very low (based on a 37 litre tank, thats 30 miles per gallon...)

Those plugs are a perfect brand - but which 'version' of plugs (the type number is more important than the brand). I believe the correct ones from NGK are labelled ZKR7A-10

You can get these, or the genuine Fiat originals if you prefer, here:

Alfa Romeo | Fiat - 1.2/1.4 8v Spark Plug 55190788

www.shop4parts.co.uk

Give it that long, fast run it needs and you may well find things improve quite a lot! (a trip of 20 miles at 60mph...)

Yes those are the correct model that I got for the spark plugs. The NGK ones. Those Fiat official ones look good with the gold coating on top. Mine were just plain old silver.

Think I try some shell V power on the next fill then, or just stick with fuel save with some additives (which you recommend)

Will try multiecuscan, but I have no clue what figures am looking for either.

 

[benmac]

Is all this simply a case that it's a slow car and you're just expecting a bit much from it? A 1.2 is about 70bhp I think and somewhere approaching 14 seconds 0-60. It's a slow car in this day and age; great for what it's for but compared to lots of things will feel slow.

In terms of supposed rough running etc rather than just randomly scanning stuff and changing bits and bobs, if you're properly worried about it I'd suggest giving it to a trusted garage and ask them to give it a good going over to see what (if anything) they can find. A couple of hours of their labour for a couple of hundred quid will be far cheaper than spending countless hours just randomnly trying "stuff".

That said, where did you buy the spark plugs from? There are lots of fake ones on places like Amazon and Ebay. Buy a set from somewhere trustworthy like shop4parts.

 

[Adam1984]

Is all this simply a case that it's a slow car and you're just expecting a bit much from it? A 1.2 is about 70bhp I think and somewhere approaching 14 seconds 0-60. It's a slow car in this day and age; great for what it's for but compared to lots of things will feel slow.

In terms of supposed rough running etc rather than just randomly scanning stuff and changing bits and bobs, if you're properly worried about it I'd suggest giving it to a trusted garage and ask them to give it a good going over to see what (if anything) they can find. A couple of hours of their labour for a couple of hundred quid will be far cheaper than spending countless hours just randomnly trying "stuff".

That said, where did you buy the spark plugs from? There are lots of fake ones on places like Amazon and Ebay. Buy a set from somewhere trustworthy like shop4parts.

I bought my spark plugs from GSF Car Parts. The NGK ones.

 

[Adam1984]

I bought my spark plugs from GSF Car Parts. The NGK ones.

I am tempted to go for the official Fiat ones from shop4parts as the gold top on them looks much better than the silver standard on the NGK

 

[Herts Hillhopper]

I am tempted to go for the official Fiat ones from shop4parts as the gold top on them looks much better than the silver standard on the NGK

No point. They will work exactly the same. It’s the other end (the bit in the engine) that matters

 

[Herts Hillhopper]

Is all this simply a case that it's a slow car and you're just expecting a bit much from it? A 1.2 is about 70bhp I think and somewhere approaching 14 seconds 0-60. It's a slow car in this day and age; great for what it's for but compared to lots of things will feel slow.

In terms of supposed rough running etc rather than just randomly scanning stuff and changing bits and bobs, if you're properly worried about it I'd suggest giving it to a trusted garage and ask them to give it a good going over to see what (if anything) they can find. A couple of hours of their labour for a couple of hundred quid will be far cheaper than spending countless hours just randomnly trying "stuff".

That said, where did you buy the spark plugs from? There are lots of fake ones on places like Amazon and Ebay. Buy a set from somewhere trustworthy like shop4parts.

Absolutely. Find a good mechanic and ask them to check everything (even down to blocked breather pipes etc). But I agree - the 1.2 Panda is not a rocket ship. I suspect my Land Rover can accelerate faster