Oil alphabet

The adage "who lubricates the gears" is key when it comes to motor oils.

The durability of the power unit depends not only on the quality of the oil, but also on the correct selection for a specific engine. A modern and powerful engine and a completely different engine that shows signs of significant wear require a different oil.

The main task of the oil is to lubricate and prevent direct contact between two interacting elements. Break the oil layer, i.e. break the so-called. The oil film leads to very rapid engine wear. In addition to lubrication, oil also cools, reduces noise, protects against corrosion, seals and removes contaminants.

  How to read oil

All motor oils can be divided into three main groups: mineral, semi-synthetic and synthetic. Each oil describes several basic parameters, such as grade and viscosity. The quality class (usually by API) consists of two letters (eg SH, CE). The first defines which engine the oil is intended for (S for gasoline, C for diesel), and the second describes the quality class. The higher the letter of the alphabet, the higher the quality of the oil (SJ oil is better than SE, and CD is better than CC). With the SJ/CF marking, it can be used in both gasoline and diesel engines. The second very important parameter is the viscosity classification (most often SAE), which determines the temperature range in which it can be used. Currently, almost only multigrade oils are produced, so the marking consists of two parts (for example, 10W-40). The first with the letter W (0W, 5W, 10W) ​​indicates that the oil is intended for winter use. The lower the number, the better the oil performs at low temperatures. The second segment (30, 40, 50) informs that the oil can be used in summer. The higher it is, the more resistant to high temperatures. With the wrong viscosity (too thick or too thin oil), the engine can quickly fail. Mineral oils most often have a viscosity of 15W-40, semi-synthetic 10W-40, and synthetic oils 0W-30, 0W-40, 5W-40, 5W-50.

  Criterias of choice

When choosing an oil, you should first of all take into account its parameters, and not the brand, and be guided by the recommendations of the car manufacturer (for example, VW, standards 505.00, 506.00). You can use the best performing oil, but not the worst. There are also oils for engines running on liquefied gas, but it is not necessary to use them, it is enough to observe the oil change intervals used so far.

Synthetic oils are best for new and used engines because they provide good engine protection, last longer and are more resistant to extreme operating conditions. These oils have a wide temperature range and therefore the engine is properly lubricated in extreme cold and heat. For heat loaded engines, such as turbocharged gasoline engines, oils with a viscosity of 10W-60 can be used, which are very resistant to high temperatures.

If the engine has high mileage and starts to "take" oil, switch from synthetics to semi-synthetics. If this does not help, you need to choose a mineral. For heavily worn engines, there are special mineral oils (eg Shell Mileage 15W-50, Castrol GTX Mileage 15W-40) that seal the engine, reduce engine consumption and reduce noise.

When using mineral oil of not very good quality, pouring synthetic oil into such an engine, which has very good cleaning properties, will lead to depressurization of the engine and washing out deposits. And this can result in clogging of the oil channels and jamming of the engine. If we do not know what oil was filled in, and the engine does not have high mileage, it is safer to pour semi-synthetics, which do not carry the same risks as synthetics, and protect the engine much better than mineral oil. On the other hand, it is safer to fill a high mileage engine with good mineral oil. qualitative. In this case, the risk of sediment washout and opening is low. There is no specific mileage limit at which you can switch from synthetics to mineral water. It just depends on the condition of the engine.

We check the level

The oil level should be checked every 1000 km, and preferably every time you fill up or before continuing on your journey. When it is necessary to add oil, but we cannot buy the same oil, you can use another oil, preferably of the same quality and viscosity class. If this is not the case, pour oil with the closest possible parameters.

When to replace?

In order for the engine to have a long service life, it is not enough to use the correct oil, it must also be changed systematically, in accordance with the manufacturer's recommendations. In some vehicles (e.g. Mercedes, BMW) the change is determined by the computer depending on the condition of the oil. This is the best solution, because the replacement occurs only when the oil really loses its parameters.  

Mineral oils
Mark	Oil name and viscosity	Quality class	Price [PLN] for 4 liters
Castrol	GTX3 Protection 15W-40	SJ / CF	109
Elf	Start 15W-40	SG / CF	65 (5 liters)
Lotus	Mineral 15W-40	SJ / CF	58 (5 liters)
	Gas 15W-40	SJ	60 (5 liters)
мобильный	Super M 15W-40	SL / CF	99
orlen	Classic 15W-40	SJ / CF	50
	Gas Lubro 15W-40	SG	45

Semi-synthetic oils
Mark	Oil name and viscosity	Quality class	Price [PLN] for 4 liters
Castrol	GTX Magnatec 10W-40	SL / CF	129
Elf	Competition STI 10W-40	SL / CF	109
Lotus	Semi-synthetic 10W-40	SL / CF	73
мобильный	Super C 10W-40	SL / CF	119
orlen	Super semi synthetic 10W-40	SJ / CF	68

Synthetic oils
Mark	Oil name and viscosity	Quality class	Price [PLN] for 4 liters
Castrol	GTX Magnatec 5W-40	SL / CF	169
Elf	Evolution of SXR 5W-30	SL / CF	159
	Excelium LDX 5W-40	SL / CF	169
Lotus	Synthetics 5W-40	SL / SJ / CF / CD	129
	Economy 5W-30	SL / CF	139
мобильный	0W-40	SL / SDJ / CF / CE	189
orlen	Synthetics 5W-40	SL/SJ/CF	99