Felicia Combi 1.3 - what oil?

[Goki]

What kind of oil do You guys use?

What would You recommend?

I've used Fuchs Titan oil (15W/40), and the car doesn't seem to like it... :confused:

[anewman]

Can't see why it would have any problems with that oil unless it's specifically a diesel oil.

What does it do differently with this oil? How long had the previous oil been in and did it come out like black treacle?

[KenONeill]

As Mr Newman says. Fuchs are a well enough known and respected brand that I can't think what issues other than a specialist diesel lubricant in a petrol engine (which isn't their fault) or using a full synthetic in an older engine that's designed to run on mineral oils one of their oils would cause.

If the oil pressure light is flashing or always on, and wasn't before you changed oil, I'd lay odds the problem is that the capillary tube in the pressure sender is blocked, and nothing to do with the oil itself; it just sometimes happens after an oil change.

[auroan]

Do different versions of the 1.3 use different grade oils. As I'm sure it's supposed to be 10W40.

[anewman]

Haynes mentions 15w-40 as being acceptable. I doubt it would be that much different to 10w-40 to cause any issues with any engine specifically requiring 10w-40 anyway.

[Captain Sisko]

what do you mean by the car doesnt like it?

I've used AC Delco 10w/40 semi synth in mine with no probs so far

[Goki]

In fact - the car likes it so much, that it burned half of it after 5000km... :thumbdwn:

At the Skoda service, they told me that the engine is OK, but that I should swith to Shell... And of course, they offer Shell...

So, what do You think?

[anewman]

In fact - the car likes it so much, that it burned half of it after 5000km... :thumbdwn:

I make 5000km to be 3000 miles. In the scheme of things that's pretty much nothing in terms of oil consumption.

If you're concerned about the cost of topping up, just use cheaper oil. If not then I see nothing wrong

[pollywog]

Since my Felly has more than 100.000 km I take "Castrol GTX High Mileage" ... it is a 15W40 especially for older engines. I like it very much...

@ Goki, what about you foglights project?

[Goki]

Castrol GTX High Mileage - what is the price of this oil in Germany?

I must check if they have it here...

Pollywog - I'm still struggling to find time to make the connections... all is figured out, but I've been working every weekend, and have very little time... :(

[Cepheuz]

is a question of temperature....

all feli's use three oils;

10W30 for cold climate (if you see snow in the year)

15W40 for moderate climate and

20W50 for warm climate (what is snow, never heard of it)

apart from that, it still a question of temperature, if the engines does not reach 90° constant its not sealing correctly meaning that oil will slip though the engine lining, and if your engine does reach 90° constant but you use a oil that is too thin for the climate you will have a little more oil consumtion due to evaporation or correcly stated "misting" that goes out throu the PVC system.

now the feli's engine does have a oil consumtion (and its stated by the manual) is las much as 1/2 a liter every 1000 miles

(the engine need to reach 90° in less than 5min, or else you piston lining and valve guide will deteriorate letting oil and compresion pass making for low FE, low performance and low engine life)

i like to point out i'm not a mecanic, just and averge joe who like fixing things (and gets away with it)

Edited 2 May, 2009 by Cepheuz

[Goki]

I think (in fact I'm pretty sure) that the thermostat is fully functioning.

The car reaches 90° in several minutes, and the cooling fan turns on-off by itself...

Back here, we have temperatures from -20 to +45... So, 20W50 is a bit on the low side, I think...

P.S. Where to look for the thermostat??? :confused:

[Cepheuz]

I think (in fact I'm pretty sure) that the thermostat is fully functioning.

The car reaches 90° in several minutes, and the cooling fan turns on-off by itself...

Back here, we have temperatures from -20 to +45... So, 20W50 is a bit on the low side, I think...

P.S. Where to look for the thermostat??? :confused:

sorry, for some reason i though you lived in egipt or something like that, my mistake

if the temperature is -20(:S) to +45(:eek: thats like 120° F) the you should be using 10W40 synth or semi synth, so you are using the righ t oil

from -20°C to <45°C thats a huge scope i live in the Caribbean is >30°C the hotest in the year is like 32°

[Goki]

No problem... Egypt?!? My girlfriend has a friend from there...

Back here, we normally use 15W40 oil...

Castrol certainly looks like a great choice... Thanx...

[pollywog]

Castrol GTX High Mileage - what is the price of this oil in Germany?

5 Liters about 23 euros. It is a wonderful oil!

[Uimo]

Hmm..

Here in Finland I went to our local dealer and asked what oil I should put on my 1.3 Felicia, and he said 5W40. That's what I used and now, 2500km after the oil change, my blue Porky Pig hasn't eaten a single drop of it. So it seemed to work?

[auroan]

This is something that erks me a little. Why people not use what the manufactor recommends in their manuals. The Felicia 1.3 uses 10W40 oil as recommended by Skoda. Do you really think they spend time and development costs on engine specs etc for someone who thinks they may know better to come along and decide that a different spec oil is in fact better ?

I've been a member of a couple of Audi specific forums fdor about 5 years now... and the amount of people who decide they are going to put some different spec oil in their engines to find that a year down the line they come back on the forum saying they are suffering from say oil sludge problems in their 1.8T or turbo failure due to oil issues. This then gives rise to people saying the 1.8T engine is unreliable due to oil issues.... when infact it's people not sticking to manufacturors specs.

Anyway my advice is stick to the grade that SKODA say should go in your engine for the country/regien you are in...... that way you con't go wrong.

[pollywog]

5W40 is not to be used in the 1.3 engine. For town cruising it may be okay but for long journeys it will bend the piston rods. i have seen this issue on 3 different 1.3 engines. one with 0w30 the others with 5w40...

[Uimo]

5W40 is not to be used in the 1.3 engine. For town cruising it may be okay but for long journeys it will bend the piston rods. i have seen this issue on 3 different 1.3 engines. one with 0w30 the others with 5w40...

Really? So should I take 10W30, like Cepheuz said, since we do get some snow here? I wonder why the guy at the shop suggested 5W40 for me.. I even checked their list showing what oil goes into which car and it also said 5W40 for the 1.3 felly.

I can't check the user's manual, since someone of the past owners has taken it into better use. But I do have the service history, and it also shows that at a real garage they have put 5W40 into it..:confused:

[pollywog]

Castrol also recommends 0w40 although this would not work.

the 1.3 engine is an old one, better to use 10w40 oder 15w40

[Uimo]

Ok, have to keep this in mind. I was planning to do my next oil change in a month or so, when my vacation starts. I trust the engine will hold together until then because there have been no problems so far, and as I'm not the first one to put 5W40 into Porky's veins..

[daverapid]

:)Just use the oil recommended by Skoda, it's no more or less complicated than that! Saying that, I'm unsure how using thinner oil bends the piston rods? Are you talking about the conrods or gudgeon pins? How does the bending occur?

[Uimo]

But what is the oil recommended by Skoda for this one? Is it the 10W30/10W40 for cold(ish) climates? Like I said, I never received the user's manual and my Google-skills apparently aren't good enough, so I have to trust everyone else

[pollywog]

conrods.

with the thin 5w or 0w the lubrication film is to weak and so on long-distance trips when the engine is warm the resistance in the cylinder is very high and so the conrods are bent.

[KenONeill]

conrods.

with the thin 5w or 0w the lubrication film is to weak and so on long-distance trips when the engine is warm the resistance in the cylinder is very high and so the conrods are bent.

Ok, now explain how the oil is remaining at 0C whilst the water has been at ~90C for 30 minutes.The W rating is the viscosity of the oil (in centi-Stokes IIRC) at 0C. The second figure in something like, say, 5W40 is the viscosity of the oil at 100C!