Stupid Oil Question

[impalator]

Hey guys,

I am recycling this post as I have yet another "stupid oil question" - please scroll down for my last reply/post on this subject...

Thanks, Chris

This is probably a pretty stupid question... but hey, I think better safe than sorry...

Just noticed today that the oil dip stick indicates on the low range of the spectrum... (engine warm, sitting for 20 minutes, Van parked on level road, stick inserted completely and pulled out - sitting exactly at the "low" mark)

I am still about 1'500km's away from the next oil change... but here it is: I need to drive 500km's tomorrow and can't get an oil change done... (leaving early in the morning).

Now the situation is as follows: I don't know what oil is in there right now... is it 15-20 or 15-40 or what.... ? I don't know.

On gasoline engines I would just mix with whatever.... but on Diesels I am not at all sure if mixing different grade oils is a problem.

CVI did the last oil change and the little castrol sticker on the windshield doesn't indicate what grade oil is in there.

I just picked up a big bottle of Castrol GTX Diesel SAE 15W-40 and I was gonna top it off... but suddenly I have doubts... what if I am not supposed to mix different grades...

Before I either screw something up or can totally go ahead and pour in I was hoping that somebody could give me peace of mind...

I will bring it in for an oil-change once back from the trip... but it'll be a 1000 km's later.... and a lot of bad stuff can happen during 1000 km's with the wrong oil / oil mix.

Thanks for a quick reassurance or warning... whatever it is...

Cheers,
Chris

[fexlboi]

CVI did the last oil change and the little castrol sticker on the windshield doesn't indicate what grade oil is in there.

Can not belief Edwin forgot to write the grade down. They usually use 15W-40

[Delicanadabc]

Yap that is it: 15 W 40

[Green1]

on the bright side, when it comes to topping up the oil, it doesn't really matter, oil is basically oil.
So if you don't get the grade quite right, it will simply mix in and not cause any problems.

[after oil]

i think almost everybody uses 15w-40 for diesels. and i agree too, no big deal to mix...

[impalator]

Thanks everybody,

Filled in.... will be rolling soon....

Cheers,
Chris

[sid]

agreed,

mixed oil at the correct level is better than low oil.

sid

[Profister]

mixed oil at the correct level is better than low oil.

Not a mix of mineral and synthetic though.

[sid]

actually most synthetics will mix just fine with dino oil, it makes no sense to mix syth with regular on purpose, but if you are low on the dipstick and you are running synth, then topping up with regular oil wont hurt anything if thats all you got. you would want to change the oil back to one grade or the other at some point but you can definitley mix the 2 if yer in a jam.

sid.

[impalator]

Thanks very much guys...

Just checked with CVI... they normally use mineral oil 15W-40... which is exactly what I topped it up with.... so shouldn't do any harm....

Happy motoring everybody,
Chris

[impalator]

I am just "renewing" this post as I have another (stupid) oil question...

I just did an oilchange on my van yesterday at Great Canadian Oilchange in North Vancouver. They asked me right away if I had a filter (which told me that they at least knew that none of their standard filters will fit) plus I remember reading somewhere on the forum that other people had done oilchanges at Great Canadian Oilchange-locations before without any issues. In addition they told me that they had done a few Deli's before....

Now here's the question. I made sure to mention that it is a Diesel (although anybody not hearing that it's a diesel when rolling into the bay should not work at an oilplace) and they said: Yes, we know, we'll use 15W 40 for Diesels.....

While they were working on my Van a guy in an older model Honda Civic pulls in and wants his oil changed too... while they are finishing my Van off, I see them pouring also 15W 40 into his car... (used the same hose coming from the hose-reel, marked 15W 40)...

Obviously an older Model Civic is a gasoline car and not a Diesel... So I started to look a little concerned and asked the dude: Didn't I just see you fill that small gasoline motor with the same 15W 40 as you poured into my Diesel Van? Aren't the engine oils for Diesel's different from Gasoline-ones?

I read at a few different occasions that gasoline motor-oil should never be used on Diesels....

So the guy tells me: Older gas-engines, particularly smaller Honda 4-Cylinders but also older Model Volkswagen Golfs and Jetta Gasoline engines start to burn / loose quite a bit of oil at higher mileage and they run quite hot too. Sometimes when people bring their Honda's or VW's in, they only have 1 liter or so of oil left... That's why we pour the heavier Diesel engine oil into these cars... it's common and not a problem at all.

He sounded somewhat convincing... but now I worry... is this really possible? I know that Gas-Engine oil should never enter a Diesel engine... but vice-versa is ok?

Somebody, please give me peace of mind...

Thanks and cheers,
Chris

[Green1]

I read at a few different occasions that gasoline motor-oil should never be used on Diesels...

There is really no such thing as "gasoline motor-oil" or "diesel motor-oil" As much as the oil manufacturers seem to want to convince people otherwise, it's all just oil.

The important part is the numbers indicating weight, while you're correct that a 15w40 would be fairly thick for a normal gasoline vehicle, on older engines and in warm weather it is certainly not unheard of.
as for whether you got the correct oil for your vehicle, it sounds like you did, 15w40 is the usual weight for oil for our engines (in the summer, in the winter if expecting cold temperatures a lower weighting on the first number is preferable (often 5w40, or even 0w40))

[mararmeisto]

The weight of the oil used has a lot to do with the operating temperature and the tolerances within the engine. Because diesels run hotter than a gasoline engine, they require a heavier oil that is able to withstand the temperature.

My old Rabbit didn't run very well when I forgetfully put 10W30 in it instead of 15W40. Also, as the car ages, and everything gets a bit loose, the heavier weighted oil will 'stay in place' better than a lighter weight oil. For those blue-devils out there on the road in front of you, if they switched to a heavier oil, it would stop smoking so badly (might still smoke, but not as badly as with the lighter oil).

I suspect the word "diesel" is added to the heavier weighted oils to make it a bit easier for the consumer to absent-mindedly pull the correct bottle off the shelf. As Green1 indicated though, there is generally nothing all that magical about diesel oil compared to gasoline oil. Unless one is talking about the fuel itself, in which case diesel is an oil while gasoline is a spirit or ether.

[impalator]

Thanks very much... your help and advice is much appreciated.

Will head up to Kamloops on the weekend .... just wanna make sure that I did all there is in terms of keeping the Deli fit for the big hill....

Cheers,
Chris