Use the highest viscosity you feel comfortable with. In this context I'd probably exceed OEM manufacturer recommendations.
(What do they know? They made an engine that eats itself, right?)
That is without doubt the worst thing you could do. Oil specs of today are about far more than simply the viscosity.
Ignore the manufacturer at your peril.
But as said above, the engine is probably goosed because of the runaway it appears to have suffered.
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Change the oil by all means but unless the engine was running flat out for more than a few seconds its unlikely although not impossible to have done any serious damage.
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That is without doubt the worst thing you could do. Oil specs of today are about far more than simply the viscosity.
Ignore the manufacturer at your peril.
But as said above, the engine is probably goosed because of the runaway it appears to have suffered.
Doubtless you don't suffer much from doubt.
I do.
For example, as generalisations (because I don't know this specific vehicle) I doubt that exceeding the manufacturers recommendations for viscosity implies "ignoring the manufacturer" s other recommendations, whatever they are.
This is because it doesn't
I doubt that all manufacturer's recommendations are based on best practice,for longevity without any consideration for marketing.
This is because they aren't.
I doubt that its prudent to state that an engine is "probably goosed" in the abscence of any specific information.
This is because it isn't
I doubt that it makes any sense to warn of unspecified dire consequences for departing from unspecified manufacturers recommendations as ":the worst thing you can do" if you think the engine was "probably goosed" while adhering to those recommendations.
This is because it doesn't.
Its all very doubtful.
As you can see, I'm wracked with it. Absolutely wracked.
Edited by edlithgow on 08/01/2019 at 11:47
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Re stopping a runaway diesel, I'd think a CO2 fire extinguisher should do it without causing any damage, so it might be worth getting one. Good thing to have anyway, though I must admit to relying on canned beer since I don't have a diesel.
Possibly a CO2 tyre inflator mini-cylinder would deliver enough gas, but you'd have to test that.
The snag is the amount of time it'd take to stop, get out, lift bonnet and squirt while the engine is racing its nuts off. A remotely controlled pre-plumbed arrangement would be quicker but would take some engineering.
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Edith
You live in a 3rd world country and in places like that generally speaking anything goes.
In the developed world we have a habit of doing a job properly and that includes maintaining a car. As an example wiping corroded brake pipes with aluminium foil is not an MOT standard repair.
If I went out today and bought some oil for my Skoda I could probably get some suitable sounding stuff for about £20 for 5 litres. Alternatively i could spend about £20 and get some that meets the specs in the Skoda manual.
For the record please tell us when you did the same sort of long distance testing over many 100,000's of miles in various climates that manufacturers carry out before making a recommendation. You cannot, your recommendation is based on the fact that your virtually worthless 30 yer old car that does minimal mileage keeps working. Anyone with a car like mine worth many times more would be an idiot to follow your example.
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Uh-huh.
Out of morbid curiosity I looked at the Skoda website. What they’re pushing is Long Life (10,000 mile OCI) Fuel Economy 508.00/509.00 0W20 though there isn’t any obvious information on other options or backward compatability. Given that VAG engines are famously fragile and picky on their oil that lack of info is pretty poor, but maybe you’re just supposed to do what you’re told.
So, the skinniest oil money can buy on a 10,000 mile OCI. What a surprise. Just the thing for engines likely to dump diesel in their oil
Now it is admittedly true that I wouldn’t touch a modern VAG diesel with a barge pole, but if I had one, in the First World, where y'all are apparently in the habit of doing a job properly, (or maybe just doing what you're told) anything would STILL go, because it'd be my car and I'd do whatever I wanted with it.
This would not include unthinkingly filling it with the skinniest oil that money can buy, BEFORE it dumps diesel in it. I'd have to be an idiot to blindly follow that example, million miles of testing or no.
Given that I knew that it was likely to get diesel dumped in it, I'd want to give myself a safety margin by using a higher viscosity, but I’d have to research the byzantine labyrinth of VAG oil specs to find out if there was a low SAPS higher viscosity oil that was DPF compatible, or I might just ask the friendly volk what was the highest viscosity they would, at a pinch, approve for that engine.
That’d sort of be doing what I was told, but not quite the full heel-clicking blind obedience Monty.
Fortunately I don’t have to, because I have an old worthless car that wasn’t designed to self destruct, by Germans.
You don't like that logic? You prefer blind obediance? OK, do what you're told, then. No skin off my nose.
“In the required test PV1451 to pass the demanding VW specification VW 508 00/509 00, Castrol EDGE Professional LL IV FE 0W-20 gave more than 4% fuel economy benefit when compared to the test's 15W-40 reference oil. Actual results under road conditions may vary according to vehicle type, driving conditions and style.”
Plus the engine may self-destruct. They missed out that bit.
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Out of morbid curiosity I looked at the Skoda website. What they’re pushing is Long Life (10,000 mile OCI) Fuel Economy 508.00/509.00 0W20
The oil specified in the manual for our petrol Superb and petrol Fabia for fixed interval servicing is 5w30 VW 502.00. If the car is set to variable servicing its 5w30 504.00. The use of the 504.00 in a car on fixed servicing is fine but its more expensive and not needed for a 10,000 mile max interval. I believe most VAG garages use 504.00 in all petrol engines to avoid double stocks on oil, pretty sure ours does.
Diesels use different specs.
For the record every car we have bought since 1999 (dioesel and petrol) has required 5w30 semi or fully synthetic oil with the exception of the BMW that required 0w30 fully synthetic oil. Its perfectly normal.
You should also remember that modern oils are way different to their distant relatives from the 1980's and earlier, they are much better at lubricating.
Given that VAG engines are famously fragile and picky on their oil that lack of info is pretty poor, but maybe you’re just supposed to do what you’re told.
We have bought 7 VAG cars now since 1986 and covered well over 300,000 miles in total. Never had a single issue. One car was mainly serviced by myself and I always used VW Quantum oil (think it was 10w40) because it was a good price and obviously met the specs. I did 113,000 miles in that car and when I last saw it in in 2016 it was 27 years old and had covered over 200,000 miles. Still on the original engine. Doing what VW suggested looks like it worked fine (although I have no idea what was used in the engine after I sold the car).
Using oils that are thicker than those specified does not mean better lubrication, in truth it will probably cause issues especially when the engine is cold or worn. Thick oil takes more pumping and a worn pump will not get the thick oil to the engine extremities as fast potentially leading to accelerated wear. Thick oil will also potentially create a hotter engine due to slower speed it circulates and removed heat and that extra heat will also lead to accelerated wear and also degrade the oil faster.
But if you think that you have more knowledge and experience than VAG and the oil companies (VAG do not make oil) go ahead and risk your VAG car. Forgot, you don't own one.
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The thick oil / thin oil debate is an old one and will probably not be resolved here, but, for the record, thin oils are not specified for superior lubrication. They are specified for superior fuel economy, as above. This is well known and acknowledged in the industry. I didn't make it up.
In this case, by the OP's account, the oil has been, and may be again, diluted with fuel. This will thin it, further reducing its wear protection, and making it more likely to pass the piston rings, causing a runaway.
Using thicker oil, which might be possible within the range allowed by VAG, dunno, should reduce the effect of fuel dilution. It could provide a safety margin to allow further fuel dilution to be detected before it caused another incident.
Edited by edlithgow on 09/01/2019 at 17:59
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The thick oil / thin oil debate is an old one and will probably not be resolved here, but, for the record, thin oils are not specified for superior lubrication. They are specified for superior fuel economy, as above. This is well known and acknowledged in the industry. I didn't make it up.
In this case, by the OP's account, the oil has been, and may be again, diluted with fuel. This will thin it, further reducing its wear protection, and making it more likely to pass the piston rings, causing a runaway.
Using thicker oil, which might be possible within the range allowed by VAG, dunno, should reduce the effect of fuel dilution. It could provide a safety margin to allow further fuel dilution to be detected before it caused another incident.
Overthinking again, the oil hasn't got the problem, though the level could have been sensed by a sensor to warn of the oil level getting too high which some engines have, but the original problem needs sorting if the engine is still working ok- which is possible?
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Well, thinking anyway.
Agreed the oil isn't the problem, and a different oil won't fix it but it may reduce its impact.
I dunno how to fix the problem, but casual internyet perusal suggests its a widespread problem, possibly generic, so it may not be so easily fixed.
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As an example wiping corroded brake pipes with aluminium foil is not an MOT standard repair.
Didn't want to get distracted by irrelevence earlier, but now apparently I do.
I hadn't come up with the oil-foil technique when I was in the UK but I'd be very confident it would pass an MOT inspection, so that would make it MOT standard. An operational definition.
This is provided you did it long enough in advance that the vegetable oil had time to set. Some testers dont like wet brake pipes, as I learned after spraying oil on the car underbody for rust proofing.
I'd class it as preventative maintenance rather than repair. Works really well here (dunno how it would hold up to salt but I'd think quite well) and looks good.
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