Synthetic oil numbers

Post by **cah** » Thu Feb 07, 2019 7:57 pm

Lately, I took my 2016 Volvo XC60 T6 to a service center for 40,000 miles maintenance.

The mechanic used Motul 5W-40 100% synthetic oil but I am not sure which product he used. I checked on Motul's web site and there are only 3 oils with SAE 5W-40 rating:

6100 Synergie+ 5W-40 (ACEA A3/B4)
8100 X-clean 5W-40 (ACEA C3)
8100 X-cess 5W-40 (ACEA A3/B4)

On Volvo's manual, it states:

Code: Select all

Oil specifications
Full synthetic engine oil meeting the minimum
ACEA A5/B5 must be used. Lower quality oils
may not offer the same fuel economy, engine
performance, or engine protection

Confused with ACEA categories/specs, I checked online and finally found some information I could better understand.

Code: Select all

ACEA Engine Oil Specifications - oilspecifications.org
Unlike API the ACEA specs are split into performance/application catagories as follows:

A1 Fuel economy petrol
A2 Standard performance level (now obsolete)
A3 High performance and/or extended drain
A4 Reserved for future use in certain direct injection engines
A5 Combines A1 fuel economy with A3 performance

B1 Fuel economy diesel
B2 Standard performance level (now obsolete)
B3 High performance and/or extended drain
B4 For direct injection car diesel engines
B5 Combines B1 fuel economy with B3/B4 performance

Oil Specifications Explained - What does 10w40 mean?
The A/B class's A1/B1 and A5/B5 oils have lower HTHS viscosities, which means that they provide better fuel economy but they may not provide adequate protection in engines that are not designed for them. ACEA A3/B3 and A3/B4 on the other hand require oils with higher HTHS viscosities that may not provide as good fuel economy as an A1/B1 or A5/B5 oil but may offer better engine protection in certain engine designs.


from what i understand:
A3/B3 provides protection
A5/B5 provides similar protection as A3 but with better fuel economy

Also, from the following web pages, the Relative Performance section illustrate the difference between A5/B5 and A3/B4. Fuel Economy.
https://www.lubrizol.com/Lubricant-and- ... EA-A5B5-10

: A5_B5.JPG (24.7 KiB) Viewed 15271 times

https://www.lubrizol.com/Lubricant-and- ... EA-A3B4-10

: A3_B4.JPG (24.15 KiB) Viewed 15271 times

I will see if the fuel economy drops in a few refills since I keep my record for every refill. Hopefully, it doesn't hurt too much on fuel economy.

Post by **cah** » Wed Aug 28, 2019 5:53 pm

Since Volvo recommends Castrol EDGE Professional, I searched on their web site and they recommend "Castrol EDGE 5W-30 U.S." I checked further on the product and found confusing information so I wrote to Castrol yesterday (08/27/2019):

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Hello:

From your web page (https://msdspds.castrol.com/msdspds/msd ... 1566945767), you have 4 search results:

Product Name Product Code Country/Region Language Date Business Type
Castrol EDGE 5W-30 U.S. 468156 USA English (US) 06 Aug 2019 N/A MSDS
Castrol EDGE 5W-30 U.S. 468156 USA English (US) 26 Jul 2019 N/A MSDS
Castrol EDGE 5W-30 U.S. 468156 USA English (US) 26 Jul 2019 N/A MSDS
EDGE 5W-30 U.S. 468156 USA English 05 May 2016 Automotive PDS
The bottom one (EDGE 5W-30 U.S.) has ACEA in there.

Characteristics
API SN
ILSAC GF-5
ACEA A1/B1
GM - dexos1™ supersedes GM-LL-A-025, GM6094M and GM4718M

However, for the other 3, ACEA no longer appears in them.

My question is, is it still A1/B1? From my research, A1/B1 seemed to be removed from ACEA 2016 oil sequences.

I have a 2016 Volvo XC60 T6. In its owner manual, it states "Full synthetic engine oil meeting the minimum ACEA A5/B5 must be used."

I wonder if A1/B1 is higher than A5/B5.

I also checked the difference between A1/B1 and A5/B5 from Lubrizol.com.

A1/B1 (https://www.lubrizol.com/Lubricant-and- ... %20A1%2FB1.)

A5/B5 (https://www.lubrizol.com/Lubricant-and- ... EA-A5B5-10)

From the diagrams, they look very similar but A5/B5 seems to be better at wear, sludge and piston deposits. In that case, A5/B5 seems to be better than A1/B1. That's why I am trying to figure out what ACEA category this Castrol Edge 5W-30 is in.

Volvo's owner's manual recommends Castrol EDGE professional. From your web site search, it recommends this oil.

: Castrol_EDGE_5W-30_U.S..png (117.01 KiB) Viewed 15163 times

I would love to know what the ACEA category this oil is in now.

Thanks in advance!
=================================================================================

To my surprise, I got the response today (08/28/2019).

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On Wednesday, August 28, 2019, 07:48:18 AM PDT, Contactus@BP.com <contactus@bp.com> wrote:

Thank you for contacting Castrol North America.

A few years ago, the specification for ACEA A5/B5 changed and for a time Castrol EDGE 5W-30, Castrol EDGE Extended Performance 5W-30 and Castrol EDGE Professional 5W-30 oils did not meet the newest ACEA A5/B5 specification.

That said, the change that occurred a few years ago to the ACEA A5/B5 specification that our oils didn’t meet was a bio-diesel oxidation test. However, since the change to the specification that our oils did not meet was a bio-diesel oxidation test, Volvo still accepted/s the use of the above-mentioned Castrol oils in their vehicles in North America during the time our oils did not meet the newest ACEA A5/B5 specification.

More recently there has been a formulation change to the above-mentioned Castrol products and so effective 2018, ACEA A5/B5 is currently met by the following Castrol products:

Castrol EDGE 5W-30 U.S.
Castrol EDGE High Mileage 5W-30
Castrol EDGE Extended Performance 5W-30
Castrol EDGE Professional 5W-30

Please note that in the case of ACEA A5/B5, a change in formulation will not always coincide with a label change due to inventory or other reasons. However, we will be changing labels by the end of this year so that labelling for the above referenced Castrol products will reference ACEA A5/B5.

Volvo dealerships primarily sell Castrol EDGE Professional 5W-30.

Castrol Consumer Relations
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The response mentioned these 4 products had met the ACEA A5/B5 requirement in 2018.

However, Volvo recomends Castrol EDGE Professtional 5W-30 so I asked for the difference(s).

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Thank you very much for the background information and latest update! It is good to know the mentioned oils now meet ACEA A5/B5.

Can you tell me the difference between "Castrol EDGE 5W-30 U.S." and "Castrol EDGE Professional 5W-30"? Using your oil search tool, only the 1st and 3rd showed up. I couldn't find "Castrol EDGE Professional 5W-30" on your web site.

Thanks in advance!
=================================================================================

Their response came back within 30 minutes!

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Thank you for contacting Castrol North America.

Castrol EDGE Professional is our strongest and most advanced range of engine oils.

Inspired by the oil we produce for the engines of the world's leading car manufacturers; Castrol EDGE Professional is proud to be the world's first certified CO2 neutral engine oil and is micro-filtered.

Castrol EDGE and Castrol EDGE Professional exceed tough Industry performance standards for service fill engine oils however the main difference between Castrol EDGE oils sold retail and Castrol EDGE Professional oils is the level of filtration during manufacturing. Castrol EDGE Professional oils are double filtered as part of our manufacturing process and optically check the quality of our oils with our Optical Particle Measurement System, down to the particle level. The additional microfiltration engineered into Castrol EDGE Professional is to align with the type of levels that vehicle manufactures may prescribe for oils that are first filled into the engine at manufacture.

All Castrol EDGE Professional products are exclusive for New Car Dealerships and available to partner and non-partner OEM's so to match that level of quality.

Castrol EDGE Professional products are endorsed and recommended by new car dealer partners including Audi, Jaguar, Land Rover, Mazda, Volkswagen, and Volvo.
Castrol Consumer Relations
=================================================================================

The difference appears to be double filtered and the world's first certified CO2 neutral engine oil and is micro-filtered for Castrol EDGE Professional 5W-30.

I called Walmart yesterday and was told they use Castrol EDGE. Castrol EDGE Professional oil is hard to find though. Wal Mart is out of stock and Amazon have Castrol EDGE Professional OE. I guess Castrol EDGE 5W-30 U.S. should work for my 2016 Volvo XC60 T6 just fine as recommended by Castrol on their web site.