The Mégane II Owners' Club

Guys, Hi, first post, hope you don't mind me asking ( know oil = canned worms)
is 5w-30 too thin for a 1.5 dCi?
cheers
Richard

I suggest you look here:

https://www.meganeownersclub.co.uk/forum ... f=2&t=6506

Hi Dave,
read the thread you suggested, thank you.
unfortunately I'm no clearer.

My service book says one this
my manual says another,
there's alternative advice on this board
and Haynes says yet something different.

I'm pretty confused.

is 5w-30 acceptable?

I'm not an oil expert. I suggest you look on opieoils.co.uk - there is a product selector for each model. You can call if necessary to check - I think the chap you need to talk to is 'Guy'. They have an offer on oils that expires Tuesday 4th. They discount also for members of this forum.

For what it's worth, I now put Mobil 1 0W40 in mine. Alex recommended it and meets the spec for my model. Yours may differ hence the website.

There is no such a thing as too thin oil for turbo diesel engines. The "thinner" = the better. Modern low viscosity oils (0w spec) have low viscosity when you need it (at cold starts) and higher viscosity (w30/w40 spec) when the engine is warm. Basically, you cannot "overspec" oil, you can just "underspec" it. If you put oil of higher grade (15w40) you are running a risk of clogging the breathing pipes, EGR and building residues on the turbo bearings (oils of grade 15w are not fully synthetic oils, and usually have less additives, which results in residues in engine from cold starts). This will shorten the life of your engine. Stick to full synthetic 0w40 or 0w30 (or 5w30/5w40) oil and your engine will whisper.
Very important thing: DO NOT OVERFILL oil in the engine, your catalist (also turbine and EGR) will be damaged.

Thanks for the comments guys.
Opie suggests 5w-40, which makes sense, only problem being my regular supplier does not stock it.
They do have 5w-30, which I had planned to use, however my Haynes manual says "On diesel engines, oil viscosity 5w-30 or 10w-30 must not be used."

In addition, I now hear there's an issue with FAP fitted vehicles. How do I know if I have a FAP?

Thanks
Richard

When you open the bonnet, you will see a label on the front cross-member saying FAP/DPF (accompanied by a symbol http://www.bmw.co.uk/images/bmwuk/owner/servicing_explained/symbol_diesel_filter.gif, or alike), together with labels warning that fan might come on any time. If you have FAP, the right oil would be ELF Solaris, 5w30 or take a look here: http://www.opieoils.co.uk/c-899-rn0720-oil.aspx.

No sign of FAP symbol on the bonnet sticker, and no sign of DPF notification on the crossmember/slam panel...............