I know you guys are talking synthetics. I just bought my '81 300d for $200 bucks and I dont want to throw that much cash at the oil yet. its my first diesel, this car is a joy to work on, I did know enough to know that the Rotella that they sell at sams is for diesels so i dumped that in when I changed the oil. is this oil ok? or should i change it sooner or later to something else?

I heard a few years ago that in general the europeans change the ir oil
at 10k intervals- I couldnt beleive. Now i can.

thanks,

Kevin

Lightman, the question is, what specifically is better about a CI oil compared to a CF oil? From the exhausting oil discussions that I've read on this forum, I've concluded that whether an oil is CF or CI is not as important as what viscosity it is and whether it's synthetic or not. I agree with you that CI is better, but I just don't think it's that significant. Somebody once quoted a Mobil engineer as saying that CF is all you need for a light-duty diesel and higher ratings are only beneficial to heavy-duty diesels. Also on these so-called "gasser" oils as you refer to them, it is written that they provide "outstanding protection for gasoline, diesel and turbocharged engines".

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2004 VW Jetta TDI (manual)

Past MB's: '96 E300D, '83 240D, '82 300D, '87 300D, '87 420SEL

Lightman I like you idea of an oil test.
I checked with MB changing the oil filter and oil yourself does not void the warranty. The did however, say I had to use the spec oil which is obviously synthetic 229.5 spec. and an MB orig fleece filter. In fact the warranty is voided if you use dino oil that much I knew as it is in the manual. I will try the oil test, rather than doing the oil change by default.
martin

Dabenz, I doubt the cdi cost more than your house.
m

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Martin Ingram
Colorado Springs
2005 320 CDI
2006.5 VW Jetta TDI
1991 560SEL (179000 Sold)
1972 280SEL 4.5 ('The Lead Sled' 320000 miles when sold.)
1972 220D (225000 when sold)

Rotella is a very good dino oil one of the best ones out their! Stick with 3k-5k change intervials on that car, unless you get the oil tested.


Mobil 1 15w-50 is fine for light duty diesels, the way I understand it 15w-50 can hold 2% soot while D1 can hold 4%. But MB says don't go over 2%. I run 15W-50 in the summer because I think a heavy oil is better when it's hot out.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200