Idiot me, put in wrong oil month ago, OK to leave?

[midairmark]

Well I screwed up my last oil change, didn't look at the label and put the wrong oil in. I usually use Mobil 1 full syn. truck diesel, 5w-40. I had a lot of my mind about having a car transported and just picked up the wrong container. I put in Mobil 1 full syn. 5w-30 for the wife's gas car. I didn't notice until today, when I went to change her oil and noticed I had a full gallon of diesel oil, unopened!

I have been driving the car at least 3 weeks with that oil in it. I don't beat the car, just transportation and I don't rev it higher than 2500 usually. It has 237k miles on it, 01 Jetta.

Do you think I need to change the oil out or do you think it is OK until next oil change?

Thanks,
Mark

 

[KLXD]

You know what they say about opinions but here's mine: Drive it.

Before I knew better I used plain ole 10-30 in my '98. Prolly for at least 50k. It's now got over 350k.

 

[1.4TDI PD]

I think you will be just fine. In the long run you want to put 5W-40 but once or twice shouldn"t do any damage to your engine i have been runing 5W-30 on a couple of engines before i realized i should switch to 5W-40 to minimize engine wear. And they are all still runing strong.

 

[midairmark]

OK, thanks guys.

 

[turbocharged798]

I would get that oil out ASAP. It not rated for compression ignition engines and cannot handle soot. It will cause very high engine wear. The 30wt will not do the flat tappet cam any good either.

 

[Owain@malonetuning]

I'd swap it, probably won't do much harm but no sense risking it. On the plus side I guess that counts as an engine flush.

 

[VeeDubTDI]

Add me to the "change it" camp.

 

[Mongler98]

yea, before i found this site, about 2 full years, maybe 95K of just cheep full synthetic 5-30 in what ever gave me the biggest rebate.
your fine.
In fact you could keep useing it, but im a stickler and would insist you change it out back to 5-40 diesel mobile one on your next oil change. dude your fine.

 

[flee]

I did the same thing with some Mobil1 non-diesel oil. I just sucked it out and kept it
to top up our various gas burners. There may be a quart or 2 lying around here still.
I only drove about 45 miles on it and so I didn't want to waste it.
Didn't bother changing the filter.

 

[AndyBees]

I avoided chemistry in HS and college.... and may have stayed in a Holiday Inn last night.

Having said that, here's my opinion.

Today's modern full synthetic oils rated for gasoline engines are likely much better than what was dumped into diesel engines 50 or 60 years ago.

The immediate concern is the Turbo shaft........ don't want any coking. However, I suspect the gasoline rated synthetic oil can handle that heat as it probably meets specs for the VW 1.8T which runs a hell of lot hotter than any TDI Turbo.

Yes, like KLXD stated and others, I did the same thing in the 40k to 50k mile range with my 2000 Jetta...... fast forward to the present. My son now owns it and it is doing just fine with over 370k miles on the clock.

Handling the soot just means the oil keeps it in suspension, thus no to very little settling out............ hey, what's that filter for?

Yes, I'd likely change that oil out a little sooner than normal ........ then drive more and worry less!

 

[midairmark]

Thanks for the input.

 

[andreigbs]

I'd consider it an engine flush type of oil and replace it with the proper full synth diesel rated oil, then motor on.

 

[midairmark]

How about adding a diesel oil additive, to give the current oil additional protection aka Slick 50 (for example), instead of changing it out? What is recommended as a good oil additive?

 

[jettawreck]

How about adding a diesel oil additive, to give the current oil additional protection aka Slick 50 (for example), instead of changing it out? What is recommended as a good oil additive?

No. Resist the urge to overthink it. Leave it be or if it bothers you, change it. But leave the "additives" out.

 

[turbobrick240]

Yeah, forget the slick50. You could get a quart of mobil1 15w50 for topping up though. That would thicken up the 5w30 and add some zinc. It's a tough engine, just keep it full of oil and you'll probably be fine.

 

[midairmark]

OK, i'll leave it alone until the next oil change.

 

[Mongler98]

Yeah, forget the slick50. You could get a quart of mobil1 15w50 for topping up though. That would thicken up the 5w30 and add some zinc. It's a tough engine, just keep it full of oil and you'll probably be fine.

NO, just no. Mixing oil does not do that. Adding zink probably wont do anything either, just waste money.


I would say that instead of our typical 10,000 mile oil changes, i would not wait past 7500 on this, just to be safe, reality is that you will probably warp a head, drop a valve, slip a timing belt, runaway diesel, LONG before you ever have to consider the damage done by too long an oil change interval or using the wrong oil.

 

[turbobrick240]

NO, just no. Mixing oil does not do that. Adding zink probably wont do anything either, just waste money.

Huh? So you're saying that adding a heavier oil to a lighter oil won't change the viscosity? Stay in school kids.

 

[turbocharged798]

The problem I have is that the oil the OP used is NOT DIESEL RATED. Viscosity and zinc is only part of it. The oil does not have the correct additives to handle soot load and the soot will turn abrasive inside the engine.


Will the engine blow up tomorrow? Doubt it. Would it be a good idea to run it 10K miles? Hell no. If you want to try and get some use out of it, I would run it 5K MAX.


If you read the bottle is is very clearly not rated for the ALH engine or any diesel engine.

 

[1854sailor]

Where's Bob Fout when you need him?

 

[turbobrick240]

The problem I have is that the oil the OP used is NOT DIESEL RATED. Viscosity and zinc is only part of it. The oil does not have the correct additives to handle soot load and the soot will turn abrasive inside the engine.


Will the engine blow up tomorrow? Doubt it. Would it be a good idea to run it 10K miles? Hell no. If you want to try and get some use out of it, I would run it 5K MAX.


If you read the bottle is is very clearly not rated for the ALH engine or any diesel engine.

There are 6 or more formulations of Mobil1 5w30. One has 507 and mb 229.51 diesel ratings. None have API diesel ratings(though mobil claims they are all of CF quality), but I believe most or all of them have ACEA ratings for light diesels. A5/B5 etc. I'd run it out to 5-7k miles without worry if it were my car. Hate to waste good oil.

 

[Geordi]

I take issue with the 507 rating, to me that is like the Mercedes or BMW numbers - An internal specification from the manufacturer who is interested in things that maybe I as an owner are not rating as important as other things.

For example, the 507 VW spec is for the 2010-2014 common rail diesels with DPF. They selected an oil that would (hopefully) increase the fuel economy by being thinner than a 40-weight, and also work to protect the DPF by not providing excess ash-production compounds that might fill it up faster (meaning inside the warranty period).

VW (and every other manufacturer) doesn't care if the car COULD last 300k/400k/more miles... They care that it lasts the warranty period, AND that within that period and the government-mandated emissions warranty period, that the engine stays within the acceptable parameters for emissions. ONCE THAT IS EXPIRED... If the emissions can't be maintained within a statistical range close to the accepted limits... The government and the manufacturer would be happier if that car was then replaced.

The government happy that it is replaced b/c newer cars would make less emissions, the manufacturer b/c they get to sell you another car.

THEY DO NOT CARE TO SELECT OILS BASED ON ULTIMATE LIFESPAN OF THE ENGINE.

I trust the API ratings that are based on usage in the USA with the fuel available here (which is NOT to the same quality as in Europe where the ACEA rates similar to the API) and the API rating suggests that if you care about your DPF, use a CK or CK-4 rated oil. Diesels need more protective oil film strength, I am (of course) a fan of the 5w-40 diesel rated products like Turbo Diesel Truck or T6 or Delvac 1 or Delvac ESP.

My CJAA powered JSW also seems to be a fan. I'd change out that wrong oil now, use it in your lawn mower or something else. Oil is cheap. Engines are not.

 

[AndyBees]

The oil is not going to hurt the engine.... As I previously stated, I used 5w-30 (or was it 5w-40) gasser rated full synthetic in my 2000 Jetta at least two oil changes and maybe three in it's early days. The engine is just fine over 300k miles later at 371k. And, I bet it has no more sludge (if any) inside than any other engine that has had the correct oil used in it for the same distance/time.

 

[turbobrick240]

These oil threads are always like an OCD-o-meter. I'm just waiting for someone to post saying only castrol oil sourced from a VW dealership is acceptable .

 

[AndyBees]

I agree Turbobrick240.... (just going to monitor after this post....)

And, since you mentioned it, the gasser rated oil I used was Castrol from Wally World ....

Other than the need to protect the Turbo shaft from Coking, which I believe all the full synthetics meet that spec, the modern day oils for gassers have to be eons ahead of oils rated for diesel engines 50 years ago.

 

[Geordi]

Oil discussions are ALWAYS the same as talking about politics over Thanksgiving dinner.

Ask 5 people their thoughts on oil, you will get 7 different opinions.

 

[KLXD]

Never heard that S oil would cause the soot to become abrasive. How does that work?

My understanding is that C oils hold the carbon in suspension so it can be removed rather than letting it settle out.

 

[Geordi]

It is more a function of the ability to hold the soot particles and encapsulate them, thus continuing to provide an oil film between moving parts and anything that might be abrasive to them.

This is also important with shear strength, such that the oil doesn't become too thinned out and shear off the parts (loss of film strength) leaving metal actually contacting metal as the parts move past each other.

The filters in an engine are so wide to allow sufficient flow... That they are capable of catching bolts flying through the oil and not much more. High flow standard filtration catches "big stuff" north of 20 microns in size, but are just about worthless at catching anything smaller. If they filtered that small to catch the soot, the flow restriction would mean the engine wasn't being lubed or cooled as needed and that filter would quickly be catching bits of bearing journal and piston parts.

So the soot which is far below even 5 micron in size - but far more numerous in quantity - needs to be held in suspension to protect the engine. Diesel rated oils have stronger film strength and suspension capabilities for exactly this reason.

 

[bizzle]

I believe all the full synthetics meet that spec, the modern day oils for gassers have to be eons ahead of oils rated for diesel engines 50 years ago.

I agree with the gist of what you're assuming here, but with the caveat that diesel engines and emissions standards/equipment today aren't even close enough to be called distant cousins to what they were 50 years ago.

 

[KLXD]

Geordi, he said it "turns abrasive". I was looking for his explanation of that.