Oil Types

I have bought a second hand Seat Ibiza Tdi 90CV of 2001

I have to change the oil and on the manual it says that I need to use VW 505 00 or API CF but it also says that this does not apply engines with a pump injector system which in that case i have to use VW 505 01 otherwise engine damage can occur.

The oil shop next door suggested Morris Multivis Semi synthetic 5W30 API CF.

The problem is that both the shop and I don't know what pump injector system is. So he said that I better check. Funilly enough the Seat agent is not available for a week and I need a quick reply because the service is overdue.

Temperatures here in Malta vary from a low of 6 degrees celcius to a high of 40.

I would appreciate a quick reply.

Thanks in advance
Neville

santnev@yahoo.com

Some oils with the VW 505.01 rating also have the VW 505.00 rating. To be safe, you can look for such an oil.

To find out what engine you have and what oil rating you need, why not just look in the owner's manual that came with the car?

The information I wrote is from the owner's manual. It is too generic. It does not say which model is exactly the car. And it does not explain which model is with the pump injector system. That's why i am lost.

Santven, since you have a 2001 model and it is a 90PS version then you don't have a unit injector engine. I don't know what country you're in but the unit injector (known as Pump Düse in Germany) uses a separate injector pump on each cylinder. These engines are easily identified by the lack of a large fuel pump mounted on the engine near the serpentine belt and also the lack of a separate fuel line going to each cylinder.

For your engine Volkswagen is very open on the type of oil to use. My recommendation is to use a 5W-40 synthetic, a 10W-40 synthetic, synthetic blend, or mineral base, or a 15W-40 mineral base oil. By mineral base oil I am speaking purely about a normal petroleum oil.

The oil should meet at a minimum the VW 505.00 rating, the ACEA B4 rating. In the United States they also say that it should meet the API CI-4 rating but most European dealerships discourage the use of a heavy duty diesel oil because of the heavy additives that are not necessarily needed in a light duty passenger car.

So my recommendation is for a 5W-40 synthetic with the VW 505.00, ACEA B4. My personal opinion is that 5W-30 oils are just a bit thin for the diesel engine unless you can verify the cSt rating at 100ºC. If your 5W-30 is over 12 cSt's then it is probably not a bad choice but finding 5W-30's this thick is rare.

If you don't mind tell us where you live.

I live in Malta. It is in Europe 50 miles under Sicily.

Thanks for the reply.
You have been very helpful.

Santnev, I did a internet search on a few of the European oil company web pages and all of them call for a 0w-40 full synthetic, 5w-40 full synthetic, 10w-40 synthetic blend or synthetic technology (group 3 based), or 15w-40 mineral oil with the ratings that were mentioned above. However, since you live on a island in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea I wouldn't use the 0W-40. You would be fine with the others and I personally like the full synthetic versions.

SEAT didn't offer the PD engine in your car in 2001 but they did offer it in 2002. This may be why your owners information has a listing for it. You have a non-PD 90 PS (66KW) engine with the engine code ALH. It is the same that was offered in the 90PS Golf TDI and several other VW/Audi/SEAT/Skoda products in 2001.

I hope that this helps.