As engine oils are kind of expensive here in Europe and 5W20 is not readily available I was wondering if I could use the 6 Liters of Shell Helix Ultra 0W40 fully synthetic oil In my truck I still got laying around in my garage from my other vehicle.

I used to have a synthetic Liqui Moly 5W40 before a 5W20 (Addinol brand) in my engine, both without any problems and reasonable oil consumption. No sluggishness or abnormal noises with both oils.

Any experience with the 0W40 weight oil?

it tends to be chilly in northern Germany so I figured the "thin" viscosity would be great as well as the "heavier" weight when hot for the Autobahn use (yes, I ran my van 100MPH+ for 50 straight miles - got a trans cooler and both ATF and coolant temperatures were just fine).

Any experience with 0W40 fully synthetic?
UOAs?

P.S.: I run the van on Propane/Butane dunno if that's important

 

I usually run 5W30 synthetic in my 5.4. I change the oil every 15k km and have no real measurable oil comsumption between oil changes and the oil comes out relatively clean. Running on propane helps here too, I guess.

 

...for the heads up.

I'll give my spare 0W40 a shot and let you know if the engine blew out or my GF got pregnant

What LPG system do you use, KarstenP?
(Aus Würzburg, schade, so weit weg, but great looking van!)

 

Don't mix up lubes too much

There's a Stag300 with 2 vaporizers and a 108ltr Irene spare tire tank mounted in the van, works as it should and only needed the regular filter change in the last 120k km. I had a BRC plug&drive system in my '00 RAM 2500 with the 5.9 and liked that a bit more, just for the fact that you mix a bit of gasoline to the LPG under high load situations (high rpm/high speed or heavy towing) to get the exhaust valve temps down a bit.

 

I wish we used metric here in the USA. it's so much more logical.

 

Maybe after Brexit you can vote to join the EU (or Canada) !

 

Great info. Got a Zavoli Alisei N and so far pretty happy with it. Installed with a 103? something liter tank in the spare tire well.

Next spring I will definitely upgrade my headlights, paint my bumpers and remove dents as well as get all the old putty out of the drip rails and re-seal them. Thought of using marine grade Zinc Epoxy primer followed by white Sikaflex 521. That should keep out rust forever. I'll keep you updated on my progress. The van has just 40k miles on it.

 

I don't think you'll have any problems with 0w40 oil. It's going to be thinner when cold than the 5w20, so you should get adequate flow to the heads on cold startup. It will be thicker than necessary when hot, but other than a minute reduction in fuel economy I don't think the engine is gonna care.

 

Thanks Tom!
great news I won't have to dump the oil in the salad

 

On my last two oil changes I've used Mobil1 0W-40. It is what I use on my wife's 335i and I though it will add some extra protection last summer as we went on a road trip through Death Valley.

Originally these engines were supposed to use 5W30. With 0W40 you may hurt your mileage (or L/100km) but may offer extra protection under heavy load (autobahn).

 

if it's synthetic, I'm sure it will be fine

 

Why so thin? sure your engine is younger than mine, but if 5w30 is recommended...
I was running 10w40 for about 20tKM, until a friend of mine told me about Problems with camshafts caused by to thick oil. I've Chosen the 10W40 cause ist cheap....
Now found 20L 5w30 from Eurolube on eBay (.de) for only 80€ and Changed immidiatly.

 

So far no Problems at all with the 0W40 oil.
Less lifter noise.

 

hmm. my lifters are noisy, especially starting the cold engine... its better than the 10W40, but still a little noisy... may i try when I used up all my 20L I bought^^