Correct engine oil for Vetus M4.17

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

and Omega 3

[David Mack]

4 hours ago, alan_fincher said:

I've not re-checked, but over the years I have used Morris 10W/40, 20W/40, and straight monograde SAE 30.

And if you go for the straight SAE 30, Just Kampers have it on special offer at £19.95 for 5 litres, and free delivery if you spend £75.

https://www.justkampers.com/ml001-morris-sae30-oil-5litre-for-all-vw-aircooled-engines.html

[Tony Brooks]

10 hours ago, dan01eb said:

Thanks for all the help, I'm now more confused about oil specs than when I first asked the question 😅.

 

Let's see if this helps.

 

Engine oil specifications are graded by two main systems, ACEA which is a European standard and API which is the USA standard. Just to confuse matters, the engine manufacturers often refuse to use one of these standards and insist on their own. I find that the API ones are easier to understand, more later.

 

The oil is also specified by its viscosity or runniness. This is the SAE rating. The bigger the number, the less runny it is. The number relates to a specific temperature, because oil gets more runny as it heats up. So an SAE 30 grade oil thins significantly as it heats up and in might be too thick to work properly for a given engine when cold and be too thin when hot. This caused the introduction of multi-grade oils that have two viscosity numbers separated by a W, hence 20W50, 15W40, or even 0W15. These still thin but by nowhere near as much as a straight single number oil. The second number is tested at a higher temperature than the first. To put it simply, multi-grade oils did away with the need for thinner winter oils and thicker summer ones.

 

Back to the API specification. This covers such things as its anti-oxidation abilities, resistance to oil film sheer, ability to suspend carbon or dirt, so the filter can remove it, anti-corrosion ability, and so on. As engines develop and require the oil to "work harder" a new specification is issued, and the oil tested to ensure it complies. As diesel engines tend to produce more carbon in the oil, put higher loads on the bearings, but tend to run slower than petrol engines, there are two standards. Compression ignition (diesel) engine standards start their rating with a C while spark ignition  (petrol) engines start with an S. You just ignore the S rating if you have a diesel. back in the mists of time the first specs were CA or SA but as engines were developed the spec needed upgrading so we got CB/SB and so on. The further up the alphabet the second letter in general terms the higher the specification of the oil, which is why man think the higher specs are the better for their engine but:-

 

At least one study has shown that the amount of additives in an oil affects its propensity for bore glazing, especially in lighter loaded engines with cooler cylinder walls. To give an oil better performance, more and possibly different additives are added to the base oil, so a higher API specification is likely to have a higher additive content, making it more likely to cause bore glazing. It may also do too good a lubrication job and prevent proper running in.

 

So because canal boat engines very rarely, or if ever, run at full power and at high speed it is probably safer to stick with the engine manufacturer's or marinises spec where possible, but once the engine is run in well there is less danger from using a slightly higher spec oil, but too much depends on the modes of use and engine design features to be definitive on this.

 

As far as I am concerned, the "high zinc" is nothing more than marketing bullshine, the API specification defines what the link has to do so it is already covered by the spec.

 

Sorry for the length of this post.

 

 

 

 

 

14 hours ago, LadyG said:

My engine, Isuzu 33LB with 3000 hours has has cc non synthetic oil , generally about 250 hours, and if on a run of more than an hour i tend to alter the revs from normal to higher than normal and back to normal after maybe twenty minutes.

 I always warm it up before setting off.

Running to charge the engne I might have it a bit above tickover, and try to limit it to 60 to 90 minutes per day.

Is this the best way to keep it sweet, I never have to top it up.

Is there a special throttle setting at start up or at shut down? Brrmmm brrrrm?

 

I would say that this is not the best way.

 

To help prevent bore glazing you meet higher cylinder wall temperatures so any residual oil the rings have not scraped off get burned to ash rather than cooked to varnish so ideally you will maximise the load on the engine at all times, but in the interest of fuel economy not run at higher revs than necessary. When charging while tied up, the only significant load on the engine is the alternator(s) so you want it/them at maximum output, but with lead acid batteries the output will gradually drop over time. So use the ammeter to adjust the revs to those that give maximum output at that time, this will cause you to gradually reduce the revs until ideally the current is between 1 and 2% of the batteries nominal capacity, which indicates they are more or less fully charged.

 

When starting, some engines may need full throttle to force the governor to maximum or excess fuel, but pull it back to idle as soon as the engine fires, and before it revs up too fast. At least use half throttle before starting.

 

If you shut the engine down straight from high revs are power (unlikely on a canal boat) the internal hot spots in the engine could boil as the coolant flow stops, but the parts are still very hot. Over time this could fur up the hot spots leading to the metal cracking. So I would suggest that the engine be allowed to idle for a minute or two before shutting down, but as good boatmanship would have you not stopping the engine until the boat is properly tied up, this would happen automatically. When battery charging, the engine would have been running at idle or close to idle for some time.

[Tracy D'arth]

Where is Liquid Molly of lifeboat fame when you need him? He would love this thread.

[Tony Brooks]

2 hours ago, Tracy D'arth said:

Where is Liquid Molly of lifeboat fame when you need him? He would love this thread.

 

Yes, but would he help the OP or confuse him further?

[dan01eb]

I've finally received the oil I ordered online after waiting for more than a week but it's not the same as the oil I ordered. Could anyone help me out by confirming if the oil I've received is equivalent or still suitable? I ordered the E7 on the first photo and received the E2 in the second photo. Thanks..

[Tony Brooks]

Neither seem to be what the mariniser recommends, but, as long as the engine is well run in, I doubt it will do any harm to your engine if you use it. The second photo shows that the performance specifications for that oil are slightly less onerous than the first, but in your engine and use it is of little consequence. I can not give you a definitive answer because it may open me up to legal action if something did go wrong and to be frank it is a bit unreasonable to ask when the mariniser's recommendations can easily be found - even if the oil can not.

 

Looking at the photos, API CI has the second letter further up the alphabet and the second one which is CH-4. As I understand it, the -4 relates to residence to black sludge formation that I have never come across on canal boat engines, so it is pretty much immaterial.