Oil Grade question

Soldato
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Hi guys,

Car is a Volvo 2013 S60 T3, which is actually a Ford engine.

Anyway, manual states oil grade SAE 5W-30 ACEA A5/B5 then WSS-M2C925-A

The first bits I am fine with, but its the last certification which I believe is ford specific, when I am looking on euro car parts, the oil matches with the exception of the certification, which is stated WSS-M2C913-D

Now, I know the letters at the end are back compatible, eg, the D means its as good or better, then C, B A etc, however the last 3 digits are different (925/913) and I cannot seem to find anything on that.

I know you might think it probably doesnt matter but from experience over the years the mrs ford firsta if you dont put the right oil in it does burn through it over a year whilst it barely looses any oil at all if you get teh correct specification.

Any ideas?

EDIT:

https://gzhls.at/blob/ldb/1/1/c/2/ee6a621b083ceb7a07d6636f7be0c8e84647.pdf

Seems it might be compatible going on the section on the right hand side.

Yeah I ahve gone with it anyway, please ignore this thread :)
 
Last edited:
Caporegime
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925-A is an old 5W-20 specification based on ACEA A1/B1, API GF-3 so im a bit confused by the handbook recommendation. Also isnt this a Volvo VEA B4164T3 engine?

Volvo often recommend A5 in the older Ford hardware, and as you can see this is usually 5W-30. A 5W-30 A5/B5 913-D oil would be fine if a Ford engine.
 
Associate
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Pretty much any synthetic 5w-30 will be just fine. The manufacturer-specific ones are typically due to emissions more than anything else.

If 5w-20 is an option, then technically this would be a superior oil from a wear-reduction perspective.
 
Soldato
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I didn't realise it was ever a thing to look this closely at a oil spec...

I've always just gone for a decent quality oil synthetic oil... As long as it says the right grade on the front and states its suitable for whatever manufacturer I wouldnt lose too much sleep over it.
 
Caporegime
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I didn't realise it was ever a thing to look this closely at a oil spec...

I've always just gone for a decent quality oil synthetic oil... As long as it says the right grade on the front and states its suitable for whatever manufacturer I wouldnt lose too much sleep over it.
Yeah the OEMs spend millions to develop engines and oil specifications for someone just to get the right looking number on the front and think ‘that will do’

I was more interested in the comment regarding a 5W-20 being better for wear protection than a 5W-30 too
 
Soldato
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I didn't realise it was ever a thing to look this closely at a oil spec...

I've always just gone for a decent quality oil synthetic oil... As long as it says the right grade on the front and states its suitable for whatever manufacturer I wouldnt lose too much sleep over it.

I think it vastly depends on the engine, I'm sure for the majority your way of thinking is fine, ford engines not, and I know from experience going by how much oil was being burned Vs hardly any after with the correct oil.
 
Soldato
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Yeah the OEMs spend millions to develop engines and oil specifications for someone just to get the right looking number on the front and think ‘that will do’

I was more interested in the comment regarding a 5W-20 being better for wear protection than a 5W-30 too

I would have thought it was more to do with which oil company pays the car company the most to include their oil in the OEM cars...

I mean it might make a difference in a motor sport world but in a market where you can buy tesco value motor oil I really don't think you need to worry too much about the finite details on a road car.
 
Caporegime
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You seem to be confusing recommendations with engine oil specifications.

Engine oil specifications are not linked to anything you seem to have suggested. If you want full approvals for something like VW 504 00 / 507 00 it’s a bit different to ‘recommended by VW’. Or a oil marketing claiming ‘suitable for use’. A full approval would cost millions of dollars a single engine test can be €120k.

So. Please tell me the issue of you use a BMW LL-01 approved 5W-30 in an engine requiring PSA B71 2297 for example. Both are synthetic 5W-30.

My point is: If you know nothing about a subject. Why share your incorrect opinion, as fact, with someone who DOES want to use the correct oil for his engine ?


Please also find an OEM who says ‘any 5W-30’ in their handbook

Motorsport oils are easy. Power is king and only stays in the engine a short time.
 
Associate
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I would have thought it was more to do with which oil company pays the car company the most to include their oil in the OEM cars...

I used to think the same on my Volvo T5 (5 pot version). Volvo recommends 5W30 and still to this day put that in T5's at main dealers yet when I asked Tim Williams about it (popular engine builder amongst the Volvo T5/Focus ST community) he laughed and quoted me a bottom end rebuild saying he'd rebuilt 13 bottom ends so far that year on T5's due to 30 weight oil and you'd have to be an idiot to put it in.

Since then I've taken his advice and used 10W40 :D
 
Soldato
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Also with oil specs this is where crappy oil is different to good oil. The acea spec is a self cert thingy so oil manufacturers can just test inhouse and label it with the acea rating it should conform to.
As for manufacturer approvals that's different. They need to pay for the licence and pass the tests to slap on the approval the oil has e.g ford xxx vw 50xxx etc
Now the sly bit.
Some oils you will see word the the approvals differently and insted of saying e.g vw 502 approved or approval they say something on the lines of "meets the requirements of vw 502xxx"
That oil has not passed the actual tests by the manufacturer but the oil company is being shady in its wording. Could be various reasons it wont pass e.g ash content, total base number etc etc
Your engine probably wont blow up with it but as iv seen in the past the cheaper oil caused engine rattle after 2000 miles of use when engine is pushed hard. Probably viscosity thinned out too much. (Was tripleqx oil in a Corsa 1.2)

Also look at shell 5w40 oil. Its got tons of manufacture approvals but there is one category it says meets the requirements of. Think its a renault spec. Doesnt mean its a bad oil its just formulated in a way to pass all the other approvals but may have too much of something for that specific test but wont harm the engine at all.
 
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