Motul 5w40 Fiat Approved?! + A list of other Synthetic Oil Specs (5w40)

[Deefourtay]

But Rotella is at every walmart for a quarter of the price.

I'm currently running Rotella T6 in my car as we speak. Good stuff

[Deefourtay]

Straight off the 2013 Owner's Manual.. Doesn't appear that the Chrysler Material Standard MS-10896 is listed this time, like in the prior 2012 Manual. Looks like we can use any Synthetic as long as it is API Certified and 5w40!

http://www.scribd.com/doc/121622819/...-Owners-Manual Page 63: Engine Oil with Filter, 1.4L Turbo. We recommend you use API Certified SAE 5W-40Full Synthetic Engine Oil. 4 Quarts (3.8 Liters)

[shagghie]

Straight off the 2013 Owner's Manual.. Doesn't appear that the Chrysler Material Standard MS-10896 is listed this time, like in the prior 2012 Manual. Looks like we can use any Synthetic as long as it is API Certified and 5w40!

After browsing UK Abarthisti and a buncha italian ABarth forums via google translate, looks like the reason for this is a short supply of the Pennzoil Euro, so the only thing they could do is lower the standard. As far back as late last year, Fiat was asking certain dealerships to begin testing some other oils (other Variants of Pennzoil, as well as a select few other brands even) to see how the engines would react (our engines were designed specifically with the high-detergent and viscosity targets of the P Euro oil during the design phase, so they weren't sure how engines would react to a broader spectrum of oils WRT valve speed/lubrication over extended oil change intervals). Dealers were asked to send oil samples back to Fiat for analysis over time. Perhaps that effort has been concluded and now reflected in the newer manuals? Apparently Pennzoil did not expect the demand for the US market between the dart and Ab 500 sales in terms of oil production for the euro variant.

They also have been putting in 5/30 oil lately, too... (EDIT)

[Deefourtay]

At least I can sleep soundly on this matter now, Rotella T6 @ about $20 for a 4 liter jug at Walmart.. You can't beat that! Great oil so far My Studio put Valvoline in my car prior to this, and the oil thinned out at an alarming rate after I did an Autocross. Bad idea to use that oil on their part!

[dart1.4t]

Straight off the 2013 Owner's Manual.. Doesn't appear that the Chrysler Material Standard MS-10896 is listed this time, like in the prior 2012 Manual. Looks like we can use any Synthetic as long as it is API Certified and 5w40!

the dart has an owners manual and a "user guide" the user guide has always said api 5w40 and would be a good defense if you had a warranty issue but the owners manual and warranty disclaimer explicitly said ms-10896 untill the 4th edition which say ms-10725 which includes mobil1, a lot easier to get.

could be the same situation here. but many dodge service techs don't even know about the specific oil requirements and a warranty denial would have to be damage as a result of oil failure. they couldn't cancel the warranty entirely because you told them you weren't using the required oil. if your ecu fails they can't deny the warranty because you aren't following the oil change requirements. you would need bearing damage without loss of oil pressure.

[Seafarer61]

Seriously fellas, there is a point to which oil discussions become exercises in paranoia. Use any 5W-40 that meets the API certification and you'll be fine. dart1.4t and others are correct. You're not going to "void your warranty" because you can't locate Pennzoil Ultra and decide to go with a competitor that meets the specifications illustrated in Fiat's own owner's manual. API and 5W-40 and you're good to go. If you're overtly concerned about it, just eat the scratch and let your studio do the oil changes.

[Eurowned]

I build race engines and I use Mobil 1, Amsoil, Rotella, Motul. An SN rated oil is a high grade which is just as good as the next SN rated oil. Best suggestion is stick to the manufactures multi weight of 5w40 and run any of the SN rated oils.

Just quoting myself

[johnnyquest]

Pardon the question from the long-time lurker...but after delaying the test drive as much as I possibly could I finally drove an Abarth and I'm hooked. Getting one in November after my overseas work trip. So I'm going back through a lot of the posts trying to learn more about the car and any issues people have been having.

So...my question is, is Pennzoil suddenly a good oil now? For years when I had my GLI all my gear head friends said to avoid Pennzoil because it contained paraffin. Most of my buds ran Mobil 1...but from what some people here are saying it's no longer a Full Synthetic? Just wondering why Pennzoil is the best choice for the Abarth.

JQ

[Tweak]

Pardon the question from the long-time lurker...but after delaying the test drive as much as I possibly could I finally drove an Abarth and I'm hooked. Getting one in November after my overseas work trip. So I'm going back through a lot of the posts trying to learn more about the car and any issues people have been having.

So...my question is, is Pennzoil suddenly a good oil now? For years when I had my GLI all my gear head friends said to avoid Pennzoil because it contained paraffin. Most of my buds ran Mobil 1...but from what some people here are saying it's no longer a Full Synthetic? Just wondering why Pennzoil is the best choice for the Abarth.

JQ

Welcome to the forum.

As an answer that may not work for you... because Ferrari says so...

[dart1.4t]

Pardon the question from the long-time lurker...but after delaying the test drive as much as I possibly could I finally drove an Abarth and I'm hooked. Getting one in November after my overseas work trip. So I'm going back through a lot of the posts trying to learn more about the car and any issues people have been having.

So...my question is, is Pennzoil suddenly a good oil now? For years when I had my GLI all my gear head friends said to avoid Pennzoil because it contained paraffin. Most of my buds ran Mobil 1...but from what some people here are saying it's no longer a Full Synthetic? Just wondering why Pennzoil is the best choice for the Abarth.

JQ

parifin in not fundamentally bad. it has a stronger film strength and if used in the right proportions it can make good oil but it can also gum things up... mobil1 is mostly PAO as far as anyone can tell. it doesn't usually compare to other high quality synthetic oils in standard lab tests but there is a point where good is good enough. i don't know that there is a difference in used oil analysis results and it's used exclusively by gm for high performance cars. it also has an exptended oil change interval like amsoil both containing pao which in impervious to most chemicals runs cooler and doen't break down.

well now onto the penzoil. when the "ultra" series was introduced it had a new additive package with about the best cleansing properties of any oil ever. it also has very good performance in the wear tests. there was a post on Bob Is The Oil Guy from someone with a contact at penzoil where it was indicated that it was a GTL petroleum base and had ester mixed in. esters are the strongest oils and primarily are used in racing synthetics. the amount of esters in pennzoil ultra are not know but probably well below 30% GTL is "gas to liquid" and it is made from hydrocracked natural gas rather than crude like other hydrocracked "synthetic" base stocks. i use synthetic in parenthesis because it is a legal grey area. it's not technically synthetic if you start and end with basically the same substance but they do break the molecules and have tight control over the length of the chain. it's a matter of where to draw the line between synthesizing and refining. but the "ultra" line of oil doesn't have parifin in it as far as anyone knows. when the API changed to the new SN standard from SM pennzoil changed the base stock and it is now believed to be a mix of PAO and GTL stocks as the volitility dropped quite a bit. the additive package seems to be the same or similar and i'm sure they make use of esters in the additive package...

what i heard on the dart forum but can't confirm, is that pennzoil did not expect the demand for this oil and is having supply problems. that's why the dealer and amazon are the only places to get it. and i also heard chrysler has been testing different oils and may approve some more. so far it looks like they changed the standard for the dart to an existing standard for the srt cars and mobil 1 and redline are now approved in the owners manual.