TwinAir and MultiAir II 0W-30 C2 Oil

[s130]

PLEASE READ CAREFULLY - Potential Warranty Issues!

It now appears that Fiat have changed both the Oil specification and replacement schedule for the MultiAir II 1.4L Turbo engine as fitted to the 500X and some later Alfa Models.

The TwinAir engine I believe has always required the DIGITEK 0W-30 C2 oil but the change interval has been reduced to 9K miles (approx.) The new MultiAir II changes from a 5W-40 to a 0W-30 C2 (not a C3 and not a C2/C3).

So being the owner of a new 500X I wanted to research what 0W-30 C2 oils are on the market that could be used and found the results interesting and very confusing given that I do know a little bit about oils.

The manufacturer's factory fit oil is:

(Petronas) Selenia Digitek Pure Energy meeting specifications Fiat 9.55535-GS1 or MS.90048 and characteristics 0W-30 ACEA C2 / API SN

Possible alternatives in the research are as below:

Castrol Edge 0W-30 C3 but no Fiat 9.55535-GS1 approval approval

Castrol Edge Professional H C2 0W-30 but no Fiat 9.55535-GS1 approval (Approved for and available at Honda dealers)

Mobil 1 ESP 0W-30 ACEA C2/C3 but no Fiat 9.55535-GS1 approval

Shell Helix Ultra ECT C2/C3 listed Fiat 955535.GS1 & Fiat 955535.DS1 (meets requirements) but I guess no formal approval.

This is the technical bit (see below for ACEA C2 & C3 details)

My specific concern is can an oil which claims to meet C2 and C3 ACEA ratings be safely used in place of a C2 only rated oil?

So I then consulted technical support and Texaco, Mobil and Shell

o Texaco with their C3 oil said they would not recommend using it!
o Mobil with their C2/C3 oil said they would not recommend using it!
o Shell with their C2/C3 oil said they meet/exceed Fiats GS-1 requirements so usage is OK

It seems to me that given all the above the TwinAir/MultiAir system is *VERY* sensitive to oil cleanliness AND lubrication ability and Fiat have gone to specific attempts to ensure both of these, change intervals (and more) parameters are strictly adhered to.

I now have a query out with a specialist petro chem additive company (not the after market type of products but the specialists who research and develop the chemical additives that are used during oil formulation and manufacturing to make the base oil perform to all the various international and manufacturer standards). When/if I hear back from them I'll let you know.

ACEA C2/C3 details
----------------------
ACEA C2 Stable, stay-in-grade oil intended for use as catalyst compatible oil in vehicles with DPF and TWC in high performance car and light van diesel and gasoline engines designed to be capable of using low friction, low viscosity oils with a minimum HTHS viscosity of 2.9mPa.s. These oils will increase the DPF and TWC life and maintain the vehicles fuel economy. Warning: these oils are unsuitable for use in some engines. Consult owner manual or handbook if in doubt.

ACEA C3 Stable, stay-in-grade oil intended for use as catalyst compatible oil in vehicles with DPF and TWC in high performance car and light van diesel and gasoline engines, with a minimum HTHS viscosity of 3.5mPa.s. These oils will increase the DPF and TWC life. Warning: these oils are unsuitable for use in some engines. Consult owner manual or handbook if in doubt.

NOTE! Other performance differences/factors also change between C2 and C3 specification oil

 

[JayAre]

I now have a query out with a specialist petro chem additive company (not the after market type of products but the specialists who research and develop the chemical additives that are used during oil formulation and manufacturing to make the base oil perform to all the various international and manufacturer standards). When/if I hear back from them I'll let you know.

Hi @s130

Did you ever hear back?!?

I’m a new TA owner - one owner 2016 Panda bought 2 months ago, and I’m only now grasping the absolute need to use the correct engine oil AND change frequently:
- mileage: every 6,000 miles ideally (9,000 miles max)
- interval: 6 months ideally (9 months OK, 12 months max but probably not good for long+healthy engine life)

The trader provided itemised annual service invoices from October 2020 (with an independent) listing “0W-30” but not the grade - C2? C3? who knows? (and one service lists “5W-40” ) The selling agent (main Fiat dealer +bought new) did the previous 3 years servicing so (presumably!) they would have used the correct oil…

Back to the OP - the Panda Owner Handbook clearly states that the TA (and MA it seems) must only be given this engine oil:
“SAE 0W-30 ACEA C2 API SN 9.55535-GS1 (or MS.90048) F020.B12”

But what does this mean?

If I read correctly there is some duplication here:
- terminology from 3 different standards bodies!
- Fiat compliance reference/‘part’ numbers

Standards body #1 - SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers)
developed a numerical classification system to define the viscosity or thickness of oil. The original viscosity grades were all mono-grades (a typical engine oil was a SAE 30) but now we have 6 parameters and you must use the right one or your engine will not live a long+happy life…
0W - Winter viscosity
30 - Summer viscosity
So, for the TA/MA this is where the first 3 required specification parts “SAE 0W-30” come from.

Standards body #2 - ACEA (European Automobile Manufacturers Association)
C2 - catalyst compatible oil in vehicles designed to be capable of using low friction, low viscosity oils with a minimum HTHS viscosity of 2.9mPa.s. and will increase the DPF and TWC life and maintain the vehicles fuel economy.
So, for the TA/MA this is where the 4th required specification part “C2” comes from.

Standards body #3 - API (American Petroleum Institute)
SN - improvement over the API SM category in the following areas:
* High temperature deposit protection for pistons
* Better sludge control
* Better seal compatibility
* After treatment compatibility
Question: I don’t know if this is ‘duplication’ of the SAE/ACEA spec or an additional ‘refinement’ () also required for the TA/MA. Is it sufficient for the TA/MA oil to state “0W-30 C2” or must it state“0W-30 C2 with SN”?? In other words, does the oil have to comply with 3 specification parameters or 4 specification parameters?

“SPECIFICATION” (heading used in the Owner Handbook)
As I understand it this is duplication - under this heading Fiat provide two compliance certification references (why two??)
9.55535-GS1
ACEA C2 based, 0W-30 viscosity, MidSAPS engine oil for the latest petrol engines of the Fiat Group (Fiat, Alfa-Romeo, Lancia), and:
MS.90048
there’s no information on the internet about this that I can find so, presumably, it’s a secret (but get it wrong and your engine dies!! )
Fiat part number:
F020.B12 = Fiat’s part code for their all singing + dancing compliant oil
Question:
In which case why have two compliance certification reference numbers?
Question:
And why is Fiat compliance certification even needed if oil is formulated to comply with the exacting standards set by the standards bodies (above)?
Is Fiat now a FOURTH standards body???

“Re-setting” TA/MA after oil changes
I have heard that after every oil change the TA/MA must be “reset”. I don’t know what this means, who needs to do it, and how much it costs.
Question:
What bad things happen if the TA/MA is not “reset” after an oil change? (my local independent recently changed my oil to “0W-30 C2” but I didn’t ask him about “resetting” - it slipped my mind. Is this something independents can routinely do?)

 

[s130]

I did hear back from Lubrizol and officially their position regarding my inquiries was:

Dear Nick,
Your email was looked into and unfortunately as a company we cannot offer advise directly as we are not a B2C company.
We therefore suggest, you discuss directly with your own garage or send an enquiry directly to an oil company.

So I went back to them to say I was not after their "advise" but some C2 / C3 specification clarification to which I got:

In reply to your email of yesterday, we cannot comment on the product claims made by individual oil marketers and we suggest you contact them individually to enquire. We can however confirm that what you have determined from the charts is correct in that the key difference between the ACEA C2 and C3 sequences is the level of fuel economy performance with ACEA C2 being the highest.

That was back in 2017

During my research I came across their "Relative Performance Tool" which supposedly shows the difference in oil ACEA ratings. This dynamic chart compares where 10 is a better rating. So for C2 / C3, C2=rating 5 and C3=rating 1. Note this is as confirmed above.

It is quite common to have different Standards bodies each targeting same, similar, different or additional parameters. Also relevance to something like Service Life or Fuel Economy.

Think of it like this. To qualify for the Olympics 100m you have to run 100m in less than x seconds. That is the standard required. Running in x-1 seconds is OK and even better

This is a useful "Oil Labeling Article"

Regarding manufacturer's approvals then you can use the "Relative Performance Tool" to compare say Merc to VW approved oils.

Oil formulations can and do specifically change to make one oil that meets Specification A but exceeds/solves either a technical issue/requirement or even a marketing desire or price point.

This is a nice Video about how existing oils are challenged by CNG Engines thus requiring new formulations/additives.

With regards to Fiat and C2 vs C2/C3 vs C3 then I will personally still with 0W-30 C2.

Regarding TwinAir/MultiAir "reset" after an oil change then this is basically because modern engine management systems monitor all sorts of performance characteristics and timings. For the TA/MA I do not know what they are but the system will adjust certain engine parameters over time to get what "it thinks" are the best based on time/age/mileage/etc. System might even notice a small change over time of how quickly the pneumatic inlet valve operation is performing. The reset merely sets the parameters back to start values supposedly determined to be the best with new oil.

Not resetting will not damage the engine and I doubt you will ever notice a performance or MPG difference. NOTE! I'm assuming no MA/TA petrol engine has a DPF filter.

Lastly. Go check the Shell, Texaco, Petronas, Mobil, Fuchs, ..... web site looking for there recommendation for you car. You may find that those that have C2/C3 oils will not recommend their use. Shell/others may.

This confusion all occurred because instead of either C2 or C3 some manufacturers have/market C2/C3. They have just doubled their market at the expense of customer fuel economy ? ? ?

 

[JayAre]

Thanks @s130 for responding so quickly! Some very interesting stuff here + useful resources

Personally, my only concern is about maintaining optimal engine health +longevity +minimising future maintenance+servicing bills, especially the turbo and Uniair components. These are two areas you most definitely don’t want to fail/degrade/wear out simply because you haven’t properly maintained the engine with the “kindest” oil

We read so much about the TA being too complicated and I just wanted peace of mind.

So my takeaway from your detailed response is:
- if “0W-30 C2” is on the ‘tin’ then it absolutely 100% meets the full spec for TA (and MA I guess) engines in all conditions
- the “reset” is a nice-to-have but if it’s not done then it has absolutely no adverse impact on the TA engine in all conditions.

As for economy/emissions, well, we know that TA owners really don’t care about economy so economy is not at the bottom of the list - it’s not even on the list although, perversely, I am experimenting with the despised ‘eco’ to see if it does improve economy - just because it’s there, and what’s the point of having a button if you never press it!

Cheers

 

[s130]

For what it is worth I use Petronas Syntium 7000E - 0W30 ACEA C2 API SN

Petronas make the Selinia oil for Fiat. Can't get much closer. Also readily available in Halfords. Possibly other places but Halfords is convenient and I've got a Trade Card so get a little extra discount on all oils, etc.

 

[JayAre]

Thanks. My handbook actually specifies Selenia Digitek P.E. not Petronas, but the Halfords website doesn’t show either brand when I enter my reg (and it won’t even allow me to manually select Selenia) - it lists 10 “applicable” oils but 5 of these are 5W40 (!!!), 4 are 0W30 but without the Fiat spec number, and only 1 meets everything:

TotalEnergies Quartz INEO FIRST 0W/30 C2 SN Plus Fiat 9.55535-GS1 5L £49.29.

This seems a very good price for this oil and satisfies everything in the handbook so surely it must be OK - but I’m wondering what you get for your money with Selenia… Am I missing something?

The sump capacity (with filter) is 3.2L - how long would the rest remain “good” if any top ups are needed and does it matter if it’s stored in a garage? (I’ve not done enough miles to judge how much oil it uses or indeed whether it will need any at all).

Thanks for all your help

 

[s130]

Petronas won't list Syntium 7000 E on their website as they want you to buy their Selenia Pure Energy and please Fiat.

PETRONAS Syntium 7000 E

Selenia Pure Energy

So Halfords have dropped selling Petronas. Interesting.

Nothing wrong with that TotalEnergies Quartz INEO FIRST 0W/30. Also Castrol now have 0W-30 C2. Shell Helix, ....

Back in 2015 a quality 0W-30 C2 oil was not that readily available.

Much more choice now.

 

[Punto19868]

So when using a different brand (like Total), you should be fine as long as it has the right requirements?

Or still choose Selenia?

I’m getting my Punto twin air and it was previously serviced with Selenia. The dealer is getting the car ready and when I asked about it they had already changed it with the Total oil.

 

[JayAre]

So when using a different brand (like Total), you should be fine as long as it has the right requirements?

Or still choose Selenia?

I’m getting my Punto twin air and it was previously serviced with Selenia. The dealer is getting the car ready and when I asked about it they had already changed it with the Total oil.

if you mean this specific oil I mentioned in my previous post then, yes, I would be fine with it since it is stated to meet the Fiat specification but do check this with the dealer, ask for the itemised invoice and it should list the name + specification. If not ask why not since this is so important - if they won’t confirm the spec (don’t tell them what it is) then say you want the oil changed to the correct spec (and watch them do it)

TotalEnergies Quartz INEO FIRST 0W/30 C2 SN Plus Fiat 9.55535-GS1

 

[Punto19868]

if you mean this specific oil I mentioned in my previous post then, yes, I would be fine with it since it is stated to meet the Fiat specification but do check this with the dealer, ask for the itemised invoice and it should list the name + specification. If not ask why not since this is so important - if they won’t confirm the spec (don’t tell them what it is) then say you want the oil changed to the correct spec (and watch them do it)

They just replied by email and gave exact these specifications. So I think I’m fine