Author Topic: Using SF oil? (Read 2533 times)

veedub · « **on:** March 24, 2005, 04:49:34 pm »

Can I us an "SF" oil in my Jetta TD? The book recommends CF oil, but I need to know if I will hurt anything using the SF?

Regards

QuickTD · « **Reply #1 on:** March 24, 2005, 05:40:38 pm »

SF oil is for spark ignition engines. The prefix "C" as in CF indicates the oil is for compression ignition engines. The "CF" classification is an old standard that has been superceded a few times. I believe the current state of the art in diesel oil is rated "CI-4". Diesels have different oil requirements than gassers, books have been written on the subject and it goes far beyond the scope of this post. Suffice to say that diesel oil is formulated to deal with much more soot and acid than gasoline engine oil. It isn't hard to find good diesel oil, even wal-mart has quite a good selection.

dieselweasel · « **Reply #2 on:** March 24, 2005, 06:14:21 pm »

Yep, QuickTD is correct. You wouldn't find SF oil if you tried anyway...the current standard is SL for spark ignited engines.

Rat407 · « **Reply #3 on:** March 25, 2005, 03:32:17 am »

Well if you got a ton of it to use or can get it at a cheap price, you can use it, but would need to do an oil and filter change every 1500 to 2000 miles to keep the insolubles build up down to a minimum since it isn't rated to handle that. Oh and if you don't mind changing your oil that often.

I know of a few that run spark ignition oil with no problems, but they do change the oil and filter at those intervals.