Very good explanation, here in Brazil it is difficult to find this information regarding this new API CK-4 specification, which is the specification recommended by Mitsubishi for its modern diesel vehicles. I learned a lot, I will follow these technical concepts.
Awesome compilation of information! One comment I usually get is that if you have been using CI-4 mineral oil for last 10-15 years, and you switch to CK-4, the detergency of CK-4 will clean the engine, and you will end up having all sorts of problems like clogging oil passages because of varnish and soot being displaced internally. What is your opinion on that? Do you have any experience on that?
Thanks! Yes - have seen this phenomenon in practice when "upgrading" to more modern technologies. In some fleets it actually exposes leaks that have been plugged by deposits.
on oil forums some people swear by hdeo in cars... (acea e4-9) it should keep the engine cleaner and less risk of wear. some photos looks great. is that true? is it wise to put such into acea a3/b4 petrol engine ? (2017) (belt in oil)
Great question. So this reply is going to be very general in nature - but the short answer is the engine will look great, but may not be performing optimally. The biggest macro differences between diesel and petrol engine oils comes down to viscosity grade and additive composition. Generally HDEO are 15W-40, although there have been moves lately to reduce to a 10W-40 or 5W-30, whereas in PCMO you are starting to see as low as 0W-20 or 0W-16, although something like 5W-20 is more common. So as a start, more viscosity theoretically buys you more wear protection, but at the cost of energy efficiency. The engine is going to do more work overcoming that increased viscosity. The second difference is additives. Generally speaking, truck engines are pretty high performance machines - high compression ratios, generally turbocharged, etc. The loading of components is mostly higher than in the passenger vehicle world, which necessitates more antiwear additives. That will protect your components really well, but could be too much of a good thing - thick antiwear films result in higher friction (energy losses) and as surfactant-style additive they can outcompete other additive components. Then there's the detergent/TBN package, which generally needs to be more extensive in HDEOs for the sulphur content in diesel. Too much cleaning will make your cylinder walls look very shiny, but could actually result in an improper seal between the wall and the piston rings - this loses you some compression and efficiency (and therefore mileage). Hope that helps!
That would be a really interesting topic. Marketing claims are actually a heavily regulated area, particularly in the US and EU. If a manufacturer claims something like "annual protection" they are generally required to have test data to prove the claims.
Consider checking out the RU-vid channel Project Farm. While the tests may not be industry standard, they are at least consistent. He often takes video ideas from comments and can have your video out within a year, in my experience.
Did you say viscosity increases over time? I know viscosities decrease in gas oils over time, but I didn’t know diesel oils viscosity increases over time. I just wanna be sure you got that right
Hi Riley. Yep! That's correct. Over time the oxidation of the base oil causes polymerisation of long chain hydrocarbons. The overall effect is that the viscosity slowly increases. Decreasing viscosity in an engine would usually be a sign of fuel dilution or in some rare circumstances, thermal cracking.
Interesting I'm curious. I know farmers who run their old tractor engines with modern oils. Like ci4 cj4 or even ck4. Is it even possible, that these modern oils can be safely used in an old tractor engine, for example perkins, from the 70s 80s or early 90s? Or is it a bad idea?
Hi! Thanks for the question. Theoretically yes, the CK-4 engine oil spec is designed to be backward-compatible and therefore work in older style engines. The main risk is usually one of wear - Zinc concentration has gradually fallen to meet emissions criteria and this can sometimes cause problems with old style cams. But in general you won’t go too far wrong with a CK-4 15w-40 engine oil.
If I want to run extended service intervals on my diesel engines what filters can I add to a Landcruiser 1Hz engine (bypass filtration etc) and perhaps on a 1VDJ engine. I know of a 80 series with a Kleenoil bypass filter and the Rubia 7400 doing extended service intervals as well a Kleenoil polishing filter on th fuel. Africa is known for fuel cleanliness not always being fantastic, but some of our mines also run extended service intervals and rebuilds for the last 40+ years. I do understand that there were problems with ultra-low diesel and removing water is that still a concern?
Hi...any assistance will be great...my owners manual is saying to use CF4 Diesel engine oil but it is hard to get in my region...also I’m being told that CF4 is old technology and it was REPLACED with CK4...
Theoretically CK4 is backward compatible - i.e. will work in engines designed for CJ, CI, CH and CF-4 oils. Make sure the viscosity grade is appropriate for your engine though - there are some 10W-40 and 5W-30 CK-4 oils, but your engine most likely requires a 15W-40 (just guessing, the required viscosity grade will be in the owner’s manual)
Technically no. C3 has higher minimum HTHS and higher ash content which protects more than a c4 or ck-4 oil. But to some degree the added wear is quite minuscule. If you're looking to keep the vehicle, c3 is fine. If you're looking to keep the vehicle and minimise fuel aftertreatment servicing costs, c4 or ck-4 would be better.
