Found much cheaper MB approved oil for Sprinter
Up to today, I knew of only two American oils that Mercedes approves for use in a modern Sprinter. Amsoil European Synthetic Motor Oil at $13 per quart, or Mobil 1 ESP (Emission Systems Protection) for a similar price, but that frequently goes on sale at NAPA for $5.99. (I learned that from one of you - thanks!)
Today I found a third approved oil, and much cheaper, newly stocked at my local Walmart. It's Penzoil "Platinum Euro L" full synthetic and meets the MB Approvals 229.31 and 229.51 that are required for my 2015 Sprinter. At $21.97 for a five quart jug, that's only $4.39 a quart. Since the engine holds 13 quarts, that's quite a savings. If you want to know why it needs special oil, read on.
To almost eliminate soot, modern diesel engines use a diesel particulate filter (DPF) in the exhaust system. It's a screen and would get plugged up by soot, so the engine periodically regenerates it ( a Regen) by heating it up to around 1,000 degrees by dumping raw fuel into it. This is hot enough to burn the soot away.
Motor oils, even synthetics have many, many constituents, one of which is ash. Well, it turns out that the DPF will also catch ash (from blowby I suppose?) but ash will NOT burn off during a Regen, so it will drastically reduce the life or your DPF, requiring expensive replacement due to plugging up.
At least that's how I understand it. If any diesel technicians want to correct me I'd love to learn....
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2015 Forester MBS 2401 WS
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