My Peugeot had its oil and filters changed 1700 miles ago. It ran on Halfords Diesel Semi-Synthetic Oil 10w40 and Halfords filters and was fine. This time I couldn’t make it down there so I bought a bottle of 10w40 Semi-Synthetic Oil for petrol and diesel engines from a local motor factors, the filters came from them too. I didn’t like the idea of the universal oil but was reassured it was very good.
This morning I started the car and it sounded as if a bearing ball fell into the engine. Dry and metallic sound coming from the block (the big aluminum lump visible in the middle of the engine) as far as I could tell. It sort of went away (or became quieter to be precise) once the engine warmed up.
I checked the oil level, topped it a bit but have a feeling I should change the oil soon. Am I correct? Am I wrong?
Next time I do change it, do I still go for the 10w40 semi for diesels or should I look for 15w40 mineral or 15w40 for turbo diesels with large mileage? What would you recommend?
The engine is 1.9td, 177k miles.
Thanks!

Any semi-decent oil that meets the specs for the engine will be fine.

The 1.9 is hardly a refined lump by any means, and the turbo will complain about the wrong oil long before the engine will.

In the owners manual it will tell you what you need to put in the engine. If it’s important there will be a specification listed there like, ACEA A3 or B3 or B4

Could also be a peugeot/citroen equivalent. They’ll all be listed on the back of the bottle, so any brand of 10/40 Semi Synthetic with that spec will do your engine nicely.

I only use longlife VW rater oil in my golf. I don’t care if it’s 15 quid more per bottle and I change it every 10,000. I know it’s working and it’s expensive so it must be good.

I formulate oils for a living. What the previous posters have said is spot on. Just buy an oil that meets the recommended spec for the car which you will find in the owners manual. A more expensive oil may be able to meet more specs than a cheaper oil and may have a better base oil and more additive but a mid/cheap price that meets the spec for you car will be fine. Even if the semi synthetic you bought doesn’t meet the spec for the vehicle its unlikely it will have damaged the engine as its the same grade.

I have had lots of old cars 😆

The 1.9 XUD (and derivatives of) are tough as old boots. Even the HDI common rail 2 litre units didn’t require fancy oil.

Oil, as everyone else has said, is fine so long as there’s some there, and preferably meeting the correct specs. FWIW, all but the cheap 20w50 supermarkets sell tends to meet all modern general specs. The stuff I have in the shed cost me approx £1 a litre and has VW specs exceeding those required of my ageing motors.

It’s possible that you’ve just got a noisy hydraulic tappet – if the filter has a no / a ropey non-return valve, or the car’s stood for a few days over Christmas, then you can get the odd noisy tappet for a bit. My (petrol) Golf always has one noisy tappet if it’s left without running for a bit – give it a few miles and it’ll shut up. In normal circumstances, the tappets are quiet almost immediately after startup.

That said, my memory says that the XUD has indirect injection, and therefore a separate injection pump bolted to the engine somewhere. These are without exception the noisiest thing in the engine bay of an old diesel – the common rail units do away with this part and hence sound far less dieselly. I’d be inclined to look at the fuelling side of things if the noise continues – filters, is there any fuel etc.

that sounds like a sticking hydraulic valve lifter. usually a quick oil change will sort that out. it can happen in really cold weather too.

That said, my memory says that the XUD has indirect injection, and therefore a separate injection pump bolted to the engine somewhere. These are without exception the noisiest thing in the engine bay of an old diesel – the common rail units do away with this part and hence sound far less dieselly. I’d be inclined to look at the fuelling side of things if the noise continues – filters, is there any fuel etc

Injection pumps aren’t that noisy.
What made the biggest difference with common rail (and the later fly-by-wire injection pumps), was the introduction of multi-stage injection, which meant diesel knock became far less obvious, and allowing direct injection to become common place in cars.

I think I’ll change the oil on time, some 2-3 months down the line.
The idle revs are too high I know that, but it wouldn’t make it rattle more I don’t think.
Would cranking the radio up fix it? 😉

They are if they’re on the blink 😉

Did think about replacing “without exception” with something less concrete as I typed it.

On a serious note, is there a difference between Halfords and, say, Shell or Texaco oils? Peugeot recommend Esso, unavailable round here.

On a serious note, is there a difference between Halfords and, say, Shell or Texaco oils? Peugeot recommend Esso, unavailable round here.

Even expensive engine oils are generally made to just pass the particular specs the oil is designed for. If you look at the specs claimed for a more expensive oil chances are it meets either more specs than a cheaper oil or harder/more modern specs. Exceptions would premium products like Mobil One that are designed to be the best in the market regardless of price and may let you extend the drain interval for your vehicle. Believe me the engine tests even a cheap oil passes to meet the specs are harder duty than anything the oil will see in the field. Halfords oil is just fine if it meets the spec for your car and you stick to the recommended drain intervals.

I do stick to them rather precisely. What you’re saying is buy whatever I want to buy and be happy with it, right?

Yep just make sure the spec on the back of the tin is the right one.

Thanks, they all seem to.

On a similar theme, Halfords, and most UK car manufacturers “own brand” oil filters are made by Coopers. I used to deliver them from Coopers factory in South Wales to Halfords RDC in Redditch.

Very useful, thanks MTG.

Ball bearing in the engine could be injection timing too advanced. Now this would not normally just happen whilst the engine was cold and then go away, but it could be some kind of sensor issue confusing the ECU.

Although it’d be a pretty big co-incidence for that to happen at the same time as the change of oil 🙂

I should probably have it looked at by someone with a bit of experience, hmmm…
There’s also a possibility of the oil level a bit low which I have rectified, will see tomorrow.

Ah. Oil level low means that the hydraulic tappets aren’t full of oil so you get a loud clacking which might ease off if oil circulates. It has to be pretty low tho. I had this on my old Passat when the oil was just touching the bottom of the dipstick, so it was maybe a litre or so down out of four and a half litres.

I don’t know, will see tomorrow if it rattles again. If it does I’ll have it checked. Otherwise it’ll get a service soon with better oil and decent filters.

+1 for a decent filter
Had a mate with a newish Pug who skimped on servicing ie cheap halfords filter and he ran the cam bearings within weeks due to faulty non return valve allowing oil to drain from cycl head.
I bought an old Golf, newly serviced by an Opel dealer with cheap factors filters. Rattled on start up so I changed it for a VW one, rattle fixed.
Back in my youth I used to work on Fords when the Cortinas and Capris ran the OHC Pinto engines that used to eat camshafts for breakfast. Ford reckoned this was largely due to poor filtration and would/did not honour warranty claims on cars not fitted with a Ford filter.
Having said all that do you allow the heater/glow plug light to extinguish before starting the engine? Have noticed on my VW that by doing so it starts quieter.

As above, engine dependant, but some oil filters have valving in them to prevent backflow. If it’s missing from the cheap alternative it takes a while to re-fill the filter and build pressure for the engine to run with. It may take some time but it will do cumulative damage. Though it’s primarily a problem if you’re a “turn the key and race off” type person, rather than someone who’s a little more mechanically sympathetic.

On a funny note, I once left my car for a long period with no oil in it. A month or so later I jumped back in and drove off up the road. 2 miles out I remembered I had no oil in it. Both the engine and turbo were/still are perfectly happy some years/30K later and showing no signs of reduced oil pressure or bearing damage. 🙂

In my experience, motor factors know jack about engine oil…they didn’t even know about the Acea grades.

http://www.driverstechnology.co.uk/oils.htm

My Passat is rattly on startup. I am now wondering why. It’s only above a certain rev level (about 1800 ish so I’m not thrashing it) and it suddenly appears. I thought it was something to do with the ecu and injection timing on a cold map since it’s very on/off but now I am not so sure. Last two services were at the main dealer.

Perhaps the indexing is out?

Coopers don’t make all of them – every VAG filter I’ve seen at the side of a MANN has been identical barring the VW stamps – even down to the date codes, SKUs etc.

Low oil will cause lots of noisy tappets / lifters, but you’re talking seriously low – off the minimum mark on the dipstick!

One noisy one is fairly common on cars with a decent mileage that have stood for a bit.

I always use Mobil One Turbo Diesel Oil in my 1998 VW Passat Tdi (now with 168000 on the clock), its brilliant in the winter for reducing the noisy lifters on startup due to its great cold viscosity and the engine burns very little compared to the once that I recently tried some Castrol GTX Diesel of the rating recommended ie 10W-40. I even got a £25 ‘free’ brolly from halfrauds with the last lot of Mobil One-mind I would rather have only paid £25 for the 5 litres instead 😛
I also recommend (for VW) their genuine VW filters, if you can shop around on t’internet yoiu can find them for virtually the same price as aftermarket versions such as Cooper.

I have an old normally aspirated 1.9 Berlingo which, every once in a while, becomes very “dieselly” in sound and the power is reduced. I don’t know what causes it but just stopping and restarting gets rid of the problem. Could be the same problem? If so it will be gone next time you run it.

Hairychested: if the oil is in spec then it will be ok for a few 1000 miles. I tend to use oil made by Carlube as thats what my local place in Kippax stocks. I buy the best synthetic oil they make for whatever car I am working on. My volvo is at 164,000 miles and is still running sweet.

1.9tds never had hydraulic tappets. They’re good gold bucket + shim, like most OHC diesels of that era.

My Passat is rattly on startup. I am now wondering why. It’s only above a certain rev level (about 1800 ish so I’m not thrashing it) and it suddenly appears. I thought it was something to do with the ecu and injection timing on a cold map since it’s very on/off but now I am not so sure. Last two services were at the main dealer.

It most likely is the injection map. You’ll probably find the multistage injection drops to single stage at 1800rpm, meaning that with a cold engine, the diesel knock suddenly becomes apparent.

Quite a lot of diesels have that quirk, but it’s becoming even less noticeable as technology progresses.

I went for a drive today having topped up the oil levels. Didn’t rag it, just a gentle-ish 50-60mph on twisties in 4/5th gear. Quiet, no rattle. I’ll be changing the oil when it gets nice and warm, the filters too.
A mechanic had a look too. His diagnostics: “What do you expect, the bloody roads in Ireland will make a sponge rattle.”