10W-40 | Oldtimer Oil

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    • Semi-synthetic engine oil
    • For vehicles with the year 1970-1990
    • developed with high zinc (ZDDP) and molybdenum (Moly) content
    • Recommended for older and modified engines
    • Better engine protection due to high zinc content
    • Long-term protection against rust and corrosion

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BUY HIGH QUALITY OLDTIMER ENGINE OILS FOR YOUR OLDTIMER OR YOUNGTIMER

The amount of registered classic cars and youngtimers is increasing every year. The care and thus the preservation of the vehicles is the top priority for the owners. When choosing the engine oil, however, the wrong one is unexpectedly chosen. The wrong engine oil can quickly lead to capital damage. So that this does not happen, we help you with the purchase of an engine oil for your classic car. In the following you will get an overview of what is important when buying a classic car oil. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. Contact us via the specified channels and we will advise you!

Classic car oil change - What is important? When is the change due?

Vehicles from the first three decades of the last century (pre-war cars) usually do not have an oil filter. The oil is therefore pumped through the engine unfiltered and, as in any engine, picks up metal residues and other deposits. However, these are deposited directly in the oil pan and not in a filter. As a result, the oil quickly loses its quality and should therefore be changed in a classic car after 1,000 to 5,000 kilometers. At every second or third oil change, it is also advisable to disassemble the oil pan to remove the deposits manually. The first standard oil filters finally came into use in the 1950s. At that time, only paper filters were used.

Alloyed and unalloyed engine oil - What is the difference? You must pay attention to this!

In the online store of ATO24 you get a selection of high-quality alloyed as well as unalloyed classic car oils. But often the question arises when choosing a qualified classic car oil, for which classic car now an alloyed and for which an unalloyed engine oil should be used. We explain the difference:

  • Unalloyed engine oil
    An unalloyed engine oil is free of all additives. The engine oil does not help keep the engine clean and bind dirt. Nor does the engine oil clean the engine. In engines of oldtimers, however, the dirt was already taken into account during the design and accordingly included in the conception of the engine. For this reason, some older engines are even dependent on these contaminants. An oil that cleans the engine and binds the contaminants could damage the engine and even ultimately lead to engine failure. For this reason, older classic cars in particular rely on unalloyed engine oils.
  • Alloyed engine oil
    Alloyed engine oils are engine oils that have been enriched with additives! These additives mainly help to keep the engine clean and to bind contaminants. This process supports the oil filter in its work and allows a long-term clean operation of the engine.

 

For vehicles without an oil filter, an unalloyed engine oil should be used. Because we have learned: Unalloyed means that the oil does not contain additives. Modern engine oils with additives (alloyed engine oil) have a so-called detergent-dispersant system. By means of this, the deposit particles are dissolved and float in the oil. When passing through the oil filter, these particles are finally collected.

Without an oil filter, the deposits would constantly flow along in the engine oil and could not settle in the oil pan. Increased engine wear would be the result. In addition, modern oils with flow improvers and low viscosities penetrate the seals of vintage engines, so that a steady loss of oil sets in and adequate lubrication is not maintained.

Help: Use the API classes as a guide! Simply explained here.

The American Petroleum Institute (API) has been defining minimum requirements for engine oils under the API standard since the 1940s. In an API standard, the "S" stands for gasoline engines and "C" for diesel engines. API SA forms the first standard under which an unalloyed engine oil for gasoline engines was defined. If the second letter increases, this indicates a higher quality factor of the oil. This is made possible by new and more special additives, which in turn are not suitable for older vehicles. Thus, each vehicle receives a suitable API release. Which API release is now suitable for which year of manufacture, you can see in the following table:

 

API SA Does not contain additives. Only use in gasoline engines built until 1930! Use in modern engines may result in insufficient performance or damage.
API SB Use only in gasoline engines built between 1930 and 1951! Use in modern engines may result in insufficient performance or damage
API CA Only use in diesel engines built up to 1959!
API SC Use only in gasoline engines built between 1951 and 1967! Use in modern engines may result in insufficient performance or damage.
API CB Only use in diesel engines built between 1959 and 1961!
API SD Only use in gasoline engines built between 1967 and 1971!
API SE Only use in gasoline engines built between 1971 and 1979!
API SF Only use in gasoline engines built between 1979 and 1988! May not provide adequate protection against engine sludge buildup.
API SG Only use in gasoline engines built between 1988 and 1993! May not provide adequate protection against the formation of engine sludge, oxidation or wear.
API CC Only use in diesel engines built between 1961 and 1990!
API SH Only use in gasoline engines built between 1993 and 1996! May not provide adequate protection against the formation of engine sludge, oxidation or wear.
API CD Only use in diesel engines built between 1990 and 1994!
API CD-II Only use in diesel engines built between 1990 and 1994!
API CE Only use in diesel engines built between 1990 and 1994!
API CF Introduced in 1994. For off-road, indirect injection and other diesel engines, including those using fuel with more than 0.5% sulfur. Can be used in place of API CD oils.

 

SAE 30, SAE 40, SAE 50 - Monograde oil for classic cars

Vintage cars and older vehicles in particular often rely on monograde oils. Unlike multigrade oils, these engine oils have only "one" viscosity. Accordingly, the viscosity does not change depending on the stress temperature. This behavior of the engine oil would be certain engine damage in many modern vehicles. However, many vintage cars are extra dependent on this type of oil. At the time when classic cars were registered, there were often only monograde oils. Multigrade oils were developed as early as the late 1960s, but it took much longer for them to become widespread on the oil market.

Engines of vintage cars differed significantly from today's engines!

Since there were still no multigrade oils on the market across the board and the design of the engines also had to be adapted, it was still not uncommon for vehicles to be registered with engines that relied on monograde oils. One must not forget, engine oils, which are called today oldtimer oils, were at that time still modern and commercial products.
The engines of older cars were designed differently in their characteristics. First of all, these were simpler in their structure composed and were thus also "satisfied" with simpler oil.
Single-grade oils with us in the store:

From when to use a multigrade oil in a classic car?

There are also multigrade oils among today's classic car engine oils. These are higher in their basic viscosity (e.g. SAE 20W-50), but the viscosity can still adjust during operation or with temperature differences. These vintage engine oils cover newer vehicles - often the oils are suitable for vehicles before 1980.

 

"Multigrade oils for classic cars are often suitable for pre-1980 vehicles."

 

We offer in our store both oils with viscosity 10W-30 and several 20W-50 vintage engine oils:


Buy 10W-40 Oil: Huge selection, top prices

In the ATO24 online store you get exactly the right 10W-40 engine oil for your vehicle! In addition to top prices, we offer you reliable advice and help you find the right 10W-40 oil.


The viscosity SAE 10W-40 belongs next to 5W-30 to the most demanded engine oil viscosity. But what exactly does 10W-40 actually mean and why are there so many different oils despite the same viscosity? We will clarify these and other questions in the course of this blog article.

What does 10W-40 mean?

10W40 stands for a multigrade viscosity. Correctly written out as 10W-40, the two viscosity indexes given, 10W and 40, refer to all-season use (suitability for winter and summer use). These multigrade oils were developed over 50 years ago and were intended to replace the procedure of having to change oil at summer and winter time. The viscosity specification in cold (10W) and warm (40) viscosity indicates the oil's flowability at high and low temperatures.

10W stands for the flowability in winter (this is where the W index comes from). The value 10 is not a directly measurable value of a certain unit but an index number. The lower the number before the W, the better the flowability at cold temperatures and cold starts. A 5W-30 engine oil therefore has better flow properties in cold conditions than a 10W-40 engine oil.

The number 40 stands for the flowability of the oil at a temperature of 100 degrees Celsius. Again, the lower the number, the lower the viscosity at a temperature of 100 degrees. Accordingly, a 10w40 engine oil is more viscous than a 0W-30 engine oil.

Buy 10W-40: Here's what to keep in mind!

Even if the vehicle manual recommends a 10w-40 engine oil, the right 10W40 oil is not immediately found. When buying a 10W-40, attention must be paid to the prescribed specification and release. They represent the particular chemical properties of an oil.

10W-40 engine oil approvals

As always, your vehicle may require a release in addition to the 10W-40 viscosity. These approvals are listed on the bottle label next to the specifications. The best known approvals are those of BMW (e.g. LL-04), VW (e.g. VW 507 00) and Mercedes Benz (e.g. MB 251.0). The approvals with the engine oil are comparable with a quality seal of the automobile manufacturers. Thus this manufacturer issues a certain chemical characteristic of oils, which must be fulfilled, in order to be permissible for the cars from the own product series.

What engine oil approvals occur together with viscosity SAE 10W-40? Among many others, are common engine oils of the following releases and recommendations 10W-40 engine oils:

 

What is the difference between 10W-30 and 10W-40?

Both viscosities share the winter property "10W", which means that they have the same properties at low temperatures and cold start. The indices 30 and 40 refer to a difference at high temperatures. Thus, the 10W-40 shows a slightly higher viscosity at high operating temperatures. This difference can be advantageous if the engine has oil losses with a 10W-30 motor oil.