Former VWDieselParts.com Forum

my van is down a quart of oil and I can't get oil in my town for diesels, can I put in a quart that dosen't have the cc or cd on the label and what does it do to an engine if it isn't for diesel

its better than running it low but change it out of there asap.

The two rating you'll find on engine oils are "S" followed by a letter and "C" followed by a letter. The S stands for "spark" ignition or gasoline motors and the C stands for "compression" ignition or diesel motors. The second letter in the code is progressive. Any letter must meet all the requirements of the letter before it. In other words a CD oil is for diesels and meets all the requirements of a CC oil. Just make sure the second letter comes AFTER the requirement alphabetically. C rated oils are most notably different in the way they handle the added soot from compression ignition engines. They keep the soot in suspension instead of letting it build up sludge inside the engine. Anyone who has taken apart diesel engines that were run long-term on S type oil knows the sludge I'm talking about. As CoolAir mentioned it's certainly better to run S type oil than it is to run low, but long term it can cause serious buildup inside the engine. C type oils are offered ALMOST EVERYWHERE. I find it hard to believe that you can find diesel fuel and yet not find C rated oil.