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Dexos 1 Generation 2 Oil for Turbo 1.4 Astra K

226K views 483 replies 74 participants last post by  Boroboy 
#1 ·
Good Morning All,

Bulletin just been released by Vauxhall advising that for Turbocharged Direct Injection Engines there is a certain risk for Stochastic Pre Ignition (SPI). This SPI causes strong pressure peaks in the combustion chamber which may harm the piston ring lands.

Fault:

Sporadic metallic noise from combustion chamber, sometimes with short loss of power. Occasionally fault code 'P0300 Engine Misfire' is stored but not all the time. Engine Light might not even come on when power loss suffered. This may be the source of the engine splutter / short loss of power people are experiencing in 1.4 Turbo.

Affected Models:

Amongst the affected models are the two versions of the 1.4 Turbo in the Astra K (B14XFL/T RPO code LE1 and LE2). I have the 150ps 1.4 Turbo Astra K which is RPO code LE2.

Resolution:

Vauxhall/Opel/GM have developed a new engine Oil - Dexos 1, Generation 2 to reduce the risk of this fault happening. This new Oil is essential to be used for Astra K 1.4 Turbo. However up until this point only Dexos 2 has been available. The new Oil will be released in the final week of April 2017. The part number is: 95599877 which comes in a 5 litre container, larger sizes will be available at a later date. Model Year 2017 cars are shipped with the new oil in already.

In the meantime the bulletin states GM Dexos 2 MUST be used until Dexo 1, Gen 2 becomes available.

Needless to say I shall be having an Oil & Filter change last week of April and have already placed an order at work for the new oil.

Hope people find this useful :)
 
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#430 ·
Bah, they told me "destroyed" but practically I haven't seen any picture from them (workshop is off-limits, people can't access), maybe is just a piston ring broken. If possible I want to see something when I take back the car, and i hope they clean up everything before assembly the engine. Don't know if turbocharger will be changed or they "recycle" mine.. Where are you from?
 
#432 ·
Little bit far from me, I live near Brescia. I known Penta (and Deutz) engines in my previous job. Coming on topic, I don't know what will arrive in the box, if only the naked engine or a complete engine with turbo, injection etc.. At this point I don't know if Opel wants to risk another engine replacement saving the cost of a turbocharger.. anyway..
 
#433 ·
This morning car is came back home. New engine and everything like turbo, injection etc. are my old ones, and the only thing I know is that I had a broken piston. End. No pictures, no documents, not a piece of paper with written something about the fault and the replacement. Like they have replaced a light bulb, but in 2 months..
 
#436 ·
I went for yearly service today with 1.4T AT6. Year before Dexos2 was used but I wasn't that worried about it because car is equipped with automatic transmission and they should be more or less safe from LSPI. Dexos1 Gen2 wasn't widely available last year when I did service so had no issues with Dexos2 being used.
Service used Dexos 1 Gen 2 and I asked if they can check ECU SW update as "apparently there is one available as I read on internet". They did connect to ECU, detected that actually update is available and than updated ECU SW.
I did aprox. 50km after service mixed on highway and city drive.

Well, car does seem smoother than before. I had no problems before but it just feel kind of smoother now. Also, it feel that gearbox change gears much smoother than before although AT6 in Astra is IMHO in general very sooth gearbox when it come to changing gears.
I doubt that Dexos1 Gen2 vs Dexos2 can make any noticeable difference in engine smoothness (both are 5W30 fully synthetic oils and don't think there is any significant difference except that additional LSPI protection).
So, most likely this much smoother engine work and AT shifting come from updated ECU SW.
Or maybe it is just placebo effect :)

However, car came heated to operating temperature to service and was still warm when service finished so have no idea if there is any difference when engine is cold. I will see that next few days
 
#437 ·
Mine has auto transmission too, but the piston have been broken down like others. I don't know how previous owner drove it, but I think always in manual and at low rpm (and lspi loves it) because gasoline consumption was 7 l/100 km when I bought it. I was on 8.5 l/100 km and, after 800 km, a piston fault. Now I don't remember the feeling with car, cause I used it only 3 weeks and it has been almost 2 months in workshop :| . It's completely again a new car and I can't find some differences between before and now. When I will go to take the documentation of the replacement, I will ask again to check the ECU update, because the guy didn't know it..
 
#438 ·
Don't know if this will be useful information to anyone but I had my new factory order 1.4T 125 delivered in late March 2018. The manual now specifically states using Dexos 1 Gen 2 oil when servicing so I'm guessing that means my car will have Dexos 1 Gen 2.

Good to see they've updated the documentation though.
 
#440 ·
I was waiting that, but the Italian digital edition is still my17 version. Today called me Opel customer center asking me about the car. I've told for now everything is ok with engine, but when I asked them about the documents not in my hands, they didn't know why.. I have to call back when workshop will give me something.
 
#442 ·
The same in Brescia, no software update, no known about lspi, no solution for the fog on windscreen that blinds the camera when rains, only "something" that says to change oil from dexos2 to dexos1gen2, but now, I still haven't in my hands some paper to check what they put in my engine. This morning check in workshop to see if everything is ok, and it is. So you have again dexos2, only hope if it will be happend, it will in warranty, because the guy told me a price about 5000€. Don't know if only engine or the full work.
 
#450 ·
alessio berogna said:
Stupid question but... If LSPI is caused by diluited oil in cylinder liner, if I put a higher viscosity oil than 5w30, like 5w40 or 5w50, could I solve problem? Today only 5w30 is used because of fuel saving (I think save 0,01% using 5w30 instead of 5w40). Anyone has try this viscosity?
My understsanding of what causes lspi with regards to oil, is that some of the chemical detergents in dexos 2 and standard oils are lspi promoters. Dexos 1 G2 has replaced these detergents with non lspi promoting chemicals
 
#451 ·
@geekonthepc Thanks, that's the proof, same engine, different oil. It shows they have made a mistake..
When I was without car, I read a lot of documents about LSPI. In conclusion, they say, is caused by the chemicals used to keep clean the engine in the oil, so even if u use an highest density oil, the microfilm of it on the cylinder may cause LSPI again, maybe less, but the possibility remains..
 
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