Oil Specs and Options - Royal Purple meets

ZED

Sprinter Newbie
I'm kind of dissapointed in the MB specifications on oil these days. There specs are pretty much just a listing of manufacturers that have paid to have their products listed. Most of those products I can't even get here. When I asked my oil supplier what he had that met the MB spec sheet he just groaned and said that they were some of the least informative specs going. However, after some more research I have found the following references which indicate that Royal Purple oils may be used in the sprinter:

Automatic Transmission Fluid
From the sprinter owner's manual:
Shell ATF 3403/M-115 MOPAR® Part No. 05127382AA, or equivalent Fuchs/ Shell ATF 3353
236.10 236.12

From the royal purple web site:
Mercedes Benz 236.x -> Max ATF
http://www.royalpurple.com/transmission-chart.html


Engine Oil
From the sprinter owner's manual:
1. Engine oil also meets API classification CI-4. Other oils may meet requirements - see oil label to determine.

Royal Purple Diesel engine oils also meet Cl-4
http://www.royalpurple.com/prod-pdfs/motor-oil-ps.pdf


I chose to research Royal Purple because I have found it to be a good synthetic oil and I can get it readily and at good prices. This may be applicable to other oils as well.
 

topless

Wichita, KS
A number of the lubrication products R.P. sells are not full synthetics. Carefully worded ads and labels make you think they are, but if you read the MSDS sheets, you'll find fully "synthetic additives" and "blends of mineral and synthetic base oils". Many of their "synthetic" products are based on P.A.O. (Poly-Alpha-Olefin) base stock, which is synthetic, but not a premium synthetic base oil. The best synthetic base stocks are ester based and R.P. sells their products at the same prices levels.

If warranty is a concern, I think you'll find R.P. is not accepted by factory, and don't even begin to think that R.P. will stand behind their products if you have a problem. I tried their stuff in every place on a vehicle, burned up 2 rear ends, 1 transmission and after testing motor oils, was told that their additives show up as contaminants in most laboratory tests, accept theirs :rolleyes:.
Their standard motor oils do have SAE ratings, that simply means they buy and use the same additive packages as every other motor oil, then throw some of their "additives" in it along with purple dye (that turns black in ultra violet light).

I will say that their racing motor oils are as good as any, but the products for road use are not 1st rate, based on my experience.

Frankly, I'd stick with Mobil 1, Shell Rotella T, Amsoil, or a brand name.
 

ZED

Sprinter Newbie
Well, not meaning to start yet another oil thread. Just thought I would post my findings as others may find it useful.
I have no warranty concerns. With an '05 model it's out of warranty. As stated, MB only approves a 'special' list of vendor products. Royal Purple is not on them.

I have, however, been using Royal Purple in my vehicles for a number of years. I have found the gear oil to be a great improvement over non-synthetic and on par with Amsoil in my transmissions. I have found no difference between it and Mobile 1 or Delvac as an engine oil in the Unimog. I used to use those before they became hard (and expensive) to find in quantity here.

I have never tried Rotella largely because so many people 'hype' it up that it makes me wonder if it's a just a band wagon product. Many people in the motorcycle world seem to think that your bike will 'spontaneously die' if you don't use Rotella. Ducati's are spec'd for it and neither I nor my Ducati dealer use it. It's probably good stuff, just never tried it.

Sorry to hear about your past issues with R.P. They could be caused by a number of things, but maybe not. I'll likely keep using it. Next engine oil change in the sprinter, that's what's going in.
 

dbeyer

Member
I have found the following references which indicate that Royal Purple oils may be used in the sprinter:

Automatic Transmission Fluid
From the sprinter owner's manual:
Shell ATF 3403/M-115 MOPAR® Part No. 05127382AA, or equivalent Fuchs/ Shell ATF 3353
236.10 236.12

From the royal purple web site:
Mercedes Benz 236.x -> Max ATF
http://www.royalpurple.com/transmission-chart.html
FYI
At the bottom of the Max ATF web page under the Please note:
:thinking:
Max ATF is not recommended or an approved warranty replacement for: Mercedes Benz MB 236.12 & 236.14
 

ZED

Sprinter Newbie
Good find! Either I hadn't seen that note before or it has more recently been added. I lean towards it haveing been recently added as I had previously scoured that website looking for compatibility information.

Currently my sprinter transmission has Mopar in it as that's what was readily available when I needed it and it should be fine for a while.
I've still enjoyed Royal Purple in my engines and feel confident with that. However, I am no longer using Royal Purple in anything once my stock runs out as I have lost my local source for it. Fortunately I have once again been able to source Delvac in quantities, so I will be moving back to that.
 

claudalfa

Car Crazy
When a manufacturer says that it meets specs, That don't mean anything
Approved by Mercedes is something completely different, so dont go by meet but as to be approved by engine manufacturer
Royal purple is more of a marketing company than a lubricant manufacturer. Read some test made by 3rd party that have nothing to gain by stating that an oil is good or bad and you will find out that Amsoil, Royal Purple and so many of them are second rate quality when you compare to LiquiMolly, Motul, Elf. If you want an engine that will last a very long time go with quality oil.
Same goes for synth oil, you can have fully synth or synth which is can be as low as 5% synth and 95% mineral.

Just my 2 cents, but I had so many import vehicle that I know that nothing will replace top quality
 

Altered Sprinter

Happy Little Vegemite
Modern European engines have a different SAE Class with higher ISO ACEA ratings to match fuel efficiency M111FE that match to the final MB sheet oil numbers.
Richard
 

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