PSA B71 2290, 2296, 2312: which oil does your Peugeot or Citroën want?

Open the description of almost any “French” oil and you will find something like “PSA B71 2290, B71 2296, B71 2312, FPW 9.55535/03”. The salesman, meanwhile, keeps it simple: “For Peugeot and Citroën just take a 5W-30 with a PSA approval, they’re all the same.” It sounds convincing, but the digits after B71 are not grades of one oil — they are different oils for different engines, with different viscosities and different ash content.

Part of this story has already been told. How Stellantis folds the PSA, Fiat and Opel approvals into a single FPW 9.55535 system, and which three B71 codes an owner should know, is covered in the article on Opel after GM. Why a 1.2 PureTech with a wet timing belt has no single “correct” oil approval is in the article on the belt in oil. And why a particulate filter (Peugeot and Citroën call it the FAP) cannot stand ash from the oil, see the article on diesels with a particulate filter. Here we go deeper: what stands behind each code you meet on cans, and what has come to replace it.

How to read a B71 code

PSA B71 with four digits is the standard of the PSA group (Peugeot, Citroën, DS) for oils and fluids, and for engine oils each number is a separate approval with its own viscosity grade and its own ash content. The numbers do not form a ladder: 2312 is not “better” than 2290 just because it is bigger, and behind 2010, the smallest-looking number of the lot, stands a thin 0W-20, which is anything but an oil for old cars. It is like bus route numbers: a bigger number does not mean the bus goes faster, it simply goes to the other end of town.

Here are the codes you meet most often on engine oil cans (viscosity and ACEA class are taken from the descriptions of oils that carry these approvals):

There is also 2295, on 15W-40 oils, but it is rare. A few notes on the table.

1. The full-ash trio: 2294, 2300 and 2296. These are oils of ACEA A3/B4 level, that is, with a full sulphated ash content (from 1.0 to 1.6%). They are no good for engines with a particulate filter: the ash settles in the filter and stays there for good. But it works the other way too: the viscosity the manufacturer has written down, and the ash content, are part of the requirement here, so without the manufacturer’s say-so a thinner 0W-30 “because it’s newer” does not belong where 2296 is specified.

2. 2290 and 2312 are neighbours, but not twins. Both are oils with reduced ash, phosphorus and sulphur (mostly ACEA C2), and both get on with the filter. But 2290 means 5W-30, whereas 2312 means 0W-30 with an extra requirement for how the cold oil flows, in the name of fuel economy. According to the description of one oil, 2290 suits most PSA petrol engines and most diesels, FAP ones included, except BlueHDi with the SCR system (the one that works with AdBlue): those need 2312. So a 5W-30 “with a PSA approval” in an engine specified for 2312 is the wrong oil, even though the familiar B71 is printed on the can.

3. 2297 is the same 5W-30, but for a different climate. The viscosity grade is the same as for 2290, but oils with it are of ACEA C3 level with a higher high-temperature viscosity (HTHS not below 3.5 mPa·s, whereas C2 needs only 2.9). According to the description of one oil, PSA applies this approval in some hot countries where the fuel is poorer: with biocomponents or a high sulphur content. On cans it mostly sits next to FPW 9.55535/03, and why will become clear below.

4. 2010 means a 0W-20 oil of ACEA C5 level (C6 as well on newer oils), with HTHS from 2.6 to 2.9 mPa·s, for engines that were designed for it. I will say it again: a thinner oil is not a “newer quality level”, it is an oil for specific engines, and it does not go where the manufacturer has not provided for it.

FPW 9.55535: what has replaced B71

Since Stellantis was formed, the B71 codes have been giving way to the FPW 9.55535 system, where the approval is determined by the number after the slash. Which number corresponds to what is best seen from the descriptions of oils that already hold the new approvals: under the word “Approved” stands the FPW code, and below it, under “Backward compatible”, the old codes that this oil covers.

FPW 9.55535/01 — 0W-20 with reduced ash, covers B71 2010.

FPW 9.55535/02 — 0W-30 (ACEA C2), covers B71 2312 and B71 2302.

FPW 9.55535/03 — 5W-30 (ACEA C3), covers B71 2290 and B71 2297.

FPW 9.55535/04 — 10W-40 (ACEA A3/B4), covers B71 2300 and B71 2294.

FPW 9.55535/09 — 5W-40 (ACEA C3) with reduced ash; its list holds the former Fiat and Opel codes, not B71.

FPW 9.55535/10 — 5W-40 (ACEA A3/B4), covers B71 2296.

Now the most important part. “Backward compatible” works in one direction only. An oil approved to FPW 9.55535/03 is, according to its maker, fine where the service book says 2290 or 2297. But an oil that has only B71 2290 is not fine where /03 is required: /03 is a separate approval, and the carmaker grants it only to an oil that has passed tests against its requirements. According to the description of one oil, for /03 Stellantis sets stricter requirements for oxidation resistance and thermal stress than for 2290, 2312 or 2010. On top of that, oils with the /03 approval are of ACEA C3 level (HTHS not below 3.5 mPa·s), while 2290 is also found on C2 oils, which need only 2.9. The name 5W-30 is the same, the oil is not.

Which engines need /03? According to the descriptions of oils that hold this approval, among others the 1.5 BlueHDi (DV5R), 2.0 BlueHDi (DW10F) and 2.2 HDi (DW12) diesels in commercial vehicles and the petrol 1.2 PureTech of the EB2 family, turbocharged and naturally aspirated. For some 1.2 PureTech engines the group later tightened its requirements, so what decides is not only the entry in the old book but also the current maintenance plan for your engine code. The make’s official representative can look it up from the VIN.

And one more thing: /02 and /03 mean 0W-30 and 5W-30, so you cannot swap one for the other as you please, any more than 2312 for 2290.

The same codes apply to DS, and to Opel and Vauxhall with PSA engines: according to the descriptions of oils, B71 2312 was required, for example, by the petrol and diesel PSA engines in the Corsa F. The Opel codes OV 040 1547-D30 and -G30, which appear in the “backward compatible” lists for /02 and /03, are Opel standards for GM-designed engines (they are covered in the article on Opel after GM). And the Fiat codes with letters (S1, S2, DS1, GS1 and so on) are moving into the same FPW system; what they mean is explained in the article on Fiat 9.55535 codes.

And what if B71 is on a gear oil?

That happens too. On gear oil cans you come across the codes B71 2310, 2315, 2316 and 2330 (on 70W, 75W, 75W-80 and 75W-90 oils for manual gearboxes), B71 2340 and S71 2102 (on fluids for automatic gearboxes), and PSA 9734 S2 (on fluids for automated dual-clutch gearboxes). These codes have nothing to do with engine oil: look for them only where the code is specified for your gearbox.

How to check that an oil really holds B71 or FPW

How to check an approval in general, mark by mark, is covered in the article on checking an oil approval. For Peugeot and Citroën the sequence is as follows.

1. The code comes from the service book or from the dealer, by VIN, not from the shop shelf. Not “oil for Peugeot”, but exactly B71 2312 or FPW 9.55535/03.

2. The latest description of the oil on its maker’s website. “Approved” or “homologation” means the carmaker approved the oil. “Meets”, “performance” or “complies with the requirements” means a claim by the oil maker itself, that is, an approval it has awarded itself. And “backward compatible” is not a separate approval of the old code, but the entry rests on a genuine new approval.

3. The approval belongs to a specific oil of a specific viscosity, not to the whole range. In one range from one maker the 5W-30 may carry /03, the 0W-30 2312 and 2302, and the 0W-20 2010, although the name on all three cans is almost the same.

4. The can has to repeat the same code as the description, and it is worth buying it first-hand: from an official representative, a dealer or a trusted supplier.

So a B71 or FPW code on the can is the address of a particular engine, not a badge saying “for French cars”. Find your code, check it against the description of the oil, and don’t lose sleep over it. And the salesman who says confidently “they’re all the same” can be asked a simple question: “Which one is written down for mine, 2290 or 2312?”