amsoil vs delvac1

[Harry Cummings]

Not to start a war You members that use either product what is

your opinon about the two?

 

[DocStressor]

I'll bet you start a war. But you can't go wrong with either product. I'll chime in again after the smoke clears.

 

[Rambling]

I don't understand why you'd say that, Lee!! Someone might think that some TDR memebers might be hightly opinionated!

 

[Randy J]

I personally use Amsoil, although I used to use Mobil 1 in my gas engines. I just found it a lot easier to have Amsoil shipped directly to my door, than to try and hunt Delvac down. I think either one is a great oil. Oh, and I use the Amsoil SDF80 oil filter, that way I can order enough oil & filters to do 2 complete oil changes. By the time I pay shipping & handling, the costs are very comparable.

 

[Sled Puller]

Big breath, easy, let it out, here goes!



"If I could not get Amsoil, I would use Delvac!"



There, that was not so bad!



Gene

 

[Cooker]

ROTFLMAO @ MGM

 

[TowPro]

I also drive a VW TDI, which requires synthetic oil, and the only 2 I can find that fit the bill is Amsoil and Delvec (even the stuff the dealer sells is only CF rated). I looked at buying Delvec 1, but I could only find it in cases of 4 one gallon jugs, and still this was over $5. 75 per quart.



Then Dan Watson signed me up for a "prefered customer" deal with Amsoil, luckly the warehouse is 15 miles down the street, so I can stop by and by a case, or just one quart, plus its cheaper then Delvec.



in fact, I also switched my gas cars over to Amsoil because its cheaper then mobil 1! I don't do the extended drain thing, I just change the oil following the manafactures recomendations for not severe duty.

Originally posted by Harry Cummings

Not to start a war You members that use either product what is

your opinon about the two?

 

[klenger]

I have never been able to find Delvac 1. I'll bet Mobil would sell alot more of the stuff if they stocked it at a retail store. Go figure.

 

[DocStressor]

Mobil markets Delvac 1 through truckstops and large oil distributors. You can use the following link to find a truckstop close to you that carries the stuff:



http://www.mobil.com/mobil_lubes/onhighway/index.html



Here’s a thread from Fred’s TDI Forum that lists addresses of many different synthetic oil distributors:



http://forums.tdiclub.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=5&t=001427&p=





Walmart in Canada carries Delvac 1 at a good price, but I have never seen the synthetic version in a US Walmart.



The easiest and cheapest way to get this oil is to buy the CAT version at any Caterpillar dealer. It is really just re-branded Delvac 1.

 

[HC]

I've used both Delvac and Amsoil 5W-30, and done oil analysis on both. Wear rates seemed slightly better with the Amsoil, but that was not a fair test because the Delvac was my first change of synthetic, and because wear rates go down with increasing mileage, as proven by the fact that each new Amsoil test I run shows lower wear than the test before, even when other factors have not changed. I did note that at about 15,000 miles, the Delvac's viscosity was getting closer to the low end of the acceptable range, while the Amsoil at 22,000 was still slightly ABOVE the expected range for a 5W-30 oil. But since the Delvac was a 5W-40, the "raw" numbers were still above those of the 5W-30 Amsoil. I guess you could either say Amsoil was "better", or, you could conclude Amsoil has poor quality control and shipped me 5W-35 oil instead of 5W-30 (just kidding to make a point, Amsoil fans). My point is that you shouldn't draw too many conclusions from a handful of tests.



My conclusion is that these oils are both really good. My plan is to stick with Amsoil at least for now. If it weren't for the turbo and wintertime considerations, I'd be looking hard at that Delo non-synthetic.

 

[Cooker]

Lee,

Is the CAT DEO 15w40 also rebranded Mobil oil?



Is the oil rebranded or does Mobil make the oil for CAT, to CAT's specs?



Thanks for the info,

Ryan

 

[Amianthus]

Harry, don't ever buy Amsoil. The quality sucks and it's way over-priced. You will destroy your engine if you use it. And the dealers are arrogant, self-centered jerks. You'll regret the day you ever bought anything from them.

 

[Amianthus]

How ya feeling now Gene?

I thought this thread was gonna kill you Gene. Just thought I'd poke some fun. And if Harry doesn't use Amsoil, that'll be more for the rest of us.

 

[Sled Puller]

Yup, those are your buddies on TDR! No matter what state they are in, they always have a wisecrack!

Gene

 

[DocStressor]

Ryan -- I don't know who makes CAT DEO conventional oils. They come in 15W-40 and 10W-30. Only the former is CH-4 licensed but CAT indicate that the same additive chemistry is used in both produces which suggests the same manufacturer. The manufacturer can be inferred by the product data sheet information and oil analysis results. I will try find the answer to your question unless someone else on the board can provide the information.



CAT customer service told me that the 5W-40 oil is a modified slightly to meet more stringent CAT requirements. A source at Mobil said that it was the same as Delvac 1. Go figure. If you look at the product data sheets you will see that they are very close.



HC - Both Delvac 1 and Amsoil 3000 appear to use the same shear resistant VI improver chemistry and start with a 5W PA0/ester base stock. In order to increase the viscosity "range" to 40 weight (viscosity at 100 degrees centigrade >12. 5, actually 15. 0 cSt in the case of Delvac 1), more viscosity improver must be used than to produce a 30 weight product (<12. 5 cSt, actually 11. 4 cSt in the case of Amsoil 3000). The all VI improving molecules shear to some extent during normal oil usage, so it is not surprising that on a percentage basis you would see a greater decrease in viscosity with a 5W-40 oil than with a 5W-30. I would expect that the Delvac was still over the 40 weight minimum of 12. 6 cSt after 15K.



BTW, even though the Amsoil starts out at a lower viscosity than is recommended by Cummins, I don’t believe that this is an issue. The 40 weight recommendation is based on conventional oils that typically shear down to the 30 weight range during normal usage. The Amsoil product starts at the high end of the 30 weight viscosity range but doesn’t shear down much during use.

 

[HC]

I would expect that the Delvac was still over the 40 weight minimum of 12. 6 cSt after 15K. [/B]

Lee, you're absolutely right. The units reported by Blackstone were not cST, but at 12,655 miles on the oil the SUS viscosity at 210 degrees F. was 72. 8, with an acceptable range being 71 to 83.

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Not long ago I posted some numbers from some Mag Hytek literature (actually LE's) and the Cat DEO 5w40 was on the list. The only 2 parameters on this comparison was wear resistance and oxidation resistance. In both catergories the Delvac 1 came out on top, especially the oxidation resistance. But there is much more to grading oils than lab-tested wear and oxidation tests.



"Oh no, not another engine oil thread!" Products Forum

 

[DocStressor]

Those numbers are surprising, Vaughn. Delvac 1 was reformulated when they went to CH-4. Maybe the CAT used in the test was based on the older formulation.



I won't comment on the relevance of the D-2670 results to engine oil performance. But oxidation resistance is a good thing.

 

[DocStressor]

Ryan - Mobile confirms that they make the 10W-30 and 15W-40 conventional oils for CAT. The specs are close to those of Delvac 1300 Super grades, which use a mixture of Group I and Group II base stocks. But they will not say whether or not the oils they make for CAT are blended to different specs than their own Delvac products.

 

[Cooker]

Lee,



Thanks for the knowledge. I was just curious as the CAT DEO scored very high on LE test.



-Ryan