Costco (Kirkland) 15-40 "Diesel" Oil

[10-9jc]

Delo 400 fan here.
Costco doesn't carry it anymore.
Anyone have opinions on the Warren mfg Costco brand?

 

[NIsaacs]

I use a lot of TSC, I think it is made by the same company.

 

[DavidC]

Walmarts also.

 

[HEMI®Dart]

There's a LOT of info on all re-branded oils on YouTube. Even Amazon has their own brand.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=kirkland+diesel+oil+review

 

[Matt42]

I'm trying out the Costco version. I used up the last of my hoard of Delo CI+.

 

[HPSimpson]

There was a test on Costco motor oil on Project Farm on You Tube check it out.

 

[Bill Lins]

There was a test on Costco motor oil on Project Farm on You Tube check it out.

Could you please give us the Cliff's Notes version?

 

[Newsa]

Warren oil top notch in my opinion

 

[HPSimpson]

Could you please give us the Cliff's Notes version?

Bill I don't have Cliff notes.

 

[Topzide]

When I was working at a Toyota dealership many moons ago, we learned that there are only so many refineries processing oil and antifreeze. When you look at all the brands out there, they don't all add up! Many of the oils will come off the same line with just different additive package and dye. As long as the oil is specified correct for what you're putting it in, you're good. Warren Mfg has been around a long time. Will be using TSC (warren) on next oil change in the fall. These private label brands don't have to spend $ on advertising which those savings are passed on to end user. The biggest thing we learned was to NEVER use recycled or blended products! Recycled speaks for itself, but on the blended, you have no idea what it's blended with! Was told this meant left other oil purchased at closeout and thrown into a big vat and poured into bottles sent out for sale. Hope this helps. Just keep good fresh oil in these motors! It's their life blood!

 

[Matt42]

When I was working at a Toyota dealership many moons ago, we learned that there are only so many refineries processing oil and antifreeze. When you look at all the brands out there, they don't all add up! Many of the oils will come off the same line with just different additive package and dye. As long as the oil is specified correct for what you're putting it in, you're good. Warren Mfg has been around a long time. Will be using TSC (warren) on next oil change in the fall. These private label brands don't have to spend $ on advertising which those savings are passed on to end user. The biggest thing we learned was to NEVER use recycled or blended products! Recycled speaks for itself, but on the blended, you have no idea what it's blended with! Was told this meant left other oil purchased at closeout and thrown into a big vat and poured into bottles sent out for sale. Hope this helps. Just keep good fresh oil in these motors! It's their life blood!

Are you including "re-refined" in the same definition as recycled?

 

[Topzide]

Two many days ago to recall the specifics, but the recycled had crud in them! Seemed that they didn't filter it that well back then! I know that I will only use non-blended oils after that. Not worth the 50 cent savings to create a problem that could have been avoided! Nowadays oil gets recycled into heating oil! Back then, used oil heaters were just starting to be developed.

 

[Diesel Gunner]

Even today, oil is cheap, engine rebuilds are very expensive.

Use a good quality engine oil and change it regularly. Personally, I change more often than the owners manual states.

Oil is cheap, engine rebuilds are expensive, more so today.

 

[Tuesdak]

oil is cheap

No it's NOT! When you are changing the oil every single week due to miles and the oil being "used up" it adds up fast, comes off your bottom line... you come to enjoy the longer oil change intervals. @NIsaacs had to remind me about using the 5 gal buckets...

Have you shopped for Diesel Engine Oil lately? Shell T6 isn't on the "empty" shelves here as well as a lot of other Diesel Engine Oil brands. TSC, local parts stores, etc. I had to use a 2.5 Gal jug on my last 6 month oil change as that's all they could get in. And I hate the 6 month timeline required for warranty on my RAM. I hate it even more during this low miles driven pandemic when it was a concern to visit one more place for an oil change. Now more fun that filters and oil are S C A R C E!

If you need something to "feel good" about your engine do a UOA (UOA only NOT an oil change) as it will tell you more (coolant, fuel dilution, dust entering somewhere, or it's fine to keep using) than just dumping the oil early. It's also cheaper to do than oil changes.

 

[NIsaacs]

Some oils are really getting hard to come by. Valvoline is one of them. They supply the house brand for Napa and Car Quest. Valvoline AFT+4 was on sale at Napa last month, they couldn't get it. This month Napa ATF+4 is on sale, they can't get it.

Car Quest is now handling some Fram oils, I have never seen that before. Fram DEF too. My brother has a hardware store in Montana, some oils keep getting back ordered. Hydraulic oil, hydraulic/tractor fluid and some Mobil engine oil. Walmart shelves are bare. I always try to stock up when there is a sale, oil is getting spendy otherwise.

It is rare for me to shop at O'Reilly or AutoZone, so not sure how their supply's are.

 

[Diesel Gunner]

Tuesdak, do you have a fleet? Just want to clarify if you are changing oil weekly due to having a fleet or every six months on one truck. Not trying to be a wise guy here. I can agree that oil analysis is the way to go. Sold them to my customers for 17 years before I retired. The real benefit of using oil analysis comes with doing it each and every oil change and being able to see trending. Yes, you can use it one time to diagnose a coolant leak, fuel dilution, or other potentially catastrophic event, but it is far more useful when it is done each and every drain to develop "trending". Fact is, only the most astute will do oil analysis. Most just discard the idea as too expensive or do not want to do it because they do not know how to read and understand a report (and it is not easy to do without a good amount of knowledge and training).

I suggest not limiting searches for oils to auto parts stores or the big box stores. Remember that oil marketers will most often sell to the public and can be nearby. I also recommend keeping a reasonable supply on hand. I do not recommend buying drums of oil if you only have one vehicle that you only put 20K on per year. The oil will degrade with time in the drum and will not be the product that it was when new. I agree that the price of oil (fuel and everything else that we need) is artificially high right now. But it hasn't always been. Perhaps we can correct that at a next election? But, I wasn't trying say that it was inexpensive. Just that it it far "cheaper" to change the oil than it is to rebuild an engine.

I respect your point of view. Always buy larger package styles, that lowers the cost per gallon. Personally, I tired of the pails. Its a bit of a hassle to hoist one over the fender and transferring to 1 gal or 2.5 gal jugs is a PITA. Plus my worn out shoulders just will not put up with it. Do oil analysis. Seek expert guidance on it if you do not completely understand how to read the report. This will also save you money by no doing work that is not needed. And, yes, this is the only safe way to extend drain intervals. Manufacturer drain intervals are the only thing that I ever recommended to my customers unless they were using oil analysis to monitor oil condition. I never recommend that drain intervals be extended just because oil X states that they can go a bajillion miles between drain. Doing this is suicidal. Chose the oil that you feel the most comfortable with. Major brands and many, many independent brands meet spec. Do your homework. Some are a bit better than others. I changed from one major to another with great results after 150k or so miles. I would never go back. Not saying that I might not change again.

And finally, these trucks are like our children. Ultimately, we each raise our own and do what we feel is best for them. We are all experts and we share our ideas here. Each of us will do what we feel is the best for our truck taking into consideration all of the variables that effect our lives.

And, don't forget that its all about the smiles to the miles.

Keep Your Powder Dry.

 

[bcbender]

FWIW, I saw cases of Rotella 15W45 T4 (3 gal / box) at Home Depot yesterday... Dont forget that the big box MMD are selling automotive supplies now, i would not think to go to Home Depot or Lowes to do an oil change

And I also re-stock after a service,,.. so I always have at least one set of filters, and consumables on hand

 

[Tuesdak]

Tuesdak, do you have a fleet?

We managed a fleet of 600 GM pickups, A Frames, and misc equipment in the CA oilfields in the late 90's to mid 2000's. Put a PM program in place that increased "uptime" and kept a lot of neglected stuff out of the breakdown shop yard. Used ~5000 mile oil changes on the 4.3L GM V6 in half ton pickups. (They made 250K before the pickup was used up with only rare engine failures. Now a rainy day and mud would have busted axles from trying to be rocking stuff out.) The Oil Life Monitor GM came out with in 1999 was accurate with the UOA we did. UOA Caught some things like a cracked valve cover dumping silicon into a backhoe engine: that was fun to have them hunt it down under warranty and they revised the valve covers after dealing with that one. The Yellow Iron fleet experience precedes that.

We ran a auto parts/tire delivery route towing a trailer with a 2008 Duramax and then a 1993 GMC 2500 6.5TD due to "The Great Depression V2.0". The 6.5TD Required 2500 mile oil changes for HD use in the owner's manual and the UOA said 3000 miles was too much on that dirty engine. ~550 miles a day 5 days a week is 2750 miles thus weekly oil changes. I would have rather changed the oil on weekends vs. at 2AM on a random weekday just before taking off to run the route because that's when it was cooled down enough to touch it. Every oil change came off the bottom line and it's use of a quart of oil every 500 miles also hurt the bottom line. I detail some of it here:

http://www.maxxtorque.com/2012/07/the-65l-diesel-factory-equipped-asthma.html

FWIW Gapless rings in a dirty engine like that 6.2 6.5 IDI Diesel kept the normally soot black after an oil change oil clean enough to read the dipstick markings through it for over 3000 miles.

So when I say do a UOA to feel better about the engine and oil's ability to go the full distance stated in the owner's manual I am not kidding. Way better than just "dumping the no-so-cheap" oil early.

When you Hot-Rod or modify an engine the UOA can tell you when you are exceeding the limits of engine oil.

I will say the big concern one should worry about is a quality air filter and oil filter. We are lucky to have Fleetguard make most of our RAM Cummins filters.