MOBIL DELVAC 1300 or DELO 400 ??

[coobie]

I don,t want to start an oil pi$$ing match here,but I am getting ready to change my oil & filter(fleetguard)for the first time. The mobil and the delo are the two that I am considering to use in my new cummins 2004. This is my first Diesel,so I want to do it correct. Thanks for any input. coobie

 

[thejeepdude]

Either one will work and if your engine blows up you'll find neither of them caused the problem. Both good products... buy the one you can get cheaper, IMO.

 

[Cooker]

As already mentioned both are excellent oils. You would not be wrong running either. Personally if I had to pick, I think the Delo 400 is a little bit better. I agree I would pick based on availability and your ease of purchasing.

 

[crabjoe]

I'm going to agree with Cooker on the Delo being a bit better. I think it's because it flows better when the temps are low like it is now.

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

Delo 400 carries a "ISO/SYN" rating, which as I understand it, provides at least some of the neat characteristics of a synthetic lubricant - hard to beat price and availability at the local Walmart...

 

[GWDiesel]

Oil choice

Most all of my Owner operator Friends, Use Delo 400, most of them buy in 55 gal drum's. I use it in my 03 also, Buy at Costco

$ 32. 95 A case not that cheep, but it is the best I can do! GWD

 

[KBennett]

I am using Delo from Costco. No problems at 7K miles. Smell is better than Rotella, but I don't know how it compares to Mobil.

 

[SSnider]

I bought a new truck and some delvec1300 from Sams hope it's ok oil.



Steve

 

[Rosco]

Originally posted by SSnider

I bought a new truck and some delvec1300 from Sams hope it's ok oil.



Steve

Steve & coobie,



Welcome to the TDR, this is a great site to gather information regarding your truck. On the other hand, the site can make you crazy if you try to differentiate between all the different products that are discussed here.



FWIW, Delvac1300 is a top notch oil along with Delo and RotellaT. Everyone has there favorite flavor, Just pick yours and stick with it. I like Blueberry so I chose Delo, Dean Upson likes vanilla so he use's RotellaT, and if you like black raspberry use the Delvac and don't worry.

 

[tmpenner]

I don't think you can go wrong with either choice. I personally run Delvac 1300, mostly because that is what we run on our farm and buy by the 55 gal barrel. We have five JD diesel tractors running the 1300 and three Versatile/cummins running delvac 1200. It is a slightly different additive package that we were advised to run in a new cummins engine conversion that we did on one of the tractors. At that time 1300 didn't meet all cummins requirements for that engine (8. 3l) but has now been reformulated to meet them from what I understand.

 

[CATCRACKER]

Delo fairs better in many test. i would use Delo that is if i did not use royal purple

 

[TheWolf]

Either one!

I do not pretend to know much about oils and how to tell all the little differences between them, but if you just look at you tdr mags at the amsoil adds(delvac is not listed in all of them) esp issue 39( It is just the fist one I grabbed) they list a 4 ball wear test. I guess that is is some kind of standard to test things,(correct me if I am wrong) but they use this test as their advertising.



Oil Wear scar diameter( smaller the better)

------- --------------------------------------------------

amsoil hdd 5w-30 0. 396

mobil delvac 1300 15w-40 0. 619

chevron delo 400 15w-40 0. 620

valvoline premium blue 15w-40 0. 625

shell rotella T 15w-40 0. 636

mobil delvac 1 synthetic 5w-40,15w-40 0. 646





So if someone could explain what the test actually means then you can make your own decision. but from this test they are pretty much identical, are they not? And around here you can get a gallon of delvac 1300 for about $0. 40-$0. 50 cents cheaper than delo at wal mart.



AS far as how well they flow in cold weather or what ever other test I do not know, but I think it shows you that what ever oil you use it is about the same as the next one. None of them are bad.





CARRY ON!(or flame away)

 

[CATCRACKER]

i have read that this wear scar test is not that good of a test. just what i read. but it seems delo resists tarnishing and coking better than 1300 or T.

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

FIRST and foremost, I have NO axes to grind against ANY of the synthetics - I personally feel they are markedly superior to plain dino lubricants... I feel they are especially of value to industrial and commercial applications where long term operation and reliability are far more crucial than cost.



BUT, I also feel that in normal use by the average owner, the extra cost does NOT warrant that extra cost - nor would I personally consider going to the extreme of extended drain intervals in an effort to recoup that cost - excellent dino oils changed at normal intervals will deliver engine life FAR beyond what the VAST majority of owners will ever see in their trucks - some have registered well over 500,000 and even a MILLION miles on plain oils - so why spend the $$$ on the expensive stuff?



Warm and fuzzy feeling, secure that you have done the "absoulute BEST" for your truck? OK, if that's your bag, and you're willing to pay for it...



Here's a pointer to he Amsoil site where they provide comparative API test results for both competing synthetics and dino oils:



http://www.amsoil.com/performancetests/g1971/index.html



Not to inject a "dig" - but notice that Amsoil conspicuously avoided inclusion of Delo 400 or Rotella oils in that group - even tho' less popular dino oils WERE shown...



But then, those tests were not particularly aimed at diesel operation I suppose. The Amsoil ads included in the TDR magazine display a test graph showing wear tests that DO include Delo 400 and rotella - but be aware that the tests were done in 1996 over 7 years ago - and significant lubricant improvements and changes have been instituted by many refiners since that date...

 

[RankRam]

Great post Gary, I couldn't agree more. Oo.



I use synthetic everywhere except the mighty Cummins.

If I was in the extreme cold I would use synthetics, But not down here where it's relatively warm.

 

[Jeff Clark]

I use Delvac 1300 because I happen to be a fan of Mobil products. I use Mobile synthetic in my axles, transmission, and t-case (havn't made the switch yet) and I buy most of my fuel from Mobil. I've never gotten a bad tank of fuel from them and I've never had a problem using their oil. But that's just me. either oil works good.



FWIW, I used Delo before I switched over to Delvac. Price was almost the same.

 

[Bill Stockard]

I retired from heavy duty truck sales. I had several fleet customers who bought trucks from me and traded them in when they accumulated 1 million miles on them. The trucks had two drivers and were run 20 hours a day, 5 days a week. The engine oil they used was on an annual low bid contract unbranded dino oil in bulk that met the required API specification. They changed the engine oil on a Cummins specified schedule using Fleetguard filters. The first few of these trucks I got in trade, we tore down the engines expecting they needed overhaul before being re-sold. Not the case. Those engines could have been run at least another 500,00 miles before needing an overhaul!



Moral to the story: Regular PM with oil and filter changes are one of the most important things to long engine life.



Bill

 

[Pugster]

We have been using Mobil Delvac series oils in oil shop for over 35+ years. Delvac 1300 Super since it came out. We also use Fleetguard filters exclusily. We have never had an engine oil related failure. Oil changes are done by engine hours, not mileage as we are a local start-stop low mileage operation. Depending upon the weather we often run the trucks 2 and 3 shifts per day, only shutting them down to refuel them. Oil analysis is done at every oil change.

 

[crabjoe]

Take a looky here. Here's some info on the different oils.



http://www.intellidog.com/dieselmann/b_smoke11.htm

 

[Cooker]

That is very informative unfortunately it is a little dated. The new CI-4 oils may possess different properties as some of the oils mentioned had to be reformulated to meet the new specs.



IMO the Kinematic Viscosity values would also be useful information for the chart.