Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) Oil Recommendations

[JR]

Donaldson has been making industrial filters for many years and is one of the best on the market. The Amsoil EA080 is a rebadged Donaldson ELF 7349. Fleetgaurd makes a great filter, but Donaldsons got slightly better efficiency ratings and is a fraction of the price of the Fleetgaurd.

 

[Bill Johnson]

Has anyone ever used Shaeffer's 15/40 oil in their truck?

 

[RonaldLarson]

Not sure what folks are running in the new trucks, but as a 2nd gen owner, most of "us" have always stuck with the Rotella 15w/40. I've been running it in mine for 13 years now. Also make sure to use genuine filters, not the typical fram filters at the auto store.

The Fleetgard is the Cummins product that Cummins wants used. The LF 3894 is only $13.95 at Genos. Forget any substitute. What do the majority of over the road truckers run? Synthetic, with analysis on a regular basis. No other oil can run as long and reduce friction and heat better.

 

[JR]

Yes, I used the 7000 15w40 for the last several years. Just switched to the 9000 5w40 before winter and added a home made bypass filtration system. I was chsnging my oil annually and averaged 20-25k per service interval and this is with about half the miles towing light to moderate so that should tell you that (A) Schaeffers is a robust oil package and (B) a healthy engine can go much longer than the specified intervals assuming you aren't operating in extreme temperatures and/or towing at max GVW all the time.
Schaeffers doesn't spend big money advertising like Amsoil does, they cater more towards the industrial/fleet/agricultural market. Many of the big farms in my area have been running Schaeffers for the last 20+ years as well as All Crane which leases large hydraulic telescoping boom and lattice boom cranes and manlifts all over the US and is who is we lease our cranes and manlifts from. They run Schaeffers exclusively in every single piece of equipment, as well as their service trucks and tractor trailers they use to deliver smaller equipment with and have been doing so since the mid 90's. Large companies like this work directly with a Schaeffers rep on an oil monitoring program and change their engine, hydraulic, transmission and gear oils based off analysis. It saves thousands of dollars a year because they are drastically cutting back on their service intervals by using a good quality synthetic oil.

 

[SAndreasen]

Yes, I used the 7000 15w40 for the last several years. Just switched to the 9000 5w40 before winter and added a home made bypass filtration system. I was chsnging my oil annually and averaged 20-25k per service interval and this is with about half the miles towing light to moderate so that should tell you that (A) Schaeffers is a robust oil package and (B) a healthy engine can go much longer than the specified intervals assuming you aren't operating in extreme temperatures and/or towing at max GVW all the time.
Schaeffers doesn't spend big money advertising like Amsoil does, they cater more towards the industrial/fleet/agricultural market. Many of the big farms in my area have been running Schaeffers for the last 20+ years as well as All Crane which leases large hydraulic telescoping boom and lattice boom cranes and manlifts all over the US and is who is we lease our cranes and manlifts from. They run Schaeffers exclusively in every single piece of equipment, as well as their service trucks and tractor trailers they use to deliver smaller equipment with and have been doing so since the mid 90's. Large companies like this work directly with a Schaeffers rep on an oil monitoring program and change their engine, hydraulic, transmission and gear oils based off analysis. It saves thousands of dollars a year because they are drastically cutting back on their service intervals by using a good quality synthetic oil.

Is Schaeffer a fully synthetic

 

[JR]

The 7000 15w40 is a synthetic blend.

From Schaeffer website

Synthetic Plus Oil Technology is A blend of 100% pure parraffin base oils PLUS the finest PAO synthetic base stocks with the best synthetic base stocks.

SUPREME 7000 exceeds the warranty requirements of all engine manufacturers, including Cummins, Cat, Detroit Diesel. PowerGuard 93K218K and Mack EO-O Premium Plus-07 specs as well as all car makers' specs.

The 9000 5w40 I switched to is a full synthetic.

 

[RonaldLarson]

Any good off the shelf oil will be just fine. Shell Rotella, Mobile Delvac, Delo, etc. Its hard to find a "bad" oil anymore as long as you stick with a brand name. I prefer to stick with 5w40 for the cold weather, we have been getting our share of subzero weather (Sunday night was -25F). But you have to go to synthetic to get the 5w40. If your planning on sticking with 7500 mile service intervals and don't see a lot of frigid weather, regular old 15w40 will work just fine.

Poor choice of words. There are many quality differences in Diesel rated oils. The most glaring is the "LE" notation on the oil container. That means low emissions, meaning very low sulphur content. Quality synthetics do not need sulphur for lubrication. Yes sulphur is a lubricant.

 

[JR]

Oh no, not another "the sky is falling because your using CJ4 oil in a pre emission engine" scare

 

[Bob V]

Like my first post, LOTS OF OPINIONS!