sae 15-40 only in Cummins?

[CScranton]

Does Cummins allow any other weight engine oil besides 15-40?

 

[Bob4x4]

5-40 synthetic for cold climates

 

[JR]

5w40 is suitable for all climates. I do annual oil changes, my climate ranges on average anywhere from -20*F (although the last 3 winters have seen -30*F) in the winter to 90*F + in the summer. This year has been exceptionally warm with 20 days so far reaching 90 or higher. Mix of hauling a 22ft 14k GVW flat deck, 12k lb gvw dump trailer, and 9k lb 5th wheel as well as my commute to work which is about 30 miles round trip. I drive the wife's car to work when possible but realistically the truck gets driven at least 2 to 3 days a week to work. Tow miles to commute miles are probably very close as alot of my tow miles are longer hauls. A couple of trips every summer to West Virginia hauling the 4x4's which is 600 miles round trip. My last oil analysis was right at 18k miles and all wear metals and viscosity were very acceptable.

I can post a link of my UOA if your interested.

 

[CScranton]

Thanks JR. I live in the mountains of SoCal where it can get 0 or below in the winter and 90 plus in the summer. I have read that the thinner oils could increase fuel mileage but I dont want to chance adequate protection at higher temps. I use the truck mostly for heavy hauling and towing in warmer weather. I would be interested in your l UOA thanks

 

[CScranton]

Thanks JR. I live in the mountains of SoCal where it can get 0 or below in the winter and 90 plus in the summer. I have read that the thinner oils could increase fuel mileage but I dont want to chance adequate protection at higher temps. I use the truck mostly for heavy hauling and towing in warmer weather. What brand and type of oil are you using? I would be interested in your l UOA thanks,

 

[Shadrach]

My 08 has had nothing but Valvoline Premium Blue 5/40 synthetic since new. David

 

[BLNRAY]

418,000mi lots of heavy towing mobil 1 5w-40 since new 10,000 mi oil changes,if i knew how to post pictures i could show how clean the valve train is,just replaced injectors.have never added oil between changes.i use synthetic in everything i own.

 

[KATOOM]

Lots of trucks out on the road are using plain old conventional 15-40 with hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of miles on them.

I believe that synthetic is good and has its place in certain applications.....but not everywhere. That said, unbeknownst to many, synthetic is NOT man made in the manner of what marketing schemes have you think. The synthetic oils available to us everyday consumers is not a magical compound of ingredients which are secretly fabricated in some white coat laboratory. But in reality synthetic is the same exact stuff as its conventional counterpart. Both are petroleum based.

The real difference between the two is that synthetic is merely the most uniform molecular stock pulled during the crude oil refining process. Then by adding some proprietary additives to formulate what we know as "synthetic" oil. This is why synthetic and conventional are completely compatible.

The true advantages of synthetic are, because of the more uniform properties, synthetic is more likely to withstand higher temperatures in the extreme heat conditions before breakdown, and also offers a lower pour point in the extreme cold conditions. But during normal running conditions synthetic and conventional perform exactly the same, and all petroleum based oils begin to oxidize at temperatures above 180*.

 

[JR]

I tried converting my UOA to PDF but am having a hard time, here is a link to the web page from Schaefer's site. The page requires a password so if it lets you view it it will likely be time sensitive. If you can't I will dig deeper into the PDF and try to post it that way again.

http://schaeffer.rmrdevelopment.com/reports-printreport.asp?batchno=25776&sampno=626399

Schaeffers 5w40 changed annually whatever mileage that may be. Generally between 15,000 and 18-19,000 at the upper end. I do have a bypass filter as well although I've ran 15,000 mile intervals without one in the past with good UOA's.

My family buys Schaeffers in bulk for the farm so I just throw my order in with theirs. They buy by the drum so their rep sells me gallon jugs at a very reasonable cost. [PDF]http://schaeffer.rmrdevelopment.com/reports-printreport.asp?batchno=25776&sampno=626399[/PDF]

 

[Mikey-KE7LBB]

Thanks JR. I live in the mountains of SoCal where it can get 0 or below in the winter and 90 plus in the summer. I have read that the thinner oils could increase fuel mileage but I dont want to chance adequate protection at higher temps. I use the truck mostly for heavy hauling and towing in warmer weather. What brand and type of oil are you using? I would be interested in your l UOA thanks,

They are both the same thickness at operating temp FYI... Lots of good reading on this site! - Bob is the Oil Guy

 

[KATOOM]

I tried converting my UOA to PDF but am having a hard time, here is a link to the web page from Schaefer's site. The page requires a password so if it lets you view it it will likely be time sensitive. If you can't I will dig deeper into the PDF and try to post it that way again.

Schaeffers 5w40 changed annually whatever mileage that may be. Generally between 15,000 and 18-19,000 at the upper end. I do have a bypass filter as well although I've ran 15,000 mile intervals without one in the past with good UOA's.

My family buys Schaeffers in bulk for the farm so I just throw my order in with theirs. They buy by the drum so their rep sells me gallon jugs at a very reasonable cost.

Schaefers is a good quality lubricant. Unfortunately though its not cost affected to get it out here on the west coast unless you're buying some serious bulk.

 

[JR]

IMO, it's not really cost effective anywhere unless you have a local rep, but even then they are not exactly geared towards the individual consumer. Much of their business is geared towards fleet equipment. Their extended service program is pretty neat, the reps work closely with each individual customer to set up an extended oil drain program and help facilitate and monitor the program. Their people are real hands on type guys which I really like. Unlike your typical salesman that tries to push their product on you these guys really know their stuff.

 

[Copperhead]

What is fascinating, is that Cummins is recommending 10w30 in all their heavy diesels. I know of several folks with well over 500,000 miles and using 10w30 exclusively. Moving up to 80,000 lb of truck and cargo across the U.S. and Canada, year round on 10w30 without a issue. I am surprised that Cummins hasn't pushed 10w30 on the 6.7 lineup.

 

[Killer223]

they have, i've seen a publication from Cummins stating what oils are ok'ed and it's listed several times.

http://lubritecinc.com/PDF/20081.pdf

[url]https://qsol2.cummins.com/info/qsol/products/oil_registration/oil_registration_20081.html
[/URL]

 

[Copperhead]

Unfortunately, those do not reference CES 20086

 

[Killer223]

http://www.lubritecinc.com/PDF/Cummins CES 20086.pdf

http://www.cumminsforum.com/forum/4th-gen-powertrain/2285434-recommended-approved-ck-4-cj-4-a.html

 

[Copperhead]

Problem is, that is just a lube approval spec. It does not show if it is applicable to the ISB 6.7. I know that Cummins is recommending 10w30 in their larger applications like the 15L ISX, but I have yet to see any documentation that they are recommending 10w30 for the ISB 6.7. I am not sure they wouldn't, but have not seen documentation to show it.

 

[Killer223]

Then I suggest you use google,
Here’s a simple search term for you.
Cummins 20086 in 6.7.
And maybe you should learn what lube spec means, if the oil spec is 20086, and cummins requires 20086-20081. You are safe. Reguardless if the 6.7 is mentioned or not.

Just go to the dealership they’ll fix you right up.

 

[Copperhead]

Instead of being condescending, maybe pointing to some documentation would help. I already did the search thing, even dug thru Cummins engine website and ended up sending a tech question to them.

Now that being said, just because a oil meets a certain spec, does not mean it is recommended in a particular engine from an OEM. Example, GM uses dexos1 for their particular oil standard. Ow20 is one of the oils that meet the dexos1 spec. But they do not recommend that grade in some of their current production engines, like the 6.0 Vortec for instance. They still recommend 5w30 dexos1 for that engine.

CES 20086 is simply CK-4 which has been out since late last year. Just like CES 20081 is the CJ-4 spec. There is a wide range of grades that meet the CK-4 spec on the market, but not all those grades work well in every engine being made. And given that CK-4 is now the predominate oil spec on most shelves, it would be nice to know what grades of CK-4 / CES 20086 that Cummins suggests should be used in an engine they make. Does the current CK-4 / CES 20086 spec of 3.5 minimum HTHS viscosity of 30w CK-4/CES 20086 meet the needs of the ISB 6.7 or does it need the minimum HTHS viscosity of 4.1 of a 40w oil to protect it? In my almost 50 years of vehicle buying and operating, I have found very few techs in shops even know what HTHS means regarding an engine oil let alone know it's effect on a particular engine is.

And I have been around long enough to realize that dealerships know about as much regarding vehicles and engines as the next guy. Especially when it comes to an outsourced / third party engines, which is a common thing in heavy commercial truck arenas, which is the part of the vehicle market I do most of my purchasing and operating. The best information is from the engine maker itself. They are the ones who did the R&D and know what their engine is designed to use under certain conditions. Heck, the truck builders can hardly get the correct tire pressures right when it comes to their truck offerings. Even with that, I will get load / pressure charts from the tire maker itself for the type of tire being used and go with their recommendation. I have experienced much better tire life, vehicle handling, etc when doing that compared to following the truck OEM tire pressure recommendation stuck in a door jam. The tire maker did the R&D, not the vehicle maker.

 

[JR]

The owner's manual in my 14 calls out 5w40 belw 0*F and 15w40 in ambient temps above. Personally, that's all I'm interested in, but your results may vary.
Since my previous post above I've acquired a different truck and switched back to 15w40. This one sits in the garage not to mention if I am driving in those cold of temps it will be plugged in anyway. Plus I get it at quite a bit better price through my rep