which oil is best? LOL

[6V92TA]

Him: “So, I’m using Rotella in this engine… is that the best choice?”
Me: “It certainly seems to be doing a good job. You’d probably get good results with whatever oil you used,
but this is working fine.”
Him: “Would I be better off if I switched to Mobil 1?”
Me: “Well, you could, but I wouldn’t expect much change in engine wear. We find that the type of oil typically
doesn’t matter when it comes to wear metals.”
Him: “What about Amsoil? I’ve heard that’s the best oil out there.”
Me: “That’s a good brand as well. We just don’t tend to see much difference in wear metals between different
oil types, so whichever one you want to use is fine.”
Him: “Okay, but what about that new Pennzoil Ultra stuff? I’ve heard that’s a much better product. Is that
better than Amsoil, or not?”
Me: [sigh…]

see the rest, courtesy of Blackstone Labs https://www.blackstone-labs.com/Newsletters/Gas-Diesel/July-1-2017.php

 

[Michaelsloft]

Thank you for posting this article.

 

[dougsram]

Very interesting thoughts and numbers in the Blackstone report. Especially the observation that longer drain intervals--with synthetics in their examples--produce lower wear metals readings per distance. This is because the wear metals in the residual oil after a change create higher readings in shorter drain intervals and lessen over time. 11.25 quarts puts my dipstick a hair over full. Non-scienctifally speaking, the .75 qt remaining oil provides a higher metal reading right off the bat. I am liking my recent $4 Mobil Delvac oil a whole lot more after reading this.

 

[jetmechabq]

In my professional life we quit using Blackstone due to testing irregularities. I have no confidence in their numbers. it could have been the test they were running for us but it was I a purity/cleanliness test of aviation oil.

 

[6V92TA]

In my professional life we quit using Blackstone due to testing irregularities. I have no confidence in their numbers. it could have been the test they were running for us but it was I a purity/cleanliness test of aviation oil.

I have no idea whether Blackstone testing is worth a crap or not but I liked the comment fro the tester regarding Amsoil as there seem to be some who treat that brad like it was as a religious icon..
from what I've seen motor oil that meets the specs does a good job, no matter the price.. which is the gist of the article .

 

[mwilson]

This was a posting this morning on my Cat Engine Masters group....this kind of mileage on plain ole' Mobil Delvac.....

Doing a bearing roll in at 1,060,000 of heavy haul on my MXS C15 Acert. Mains were barely worn. Here are the main bottoms. I will post rod tops when I get them out. Numbered top to bottom 1-7. 6 and 7 were the only ones where copper was even visible. Did it for peace of mind more than any real concerns. Mobil Delvac every 15,000 miles since new, Cat filters.

 

[mwilson]

For those that don't know what an "MXS" "C15" Cat is...

425hp to 475hp depending on how it is set up, twin turbo ACERT. Now extinct thanks to emissions.....

 

[mwilson]

So my point is this...

If that heavily loaded CAT made a million miles before it's first bearing roll running Delvac 15/40 and CAT filters.....my "B" series should fare pretty well running Rotella T 15/40 and a Fleetguard filter without buying any special and / or synthetic oils.

I've seen many Class 8 units go over a million before major work running on plain old Dino oil.

 

[jgillott]

So my point is this...

If that heavily loaded CAT made a million miles before it's first bearing roll running Delvac 15/40 and CAT filters.....my "B" series should fare pretty well running Rotella T 15/40 and a Fleetguard filter without buying any special and / or synthetic oils.

I've seen many Class 8 units go over a million before major work running on plain old Dino oil.

I agree 100% Mike. When is the last time that we have seen a B series die a premature death due to oiling issues in general or that were unrelated to another problem, ie. dusting, etc?

I know for certain that my trucks will be in the scrap yard due to rust long before they are worn out.

 

[Killgore]

Oh, my! I love discussions on oil; brand, synthetic versus dino, etc. Granted it's old news, but for those who have never read John Martin's Part 1 and Part 2 in which he and Robert Patton do a pretty thorough discussion on oil, take the time to go to the Digital Magazines, Issues #55 and #57. It's a very informative series that involves a close perusal of twenty of the more popular brands. Yes, the articles are a little dated considering all the latest changes in classifications but for those that are driving a relic like the one in my signature I feel very comfortable with my current choice of lubricant. And, I use Blackstone on every oil change and always receive glowing reports on an engine pushing 274,000 miles.

- Ed

 

[GAmes]

I just did the math from my last oil sample. Iron was 2.99 ppm/1000 miles using Valvoline synthetic blend. The oil had 28,777 miles on it using Fleetguard lf9028 filters. I did change the filter at about 12,000 and had planned on changing both filter and oil at 25,000 but I was out of state. Using a AFE Proguard 7 air filter my silicon was 9 ppm. All the other numbers were in the normal range. My oil of choice is whatever is on sale. NAPA had a killer deal on the Valvoline blend a couple years ago, I bought 10 cases. Original engine had 800,000 miles on it when it was pulled, this one has 362,000 and is burning 1/2 qt every 3000 miles which is good. A key to extended drains is replacing the base.

 

[NIsaacs]

Have you been doing extended drains from day one on both engines? If not, when?

Nick

 

[GAmes]

The first engine was old school thinking, I wish I had that wasted money back. I used Fleetguard Stratapore filters very early in my ownership after a parts counter man at a Cummins shop advised me how much better they are than the standard filter. I changed oil and filter every 5000-6000 miles. I knew about oil analysis from my time maintaining helicopters, but in those days three gallons of oil and a filter cost less than an oil sample. I wish I had known I was going to put over a million miles on the truck. I would have installed a bypass filter system on it when I started transporting trailers. I started out slowly on the extended drains when this engine had about 70,000 miles on it. I started at 10,000 and gradually kept increasing it still using the Stratapore. Then I found a deal on the lf9028 filters, bought a bunch and increased the drain interval again. I could have kept the 28,777 in the crankcase and just replaced the filter again, all the numbers were fine. However, soot was at .1 %, the highest of any sample I had taken,and checking the dipstick was unnerving. .1% soot oil is really black.

 

[NIsaacs]

Interesting, thanks. I don't think you wasted your money on an 800k engine. Are you confident enough in the extended drain interval to do the same in an airborne vehicle

Nick

 

[GAmes]

Components on Army aircraft have a service life/time change interval. They also get oil analysis on a regular basis. Oil was changed at 100 hour intervals as a matter of course. When I was on active duty it was sampled every 25 flight hours for the gear boxes and engines. If something was failing it would show up in the test. Once the component reached it's time change use it was replaced, regardless of the sample data. If my truck engine or transmission fail I just coast to the side of the road. When a helicopter engine fails it can be landed safely, but you only get one attempt. Our training involved rolling the throttle off and putting the aircraft on the ground (autorotation). In 19 years I only had two engine failures. Gearbox failures were practiced in the flight simulator. The odds of a successful, damage free landing is pretty slim of the rotors aren't turning.

 

[Wayne M.]

All the oil talk is good, but we need a new rundown of these newest oil specs, and why Ford is backing out from that one particular spec. What is it FA4 or something?

 

[JR]

Most manufacturers are not signing off on the new fa4 spec due to the low HTHS properties. Essentially, they made an oil spec to give manufacturers a target to build future engines to. Most current engines would not fair well with "looser" bearing tolerances.

Ford initially shunned the replacement for CJ4, siting oils that carried the dual API rating CK4/SN has too low phos. This has proved to be a false statement as Ford now has a website of approved CK4 oils that meet Ford's WSS-M2C171-F1. Speculation on my part, but I believe Ford simply did not have the R&D that the real diesel manufacturers had in testing of the new oil and they were shooting from the hip based on chemistry numbers alone. Chevron among other manufacturers has concluded after extensive testing that ashless antiwear compunds provide better protection than zddp/phosphorus.
The chart below illustrates .12% phos which is the target compound the API limited in zddp. This goes back to API SH (1996), and what many people consider "the good oils".
.08% phos limit introduced with API SM (2004), and
.08% phos with ashless antiwear components (zddp replacement).
The Doom and gloom regarding low zddp has been proven wrong.

 

[ZBrooks]

I came to the conclusion awhile ago that if the oil meets Cummins CES20086 spec, I'm willing to run it. I found Purus 15w-40 at a local distributor for $7.99/gal in a 55 gal drum and so far, so good.

 

[Cummins12V98]

I can't complain about my full 15k oil changes and having Blackstone do the testing. 1/2 of my miles are towing 33-35k.