Winter Oil Choice

[ox1]

Been running 15/40 all along w/o ever being an issue. Whenever it was real cold I would just plug it in ... no biggy.



I got cought this winter on a sledding trip when it was -30* and we left earlier than planned (no time to plug in) after we burnt down a piston. (sled) It fired up after a while of cranking - but the url press didn't come up. I shut it off! Now what I thought????



So I started it back up and waited a bit more and finally the press came up. I was NOT impressed! Never been an issue even at 0*F but -30*F was another story. This was the first that we have gotten cought in the cold in several yrs. It used to be the norm it seemed - but the last few yrs (quite a few actually) seemed to be quite mild whenever we were gone. This yr seemed like winter again! LOL!



I generally park in the bush where no-one is around for a jump or plug in and I have been concerned aboot this all along. I WILL be running something more winter freindly starting this fall!



I also change batts at 4 yrs. I don't try to milk the last goody out of them when I need it to start in the cold.

 

[TCluff]

i run full synthetic 5-40 cummins blue, around 25 bucks a gallon, drive like an idiot and the oil sample says change at 5000 miles, so i change it in the 3000 range

 

[JJW_ND]

Lots of options

Dave, you said allot in that post about how you use your pickup, were it sits at night and how often you change your oil.



If you feel it is necessary to change your oil more then ever 10K miles, I would not waste money on anything besides Rotella or Delo and I would switch to Delo as it is a little better in cold weather.



I run Mobil Delvac 1. I ran about 60K on straight dino oil at first, 48K on 15W40 Amsoil, 96K on Amsoil 5W30, and the remaining 50K or so on Delvac 5W40.



If your truck had to set outside at night and occasionally you could not plug in, I would highly recommend any of the 5W full synthetic oils. Dino 15W40 while it works in cold climates, if not plugged in, you really need allot of battery to crank enough to get started below -20 and then oil pressure takes for ever (... engine wear).



Relating this to oil changes, I went to 24K oil changes when I start on Amsoil back at 60K. I was driving allot more then and changing oil ever 3 -4 weeks was becoming a pain (6K drains on Dino oil which was the longest approved drain in 96). I change the oil filter (Stratapore) every 6K, grab a sample, and dump at 24K. I have not found intown use, towing to have much effect on oil degradation and I did some extreme towing in the first 200K. The only thing that does show up on analysis is extreme winter cold (daily temps below zero for weeks on end) and all intown miles. This caused the wear metals to increase but still not enough to cause the 24K drain to be shorten.



In your case Dave! I would either run Delo and dump ever 7K (changing less then 7K or once per year is like changing your antifreeze ever 10K ... . overkill/wasteful) or I would run one of the cheaper 5W40 "synthetics" like Cummins Extreme 5W40 or Rotella 5W40 and change at 10 - 15K with a filter change halfway through. Delvac 1 or Amsoil 5W30 are very costly and deserve to run past 20K to justify there high cost and any additional benefit you get from them. Now that I drive less it takes me almost two years between dumps.



A & I oil Distributors just off Airport road is a place (only place I can find) to get Cummins extreme or Delvac 1. I am waiting for Delvac 1 (truck and SUV) to show up in Walmart... maybe after the super walmarts are open.



I get Fleetguard filters from Hagemeyer (410 S 22 st) just west of the Melroe Bobcats plant. They keep most of the filters for our dodges on hand and provide a good price.



I will have to watch for your truck ... .



jjw

ND

 

[DaveHess]

JJW! I was beginning to think I was the only NoDakker in TDR. Thank you for that reply! I have been buying my oil and Fleetguard filters from Trucks of Bismarck. Partly because if I do they give me the nice Freightliner calenders each year and I need the supplies anyhow. Although, they have no clue about our Dodges. I have to go in there with the family number off the engine data plate. I inquired them about "running the overhead" on my B59. They got that alright until I told them it was in a Dodge. I suppose that would be an interesting thread as to who all has run the overhead and when they did it. Hmmmmm... . BTW, you can see the truck at BPD. The only dark gray Ram in the parking lot!