Diesel Engine Oils

For those that reference the manual for recommendations, a first year 7060 book warns against using multi-vis oils, but a last year 7060 book approves them.

What do you do then? ;)

I run Mobil Delvace 1300 super 15w40 in everything of mine with a diesel engine.

My road pickups that are around little dust and put enough miles on that extended intervals can save some $ get full synthetic 5w40. Ben running Valvoline but I just scored a deal on some Mobil delvac ESP 5w40, so its going in next.

A seasoned mechanic told me once that he sees more issues caused by improper cooling system servicing (electrolosis, etc. ) than he does engine oil caused faults.

We get all wound up about what oil to use, but dont seem too concerned about the 15 year old antifreeze in the radiator...

HoughMade wrote: It's not about knowing more.  It's about modern lubricants being much better than anything the engineers dreamed of 30 or more years ago.  That being said, stick with the recommended viscosity, more or less, but if a manual recommends 10 in the winter and 30 in the summer, that's essentially what you are giving it with a modern 10w30 which is a far superior oil than 10w30 was in 1960 whatever.

This.

I'll put up any of today's diesel rated 10W-30 diesel rated motor oils up against any SAE 30 motor oil of 25 years ago for that diesel engine. Hands down todays oil is superior. The old single viscosity oil was the only way they knew how to build an oil with sufficient film strength. The old advertisement where they said that 80 percent of engine wear occurs in the first 10 minutes of warmup was true. You need to get your oil circulating as fast as possible.

It's not about knowing more.  It's about modern lubricants being much better than anything the engineers dreamed of 30 or more years ago.  That being said, stick with the recommended viscosity, more or less, but if a manual recommends 10 in the winter and 30 in the summer, that's essentially what you are giving it with a modern 10w30 which is a far superior oil than 10w30 was in 1960 whatever.

Edited by HoughMade - 27 Aug 2019 at 9:10am

Higher oil pressure does not mean higher oil flow. The last thing I want at startup is high oil pressure. That means the thick oil isn't reaching the upper parts of the engine fast enough. Detergent or non-detergent shouldn't make any difference as far as oil consumption is concerned with a new engine. Non-detergent may give you higher oil pressure as the engine ages. This is because the ports may be starting to clog. Cheap oil may make a difference. The cheap stuff may be vaporizing much faster. Every engine is different, especially during the break-in period. Testimonials don't mean much to me unless I know every circumstance of the conditions when the oil pressure or consumption was noted.

Actually the manual says not to use a multi vis oil.

I use Rotella conventional 15W40 in my 2 tractors, all my small engines and used to run it in my '79 Yamaha motorcycle.

I have a 1982 AC 6140 w/ the 3 cylinder diesel engine. I intend to use a straight 30w oil. Should I use a non-detergent?

Acquired a 1978 gas engine that would run lower oil pressure with multi viscosity 10w-40 oil. Dealership advised to run straight 30w oil, which immediately raised oil pressure. It’s still running great today on 30w. Any new parts guy at Napa will usually stare at me oddly, when I ask for a case of 30w oil.

When I worked at the CaseIH dealership some customers wanted 10W in the winter and 30W in the summer. Some used 10W-30 in the winter and 15W-40 in the summer. Our shop told them to use which ever they are comfortable with. I never noticed anyone complaining that their engine burned more using multi viscosity oils but most had their preferences. We actually sold a lot of Farm Oyl brand oils and some swore by that brand over CaseIH brand. One guy had an 856 he bought new and put many thousands of hours on it and the engine was still original and it got Farm Oyl straight weights from new. Not sure if he's still alive as it seemed he was older than dirt 20 years ago but I drive by his place and see his son and grandsons still driving that old 856.

Tbone95 wrote: bigal121892 wrote: steve(ill) wrote: YEP...... (milti viscosity bad) that's an OPINION based on your experience I guess........... LOTS of people use 15w40 oil in IH tractors.... no problems after 30 years. Not an opinion, comes straight from the dealer. Had 1480 combine, was using two gallons a day, dealer told us absolutely no multi-viscosity oil, only use straight 30.  Not trying to argue with you, but that just seems and sounds very odd!  WTH does multi viscosity have to do with using oil, other than the top end of the engine is in terrible shape, and usage would be during start up and warm up????  Just sounds like a very odd statement...

I might get the evil eye from some people ,  but I got tired of stocking multiply oils for all the different engines I have.  Quite a few years ago I started putting 15-40  diesel oil in every thing.  Pick ups, car, tractor diesel engines. gas engines , motorcycle, lawn mower .

bigal121892 wrote: steve(ill) wrote: YEP...... (milti viscosity bad) that's an OPINION based on your experience I guess........... LOTS of people use 15w40 oil in IH tractors.... no problems after 30 years. Not an opinion, comes straight from the dealer. Had 1480 combine, was using two gallons a day, dealer told us absolutely no multi-viscosity oil, only use straight 30.

steve(ill) wrote: YEP...... (milti viscosity bad) that's an OPINION based on your experience I guess........... LOTS of people use 15w40 oil in IH tractors.... no problems after 30 years.

May have strayed from the original question in this thread but here's more.  And since none of us seem to be oil experts.  I think that there was a time prior to Tier 3 and Tier 4 diesels that ash was used increase both the TBN in order to neutralize the acids from high sulphur fuel and to add to the detergent properties.  One certainly didn't want to switch to a high ash oil on a high hour engine after the rings were carboned up from a non detergent oil and happily seated.  And with the advent of diesel particulate filters which plug with ash deposits and government mandated low sulphur fuels the ash levels were reduced.  I should think it would be safe to use a current API CK4 on an early engine.

TimCNY wrote: FWIW, so far I've only been using Rotella straight 30W in those 2 engines.

Tell me you're running straight weight 30 in Upstate New York in the winter. That's harder on an engine than running 10W in the summer.