Diesel crankcase oil ??

Tom RS

Member
Attended a show this past weekend and had a discussion about using diesel oil for all old engines.
One gent said he uses diesel straight 30 wt in ALL his engines from old briggs to full size tractors. Said the lead in the oil helps keep the old engines in good shape.
Seems to make sense but this was the first time I heard this.
Any opinions on this?
 
I use Case 15-40wt HD dsl engine oil in all of my equipment,, from garden tractors to my 300hp 4x4 myself I hate shell rotella as its a truck engine oil and not a HD dsl engine oil, seen crank failures by running it but others get by using it,,
cnt
 
I guess I will buck the trend. I still use the straight 30 CASEIH Diesel oil in all my tractors and lawnmowers. I will use the 15-40 in my snowblower tractor during the winter months only. Rod.
 
We are on the same page Rod. My work tractors get 30W. I do use 15/40 in my 1850 Oliver loader tractor which runs all winter feeding cows and my MF combine. Dodge Cummins gets Mobil Delvac. Why people use that medium duty Rotella in farm tractors that get pulled hard is beyond me. It is not a severe duty oil.
 
Nothing but Rotella 15/40 in my semis for almost 30 years driving. Last truck was a N-14 Cummins with 300000 miles when I bought it. Not using oil but I figured it was time, I had a inframe overhaul at 1.4 million miles. None of the trucks I owned used oil. The last one was the only one I overhauled as I usually traded at 1 million miles. All the engines climbed the mountains to the west coast and back many times pulling 80000 pounds. Climbing those mountains or the ones in NC or TN and GA on a 90* day was a workout. I have ran 15/40 in all my Case engines since it came out in the late 70s....no problems. 3 years ago I switched to Rotella 15/40 in all engines as Co-op 15/40 got too high priced. 15/40 has been good oil for me and I will continue to use it. And true to Case I have never had a Case engine fail for any reason.
 
Tom: Research has found that most engine wear occurs on engine start-up, while waiting for the pump to circulate the oil. Hence, the reason for multi-grade, such as 15W40. 15W40 has the lubricity of a 15W when cold, to get circulated faster than a straight SAE 30. However, when warm, it has the lubricity of a SAE 40. My favorite is Conoco Severe Duty 15W40. I use it in everything except the car & pick-up which require 5W20. What does that say?
 
That's what my friend uses is Conoco diesel oil in his fords pick ups, he is a sheet rock taper, and got to drive to the job site every day, the engines are good but the body is ready to fall off, after 300-350 thousand miles
 
agreed,,, first let me say USE WHAT YOU WANT To it's Your unit I am just telling what I have seen in the last 40 plus years repairing and running all kinds of equipment,, I have not seen a crank "fail" either Steve but I have seen at least four cranks in tractors running rotella have Blued crank journals That is why I do not run it this is my opinion and facts I have seen I really do not care what others use as its their call,, a truck engine oil and a HD or severe duty oil has different crank bearing load specifications, semi's do not have the crank load a tractor under load 100% of the time have, many do not know this and many here use a tractor far different than others do,, there are many oils as good as what I use available,, I use what I have seen work very well for me year around,, I also run about 25 machines here on my farm, I am also a guy who buys Snap On tools,,, many think that is a waste,, as they think its a waste to run the oil I do,,, that's all fine I do what I want as its my money paying for it,, Use what you want easy fix
cnt
 
Yeah but, I never run any tractors at 100% load anyway, never have. Always drop maybe 50 rpm from no load specs and that's where they run. Truck engines climbing a grade for 6-8 miles in 4th or 5th in a 13 speed have a lot of heat. Not uncommon to see oil temps at 240* on the engine and higher on the tranny and rear-ends. Guess we'll all use what we like and continue to have good luck.
 
Been there too, when u come out of California, towards Las Vegas, on that long hill, not uncommon for the oil temp too get hotter than the water temp,or the hills west of Denver on I-70, and if you got the pump open up, you better shift it down to control the exhaust temp.
 
Case engines not CDC units Have bearing journal size problem. The 30 weight is recommended to address this. I work the snot out of my rigs sometimes, hence I would not take the chance of spinning a bearing because the oil was unable to provide adequate film control. The CDC and Cummins addressed this with large bearing journals. As I recall the Detroits even called for 40 weight until they had addressed this. I can't speak for CAT but seems the early 3406s' in trucks ran 30WT. LMMV Tom
 
I use New Holland 15 w 40 in Everything except the 2016 car and I go back to the dealership and have them service it. Always have had good luck with the 15/40 in the older engines they seem to use / burn less oil with it..........Kenny
 

It's all about the EPA...ZDDP...catalytic converters...old engine lube requirements opposed to modern engine lube requirments.

Basically the EPA considers the zinc/phosphorous oil additives a pollutant that damages catalytic converters and has mandated it's phase out.

The ZDDP is/was used in motor oil to provide wear resistance to sliding parts(cams/flat lifters/etc)....modern engine oils contain much less ZDDP(or none).

Lots of info available online about this topic...but boils down to understanding motor oil API labels and what your engine needs. Oil ain't oil these days.
 

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