Motor Oil

I am currently using Rotella T in all my diesels, and differnt brands of 30 wt. in my gas tractors. I would like to by my oil bulk and I am curious what brands of oil I can use that would be good in both my gas and diesel applications?

Look for an API sticker on the oil jug that lists both a S(gasoline) and C(diesel) rating.

Just use the Rotella T in everything.

Any oil that meats diesel engine spec. will work just fine in a gas engine. Diesels need better oil then gas engines do so you can use diesel oils in gas but should not do so the other way around
Hobby farm

I just use 15-40 Rotella in everything.Except here lately the auto parts store has had a sale on 15-40 so I used that once.From tearing diesels down,after people changed from series 3 or 30wt diesel oil to 15-40 Rotella bearings dont show the wear as fast as they did.Bearings taken out of a motor that had regular oil changes at 300,000 miles with 15-40 looked better than bearings taken out of a motor at 150,000 miles that had 30wt.That lower weight in cold weather and thicker in hot weather makes a difference.

Stick with the Rotella.Diesel makes ash deposits and you need a low ash oil to get rid of the ash.
All oils suspend water to an extent.


(fuelsandlubestechnologies.org)

Animal, Sorry I just Do Not Share everyone's
enthusiscam about Rotella 15-40 oil used it many yrs ago in a 430 hp Silver Series Detroit Diesel. in a Kenworth. results were waaay less that even average. (Gave our fuel jobber the specks and they were right). We flat could not keep the stuff in the engine. We swapped over to Dello 400 15-40 oil consumption stopped. Period! I can't explain the why or how of it.
But since I have personally used it in all my rigs to outstanding success put over 300 K on a 97 F150 w/ a 4.6 V8 currently has 333500k, an old 86 Suburban, put over 150K on it with Dello after we got it @ 87K then later sold it. Currently have a 01 F350 w/ a 7.3 PS Diesel with 145k on it, also My 73, 966 has been on it for ever too.
I simply say this to make the point that Rotella is not the only Diesel oil out there. You local Jobber should be able to get what flavor you want and he reps in 55 gal barrels
We also bought bulk oil from Texas Refinery Corp from Ft. Worth Texas. For our irrigation engines (low ash) in large quanities of 2400 gallons for we had 3 big over head tanks that we plumed into a room where we could get just what we needed. for our oil changes. This was delivered by semi and pumped of, into our bulk tanks. Hope this helps.
Later,
John A.

I worked for a local fertilizer dealer for 7 years and we put Rotella in everything. Never seen any engine problems.

Where I work now we use synthetic oils. I've seen more problems here now in the short time I've been there to convince me what I would use.

I was taught in school that oil does not break down it becomes contaminated. This is why the EPA gets on you for an oil spill.

And we change our oil in our equipment or pickup trucks at work every 8,000 miles. I think that's a litte extreme especially if it doesn't get checked between changes.

I've seen engines sieze up for lack of oil to the bearings when the oil level read full on the dip stick.
What happens when the oil becomes contaminated it starts to clog the return ports in the head so no oil can get back to the pan. Thus all the oil is in the valve covers once it's been run for a while and then starves the oil pump.

We use 15w-40 Deisel oil in everything on the farm. Buy it in drums from our Massey dealer.

Donovan from Wisconsin

There's nothing wrong with using any diesel oil, Rotella, Delvac, Delo, or whatever, it will all be ok but the question is why spend the extra money for the higher priced oil. A diesel oil is made with more detergents and a few other indredients that a diesel needs because they run dirtier than a gasoline engine. Just my .02 worth.

Jim

We've been using 15W40 in the summer and 0W30 in the winter in both gasoline and diesel engines for 15 yrs. with NO problems................Rotella is fine but there are other brands available of similar quality for less. The brand you use is up to you, as long as you adhere to consistent oil change intervals you cant go wrong...........

"I was taught in school that oil does not break down it becomes contaminated"

No offence John,

Oil CAN and DOES break down. That can be confirmed quite easily by sending an oil sample away to a lab to be analyzed. The viscosity(Kinematic) is measured to determine if increases or decreases from the original(new oil) viscosity exist. Decreases indicate a thinning of the oil which can be a result of "shearing". Periods of extended high load, high speed engine operation can cause "shearing" and CAN render an oil "wore out" therefore no amount of filtering can return that oil back to it's former viscosity..................

Diesel oils are designed for better soot and acid control which break oil down. Diesel oils will work for gas engines if the weight is what you want. Synthetic oils are usually better for acid control and will last longer than conventional oil.
oil

What he uses is his business. There are 2oils I don't ues they are the Texaco Ursa and Shell Rotella. The Ursa would go to using oil in my 6.9 at 2000 miles like clock work. The Rotella seamed thin in the winter poured like water. Both were 15-40. I have been using Citgo 500 in a 15-40. I know that Co. is owned by Chavez in Venezuela I just hate to change on an engine with 800,000 miles on till there is a reason. The tractors also are on this. I have thought about switching to Kendall oils. Just not sure what to do about that don't like supporting a dictator either.

If it isn't a low ash CF-2 oil. A two stroke detroit diesel will get fussy.

Gas engines need low ash oil, keeps the deposits down. "Good" diesel oils have a high ash content, except for the newest diesel oils designed for the "super low sulfer" diesel engines.

I have rebuilt several hundred engines in the
last 40 years. You could always tell the ones
using PENZOIL, as they were always full of a
grey sludge. Recently I saw a good deal on
quarts of Shell oil, at Farm-Fleet, but upon
reading the label, it said "packaged for Shell
by Penziol" Now maybe Shell just provided tankers
of bulk oil and Penzoil bottled it, but it
scared me off.