Oil Brands

Found a sale on Mobil Delvac 15-40 oil today. After rebate it was $21.99 for a 5 gal bucket. Thought that was to good a deal to pass up on so I stocked up on it. I've always ran Rotella 15-40 in my Dodge Cummings but I might switch over to the Mobil. What's the consensus on the Mobil versus Rotella?

A lot of large industries use Mobil products, I think they are one of the best. I use Mobil 5-30 in our Honda outboard and it runs continuously at 5000 rpm! I am looking for a 5-30 diesel rated oil for our JD 4600 as Deere oil is kinda spendy.

theyre both good oil...Dello is good too but you very rarely find it on sale.

Similar sale here in SD 19.00 for 4 one gallon jugs after rebate. I'm switching the Dodge and 966 also.

Gordo

I ran both in my Ford, couldnt tell any difference. Im running the Delvac in my Duramax now, and cant tell any difference between it and the Rotella that was in last oil change.(Like you, I caught the Delvac on sale)

why not a 5w-40 for the jd???

Just my opinion,but I never like to change brands of oil. Whatever I start one out on when its new,that is what will be in it when it dies. I don't care how much more it costs a quart. I use Rotella in nearly everthing I own. When I am ready to buy a used tractor, that's about the first question I ask,is what brand of oil did you use in it? If it's had Quaker State used in it I let it slide.

It doesn't matter it all comes from the same place.Brand loyality is nonsense,but some people believe that crap.

You guys should consider synthetic oils ,you get better protection and longer drains .and companys like schaffers do free tests. To much oil is wasted by guys thinking they need to dump at a certain milage . ADM has run there fleet of macks up to 35,000 miles on plain rotella by doing labs ,so you could do the same and put more money back in your pockets

I feel its more important to stay within a certain oil API classification than to stick to particular brand names. So if the oil you have been using meets a severe service API classifaction you should make sure the substitute oil meets or exceeds the same classifaction. The engine manufacturer will recommend the minumum API classifaction recommended for use.

that's a really good price for delvac, I use Case # one 15w40 in my Dodge dsl. at $9.40/gal it's cheaper and as it's a Case/Cummings engine it's obiviously good enough for new engine warranty from Case so it's plenty good enough for my Dodge, I think rotella is overpriced and overrated.

Did you know Rotella and Quaker State and also pennzoil are all the same company--sopus, which stands for Shell Oil products US ?
some Rotella containers will even say packed by pennzoil in small print.
This does not mean they use the same additive packages.

Thats a great price on Mobil. I used Quaker State for years. Changed to Rotella when I got a diesel pickup that needed 15w40 as opposed to the straight 30 I was using in QS. I was pretty disappointed when I tore down a tractor after a year of using Rotella. Already getting sludge and deposits under the valve cover.

My petroleum jobber told me that Shell spends their money on advertising and just keeps the minimum additive packages. He rated Chevron, Conoco, and Exxon/Mobil as all better. At the time Mobil was his price leader as he had that franchise. Last time Conoco was cheaper if I got it in a 55 gallon drum so thats what Im using now.

We've always used the valvoline 15-40 in our Dogde with the cummins. Read some independent reports and its one of the top 10 for diesels.

Hello MSD,
Mobil Brand, hands down. Was there to test it before it was available to the public. Just match the proper weight, you wont be sorry. Delvac 15w40 (DIESEL OIL) was our choice at work. Class8 trucks...... 100.000 between oil changes........... zero problems.
Guido.

Might be fine, maybe it wasn't available when tractor was new

You guys should be able to get that same deal on the Mobil. It is a national rebate that a local store advertised. It is $18 off a 5 gal pail with a limit of 3 pails or rebates, or $14 off 4 -1 gal. jugs with a maximum of 3 rebates, or $3 off 1-1 gal jug with a maximum of 12 rebates. It is on the Super 1300. You have till Oct. 31st to purchase it to get the deal.

I was looking at Shell oil, on sale at a local
Farm-Fleet store, and the fine print on the jug
said "packaged by Pennzoil" In my experiance
you could always tell an engine that had used
Pennzoil , upon teardown, as it would be sludged
up with a grey sticky sludge.

Leland2,

That is the most rational response I have ever read concerning motor oil.

People, for the most part, are posterior obsessive concerning oil and change cycles.

99% of that behavior comes from either 'granpaw did it thata way' OR, all those high dollar oil commercials have warped people into believing sudden destruction awaits them if they don't change oil on or at a certain date/mileage.

I spent 27 years as a railroad engineer (you may have seen railcars marked CSX). Some of my time was spent working at the locomotive service facility (aka the Roundhouse) at Russell, Ky. How many locomotives are serviced there daily, I cannot recall...but probably on the order of 60 every 24 hours. Lots of motor oil gets pumped there.

Before the on site lab was closed, a sample of oil was taken from every locomotive as it was worked across the ready track (fueling pit). These samples were analyzed and the findings sent to the main shop, where records were kept on every engine.

First and foremost, the diesel engine lube oil was NEVER CHANGED, as in ever! The ONLY time a locomotive got completely fresh oil was during a major overhaul....which typically occurred about every ten years.....or three times over the service life of the locomotive. Oil filters were changed on a quarterly basis (during what is known as a Q inspection), as were the air filter baffles.

The lube oil used: Valvoline 50 wt detergent. The likely reason Valvoline was used at this facility is due to the fact that Ashland Oil (now Marathon) was/is owner of Valvoline and the refinery is 20 miles away from the locomotive shops. It was brought in by the tanker load.

I recall asking the chemist if he thought the oil used was good quality and his response was: Would you pour inferior oil in a (then) $2,000,000 locomotive? That was when he told me what the oil was (Valvoline 50 wt).

The analysis checked for various content...water, chromium (rings), bronze/babbit (bearings), viscosity (fuel/blow-by and injectors) and several other things I don't recall. The black in the oil was 99% carbon from combustion and this carbon aids lubricity, rather than hampering it. The biggest evil they monitored was water contamination...as long as it was in specs.....all was well. If all wasn't well....it indicated the need for heavy repairs.

Locomotive diesels typically run at maximum governed rpms 90% of the time when in service (meaning pulling a train). If the lubricant isn't up to snuff, you'd see them broken down all the time. But....outright diesel failure is probably less than 3% for the entire fleet and I wouldn't be surprised if it is less than that.

Other than semi truck and ship diesels, I doubt there is any other that see as sustained and severe service as a locomotive diesel does.

There is no quack with a dipstick running around whipping the workers about changing the oil in locomotives. Oil analysis alone determines if, and when it gets changed. And that, is very rare.

Now, mount the podium and call me a nut. No need in shooting the messenger though. I'm just telling you how it is in heavy industry. Oh...and there is no need in telling me how your pickup engine works harder, therefore demanding more frequent maintenance. That theory doesn't wash.

Rest assured that I am aware that an engine needs lubrication and after an accumulating nearly one million miles of personal driving and having never suffered an engine failure, I must be doing something right.

I change oil/filter every 15,000 miles, period. I have been running synthetics for the last 3 or 4 years....whatever brand is on sale. I recently changed oil in my daily driver....a '02 Pontiac with 3.1 V6. There was slightly over 15,000 miles on Shell 0-20wt. synthetic and no oil was added over the period. The car has 159,000 miles.

Shell and penzoil and quaker state merged some years back

Some good info. Heavy industry and even over the road diesels tend to work a bit differently.

remember though that not all oils are created equal. Castrol (conventional oil) and AMSOIL (synthetic) are the best out there. Mobil 1 is ok but you may as well buy the better AMSOIL for the same $.

NOTE: (I've mentioned this before.) The 2007 and NEWER on the road diesels use extra fuel injected in the exhaust stroke for emissions and this is causing problems with fuel dilution of the oil which of course is bad. The big three chose this cheaper emissions method over a more expensive method that doesn't have the fuel dilution issue.