engine oil

[3930dave]

I'd look up the weight spec for your Yanmar (vs. Temperature).

I like Rotella, and do run the T 15W40 in my 7.3 in the summer. Winter, I run Rotella T6 5W40.

Rgds, D.

[Gale Hawkins]

Yes. I first used it in our Zetor that we owned about 20 years ago and our current diesels. Have since moved to Rotella 5W-40 since it works well for gas and diesel. Not cheap ($22 a gallon at WM) but I like having only one type of engine oil on the place.

[don45640]

As much as I'm a conventional type of guy,I hadda give in to the superior protection offered by most FULL synthetics. Synthetic oil will stand higher temps. without breakdown. Of course,if you have an òil burner',then the synthetic might not make sense.
For you all that like to change oil often,synthetic is not for you(you get the extra cost of it back when you extend the oil change intervals).I only change oil every 9-10K on my cars(I sometimes spin-on a new filter at around 5K miles),and almost never on my Backhoe,since I put very few hours on it.
Now for the mechanics out there who have changed the oil on overdue engines, I know YOU know what I'm saying when I describe the oil being changed as `not very slick with little body'. I'll tell you when I change the synthetic even at up to 12K miles,the slick,full body feeling of the oil is still there.
Anybody out there agree....disagree...never noticed it? don-ohio (:^)

[mikehaugen]

As much as I'm a conventional type of guy,I hadda give in to the superior protection offered by most FULL synthetics. Synthetic oil will stand higher temps. without breakdown. Of course,if you have an òil burner',then the synthetic might not make sense.
For you all that like to change oil often,synthetic is not for you(you get the extra cost of it back when you extend the oil change intervals).I only change oil every 9-10K on my cars(I sometimes spin-on a new filter at around 5K miles),and almost never on my Backhoe,since I put very few hours on it.
Now for the mechanics out there who have changed the oil on overdue engines, I know YOU know what I'm saying when I describe the oil being changed as `not very slick with little body'. I'll tell you when I change the synthetic even at up to 12K miles,the slick,full body feeling of the oil is still there.
Anybody out there agree....disagree...never noticed it? don-ohio (:^)

I agree, that is what sold me on it. The first time I tried synthetic (valvoline synpower) I changed at around 4500 miles, just to be sure and like you said- it still felt like oil! I have been using it ever since and now use the oil change interval of "when the car tells me to change it" which is usually between 7-8k, and the oil still feels slick.

[3930dave]

As much as I'm a conventional type of guy,I hadda give in to the superior protection offered by most FULL synthetics. Synthetic oil will stand higher temps. without breakdown. Of course,if you have an òil burner',then the synthetic might not make sense.
For you all that like to change oil often,synthetic is not for you(you get the extra cost of it back when you extend the oil change intervals).I only change oil every 9-10K on my cars(I sometimes spin-on a new filter at around 5K miles),and almost never on my Backhoe,since I put very few hours on it.
Now for the mechanics out there who have changed the oil on overdue engines, I know YOU know what I'm saying when I describe the oil being changed as `not very slick with little body'. I'll tell you when I change the synthetic even at up to 12K miles,the slick,full body feeling of the oil is still there.
Anybody out there agree....disagree...never noticed it? don-ohio (:^)

I understand what you are talking about/describing Don. Seems people either over or under-change their oil.

High cost synthetics often only make $/cents sense at high mile oil changes.

The one thing to watch, as with any oil, is the Time/Use profile. Even a really good oil can get badly beaten up with short trips in cold weather. (Thinking retired folks, not wanting to drive much in Winter, just picking up groceries now/then - can get pretty wicked water condensation in the oil around here).

Doesn't sound like you are running low miles Don. Just hate to see somebody use an expensive synth, then not change it for 4 years because they don't drive much - I've seen turbos killed by this.

Rgds, D.

[buickanddeere]

Castrol is not a true synthetic made from an ester base. It's just highly refined dead dinosaurs .

[Gary Fowler]

I agree, that is what sold me on it. The first time I tried synthetic (valvoline synpower) I changed at around 4500 miles, just to be sure and like you said- it still felt like oil! I have been using it ever since and now use the oil change interval of "when the car tells me to change it" which is usually between 7-8k, and the oil still feels slick.

Using the computer for oil change will never hurt you when using synthetic as the owners manual on my truck says that the computer is programmed for using straight dino oil, so even if you go over a bit with synthetic you will still be protected. I don't put a lot of miles on my truck and about once a year oil change is good which is what the GM book recommends or per computer which ever comes first. Last time, I went a bit over a year ,16 months and the oil was still in good shape. As some have said, if you are going to change it every 3-5K then don't waste your money on synthetic as regular oils will be just as good for that short life cycle.

[don45640]

An engine heats up pretty quickly nowadays,Dave,but yeah,if they abuse their car by just driving lil`short trips,they will pay a price with any oil. They'll also be kinda'hard on their tranny fluid and exhaust systems.too.I had a friend who,believe it or not,even in the summer,would ALWAYS warm his lil'toyota truck up 15 minutes to 30 minutes before driving off. He said that's how he got such longevity out of his engine.LOL!
I drew his attention to the fact that he was wasting enough gas to do an engine overhaul every so many thousands of miles.To each his own! I feel like that ol'coot on TV that said.....`Boy,I couldn'live like that' to another ol'coot.HaHa! don-ohio (:^)

I understand what you are talking about/describing Don. Seems people either over or under-change their oil.

High cost synthetics often only make $/cents sense at high mile oil changes.

The one thing to watch, as with any oil, is the Time/Use profile. Even a really good oil can get badly beaten up with short trips in cold weather. (Thinking retired folks, not wanting to drive much in Winter, just picking up groceries now/then - can get pretty wicked water condensation in the oil around here).

Doesn't sound like you are running low miles Don. Just hate to see somebody use an expensive synth, then not change it for 4 years because they don't drive much - I've seen turbos killed by this.

Rgds, D.

[Soundguy]

Would it be ok to use Rottela T heavy duty 15w40 in yanmar diesel? reason asking I can get all I need from work -freebie
Thanks in advance

walmart 15w40 would be fine in it.. T is mor ethan fine.. especially if free.

[3930dave]

An engine heats up pretty quickly nowadays,Dave,but yeah,if they abuse their car by just driving lil`short trips,they will pay a price with any oil. They'll also be kinda'hard on their tranny fluid and exhaust systems.too.I had a friend who,believe it or not,even in the summer,would ALWAYS warm his lil'toyota truck up 15 minutes to 30 minutes before driving off. He said that's how he got such longevity out of his engine.LOL!
I drew his attention to the fact that he was wasting enough gas to do an engine overhaul every so many thousands of miles.To each his own! I feel like that ol'coot on TV that said.....`Boy,I couldn'live like that' to another ol'coot.HaHa! don-ohio (:^)

I worked with a guy back in the 80's, who was an aircraft mechanic. He used to smoke a cigarette, while waiting for the turbo engine in his Magic Wagon to warm up before going home at the end of the day. In that era, given turbo and oil technology, that probably wasn't a bad call, since winters back then were colder, esp. in Ottawa.

Modern FI is usually pretty good. Even here, the time it takes to clear snow off the glass is usually plenty of warm up - providing that you don't Drive it Like Ya Stole It right away.

On a -40 day here, I might warm up a bit longer, but not 20 minutes.

Modern oil is good, but more people are in the OEM Severe Duty category than they realize (at least in Canada). I don't know if you hang out over on BITOG..... I remember a discussion about probably needing an Ultra Severe Duty classification - what kicked this off was a discussion about a vehicle that spent almost all its time going 1 mile, Home to Work. I tend to look for a simpler solution (Walk !), but that is a good example, IMO, of Ultra Severe.

I see my neighbour warming up her Tahoe for 15 - 30 minutes, but she is rail skinny and hates Winter, just wants the cab toasty.

Rgds, D.