100 hours on oil

[Highbeam]

I try not to outsmart the people that made my tractor and wrote the manual. Seems they should know best. They might not speak english, but they must be some smart cookies.

I'm sure the oil could serve you well for longer than the manual's interval. How long? 10 hours, 100 hours, more? How do you know? I can pretty much guarantee that the best time to change your oil is when it is still doing a great job, not when it is wore out.

 

[NIXON]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I I can pretty much guarantee that the best time to change your oil is when it is still doing a great job, not when it is wore out. )</font>
Great post ! :} John

 

[SkyPup]

Jim, since the L39 does not have any EGR, the soot levels should be pretty low, also it is a cool running machine so the nitration degradation should be fairly low as well, the sulfation from the low quality diesel fuel is pretty high and will bring down the TBN fairly fast. Once ULSD is available, that will no longer be an issue.

I would predict your oil to be in good shape @ 100 hours and would be in fairly good shape @ 150 hrs and about shot @ 200 hrs. But I would not skip out on changing both it and the filter @ 100 hrs.

If you got an oil analysis @ 100 hrs, that would be good evidence as to how long you could go before the oil basestocks were degraded to unacceptable levels. But you'd still have to change the oil filter anyhow.

Like was mentioned above, it is best to change it while the oil if still good, not after it has gone bad.

At least you didn't get some rotgut SuperTech oil!!! /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

 

[PBinWA]

What ever happened to looking at the dipstick? I can tell if my oil is "well used" pretty quickly by looking at its color, transparency, and taste.

I usually just follow the manufacturer's recommendations. I'm not running a hot rod and I rarely work my tractor that hard.

Everything else just seems like overkill. But then again I'm not in the diaper wiping crowd either.

 

[SkyPup]

Looking at the dipstick for measuring diesel oil quality is about as useless as a used diaper, that's for sure.

 

[CTyler]

The oil probably tastes about like the diaper as well.

 

[PBinWA]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Looking at the dipstick for measuring diesel oil quality is about as useless as a used diaper, that's for sure. )</font>

But sticking to the maintenance schedule is "good enough". IMO, everything else is over kill.

I was wondering how long it would take for someone to pick up on the "taste". /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[AndyMA]

My curiosity is in a engine that only costs a few $ for oil for, why would I want to spend $20-$30 for an oil test unless I suspected something was going wrong. I understand oil tests on things like excavator hydraulic systems where you are replacing a hundred gallons of oil or so and also have major concerns about $10,000 + hydraulic pumps, but it does seem a little over kill on a CUT. Just my thoughts

Andy

 

[SkyPup]

Oil analysis can be utilized to diagnose a number of different things as a diesel engine ages, including fouled or worn injectors, leaking head gasket, lack of cooling, bad injection timing, worn rings, worn valves, worn bearings, etc.

On a new engine like Jim's, it would be used primarily to set a baseline and determine the amount of hours that a particular brand of oil and set of oil filters can be utilized prior to the failure of the oil.

It could also be used to determine if the oil that you are using is even good enough for the recommended change outs or if it is substandard and ruining your engine! /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

 

[Sully2]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( My curiosity is in a engine that only costs a few $ for oil for, why would I want to spend $20-$30 for an oil test unless I suspected something was going wrong. I understand oil tests on things like excavator hydraulic systems where you are replacing a hundred gallons of oil or so and also have major concerns about $10,000 + hydraulic pumps, but it does seem a little over kill on a CUT. Just my thoughts

Andy )</font>

Im on your side! I intend on changing oil per schedule (and most probably a little BEFORE the schedule calls for it) with a new Kubota filter and a BETTER grade of lube that the manual calls out. 10W-30 "Kubota oil" here is $3.10 a qt. 5W-40 Rotella Syn is less than $21 for 5 qts ( which is slightly more than I need) I figure if I cant afford less that $32 every OTHER year ( no way Im going to be getting 200 hrs in 2 years on mine B3030)...Id better just give it up totally!