Oil in my John Deere 455

[epic6500sr]

I just purchased a used 455 that has almost 1000 hours. Currently it uses john deere 15w-40 oil, but being that I am obsessed with synthetic oils, I want to switch it to a syn. However, I can't find anything that I know is full syn at a normal retailer that is 15w-40. But, I did find Rotella 5w-40, that had all the Deere, and Cummins, and Detroit approvals. Also, is Delvac a full synthetic oil? So, if I can't find 15w-40 would it be ok to use 5w-40 rotella, or should I just not change it and use dino, or is delvac 15w-40 a full synthetic? Any suggestions would be appriciated.

 

[Sully2]

I just purchased a used 455 that has almost 1000 hours. Currently it uses john deere 15w-40 oil, but being that I am obsessed with synthetic oils, I want to switch it to a syn. However, I can't find anything that I know is full syn at a normal retailer that is 15w-40. But, I did find Rotella 5w-40, that had all the Deere, and Cummins, and Detroit approvals. Also, is Delvac a full synthetic oil? So, if I can't find 15w-40 would it be ok to use 5w-40 rotella, or should I just not change it and use dino, or is delvac 15w-40 a full synthetic? Any suggestions would be appriciated.

Its run 1000 hrs on "dino" oil....what makes you thnk it wont run more than another 1000 hours on it???. Im a firm believer in using SYN oils IF YOU NEED THEM.....otherwise.??..Nope! Many brands of straight dino oil have run bazillions of miles in various vehicles without a problem.

ON THE OTHER HAND....I'll be coming up on the 50 hr mark on my little Kubota very soon...and I'll be changing to 5W-40 Rotella SYN...BECAUSE I could NOT find a readilly available 10W-30 diesel rated oil. The slight extra costs for the syn doesnt bother me an iota..because the the time between oil changes ( not hours of usage..but calendar time) is so far apart...that the cost difference doesnt mean squat. If I could have..found at least the oil weight and spec that Kuboa called for..Id have stuck with a 10W-30 dino oil.

 

[DieselPower]

The base stock of a finished oil is only one part of what makes a good oil. The additive package plays a very important role in how well the final blend of any oil will perform and it's longevity. Just because a oil is "pure" synthetic does not mean it will perform any better than another one that is not. Conventional base stock technology has come a long way in the last couple of years and is getting close to performing as well as synthetic's. The best way to judge how well a oil performs is to view side by side comparissons of UOA's (used oil analysis) of different brands.

 

[Kendall69]

I can go on and on about how much better Synthetic oil is, but this one sums it up.
I just changed the manual tranny fluid in my Jeep, the shifter shaft would get so hot at highway speeds, you could hardly touch the shaft. Changed to 10o% synthetic, and the shaft is now cool to touch under the same conditions.

In my Kubota I ran Redline 15/40 and it loved it.

Order on line and they will ship it to your front door.

http://www.redlineoil.com/products_motoroil.asp?productID=7&subCategoryID=1&categoryID=1

 

[DieselPower]

That's a good example Kendall69 but it wasn't the base oil that made it run cooler, it was the additive package. I sell quite a bit of conventional gear oil and people use it all the time in heavy OTR trucks to replace the factory fill synthetic in transmissions and rear's. Know what, operating temps actually drop when they switch from the factory fill synthetic to the conventional oil. Sure I sell synthetic to but in the majority of applications there is no real need for it. A GPII base stock conventional with a superior additive package can beat the average synthetic hands down in lowering operating temps. Some customers still want the synthetic and that's fine, it's their money. Just like engine oil it's the final blend and how it performs that matters.

 

[gsdavis1]

What kind of blend or additives are you talking about?

Greg

 

[RWEST]

Any suggestions would be appriciated.

Rotella T 5-40 is good stuff; J-D 0-40 likewise.

 

[RalphVa]

Rotella 5w-40 synthetic would be better than any 15w-40. The "5w" means it'll be lighter at startup but still the same "40" at operating temperature. Believe it or not, it'll be more viscous at startup, even with "5w", than at operating temperature. The "5w" stuff will allow your oil pump to pick it up quicker (less viscous at startup than "15w") to get lubrication to the upper valve train.

Sun Research did a test on a taxicab fleet, some with dino oil and others with Mobil 1. The ones with Mobil 1 had NO upper valve train wear. A similar test by Imperial Research with engines being started in -40 F/C cold rooms showed no valve train smoking on startup (with transparent overhead valve cover) with Mobil 1 but extensive smoking with dino oil.

I use 0w30 Mobil 1 in my JD and change it once/year with 60-100 hours on the oil. The 0w30 isn't fully diesel rated like their 5w-40 "SUV" oil is. I also use the 0w30 in my 1983 Benz diesel and change once/year with 6-7k miles on the oil. After a timing chain change, it's now getting 31+ mpg vs. 29 mpg for its 212k life up to that point. Figure it's getting 1 more mpg for the 300D viscous fan and another 1 more mpg for Mobil 1: 29 + 1 + 1 = 31. Actually, it showed almost 36 mpg the last tankful.

Ralph

 

[RWEST]

Actually, it showed almost 36 mpg the last tankful.

Impressive!!

 

[LBrown59]

I just purchased a used 455 that has almost 1000 hours. Currently it uses john deere 15w-40 oil, but being that I am obsessed with synthetic oils, I want to switch it to a syn. However, I can't find anything that I know is full syn at a normal retailer that is 15w-40. But, I did find Rotella 5w-40, that had all the Deere, and Cummins, and Detroit approvals. Also, is Delvac a full synthetic oil? So, if I can't find 15w-40 would it be ok to use 5w-40 rotella, or should I just not change it and use dino, or is delvac 15w-40 a full synthetic? Any suggestions would be appriciated.

Isn't the tractor getting a little to old with to many hours to be considering Syn.?