Anyone use Royal Purple?

[brucew44guns]

Back in the forties, Union Oil of California (Union 76) had a diesel oil called T5-X, and the car version oil was named Royal Triton, both oils were a distinctive royal purple color. Customers of union affectionately called it "Grapejuice". It was on of the first decently addotized oils with detergents to keep lifters and engines reasonably clean. Big trucks got outstanding service from T5-X. When Union purchased "Pure Oil" company back in the later 60's, (an east coast oil company). they dropped the purple oil, as it was a west coast rage to use it and they felt east coast customers would not buy into purple oil. Many out west did buy the stuff due to the color, and because it worked fairly well were sold completely, but color had a lot to do with mindset. I feel in my gut, that RP is a top notch product, but also that the Royal Purple color has a lot to do with peoples insistance of it being the best. If it was black as coal, or yellow as piss, or brown as dirt, would it sell and be praised as much?---I think not. I bought a brand new John Deere 6330 last spring, it cost a ton. I will put Delo 400 in it, and would be equally content with Rotella T or Delvac. My total happiness would not reside in RP oil in that tractors engine, not at double the money. I cannot believe for double the money, I get double the quality. Nor would I believe that I would get any appreciable longer engine life.

 

[brucew44guns]

Back in the forties, Union Oil of California (Union 76) had a diesel oil called T5-X, and the car version oil was named Royal Triton, both oils were a distinctive royal purple color. Customers of union affectionately called it "Grapejuice". It was one of the first decently addotized oils with detergents to keep lifters and engines reasonably clean. Big trucks got outstanding service from T5-X. When Union purchased "Pure Oil" company back in the later 60's, (an east coast oil company). they dropped the purple oil, as it was a west coast rage to use it and they felt east coast customers would not buy into purple oil. Many out west did buy the stuff due to the color, and because it worked fairly well were sold completely, but color had a lot to do with mindset. I feel in my gut, that RP is a top notch product, but also that the Royal Purple color has a lot to do with peoples insistance of it being the best. If it was black as coal, or yellow as piss, or brown as dirt, would it sell and be praised as much?---I think not. I bought a brand new John Deere 6330 last spring, it cost a ton. I will put Delo 400 in it, and would be equally content with Rotella T or Delvac. My total happiness would not reside in RP oil in that tractors engine, not at double the money. I cannot believe for double the money, I get double the quality. Nor would I believe that I would get any appreciable longer engine life.

 

[PoorMansCat]

RP was founded as an industrial lubricants company...it sure seems odd that their product wouldn't be up to the task you described. Did you contact RP or pull a sample of the oil from the failed engines/drums? I'm just wondering if their was a packaging error, wrong oil poured in the engine, etc. We nearly lost an engine when someone changed the engine oil and refilled it with hydraulic oil...thankfully it was caught before the equipment left the shop.

The only RP products I have used are their Syntractor III torque fluid and Max ATF; both products performed great in cold weather and the Syntractor fluid reduced the operating noise of a hydrostatic transmission.

No, we didnt get involved with the manufacturer of any oil, our customer is the owner of the engine ... that is left up to the company who owned the engines to contact their supplier. We can only repair the failure and report what we find. The engines on one location were owned by a large drilling company... I know they have went back to plain dino oil company wide. Another company has a fleet of 900 hp. 6 cylinder diesels that had the same failures shortly after going to RP. They have since went back to dino as well..
Just what I have witnessed over the past 12-14 years of working on large industrial diesels. There again, I have never used RP myself, I cannot justify the added costs of RP, Amsoil, and other such "premium synthetics" as I do not feel that I am gaining anything by pouring it in my diesels... I DO use a synthetic oil in my small gas engines, but I do not change them often and IF something were to happen, its not as expensive and scrapping out a Cummins or D-Max...