Diesel Engine Oil

LouieJunior · Jul 5, 2013

I have a John Deere compact utiliy tractor with a Yanmar diesel engine. I've used SAE 10 W 30 motor oil -- although nothing specificly formulated for diesels. Now I see diesel oil is available, but my owners manual makes no mention of it. Does this matter?

Code54 · Jul 5, 2013

Yes - you should always run diesel oil in a diesel motor as the additives are different. Most major brands (Mobile, Rotella, etc) are all good and reasonably priced

JimRB · Jul 5, 2013

My JD manual section header says Diesel engine oil and mentions CD or CE oil. C I think stands for compression. You can get Shell Delvac oil almost anywhere which is fine for diesel engine. Diesel oil is designed to carry the soot.

What’s in your Motor Oil - Bob is the Oil Guy

number two · Jul 5, 2013

Yes you need a diesel rated oil in your tractor to handle the carbon-soot-.Any 15W40 motor oil will suffice.
However,you would be best served with Shell Rotella 10W30 motor oil,available at your local auto parts store as well as others.

LouieJunior · Jul 6, 2013

Thanks to all. I'll change it today. Hopefully no damage has been done. It was a little over a month ago when I put the other oil in. Seems like it has been running smoothly and the temperature has been normal. i'm guessing only 15 or 20 hours total.

Code54 · Jul 6, 2013

Should be fine - the diesel oil is made for the different conditions that exist in a diesel motor. If you ran it for 1000's of hrs then I would be concerned, 15-20 should not have harmed anything at all.

art · Jul 6, 2013

number two said:
Yes you need a diesel rated oil in your tractor to handle the carbon-soot-.Any 15W40 motor oil will suffice.
However,you would be best served with Shell Rotella 10W30 motor oil,available at your local auto parts store as well as others.

Shell rotella is a good grade of oil for a diesel car or pick-up but Rimula is the shell equivalent to the diesel oils we sell for our tractors.

Ken45101 · Jul 6, 2013

15 or 20 hours won't be a problem. But I agree with the others, you should be using a diesel rated oil. I use Rotella.

buickanddeere · Jul 6, 2013

What does the operator's manual say to use ?

LouieJunior · Jul 6, 2013

buickanddeere said:
What does the operator's manual say to use ?

There is a chart showing different weights and temperatures.
SAE 10W-30 looks best for my use. The manual then lists john deere oils - PLUS-50 and TORQ-GARD Supreme

Other oils may be used which meet the following specification...

API Service Class CH or higher
ACEA Specification E3 or higher ??

that's all it says in my JD4105 Manual - it is a 2011