Diesel grade oil

nhman · Nov 9, 2002

I am new to tractoring. When I changed oil at 50 hours, I used a non diesel grade oil. It was the right weight, but did not have the additives. Used it for 40 hour before I realized my mistake. I now have diesel grade oil. Did I hurt anything? The oil was blackwhen I changed it?

Jeff396 · Nov 9, 2002

Give the following thread a read. I believe his tractor went 400 hours with non diesel oil without realizing there was a special oil./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.tractorbynet.com/cgi-bin/compact/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=oil&Number=203340&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=>Special Crankcase Oil for Diesels?</A>

Jeff

OkieG · Nov 9, 2002

John,

I am the guy Jeff is refering to in his post above. So, far no ill effects that I KNOW of from my dumbness. Read the thread he references.

Here is a quote from a post by Karmakanic in the "Synthetic Diesel Oil..." thread:

"I'll make one of those blanket statements now which you're not supposed to make if your a technical kind of guy, but I challenge anyone to refute it.

In 30+ years of fixing broken cars and old construction equipment I have never seen a oil related failure that was caused by using the wrong oil .

"Plenty of failures from not having enough oil, or not changing it often enough. But not a one from using conventional oil in place of synthetic, or synthetic in place of conventional, or using a different viscosity, or mixing brands and types"

Karmakanic's statement is not addressing our particular situation, but still. it eases my mind a bit.

I bet there are guys like you and me who have used standard crankcase oil in their diesels for thousands of hours....we just haven't heard form any of them yet.

And, since it apprears not to be a well known fact that diesels are ruined by standard crankcase oil, bodes well in my opinion that maybe they are not ruined or severely damaged as you and I have feared.

Still, diesel rated oil is all I'll be using from here on out.

OkieG

Bird · Nov 10, 2002

I've used Quaker State motor oil in my cars and pickups for 21 years. Some of you who are as old as I am might remember when it had the CC/CD rating and I started using Quaker State oil when I bought an '81 Isuzu diesel (it was also one of the manufacturer's recommended oils for a neighbor's diesel Mercedes). So I also put it in my '95 Kubota for awhile until one day I happened to notice that it no longer carried the diesel rating. I called Quaker State to inquire about it and was told that it was no longer rated for diesels, BUT that it would actually be just fine for a diesel IF you changed the oil more frequently.

So I agree with the other guys; wouldn't worry about, but would use an oil with the CH-4 rating from now on.

Hydraman · Nov 10, 2002

In my 'big truck' 410 hp, & 1550 ft. lb. torque--only Rotella T 15-40 or equivalent! In a tractor doing heavy work--same thing---in a tractor doing light work--any GOOD detergent oil.In my John Deere I use a good 5-30 in the winter for ease of starting rather than the Rotella 15-40. It makes quite a difference when it is cold out! But then pushing a little snow doesn't seem to work it very hard,either!! Don

dlabrie · Nov 12, 2002

I almost did the same thing. For my 50hr service, I was not going to pay the price the dealer wanted (about $400). I bought all the filters and fluids I thought I would need and called a friend/former Kubota mechanic to help me with the first service. We got everything done and the last thing was to pour in the engine oil. He stopped me and asked if it was diesel rated. ?!?!?!?!

OOOPS- off to the auto parts store.

Now my only problem is I can't find any oil with a viscosity of less than 15w-40. -20 degrees F. isn't uncommon here in NH and I am sure the oil is a bit thick.

dellman · Dec 27, 2002

In your part of the country with the low temps in the winter a good oil to use year around is Mobil Delvac I, 5W40 full synthetic available at most truck stops. It is sold in gallons and is silver in color. Runs from $20-25 dollars a gallon. Another oil is CAT (Catapillar) full Synthetic and is 5W40. Looks like this oil is a rebadged Delvac I and a couple dollars cheaper a gallon. Both of these oils have a -65F pour point.

Another oil to look at that is more readily available in the NE is the PC Duron oils. (Petro Canada) Available in 5W40 and other weights also. These are mostly Group III hydrocracked dino oils, but excellent for diesels. Check the ratings on the bottle if you find it, and the prices are good also.