Diesel Oil Question

[jcmseven]

Fellow Posters:

I know this has been debated ad nauseum in previous posts, and I certainly do not want to cause conflict, but I am one of those PowerStroke owners who has been using conventional 15/40 Rotella oil in my pickup. I do not do heavy towing often, but I do tow my tractor and 20' trailer combo (about 8000 pounds) at least once every two weeks, generally 300 miles round trip. I also use my truck as a daily driver and have an eight mile drive to work, one way. I have been religious about changing oil every 6000 miles and have generally stuck with Motorcraft filters, both oil and fuel. My pickup has about 40,000 miles on it and I have had no trouble with it. I would like to change to a high quality synthetic and upgrade my filters to enhance longevity. What would be the better oil for me to consider? Would synthetic offer someone like me an advantage? Drain intervals? Fuel economy and if so how much? My truck is a 2002 7.3L with a Banks Powerpack and BigHoss module. Because of the amount of money and time I invested in the kit and truck, I am planning to keep it. So far, it has been the best truck I have ever owned, and I have had six to this point, but only one diesel.

John M

 

[HuckBB62]

The biggest thing that sticks out in my mind when I consider questions like yours is this: how much does piece of mind cost? You've juiced your diesel. It's under heavier than designed load now. You push it harder. Maybe you'd like to extend your drain interval, maybe not.

It won't hurt at all to go syn. I'd do a quick change (drop by a jiffy lube and change the oil then drive it home to put the good stuff in) This really does clean the heck out of an engine by simply flushing contaminates without the agressive solvent action of a flushing solution.

I think the absolute best lubrication setup for any of the diesels these days would be the Amsoil double bypass filter system using any of the great synthetics. My favorite is Royal Purple but Amsoil makes a great product, Mobil does too. The filtration though, well, the best I've seen available is that Amsoil filter. If not that, Baldwin makes a great filter for your engine and can be found at any IH truck shop.

You can go to Royal Purple's website and see the documented horsepower and mileage increases on the dynometer. I've got the stuff in every piece of machinery I own including my two stroke and four stroke lawn equipment and many pieces of the power plant equipment (I'm the plant lube oil guru, STLE OMA level 1 certification). I've personally witnessed cooler operating temperatures and documented extremely longer run times on the equipment such as rotary air compressors and boiler feed water pumps.

About that piece of mind. It's been argued that any old oil will do as long as you change it often. We've all seen taxies and police cars with extreme mileage so it's hard to argue. My point would be that the syn is definitely lab proven better lubricant. It operates into a higher temperature range without failure (like in that gazillion dollar turbo's bearings for instance). It's shear strength is much greater. It absolutely positively flows better when cold (that's every single time you start up) and breaks down less readily due to contaminates and holds it's ph longer during usage (soot from diesels drive the TBN out of specs, causing the oil to become corrosive)

It only cost a couple of hundred dollars a year extra for me to have this peice of mind, VERY cheap insurance!

 

[gsxr1100]

Better oils are group 4 and 5. Unless you do longer drains and see an increase in MPG, I do not know what advantages you would have/want. Maybe lower wear numbers or not as many oil changes. Or easier start ups. What is important to you.

I was doing the 11 to 12K drain on my old 97 powerstroke and the oil tests were great; Sold it since I did not need it and the price of diesel is "whacked out" I feel. Amsoil’s 15w-40 hdd did shear some but nothing to be even worried about.

I would test the oil you have now and then run a synthetic (group 4 or 5) and test. DO NOT USE A ENGINE CLEANER! Then go from there. Also having the Banks and the Bighoss might not help with longevity of the oil. I do not know here since you need to test the oil and get some kind of trend going.

To me the oil (any) is cheap no matter the price. If I gained 3 to 5 months without additional wear numbers, better oil test numbers, it is worth the switch. I used Amsoil in my powerstroke since it was the cheapest out there with the most benefits. I use it in everything. But for me availability of oil (or anything) is not a way to base my purchases on.

 

[getut]

One thing that hasn't been mentioned yet that seems to be specific to the Ford Powerstrokes is simply one of noise.

It seems that unlike the Dodges, Ford uses highly pressurized oil as a hydraulic system to fire the fuel injectors. Rotella foams too much for that process to work as efficiently as it should and causes the injectors to clack very loudly (much louder than they should). When I switched over to Amsoil, I would say that that noise went down by at least HALF. I think you would probably see the same result if you went with any high quality fully synthetic oil.

 

[Dargo]

I recommend you choose from these three brands if you want the laboratory proven (not advertising claims) best lubrication available to you: Red Line, Royal Purple, Amsoil. I really believe that if you use any of these 3 oils (appropriate weight for your engine and conditions), it is highly unlikely you will ever have a lack of lubrication failure. Go to BITOG or anywhere else on the net and review what shear strength of an oil film is. Besides all of the other measurable items of an oil such as TBN etc., in a hard working engine, the shear strength of a motor oil should be important to you. Good luck!

 

[gsxr1100]

NEO Synthetic, Motul and Silkolene are pretty good…BUT the price is pretty darn high..Way above $10 per qt .

So far with longer drains Amsoil is doing its job pretty well /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif!

 

[jcmseven]

Thanks for the opinions. It seems I would be making a smart move to upgrade to synthetic oil. I simply did not know if it would offer a significant benefit to me, since I mainly use my truck as a daily driver and not for commericial or long haul work. I must say the thought of longer drain intervals does appeal to me. I was wondering also about mileage. Should I notice some mileage improvement going with full synthetic lubricants, or is that overrated? Currently, my truck will get 18 mpg highway empty average, and 13.5-14 mpg pulling my tractor on my trailer, about a 9000 pound load. As far as the Banks system goes, my EGT's went from 600-1000 deg F to 400-650 on average, even when towing, so if anything, my truck should be easier on lubricants than it was before the Banks system was installed. Again, thanks for the advice.

John M

 

[jcmseven]

A correction,

In my first post I said my tractor/trailer combination was about 8000 lbs, and the last post I said 9000 pounds. My tractor has not gained weight since the first post. The actual calculated weight is about 8400-8500 pounds. I wanted to clarify for accuracy.

Thanks.

John M

 

[gsxr1100]

Since using Amsoil (1993) I have not, repeat not, noticed any MPG increase. But on the flip side I change to synthetic oil ASAP. My Powerctroke was changed to Amsoil at mile 000018.0. Oil color means zero and had it test every 10 to 12+K miles. Everyime the oil could be left in but after I year.

For me the higher drain intervals were a gods gift here unless people like changing 16 qts of oil all the time….

 

[kenmac]

Ok Mike, I know that you are the oil guy. I know nothing about oil other than changing it every 3 k miles.As I value your opinion,I would like to ask your opinion. What do you think of super tech brand syntheic oil ? Is all synthetic oil for gasoline engines the same ? Could you drive 10-12 k miles with super tech syn. like you can with amsoil ?Who makes super tech syn. oil? What makes amsoil better than super tech or other brands of synthetic oil ? Do you have to buy a high priced name brand syn. oil to get good protection or longer drains? Or can you get the same good protection/ longer drains from a low priced oil like super tech. The reason that I ask is, that super tech syn. oil seems to cost less than any other syn. oils and wonder how they compare.Thanks for answering all the Q s. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
Ken