Engine Oil change away from KUbota brand?

[Torvy]

Branded consumables are a marketing trick. Keep in the specifications for your engine and find something less expensive (and good quality). Lots of good advice here.

 

[dieselbob69]

Just like VW went from Castrol to Mobil for their latest contract....

 

[jyoutz]

I run T5 15w-40 in almost everything - my Kubota X1140, my Cummins and my Jeep with the straight 6. The wife's car gets T6 5w-40, but that's because I doubt her little starter could handle the thicker oil. I got tired of having a lot of different oils for each different engine type, gas, diesel, ATV and just used them all up and run Rotella in everything.

You can run rotella in a gasser engine?

 

[Thunder chicken]

You can run rotella in a gasser engine?

I’m speaking about T6….. it used to have an API SM (or SN) rating. That’s for gas engines. It no longer does. If you search the interwebs you’ll find out that the rating was removed cause it does not meet a specification (nor ever did) for some obscure PPM of an additive, but if you pay enough $ to the EPA they’ll sell the rating. Shell musta decided not to cut the cheque anymore. I could be wrong or read crap info but it sounded believable at the time.

 

[tradosaurus]

I'll run Kubota oil until my warranty expires. It's about the same price as Rotella T6 anyway.

 

[RoostersGarage]

You can run rotella in a gasser engine?

Sure. The first oil change was nasty, and after that they are back to normal. Seemed like the Rotella was cleaning out the deposits left by the previous oil changes.

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

Anyone switched from the Kubota Brand oil 15w40 to T6 5w40?

I noticed my jugs of kubota 15w40 over the last few years are not identical oil types anymore so I'm not sure what may have changed... but I did notice when it's < 45*F it's noticeably rougher starting.

I have T6 5w40 on hand already as I use it in various other engines... thoughts? experiences ?

I worked at Kubota. I can guarantee that all the personal vehicles multi generations all got 15 w 40 no matter what the auto manufacturers said. I'm sure it works the other way too. We've had Ford tractors all my life. Never seen a can of Ford oil. Only seen Baldwin and wix filters. Oldest tractor is 1980. Still gets used. Will crank and start right now this very moment.

 

[varmint]

Oil is second only to religion, or maybe politics, as a topic of discussion. Seems to me that a good quality oil, ditto for filters, and regular changes are most important. If you run your engines for short periods, change often. Or if it looks dirty, change it. Cutting open filters to evaluate them may be fun, but it gets old, for me at least.

 

[jyoutz]

Oil is second only to religion, or maybe politics, as a topic of discussion. Seems to me that a good quality oil, ditto for filters, and regular changes are most important. If you run your engines for short periods, change often. Or if it looks dirty, change it. Cutting open filters to evaluate them may be fun, but it gets old, for me at least.

Diesel oil always looks dirty, even in a new engine.

 

[Rob41]

I've been working on diesel powered Navy ships for a few decades and the one constant regardless if it's a slow speed, medium speed or high speed diesel is frequent oil and filter changes are paramount to the health and longevity of the engine.

We are required to perform oil analysis testing weekly for viscosity, water in oil, TBN etc. We act on the results of the testing and the results also instantly sent off ship for third party interpretation as well.

In addition to the oil testing, we also perform weekly vibration analysis and cylinder pressure analysis.

For all we do regardless how the engines are run, the single greatest influencer to the health of a diesel engine is the correct oil and filters being changed at the correct/frequent intervals.

Aside from the oil, due to the ultra low sulpher fuel we have to use, we use two fuel additives. One is for lubricity so you don't destroy all your injector tips and the other is an industrial strength biocide to kill any microbes that could develop if any water is introduced to the fuel tanks.