Help - I'm an oil idiot.

[N80]

The first thing I did was to put regular automotive oil in my Kubota L4400 at the 50 hour service. Along about 80 hours I read on here that there are special motor oils for diesel. Who knew? The owners manual said it had to be CF, CD, CE, CF-4, CG-4 etc and like an idiot I just assumed all modern motor oils covered all those bases. I asked my B-I-L (farmer and tractor mechanic) about it and he said don't worry about it and change it to Rotella on the next oil change. Well he's pretty cavalier about things (even though all of his tractors which range from 55 to 20 years old are still running just fine) so I decided to change it this weekend.

So, I head off to Tractor Supply to get the 10w-30 or 10w-40 recommended by my manual for the temp range where I live. Well, guess what, I couldn't find any of the diesel motor oils in either of these weights. They were all either 15w-40 or plain SAE30. So I ran over to Northern Tool....they had no motor oil even though they sell tractors. Then to Walmart and the same thing, all 15w-40. So what they heck, I get two gallons of the Rotella and put them in my tractor.

All I want to know is did I screw up again? I've put another 3 hours on it since this oil change. There was an older guy at my B-I-L's shop who told me he couldn't find 10w-40, which is what his Bobcat is supposed to have, so he just uses the 15w-40. I have no idea if he is trustworthy in this matter.

Second question: I checked the gear oil level in the gear box of my JD LX-6 rotary cutter and the level was fine (it doesn't leak at all) but the oil was milky. Does this mean it has water in it?

Thanks for the help.

 

[ronjhall]

Yup you got the same oil I use in all my Diesels. Works good for me.
If your rotary cutter has not been run and it is still white. You may have synthetic that is mixed with water. It would not hurt to change the oil.

 

[Bird]

George, at least you've given me a good laugh. And yes, some of the tractor manufacturers are a bit behind on updating manuals. 10W-30 and 10W-40 in a diesel rated oil is hard, if not impossible, to find. Everyone I know uses 15W-40 in their diesels. Did you screw up? Well, you made a mistake, but in my opinion, not a serious one. Quaker State motor oil used to be diesel rated; in fact it was one of the oils recommended by Mercedes for their diesel cars, and it's what I used in my Isuzu diesel sedan. So I put it in my first Kubota before I noticed that it no longer had the diesel rating. I talked to a Quaker State tech guy who said it would be just fine for use in a diesel, but if you used it instead of an oil with the diesel rating, you should change oil more often. At any rate, you've got the right oil now and I'm sure no harm done.

I can't say for sure about your gear oil, but a milky appearance does frequently indicate water in the oil.

 

[cp1969]

I used to be able to buy 10w-30 CI-4 oil packaged by a company called Champion Lubricants. The place I used to buy it doesn't have any now, so I guess I'll use 15w-40 Delvac. I liked the 10w-30 especially for winter as I thought it made starting a tad easier.

Isn't Mobil1 CF diesel rated? It seems like I remember seeing that on it at one time.

 

[Doc_Bob]

Rotella 15-40 W works fine in my NH TN70A. It is a diesel rated oil.
Works fine.
Enjoy.
Bob

 

[Bird]

Bob, there are actually a lot of both oils and synthetics that are good, but everyone I knew personally in my area used either the Rotella or Delo 400 15W-40.

 

[Rusty]

The first thing I did was to put regular automotive oil in my Kubota L4400 at the 50 hour service. Along about 80 hours I read on here that there are special motor oils for diesel. Who knew? The owners manual said it had to be CF, CD, CE, CF-4, CG-4 etc and like an idiot I just assumed all modern motor oils covered all those bases.

N80: Did you check the specification (category) on the oil that you used? I use Valvoline Durablend 10W-30 in my B7500. The API Certification Mark (Starburst) says "FOR GASOLINE ENGINES," however, the Category is SM/CF. According to API, CF was "Introduced in 1994. For off-road, indirect-injected and other diesel engines including those using fuel over 0.5% weight sulfur. Can be used in place of CD oils." CF, CF-4, CG-4 are all current Categories for diesel engines.

 

[j845125]

I looked for 10w-30 diesel oil too. Finally found that AMSOIL makes some, so that's what I use. Valvoline Synpower is also rated for diesels.

 

[DieselPower]

The previous post said it all. Look for the API rating and make sure the oil you are using meets the rating required. There are 10W/30 diesel engine oils to be found. They just arn't as easy to find as 15W/40. Texas Refinery Corp. makes a great 10W/30 oil if that's the viscosity your looking for. Texas Refinery Corp. Specialty Lubricants and Greases

 

[monkeymonk]

Is this another one of those "oil threads"?heha