Oil & Fuel oil specs...

[tbjack]

I recently heard that zinc has been removed as an additive in oil and is causing premature wear. so this raises the general questionsof oil spec/stds. They change every so often and I wonder if it is a problem for our older machines. my Kubota B1550 is a 1995 vintage. And I notice that the last oil I bought is CJ the previous conformed to the CI std. Anybody know where we can find the details of these evolving stds and possible ramifications for older equipment? And what alternatives do we have? Additives and supplements?

Also changing my oil I noticed the manual recommends changing the filter every other oil change. this is not the way I was brought up. I don't like the idea of mixing clean oil with the dirty oil in the filter. why would Kubota?

One last question is being a little overfull harmful?

ciao,
dave on vashon

 

[RalphVa]

I'd just buy good oil, diesel-rated, and not worry about the specs.

For a while, I changed the oil every 3,000 miles on my Benz diesel and only changed the filter every other change. The recommended interval by Benz is 5,000 on a 1983. I'd take the cap off the oil filter to let the oil from it drain to the sump and put the cap back on, one of the few vehicles you can do this on. This brought fresh oil to the filter cavity. Now, I change the oil and use synthetic once/year and usually with about 6,000 miles; so, I change the filter every time.

I've overfilled the Benz. It has never been a problem on it. It takes 7 or 8 quarts. If you overfilled a tractor engine that only takes 2 quarts, it might be a little bit more of a problem.

Think you'll only have a problem if you greatly overfill. My father ran a service station. One time, he forgot to drain the old oil and put new on top (and guess he forgot to check the dipstick, too). The crankshaft beat up the oil so badly that it foamed and sent a bunch of foam to the hydraulic lifters. They were banging away when the (HS principal) customer brought the car back.

Ralph