Suggestions for a good synthetic motor oil for my ck30

[albmn10]

Hello, im curious about some insight on a good synthetic diesel motor oil for my Ck30. I like to run a mixed synthetic in my jeep and was wondering if their was a good synthetic or mixed synthetic blend to run in my tractor. Im just about at the 150 hr mark and the machine has been flawless so far. Is a synthetic oil good to use from this point on ? And if so what brands are among the tops one can use.. Any help is appreciated... Matt

 

[VictorW]

Everyone has their own preference as you will see in some previous posts. Because my winter weather is colder, similar to yours, I use 5W-40 Rotella full synthetic year round in my CK30hst. I had no starting problems last winter. I get mine at WalMart. I remember some members mentioned using Delo and others Redline but I'm sure there are more. As far as synthetic oil over standard oil, I'm sure that is up to debate with the members here. I'm hoping the synthetic will protect the engine a little more and don't mind the extra cost if I can get more hours from it. I can't say that one brand or type is better than the other because I haven't seen any official test results.

 

[Dargo]

If you want to run a synthetic blend, then the Rotella would be okay. I'm sure you already know that Rotella isn't really a true synthetic oil. In lab comparison tests, the Walmart brand of "synthetic" outperformed the Rotella pseudo synthetic. So, if it's price you are after, I'd use the Walmart brand over Rotella. As you can find if you look, there has been test after test after test on Rotella and it is just a decent "cheap" oil, but isn't any better than the Walmart brand. I use the Walmart brand "synthetic" in an old Jeep I have with fine results.

If you plan on keeping the tractor for quite a long while and do want to protect what I'd consider a relatively large investment, I'd use Red Line, Royal Purple, Mobil 1, or Amsoil. They are in a completely different group than the Rotella oil that sells based on price alone. Out of those true synthetics, the Amsoil 20w50 diesel oil is the least expensive, so that is what I use in my tractor and other diesel powered items.

 

[NewToy]

Dargo, I thought the Amsoil would be more than the Mobil 1, there I go thinking again. How does the Mobil 1 spec out against the Amsoil?
Thanks,
John

 

[Dargo]

How does the Mobil 1 spec out against the Amsoil?
Thanks,
John

Just peachy. I'd just buy by which you can get at a better price.

 

[IslandTractor]

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but as the topic is oil and Kiotis:

Are you guys who are using synthetic oils still sticking with the original oil change intervals or are you stretching it out? Pretty pricy to replace Mobil 1 every hundred hours. My car uses Mobil 1 but the manufacturer suggests oil changes every 10,000 miles. No sense wasting good oil by changing too often.

Is there any real data, not opinions, to suggest that if you change synthetic oil every 100 hours along with filter that you'd have longer diesel engine life than a similarly maintained engine using say Shell Rotella heavy duty dino oil?

 

[Dargo]

Yes, one of the tests is called the 4 bearing scar test. It measures how much the oil protects metal from damage while under pressure; much like the components in your engine. Products like Mobil 1, Royal Purple, Red Line, and Amsoil perform far better than most other oils. Rotella is not even a heavy duty dino oil; it's just cheap oil they have marketed heavily to diesel owners. It actually performs no better than the no-name Walmart generic stuff.

 

[VictorW]

Dargo, Where could these tests be found to read over? I would be interested in seeing the test results. I thought Rotella was a good oil, but if it's not then I definately would like to change oil brands. I like to take care of my toys and if an oil brand change is what's needed, then another oil change is near for my CK30hst. Thanks

 

[IslandTractor]

Yes, one of the tests is called the 4 bearing scar test.

Do you mean the Four Ball Wear Test(ASTM D-4172)? I'd still like to know the correlation between the "4 bearing scar test" and engine service life. There are all manner of tests that may or may not correlate with real world outcomes. What I am interested in is a head to head comparison of real world engine life. I assume at least some of the engine manufacturers and/or oil companies have done such tests as part of their development programs.

I know that data must exist showing the the synthetics do have an advantage as some big companies (Mercedes) have formally switched their recommendations to use it along with recommending longer oil change intervals. However, if the difference in tractor engine life is say 5% then that might not justify the expense of using synthetics especially if they need to be changed every 100hours. For example if it costs an extra twenty bucks (vs Rotella dino) every 100 hours and the difference in engine life is only 5% (say 4750 hrs instead of 5000hrs), then you'd have to consider the cost of the superior oil over that time ($1000) against an extra 250hrs of engine life. I imagine a new engine for my tractor would cost less than $5000 so it might not make sense to invest lots of $$ to stretch its service life by a few hours.

Where are the real world tests and economic analyses?

 

[VictorW]

IslandTractor, You make a good point. I never sat down and figured the extra oil cost versus the new engine replacement cost. Supposedly, the synthetic is supposed to last two to three times longer meaning longer intervals between oil changes. If you stretched out the oil changes, then it might pay off, but I'm a firm believer of more frequent oil changes because there is more than just dirt in the oil which the filter takes out. You have combustion by-products which contaminate the oil and there is the threat of moisture building up in the oil especially if it's only run at short intervals and in colder climate.