What oil is best? and what ratio?

[huskihl]

All we run in our water pumps and generators at work is 15w40. Mostly Rotella and Schaeffers. I’ve got one water/trash pump that the seal went out on between pump and motor and has been running 15w40 milkshake for at least a month. It started as a let’s just see how long it runs til it blows. It just keeps going and going. Who knows....

As long as there's enough shake in with the milk it'll probably go a long time. Gotta do what ya gotta do

 

[junkman]

Why does oil in a diesel engine turn so black , I have changed a tdi vw engines oil 3 times trying to get it transparent again and its still turning black.

 

[huskihl]

Why does oil in a diesel engine turn so black , I have changed a tdi vw engines oil 3 times trying to get it transparent again and its still turning black.

500-600 psi of compression causing blow-by past the rings.

 

[RI Chevy]

Soot

 

[jakethesnake]

Why does oil in a diesel engine turn so black , I have changed a tdi vw engines oil 3 times trying to get it transparent again and its still turning black.

Smoke man

 

[Cat 525]

Diesels always turn it black! Even in a brand new motor doesn't take long!

 

[Dustin4185]

The rotella oil my family has the most experience with is Shell Rotella. Now called T4. Ive personally seen 130hp turbo case tractors burning a few qts of oil a day doing hay and silage with valvoline, delo, mobil, gulf and others. Then switch to rotella and oil consumption go way down to a quart every 50 hrs. Thats a huge difference. On the farm we have several tractors with 6,000 to 18000 hrs and finally had 1 lost a turbo last year (compressor wheel blew apart). Thats not a oil issue tho. Several trucks with 300-500k on the clock and still not using any meaningful amount of oil. I remember a few years ago we bought a JD 2940 with 5500hrs. Engine was hammering bad. We rebuilt it had crank turned all new bearings new pistons, rings, liners and all. We ran it for a couple years then decided to sell it. Engine never burnt oil with us when we sold it to a local farmer with a 12 month engine warranty. The guy came back after a couple hundred hours and a oil change complaining about oil use. He switched to his favorite oil valvoline. He said he was using upwards of 4 qts a day running a silage bagger. He said something had to be wrong. We changed oil and filters back to wix filters and rotella oil use went back to nothing worth mentioning. He was shocked, i was also when i cut his filters apart and saw glitter. I still had the filters from the pm when we sold it (no glitter) i had him bring me the next pms filters back and there was tiny tiny amount of glitter (probably leftover from his valvoline pm) long story short i feel that rotella T4 is my oil of choice for diesels. I have no experience with any of the other rotella diesel oils tho.

We have a JD4455 with 20,000 on it and the second overhaul kit put in this past winter. It was ran on crap CoOp oil for most of its life until I got here. Same deal, 3-4 quarts in a 10-12 hour day disking with a 18’ Athens offset. Switched to Rotella T4 and went to maybe a quart a week before the rebuild. Only reason for the rebuild was had a liner seal go bad and didn’t trust the job (we did the last one). Now it doesn’t burn a quart in a month. We also have a 1964 3020 that quit using oil as well. We buy it by the drum now! We run it in two dozers, motor grader, six tractors, and two diesel mowers.

 

[Dub11]

We have a JD4455 with 20,000 on it and the second overhaul kit put in this past winter. It was ran on crap CoOp oil for most of its life until I got here. Same deal, 3-4 quarts in a 10-12 hour day disking with a 18’ Athens offset. Switched to Rotella T4 and went to maybe a quart a week before the rebuild. Only reason for the rebuild was had a liner seal go bad and didn’t trust the job (we did the last one). Now it doesn’t burn a quart in a month. We also have a 1964 3020 that quit using oil as well. We buy it by the drum now! We run it in two dozers, motor grader, six tractors, and two diesel mowers.

I'm so putting this T4 in my Honda now.

 

[mdavlee]

The 5420 m buddy owns will use a couple quarts of rotella in a week in the hay field. One of my Cummins was using 2 quarts of rotella every 5k miles. Others did fine on it.

 

[huskihl]

The 5420 m buddy owns will use a couple quarts of rotella in a week in the hay field. One of my Cummins was using 2 quarts of rotella every 5k miles. Others did fine on it.

I think it's a matter of Rotella cleaning built up carbon in the rings, allows the oil rings to work vs it cleaning out the gum around seals which allows it to leak. I've seen that happen too.

My Allison started to drip out of the front seal. Added a bottle of stop-leak and it slowed down. Added another and it quit .

Been scared to change the fluid since then. That was 7 or 8 years ago lol. I actually bought the inner and outer filter and fluid, just haven't got around to changing it yet

 

[mdavlee]

I think it's a matter of Rotella cleaning built up carbon in the rings, allows the oil rings to work vs it cleaning out the gum around seals which allows it to leak. I've seen that happen too.

My Allison started to drip out of the front seal. Added a bottle of stop-leak and it slowed down. Added another and it quit .

Been scared to change the fluid since then. That was 7 or 8 years ago lol. I actually bought the inner and outer filter and fluid, just haven't got around to changing it yet

It’s been run on rotella as long as I remember. It was new in 2001 and may have had a couple changes with Deere oil

 

[Dustin4185]

We are getting a new JD 5115M as soon as it is shipped from Germany. Probably run JD torque gaurd until the warranty is up. We will see what it does on these new fandangled emissioned tractors.

 

[Dustin4185]

I think it's a matter of Rotella cleaning built up carbon in the rings, allows the oil rings to work vs it cleaning out the gum around seals which allows it to leak. I've seen that happen too.

My Allison started to drip out of the front seal. Added a bottle of stop-leak and it slowed down. Added another and it quit .

Been scared to change the fluid since then. That was 7 or 8 years ago lol. I actually bought the inner and outer filter and fluid, just haven't got around to changing it yet

We ran Toyota oil (Mobil Dino) in my wife’s 4runmer for 180,000. Mobil 1 full synthetic was on sale so I switched. Started seeping from the rear main. Back to Dino oil and it stopped. Made it to 200,000 and we traded for the ‘16 4Runner we have now. It came with full synthetic 0w-20.

 

[RI Chevy]

I would think that had more to do with the synthetic qualities of the oil vs. the brand.

 

[Marshy]

Why does oil in a diesel engine turn so black , I have changed a tdi vw engines oil 3 times trying to get it transparent again and its still turning black.

Carbon and soot from blow-by.

 

[Marshy]

No sir. http://www.fs2500filter.com/

It is like kidney dialysis for your oil.

Very nice. They significantly extend the life of an engine. Just haven't seen many of them. Thanks.

 

[RI Chevy]

There is also an oil centrifuge model made by PPE. The centrifuge spins real fast and flings the junk in the oil to the outside and reintroduces the clean oil by into motor.
My oil still gets dark in color, but when you feel it, there is no grit in the oil. Looks like dark honey or maple syrup. Nice way to protect your investment.

 

[Marshy]

We ran Toyota oil (Mobil Dino) in my wife’s 4runmer for 180,000. Mobil 1 full synthetic was on sale so I switched. Started seeping from the rear main. Back to Dino oil and it stopped. Made it to 200,000 and we traded for the ‘16 4Runner we have now. It came with full synthetic 0w-20.

One disadvantage to synthetics is seal compatibility. Some seals may shrink or swell with synthetics causing leakage. They also have some incompatibility with surface coatings like paint and plastics. The modern vehicles are less prone to this because manufacturers awareness and switching seal materials.

 

[czar800]

We use all Rotella on our farm. Got four main tractors plus the combine and only one tractor uses a little bit of oil in between oil changes.

The Tractor that burns a little bit of oil has the German diesel in it. The other three are international DT motors and a 8.3 Cummins on the combine.

Dads Truck has a Catapillar in it my pick up has a Cummins and My brother has a Duramax.

 

[bwalker]

Funny thing Kevin, is I thought it was working too. I trusted Rotella....... Until I got the UOA back. The UOAs are not end all, be all, but they tell you what's going on inside the motor that one would never know UNTIL something happens. Just speaking for myself, but I feel much better running Mobil 1, knowing exactly what's going on inside my motor.
I know I am splitting hairs, but I think it is well worth it.

Delvac 1 should be better as it costs alot more. In 15w40 oils I really like Chevron Delo. Although I have seen too many good results with Rottella to write it off.