what oil does everyone use in their cummins in the winter, do people like the standard 15w40 or a diesel rated 10w30?

 

Ive got 300k on mine and a friend has 500k on his we both used Rotella 15-40 since day 1 and we have lived in Montana for the last umteen years.

During hunting season you are not near a plug in for a week or two and temps consistantly get below zero, on the east side i have had 2-3 back to back days in the -20 ball park unplugged cold oil and i have never had a problem start it up let it warm up build oil pressure and go. If its really cold -30 and colder i might climb under with a torch and heat the oil pan a little. I actually had the bottom end open recently to replace a rock damaged oil pan pulled the rod ends and main caps to check there was no visable severe wearing at all, just the norm for bearing ussage very minimal. MPO is that Synthetics are not worth the money. same with the 500k truck 500k and never been into the motor and he rods/ works the **** out of it just like i do mine.

We both change the oil between 3-5k miles, i regullarly hit mine about 3-3500. I have a lot of city and highway miles, his are mainly around town miles with a 20 mile commute tacked on each day.



BTW take a couple of clear glasses poor Shell Rotella, Castrol, Penzoil and Chevron Delo 15-40s into them and set them side by side that will help you make your decission easily. Thats how i made mine, funny the difference in clearity. Also its nice to tear open a motor and not have a bunch of varnish in there too

Couldn't have anything to do with mixing recycled oil into the new could it?

Dusty

 

15w40 since new year round. plug in when cold and no problems

 

15w-40 year round in Montana also but I plug in.
When it drops below -25 F I also use a pan heater.
Much easier than messing with two weights of oil, plus we get winter days here when it gets into the 50°s. Too light of an oil when it's warm is just as bad as too heavy when cold.

 

I use Amsoil SAE 15W-40 Synthetic Heavy Duty Diesel and Marine Motor Oil. Pour point -47 F . Quality product , Some people think they are to expensive but in my opinion they are worth the cost . They don't break down as fast at conventional oils.

 

15w-40 Rotella year round. Buy it by the case at Sams club.

 

Rotella 15w40. Go ask a big truck owner/operator what he uses. Probably 90% will say rotella. When we P.M. (preventative maintinence) a customer's unit, it's rotella also. Customer's equipment = a $250,000 loader or off road dump truck.

 

Mystik JT-8 15W-40

 

ROTELLA OIL IS OK BUT AS FAR AS THE BEST DIESEL OIL ON THE MARKET THAT IS NOT SYNTHETIC IS MOBIL DELVAC 1300. AWHILE AGO A STUDY WAS DONE SHOWING THAT MOBIL DELVAC 1300 15W40 FAR EXCEEDED ANY OTHER OIL INCLUDING ROTELLA. IT WAS SHOWN TO BE STILL VERY HIGH QUALITY AFTER 25,000 MILES OF USE. I DON'T LIKE ROTELLA BECAUSE I HAVE USED IT IN THE PAST AND I HAVE NOTICED IT TO BREAK DOWN VERY FAST (OIL ANAYLISIS) AND IT WAS CAUSING MY TRUCK TO BLOW BLUE SMOKE. THE MOBIL DELVAC 1300 I CAN RUN FOR A MINIMUM OF 5-6,000 MILES AND IT STILL CAN GO MUCH FURTHER. I ALWAYS CHANGE OIL AND FILTER BY 6,000 MILES THOUGH.

 

I know a guy that has 448k miles and has never changed his oil he just does the filter maybe once a year ( but he does fill up the filter) he said it has only been done 10 times since 94 and it has shell rotella 15w40 runs as good as a new one and gets 19 mpg all day long 3/4 ton 4x4 as a matter of fact nothing in it has been changed no fluids just put the first belt on it over christmas too...I have even told him about the KDP and he says its made it long it will a lot longer... Its like the energizer bunny just keeps going and going

 

FANZDSLPWR can you give a referance on that study. I would love to have that info in hand if you can get it.

 

I looked it up, the mobil 1300, it has a flash point of 230 degrees. Is that low compared to other oils?

 

I WILL TRY TO FIND THE STUDY ON THE NET. IT WAS MY DIESEL MECHANIC THAT SHOWED ME THE ARTICLE WHEN IT FIRST CAME OUT. BUT LIKE I SAID I HAVE HAD THE OIL ANALYSIS DONE AND ROTELLA DOES NOT COMPARE.

 

FANZDSLPWR has a good point. While I have not read the article, I have read some really positive info on Mobil Delvac 1300 over at www.bobistheoilguy.com

They post lots of oil analysis info, and they have commented in the past at what a great oil it is.

If I remember correctly, Rotella does a little better for us guys who have to deal with cold temps though. But that may just be splitting hairs.

Good luck, Kevin

 

I JUST WANT TO WARN EVERYBODY TO STAY AWAY FROM LUCAS OIL ADDITIVE FOR THEIR DIESEL RIGS. I PUT THAT IN MY 99 POWERSTROKE (POWERCHOKE) AND IT CAUSES ALOT OF PROBLEMS ESPECIALLY IN THE WINTER. THE STUFF IS SO THICK IT DOES NOT CIRCULATE RIGHT. MY POWERSTROKE CALLS FOR 15 QUARTS OF OIL AND LUCAS SAYS TO REPLACE 10% OF THE OIL WITH THEIR ADDITIVE. WELL TO MAKE A EXPENSIVE STORY SHORT I AM IN THE HOLE A THOUSAND BUCKS FOR A NEW OIL PUMP AND ABOUT 5 HOURS OF LABOR. I WOULDN'T EVEN PUT THAT STUFF NEAR MY 96 CUMMINS. AND FORGET ABOUT TRYING TO START YOUR RIG BELOW FREEZING WEATHER WITH THAT STUFF IN IT BECAUSE THE TRUCK WILL NOT START BECAUSE IT BECOMES ALMOST SOLID IN FREEZING WEATHER. I WILL JUST STAY WITH MY MOBIL DELVAC.