broncobilly

Edwin,
Thanks for the input!

whatme33

The true test is after u used synthetic or regular oil and ALWAYS changed at low milage is how much wear is in the cylinder liners and pistons. I change very often and regular with standard 15/40 and at 450,000 and up pull the heads off, check cylinders for wear. If marginal wear I roll in new new bearings and rings. I also add 2 stroke oil to lube upper end and pump and so on. It seems to give a extra 200 klms per tank. 100/1 ratio. Sometimes much more on long trips. But this extra cost saves big on rebuilds.
Years 91,92,93,94 used for shipping supplies.

65fury

hey guys i use delo with a lucas oil additive, is that good for a truck with 160,000 miles on it, or is amsoil that much better?

wannadiesel

Delo is fine all by itself. There is not a bad brand-name diesel rated oil on the market. You don't need additives, and given your location you don't need a synthetic either.

PapeCAT

I've been using delo 400 from costco , 6 gallon case for 35 bucks.

dpuckett

I agree with bgilbert and wannadiesel- stick with dino oil, unless you go for Rotella 5w40 from Wal Mart for $13/gallon. The engine will go literally a million miles & outlast 3 bodies in current form with conventional oil, so why try to extned ITS life? The money would be better spent on other stuff, like suspension, drivetrain, or body work/ updates.

Ace, where are you paying $4 a qt for RotellaT 15-40? Wal Mart sells it for $7.50-8 a gallon; makes it $1.87-2/qt. I'll sell all you want to buy for $3.00 a qt. But, the cheap stuff ($6.50/gal) is API CI-4 rated; our engines only require CF-4 or so (I forget, but it was the pre-94 requirement). So in theory, it will work as well as the name-brand stuff. I'll have oil analysis results when I get to the 5k mark.

Daniel

Boatnik

Synthetic oil tolerates higher temperatures than dino oils. That comes into play most often when you don't let the turbo cool down like you are supposed too. I,ve been running Amsoil in everthing I own that has good seals for several years now and don't regret it a bit. I'm even running it in my 250 HP Mercury outboard. 165 hours on it so far and no problems. And that includes a lot of time trolling.

PapeCAT

There is nothing wrong with Dino oil. There is nothing wrong with synthetic either, however I find it annyoing that AMSOIL has launched their business campain with armys of so-called 'dealers' that bash dino and cause people like the original poster to question whether or not they should switch to synthetic.
I do run synthetics..... IN MY GETRAG.

Bill Tomlinson

Synthetic is VERY good oil. As Wannadiesel says any major namebrand Dyno will serve very well. My BMW bike club has done extensive oil research and the conclusion they have come to is that the best oil there is with a few thousand miles on it is not as good as a good oil which is fresh. Buy cheap, good oil and change it frequently. I suppose if I had one of those newer common rail cummins I might be tempted to use synthetic and extend the oil change interval to justify the cost. Those newer engines don't develop anything like the soot that the older ones do. I think it is a good idea to use a really good filter and change the oil frequently.

wannadiesel

Synthetic is better oil, but in a lot of situations the extra cost outweighs any benefits. I recommend 5W-40 synthetic to guys in cold climates, it makes the engine start easier and the oil flows much better. Above 15 degrees, dino oil is just fine.

In high stress applications like the Getrag, there's no question that a synthetic is the way to go. There's lots of heat and a lot of shearing action on the oil. The rear axle on a truck that does a lot of towing is another perfect place to put a synthetic. Nobody needs synthetic in the front axle, though.

cLAYH

Living in a cold climate I have to agree with Wannadiesel. I had a Jeep cherokee that had no block heater from the factory and at the time(middle of winter) I didn't have the means to put one in. Starting below -20C was difficult and below -25C was chancy. So I switched to 5w20 synthetic and noticed immeaditaly a much easier start at cold temps, engine spun much easiser. But I also developed oil leaks. Come spring I went back to 10W30 dino, leaks reduced themselves to minor weeps. So that fall I replaced some seals and went back to synthetic.

I really don't buy into that extended oil change interval though. The oil may still be good and the filter may be taking out the particles but you still have acid that builds up in the oil that only gets removed by dumping the oil.

Bill Tomlinson

What? Way down south in Calgary and you are worried about cold start properties?

Just kidding....

I tend to leave the CTD parked when it is minus 30ish.. The old Volvo warms up really fast when it is cold and the Dodge needs to warm up forever to develop any heat.

By the way, the Volvo has 300,000 km and has never had any synth in it. It does not use oil.

My Dodge burns no oil and it has never seen synthetic either.

I use a mix of synth and dyno in my Getrag because synth is better for it but a little high mileage dyno seems to keep the leaking to a minimum.

I drive old cars because I can't (or won't) afford new vehicles. It is probable that the engines in both my Dodge and my Volvo will outlast the rest of the vehicles.

I am retired and never plug in either vehicle. The Volvo fires up instantly at minus 30 and is pumping out warm air in less than five minutes. If I had to run the Dodge in super cold weather I would put in lighter oil and plug it in.

Clean oil is important. If I had unlimited funds I would use synthetic and change it every 5,000 km or sooner. If I had unlimited funds I would be driving a new CTD and would not worry about oil or anything else.

PapeCAT

This may be the case for many people who own first Gens, however I wouldn't take a newer 2nd or 3rd Gen. Our Diesels don't need 24V's, however emmissions requirements, more than likely were one of the reasons for the switch from 98.5 on.

90firstgen

Just adding my 2 cents about oil here I use royal purple in everything and I love it. IMO it's the best synthetic out there. It stands up to heat a little better than most other synthetics, it has amazing film strength so there arent any dry starts, and it wooped amsoil's edit in the lubricity test. My dad was present during this test and royal purple took over twice the weight on the "machine" before it stopped. He still has the test strips from it actually. Not trying to start any wars though

Ace

Last time I stocked up on Rotella 5w40 T-syn at Walleyworld it was like $12.85/gal, as I recall. Granted, that was early last year and I recently noticed it is now around $15/gal.

Needs, wants, dino is good enough, syn is better. Fact is, syn flows better at ALL times, holds up better under stress (heat!), and can go alot farther between changes. That translates to lower startup wear at any temperature, and better protection at all times in any environment. Throw in a bypass filter and periodic full flow and bypass changes and your change intervals lengthen considerably - more than offsetting the additional cost. Do the math.

Use a big enough bypass filter and the need to actually change disappears completely. This is known as the "perpetual sump." Makeup oil through filter changes replaces enough TBN (additives) to maintain the oil and keep contaminants in check.

Only the best for my CTD, just personal preference.