Well seasoned school bus mechanic tells me when they get somebody new changing oil it's only about 2 weeks till they stop filling up new filter with oil before threading on new filter without prefilling.  Interesting part to me was no failures that he knows of.  I fill mine but wondering if really necessary. Other than manual says so.  

Do you prefill?

So all you guys are running conventional oils? 

5 hours ago, JAG1 said:

I saw a guy change to synth one time... after about a hundred thousand there was oil all over the engine from leaks. It was incredible how he thought it was so good and kept going on and on about how I need his car not to go looking at any others. He was college professor. Of course I walked away and found a real cream puff, no leaks, no tappet noise etc for 5 thousand bucks. It served us well for a long time on fred flintstone oil rinses every 5,000 miles.

 

9 hours ago, Mopar1973Man said:

Seriously this why I don't buy into the hype of synthetic oils and name brands. As long as the oil meets or exceeds the requirements of the engine use it. Our engines require CI-4 or better and typically 15w-40 viscosity is fine for most normal operation. Synthetic oil is not required. The only thing about filter filling I would heed the warning about filling the oil filters. Long ago there were reports of the oil cooling nozzles being plugged up with debris. Some of this came from the Fram oil filter problems and other came from debris falling into the center hole of the oil filter. (foil cover). Either way, anything placed in the center hole is unfiltered oil head for the bearing and cooling nozzles. 

 

Myself, I typically do not fill the filters anymore. Startup to oil pressure is typically 2 seconds tops. After having the head off and seeing the cylinder walls I was happy with the oils I'm using and plan on continuing down that path. Like currently running Delo 15w-40 CK-4 oil. I'm currently using NAPA filters being the frequency of my oil change is very short in time but still 7k thereabouts. 

 

I always have. Not knocking sythetic, I just never saw the need for it for me.

44 minutes ago, Marcus2000monster said:

So all you guys are running conventional oils? 

 

Never have used synthetic engine oil. Transmission requires synthetics. Everything else has been normal petroleum oils.

1 hour ago, Marcus2000monster said:

So all you guys are running conventional oils? 

 

 

Yes thats all I've ever used and will continue to use.

 

Used regular non detergent 30 wt oil in my old Getrag 5 spd. Shop couldn't figure out why my trans lasted 425,000. They were scratching their heads.

Dang looks like i found a way to save a few bucks. @cajflynn What did you run in your million mile rig? 

1 minute ago, Marcus2000monster said:

Dang looks like i found a way to save a few bucks. @cajflynn What did you run in your million mile rig? 

As I remember lots of Dino. I hope @cajflynn responds.

2 hours ago, Marcus2000monster said:

So all you guys are running conventional oils?

 

My opinion is there is a place for both conventional and synthetic...  One can be better than the other depending on the application and environment.

 

The problem I have with how people discuss synthetic oils is usually that they have no clue what they're talking about and all their conclusions are based on nothing more than rumors and tricky advertising they read or heard somewhere.

 

That said, most synthetics are nothing more than the premium base from petroleum crude taken during the refining process.  Meaning yes, most synthetics are from the same crude petroleum bases that conventional oils are made from too.  Kinda like extra virgin olive oil...

 

The real difference in synthetic is the proprietary recipe of additives depending on the type of lubrication, and synthetic has a more symmetrical molecular structure than conventional oil.  This is what allows for better pour properties in the cold too.

 

But the problem with ALL oil is oxidation from heat.  When the oil gets approximately above 180* F or so, oxidation allows an oxygen molecule to take a smaller oil molecule away, leaving the larger oil molecules behind, eventually making the oil thicker and thicker.  So because the molecules in synthetic are similar in size, the oxygen molecules have a harder time carrying any off.  Thus the oil remains more stable over time.  This is why synthetics can go longer between change intervals and why synthetics are able to withstand a bit more heat.

 

I run conventional oil in my trucks engine, and will always run conventional.  But that said, I have synthetic in the rear differential, conventional in the front differential, and synthetic in the transmission, transfer case and power steering.

Edited October 4, 20186 yr by KATOOM

For me, I think soot is big killer of diesels so I change it often (7000 miles).  Soot that is mixed in with oil gets dumped at a change. I'm not going to spend money on fancy oil for that amount of miles.  Valvoline 15 40 for me.  

1 hour ago, Marcus2000monster said:

Dang looks like i found a way to save a few bucks. @cajflynn What did you run in your million mile rig? 

 

@cajflynn ran Chevron Delo 15w-40 and fleetguard filter changing oil every 20k miles. 

 

Ask @dorkweed about his 3rd Gen. He ran WalMart SuperTech 15w-40 and Motorguard bypass filter. He managed to run ~80k miles on a single oil change. Testing with Blackstone every 7k miles and just changing the filters and topping off.

2 hours ago, dripley said:

As I remember lots of Dino. I hope @cajflynn responds.

Wonder if he ever had pistons out, I do believe he did work on the head? 

Just now, Dieselfuture said:

Wonder if he ever had pistons out, I do believe he did work on the head? 

I am not for sure he ever did? But thats been a while back.

1 hour ago, 015point9 said:

Valvoline 15 40 for me.  

Premium blue is what I've been running in 8 generators I service once a year at work, did few oil samples never had anything out of ordinary. I've used it in my truck few times too. Might just start using it again when my senpeco runs out.

18 minutes ago, Dieselfuture said:

Wonder if he ever had pistons out, I do believe he did work on the head? 

I know off at least two head gaskets on his truck.

12 minutes ago, Mopar1973Man said:

I know off at least two head gaskets on his truck.

That goes to show what I know.

Delo dinosaur oil here, and I run Delo in my gas motors too

On 10/4/2018 at 9:46 AM, JAG1 said:

I saw a guy change to synth one time... after about a hundred thousand there was oil all over the engine from leaks. It was incredible how he thought it was so good and kept going on and on about how I need his car not to go looking at any others. He was college professor. Of course I walked away and found a real cream puff, no leaks, no tappet noise etc for 5 thousand bucks. It served us well for a long time on fred flintstone oil rinses every 5,000 miles.

As I've always said, synthetic flows better and will find leaks and ways to escape. If your engine seeps oil with dino it will leak with synthetic. If your engine burns dino oil it will only be worse with synthetic. I prefer synthetic in the 01 because my ear hears less clatter from the engine, cold starts in negative degree weather were much better, and it did minorly increase fuel mileage. Class 8 rigs really see the better fuel mileage benefit of running synthetic blends and full synthetics because they save tens of thousands dollars a year in fuel alone. Then most go on extended drain intervals with uoa done routinely. I've seen oil in 15 liter diesels with close to a half million miles and uoa still looked great. I don't have anything against dino oil either. I run dino in the 97 12V with no complaints. I don't buy by brand but rather by price and availability when selecting oils but I don't like mixing brands. At the shop we use Fleet Pride branded "OTR" oils and have yet to have any complaints or mechanical failures from it. 

 

On 10/4/2018 at 6:01 PM, 015point9 said:

For me, I think soot is big killer of diesels so I change it often (7000 miles).  Soot that is mixed in with oil gets dumped at a change. I'm not going to spend money on fancy oil for that amount of miles.  Valvoline 15 40 for me.  

Soot will never be an issue unless extended idling occurs often or the engine is over fueled. Idling is bad because cylinder temps are cold causing incomplete combustion and soot. Soot then gets past the rings and starts soot loading the oil. In the end you can't over service a vehicle but things like uoa can help determine the best oil drain interval which can save you money and extend the life of the engine. I typically spend less than $100 a year on maintenance on my 01 with 2 Fleetgaurd fuel filters, Fleetgaurd oil filter, and 3 gallons of Rotella T6. The engine doesn't leak or burn oil so I only buy 3 gallons. Sometimes I do flush other fluids in the truck though so sometimes I go over the $100 a year on maintenance.

On 10/4/2018 at 2:39 PM, dripley said:

I always have. Not knocking sythetic, I just never saw the need for it for me.

I hate to spill the beans, but did you guys know Dripley drinks synthetic beer !?

Edited October 6, 20186 yr by JAG1

1 minute ago, JAG1 said:

I hate to spill the beans, but did you guys know Dripley drinks that synthetic beer !?

Most likely to go along with the synthetic chicken right?

Yeah, last time I heard, Gov't testing lab found feathers melting with a heat gun test 

Edited October 6, 20186 yr by JAG1