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Ck4 oil and 7.3l ?

23K views 26 replies 11 participants last post by  DaveP. 
#1 ·
So bought some delo 15w-40 today and noticed delo kind of bragging about this new ck4 oil and from what I read I gathered this:

Diesel based oils have been getting away with a higher Zinc, and Phosphorus additive since they normally don't have catalytic converters. (Zink and Phosphorus, great for lubrixation. But builds up and kills cats). Now that diesels have dpfs, cats etc they removed ALOT of zinc and phosphorous to become more emissions friendly but they claim it has better sheer qualities and won't airate as much?

Should I be using a zinc/phosphorus additive now with this new ck4 stuff? Someling loke 400+ ppm or something less zinc or phosphorus in the new oil but they didn't say how it's improved for sheer and reduced foam etc?

I normally wouldn't care but there seems to be a lot of hub-bub (concern) over the ck4.
 
#2 ·
I would like some feedback on this issue too...I just did an oil change with the new Delo CK4/SN and had no idea about the debate going on until afterward.

Should we be using this at all? Should we be using an additive as Justin0009 mentioned?

Any comments would be appreciated!
 
#3 ·
I know the 7.3l is not like the 6.7L but ford has a list of approved oils. I found Travelers brand at tractor supply co for $11.57 a gallon. Im not a oil guy but taking more zinc and phosphorus for the sake of emissions equipment I don't have is bad juju. The oil could be fine but I will continue to run the CJ4 type oil I found at Tractor Supply Co.

if you Google it most oil companies claim there are some sort of additive to correct the reduced zinz and phosphorus and improve lubricity with metal to metal contact points but I already found the CJ4 oil with 6-800ppms more zinc and I'll have to look on the phosphorus again.

I wont be using zddp additive unless the travelers brand is changed tpo ck4 which might be soon but who knows.
 
#5 ·
CM you should be fine.

The old formula delo had a good additive package. 1200 ppm Zddp.

Then a whopping 500 ppm boron.

If the new formula is anywhere around 1k Zddp and still has all that boron it might be ok
 
#6 ·
There's another thread on here regarding the CK oil. Ford came out with a bulletin with a new Ford spec for oils used in their Diesel engines, particularly the 6.7. But the spec is for all "Ford Diesels". The new Delo CK doesn't meet it. But either does the old Delo LE CJ. Looking at my Blackstone reports, the Zinc and Phosphorus in the old CJ is 1200 and 1100ppm. I was able to obtain 12 Gallons of the Delo CJ spec, which is about a 3 year supply my current accumulation of mileage and change interval. I'm sure more information and a solution to this will occur during the next 3 years.

There was a similar hub-bub over the reduction of Zinc in gasser engine oil when the spec changed to SM. The hot rod world went crazy worrying about increased wear. Turns out the only real component affected is non-roller camshaft followers. In Chevrolets, these would be engines produced prior to 1987. Not many of those left that are operated enough miles annually for anything to wear. It was a lot of angst over nothing. This CK thing appears to be the same deal in the Diesel world.

Zinc is a "lubricant". The component in a 7.3 that is most affected by loadings that Zinc can protect against are the wrist pins. Unless you run your 7.3 at maximum output at all times, I doubt even a reduction to 600ppm in Zinc would affect the service life of the wrist pins. I would say wait it out, and see what develops. In the mean time, there are a bunch of oils that meet the new Ford spec, including Motorcraft from Ford. Use one of those until your preferred brand gets on the list too. Or stock up on the older spec oil while its still available.
 
#7 ·
Last I looked the old spec ci-4 and ch-4 had 1800 ppm Zddp. Before Cj-4.


Now we are down to a thousand ppm.
 
#8 ·
Several years ago, I went on the Mobil 1 website. After inputting my '02 7.3L specs, Mobil recommended "Mobil 1 Turbo Diesel Truck 5W-40" - "meets or exceeds requirements of API CJ-4/Cl-4" I have been using the Mobil 1, changing at 8-10k intervals.

I recently went to the Mobil 1 website, and re-entered my vehicle specs. There was no Mobil 1 recommendation for my vehicle. Instead the website stated: "Please consult your vehicle manufacturer's manual for information specific to your vehicle."
 
#11 ·
You can get the Motorcraft 15w40 5 quart jug at Walmart for $18 that's what I always use.
 
#16 ·
Get it now, it's on sale for $22.99 that's $4.60 per gallon. I picked up a little today :)







:usa:
 
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#15 ·
Interesting. Hadn't thought of this. I just changed my oil with Rotella T-6. I just checked the specs, it still "Meets or exceeds pi CJ-4 requirements of today's low emission engines." But, I will be checking next time I go buy oil.
 
#17 ·
How do you get it from the bucket into your engine, do you have a pump?
 
#22 · (Edited)
Thanks for the link I will give it a read but I googled til my eyes bled and compared hundreds of posted blkackstone oil reports.


I learned that the ck4 stuff is not super bad but it does in fact have a few hundred less zinc, phos, a little less magnesium and some others by comparing a bunch of ck4 and cj4 oil reports from blackstone but one guy did a test on his 6.7l with some additives and I feel the results speak for themselves. I will be using rotella t6 5w-40 synthetic with only 1 bottle of rislone zddp additive until something changes from ford or with ck4 etc, He ran is 6000 miles and then posted the results on the org. looked amazing and brought the ck4 oil just above the levels of old cj4 and the additive is about $5-7 locally and he ran it in a 2015 6.7l so gotta admire bravery for trying it and then seeing the results were great.

after reading the article he has to this day only tested a few of the newer ck4 oils and 3 out of 5 were amsoil products etc.


adding 1 bottle of rislone zddp to the 3.75 gallons of rotella t6 made the results almost identical to cj4 delo etc.
 
#23 ·
The blogger (mechanical engineer) says that the oil reports are pretty useless for determining "wear protection".
He is pretty long winded, but provides a wealth of info and stats from his testing along with credentials.
Also, he is mostly focused on the gasser oils but does test some of the major diesel oils and explains the difference between the 2 types to help you understand.

My father-in-law was an engineer (retired) and those types research and test over and over and over to produce real world data !
 
#24 ·
Ya that blog is looong.

I read part of it earlier.
 
#26 ·
Ya I’ve read that too.

Organic additives that don’t appear on black stones report.

I wish there was more UOA’s with ck4.
 
#27 ·
I've been using a CI rated 15/40 in the C12's and C15's in two of my clients' yachts. It is Caterpillar brand, (I don't know who actually makes it for Cat) I had a Blackstone done on a virgin sample of the oil:
1289 Phosphorus
1423 Zinc
TBN 10.1

I recently had blackstones done on the 2 Cats and 2 Gensets in a 62' after a 4-month Mexico cruise. 300 hours on the Cats and 350hr on the gens and there was still a lot of TBN left. I was very impressed with the oil and the numbers. Not to mention the Cats didn't use ANY oil during the 300 hour interval. (Sometimes the oil itself can contribute to "consumption").

Downside is cost: $150 for 5 gallon bucket. When I run out of my supply of Delo 400 CJ, I may consider this Cat-branded CI oil if I can get by the twice the price thing.
 
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