5W-40 SYNTHETIC FTW! :thumb:

 

I will just tell you in my 6.4 I've always just used motorcraft but I changed and used the T6 synthetic once and got an oil analysis and it was BAD and I switched back to motorcraft and got another sample and it was back to normal.

 

How was it BAD

ive used nothing but 540 syn in my truck and have never had a problem, I tried the 1030 syn blend and my truck absolutely hated me, complained on rough cold starts, swapped it out in 800 miles for the full syn and it went away. I would swap the next change, (and ONLY use motorcraft/racor filters)

if your having slow starts I would check FICM volts and batterys

by the way, motorcraft is made by penzoil IIRC (not 100%).....not one of the better choices

 

So you're actually saying to stick w/ the 15W-40 vs synthetic 5W-40?

 

I wouldnt change it, yes synthetic is better for it but 15w-40 is good to but wont be as good for very cold weather starts. :thumb:

 

Cool, I guess it might be a bit of a rough winter then. I live in MD, so the cold weather is coming. Do you just suggest then that I let it warm up for a few minutes before driving away so the oil can warm up? Also, will putting some rev-x in there be worth it and will it help?

 

rotella is cheap and used by many.
valvoline and mobil are alos used highly.

The only proof to what oil will be best for you is to test the oil. many use blackstone labs.

 

look here and pick your poision

http://www.powerstroke.org/forum/general-6-0l-discussion/87856-diesel-oil-comparison-test.html

 

Good info there. Thats what I based my oil choice off of, I ended up going with the 5w40 valvoline premium blue extreme. The cold starts are so much quieter and faster, it warms up a lot quicker, and shes not near as sluggish when cold.

My OAs have came back with flying colors, both told me I could go to 7500 between changes and retest, but I still stick with my 5000 change interval.

If you live anywhere cold, you are doing your engine and yourself a huge favor running 5w40. The owners manual says (at least on my truck) that if you see temps below 30 deg or so, you need to run an oil thinner than 15w. If youd like an example, set a cup of 15w40 and 5w40 out on a night below 30 deg and then try to suck em through a coffee stirring straw...Thats what your engine has to deal with...

 

Well Ive had my truck for 5 years now since new. I use 15/40 Rotella or Delvac all year round in WI, I plug the truck in when its at home but it gets a cold fire when I get off work.

It does chug like train compared to cummins and Dmaxes on a cold fire. I just let it go into high idle, once the trans gauge starts coming up I start to drive it easy.

 

You can do what you want, just giving advice. Just know its not the best for the internals of your engine to run molasses through it during the coldest times of the year.

There are guys that switch back and forth depending on the time of year. I just decided to run 5w40 year round cause i dont like the idea of mixing the oils, just a personal thing, but I would change back and forth before id ever run 15w40 in the dead of winter again.

The ole girl and I talked it over and she decided she liked the thin stuff year round...and especially in the winter:nod::hehe:

 

The two are like night and day. I ran 15w40 the first half year I had my truck. Went to 5w40 CLEARLY better. Also the Blackstone reports come back great. I use simple ole cheap T6! About 20 a gallon at Wall Mart.

Trully, night and day - especially in the morning when its not warm out.

 

It has started getting cold here in east tennessee as well( couple nights in the high 30's) I have 15w40 delo in now and couldn't tell any difference. I did let the oil temp come up to about 75 before leaving and she runs just fine.

I would try out some rev-x anyway. Won't hurt and gives everything an extra greasing up. I put 2 bottles every other oil change.

Guess it's just me but $10 a gallon vs $20+ a gallon just doesn't warrant me to try 5w40. Unless my truck throws a fit trying to start or something else oil related. There are people who run 15w40 all the time and have no trouble. Then there are people who's truck will not hardly run anything but 5w40. Never seen an engine so tempermental about oil as these 6.0's.

Too bad 5w40 never goes on sale, I would stock up to try it out.

 

My truck had 15w-40 in it when I bought it, chugged like hell when cold, slow starting, the Ford diesel mechanic suggested 10W-30, I tried Rotella T-5 10W-30 with REV-X one change, remarkably better, next change I went to Rotella T-6 5W-40, my engine starts and runs AMAZING. When cold it starts so quick, it torques the chassis, and it seems like it starts in a revolution or two. Hot starts, although not as quick, are right in the 2-3 second range. My engine cold also sounds even and smooth, T-6 it is.

 

I use nothing but amsoil synthetic in my truck good starts no complaints here! :thumb:

 

Motorcraft is fine oil. Ive actually been using the Mobil Delvac the last couple of changes because you can get it on sale sometimes. But the report I got back from Blackstone while I was using the T6 was bad as in all the metal contents were up and it scared me and I switched back and tested again at the same mileage and all was ok.

 

I too had three consectitive runs of RTS 5w-40 (prior to being called T6) with higher than my normal wear metals.

We may all be splitting hairs here on UOA's, but I have had OTR truckers and heavy equipment operarors tell me they refuse to use Rotella because of it breaking down early and not being able to hold its warm idle oil pressure compared to other oils.

 

I believe there was a formula change from the RTS 5w40 to the T6. So the two are not the same. At least that's what I remember reading awhile ago. Maybe I should look that up again.

 

Well for me the "proof was in the pudding" so to speak. I ended up paying twice as much per gallon vs. the oil I was using for more wear metals and shearing of the viscosity to a low 30wt. It just didn't make any sense.

With saying that driving conditions do play a large role in how your oil is going to hold up. The Deere Plus 50 15w-40 and currently the 10w-30 I have no problem running to 7,500 mi. OCI, and I have UOA's to verify this.

 

So how are you guys pulling the sample to make sure you get a consistent mix not just then crap of the bottom of the pan?

 

I always let it drain for a min or so and grab the oil midstream.

It takes forever for 3.5 gallons of oil to drain out so there is no problem grabbing oil midstream somewhere:thumb:

 

I have the TDR article of the oil analysis shown. From what I remember reading the article was written when CJ oils came out. And the biggest push of the oil comparison was to find a CJ oil most like CI4 oils in terms of high TBN numbers. And they were critical of CJ oils with low TBN numbers and thus rated them very low.

However later articles showed that the lower TBN numbers were fine considering the use of ULSD fuels...which don't produce the acidic conditions in oil that LSD fuels did. So you didn't need as much base to combat this.

Case in point...DELO 400 was once considered the absolute best oil for Cummins engines and everyone used it. It was cheap and about like using synthetic. As soon as it was rated a CJ oil with a low TBN...it fell right off the list and went to the bottom. According to that report its considered trash. No testing, no lab reports nothing. Just a low TBN.

People who actually lab tested Low Emission CJ oils were showing good results in used oil. So the whole high TBN number thing to me threw this report off and made it biased. The report just trys to show which CJ oil was most like CI4+ oils. Everyone on TDR with Dodges wanted to keep the theory of "high TBN oils are best" alive. And the proof to me was throwing DELO400 under the bus.

 

5w40 synthetic is the way to go with the 60 unless you are in a super cold climate and the I suggest the Amsoil 5W30 for the winter months. Those of you who want to run dino 15w40 will end up paying for it in replacing injectors unless you are using a 3500 mile OCI. Synthetic will seek out the heat and won't coke up like dino oil, nor will it develop the sludge that the dino oil leaves behind. I expect the higher wear numbers for those just switching to synthetic was a result of the synthetic cleaning up the engine.

 

I'm running Amsoil 5w40 starts good sounds good and i think my motor thanks me for it. I go 4000 miles on an oil change just because mine pulls my 5er 99% of the time it's not a grocery getter so it gets a work out and by keeping fresh oil running a by-pass sending my oil samples in it will thank me by staying out of the shop plus the down time sucks:doh:
Here is Fords new deal i think bismic posted it somewhere
SAE 5W-40 Full Synthetic Diesel Motor Oil
2 stroker