What motor oil brand do you use?

I run mobil delvac 10w30 in my 06 volvo d12 and my 08 isx and they love it. starts are easier and they just seem to run a little smoother.

My 08 sdp cat is not getting the 10w30 though at the advice of my mechanic. He told me the cat engines are not precise enough to run a 30 oil in them and the damages to the engine will far out weight the benifits.

 

Decided to post this up for anyone interested. Have primarily used Schaeffer 700 15w40 syn blend in this pre-egr, factory rebuilt Detroit 60 12.7L. Thru the prodding of my Schaeffer rep, I decided to try the 711 10w30 syn blend. Was a little leery with the engine getting close to 500K miles on it. But, I gave it a shot. Not too bad of results. Numbers very close to the previous 15w40 numbers on multiple samples, except, this one shows the 711 has some pretty good levels of Zinc, Phos, Calcium, etc. More than their 15w40 and enough to make a racing engine builder drool, and I didn't lose nearly as much TBN. Used the same amount of oil, about 2 qts over the 20K miles. Sump capacity 9.5 gallons.

I have not had a 15w40 turn in nearly as good of numbers as this 10w30 did. A real stout oil. And for a factory remanned pre-EGR Detroit with almost 500K miles on it's second life, looks like a great match.

Miles on Motor 493387 Miles on oil 20100

Iron 28
Chromium 2
Lead 6
Copper 1
Tin 0
Aluminum 1
Nickel 0
Silver 0
Titanium 1
Vanadium 1
Silicon 3
Boron 1
Sodium 22
Potassium 2
Magnesium 985
Calcium 1494
Phosphorus 1276
Zinc 1573
Moly 68
Barium 0

Vis @ 100c 11.53
TBN 8.14
Oxidation 16
Nitration 8

 

Why did you decide to go with thinner oil after 500k?

 

Guess you didn't read the entire post. Read sentence number 2.

Either way, the results are pretty good. So it really is not an issue why I decided to try it out. Curiosity maybe. The Detroit Lube Manual says 10w30 ok in everything from the MBE engine thru the Detroit 60 right on up thru the DD15. They are factory filling with 10w30 now (as is every other heavy diesel OEM is doing), so it must be a viable option. Cold flow is better for one. Ability to get into tighter areas quicker is another. It takes less energy for the motor to move a 30w around an engine than it does a 40w oil. Makes sense. As to whether is was truly viable, I had to find out. My oil rep had given me a list of carriers that had switched over to all 10w30 in everything they were running, so that played into the decision a little I guess. It must be working. But I don't take anyone's word as gospel, I check things out myself. And yes, 10w30 is a viable option. It was the same price for me as the 15w40 I had already been using. And if it can work in a 500K mile engine and NOT increase oil consumption, that is a positive sign right there.

Not in any way suggesting that everyone drop 15w40 and run out and get an oil change with 10w30. I just posted the results for people to make up their own minds. I allowed myself to be a guinea pig for others. And if a factory remanned pre-EGR Detroit 60, 500K miles into it's second life, does well with the stuff, that should dispel any myths that 10w30 is wrong for anyone to use. Now one could get better cold flow and similar with a 5w40, but that requires full synthetic and much heftier price tag. No need to go that route. I get this 10w30 synthetic blend from Schaeffer, delivered free to my house along with free oil sample kits and analysis, for no more than $16.21 a gallon at the current price. Compare that to 10w30 on the shelf at a truck stop, or even a 10w30 syn blend HDEO at Wally World. That even meets or beats Wally World pricing. And it comes from a company that has been making oils and greases longer than ANYONE in N. America.. since 1839. And they developed the lubes for the Apache Attack Helicopter and M1 Abrams tank. So I am comfortable when they say a 10w30 will work fine, the Detroit lube manual allows that grade, that it will do fine. And it did.

People have just been conditioned over time that 15w40 is the only real thing that works. It was time to start thinking outside the box and try something that was allowed. Glad I did.

 

that motorcote oil additive is good staff but its expensive...I use rotella 15w-40.

 

What is in motorkote that makes it so good? No one knows and they won't say. I have never figured out why it is that anyone would need to add anything to a quality motor oil. The snake oil folks sure know how to play on people and get them to spend their money on stuff that has no objective research data available to the user that it does what it says. And Timken bearing machine gimmicks don't make the case. If you know what you are doing with one of those, you can show shampoo outperforming the best synthetic motor oil.

 

why Timken bearing machine tests don't make the case ? that motorkote dramatically lowers friction..

 

Because the Timken bearing machine, or "One Armed Bandit" as it is called in the oil community, is not repeatable, objective analysis. One can manipulate the test to prove anything they want.

Motorkote claims to dramatically reduce friction, but how would you know? Inquiring minds would love to see the documented third party lab testing analysis to substantiate their claim. But alas, there is none. Moly and boron also dramatically reduce friction, and have a long documented history of doing so, at least since WW II. Many modern engine oils use varying levels of moly or Boron or both as friction modification elements in their motor oils today for that reason. You can find a plethora of information on these friction reducing additives. What is Motorkote made of?

On the Timken machine, check this video put out by Amsoil. It does not promote their products, only shows you what the Timken machine (or Falix machine as it is called in some circles) is all about. See if it does not substantiate my claim that it is indeed the "One Armed Bandit". One thing for certain, when some snake oil salesman pulls one of these out to make their case, folks who know what is going on will not be fooled by his slight of hand sales pitch. And the ONLY documentation that Motorkote uses on it's website to prove their product is using one of these goofy Timken bearing test machines. That is really underhanded manipulation. That right there should cause anyone to avoid the product. Dishonesty really turns me off.

 

I just found a local distributor for Phillips 66, Conoco. They have a synthetic 15- 40 blend which they sell under $11.00 a gallon in bulk. I been doing some research on this oil which goes under the name "Guardol ECT". Been lots if positive reviews and for the money you can't beat it for a blend. I been using Delo 15-40 for a very long time. It might be a time for a change.

 

If you can get a 15w40 syn blend for $11 a gallon, and that is the grade you are wanting to use, then jump on it! Conoco makes good products. if you try it out, let us all know the results you get with it!