Synthetic Oil

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StNick

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I have a 94 2500/4wd/5.9L Diesel/130,000 miles. I aquired this truck at 126,000 miles and the oil had been changed by a dealer. The book calls for 6,000 miles between oil changes and I usually run Delo 400. Used this oil in my last truck (87 F250/6.9L Diesel) and it had approx. 275,000 miles and was running great before a non-engine related fire. My question to this list is should I continue with Delo-400 or should I switch to synthetic oil and if I do switch, how often should this oil be changed. The truck is mainly used to drive and carry small stuff between two homes 75 miles apart, 50% freeway. Thanks in advance.
 

huntergreen

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I would stick with what your using. I wold also suggest a fleet guard stratopore oil filter. I changed oil and filter every 5000 miles. The 5.9 Cummins creates lots of soot. Donated alarmed at how fast the oil darkens after you change the oil, it’s normal. You should, with proper maintenance , reach 300000miles or more on that engine.
 
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StNick

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Thanks for the reply. I have heard only good things about Fleetguard filters so that's what I will use. I am very familiar with the oil darkening quickly. My Ford diesel did it. I also drove a big truck for 20 years and most big trucks use some version of a Cummins engine. Thanks again!.
 

dapepper9

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As cheap as oil is these days, there's no reason not to switch to synthetic. 6,000 is a bit long for conventional no matter what you're doing with it.
 

Burla

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Delo is a nice oil, I'd stay put. They now sell it at costco, petty cool if you have one there. Here is a voa of delo, the big name diesel oils because of regulation and specs just aren't worth the scratch. Yes, you get a better base oil, but you get a worse additive package. Look into filtration, get a spun microglass filter and run that delo, you are set.
 

dapepper9

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Delo is a nice oil, I'd stay put. They now sell it at costco, petty cool if you have one there. Here is a voa of delo, the big name diesel oils because of regulation and specs just aren't worth the scratch. Yes, you get a better base oil, but you get a worse additive package. Look into filtration, get a spun microglass filter and run that delo, you are set.
What big name diesel oils are you talking about? That delo is fairly low on detergents, healthy dose of moly and boron but the standard low regulation spec of ZDDP. All that and additive packages don’t really tell you much or mean anything unless you specifically ZDDP content for a flat tappet application
 

Burla

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The tbn is in the post, over 9.
 

Burla

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Find the rotella and delvac voa's post ck-4, delo looks petty good imo.

Delo 400.
 

Burla

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I posted this many times prior, how the ck-4 rotella new formula is different and disappointing over their prior formula that made their name number one. Also how lesser (in my mind) hd oils such as delo and valvoline took a step forward and the big 2 were taking a step back. Now, those voa's I cannot access but anyone can if you egister with pqia I do believe. There is not much you can do, I hit the alert button along time ago before ck-4 hit, and told everyone for months, buy up old stock rotella, now I'm sure long gone.

Thanks to resource conserving and particulate filters and other factors hd oils aren't what they once were. rotella is not what it once was, I'm sure uoa/voa on them at bobs.
 

dapepper9

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I posted this many times prior, how the ck-4 rotella new formula is different and disappointing over their prior formula that made their name number one. Also how lesser (in my mind) hd oils such as delo and valvoline took a step forward and the big 2 were taking a step back. Now, those voa's I cannot access but anyone can if you egister with pqia I do believe. There is not much you can do, I hit the alert button along time ago before ck-4 hit, and told everyone for months, buy up old stock rotella, now I'm sure long gone.

Thanks to resource conserving and particulate filters and other factors hd oils aren't what they once were. rotella is not what it once was, I'm sure uoa/voa on them at bobs.
None of this is specific to diesel btw. Oils in general, gas diesel or otherwise have gear more stringent requirements than they used to. That being said the base oils they use now are vastly superior to what they were even 2-3 years ago let alone 10 years. UOA quality really hasn’t diminished actually. It’s non-issue
 

Burla

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fair enough, I do not disagree. It's a non issue til it is, in uoa's it hasnt shown up I concur. I am more in the Ford co. camp who refused to recommend ck-4 until the writing was on the wall it would have been usa corp versus ford co, one guess who wins that 1.

I will give you maybe it will never matter, but I expect "maybe" it will in return. If it was your diesel that dies early, you would want to know why. I was a truck driver for a decade, our mechanics were so worried about diesel oils changes they forced our boss to hire another mechanic to deal with the issues. We went from 2 mechanics to 3 over diesel and oil changes. I have no info on what happened in our fleet, I left that job shortly after, but I remember the distrust in what is going on for diesel longevity. How much does a manu or the gov't care when a diesel fails early? None, is the answer. I doubt there would ever be real numbers to see what has happened. Reporting would likely follow the corona virus model. If it makes the gov't case, numbers tend to favorite the gov't position. Gov position= naw taking sulfur out of diesel is a non issue, taking protection out of engine oil is a non issue. Like I said, good luck proving different if you engine dies.

Shorten up your interval on that diesel, is the only legit strategy unless you can use additives. Delo 400 has a synthetic if you so chose. The guy makes good points as well, research some. I have not really researched it much since ck-4 dropped, I gave up on it.
 

dapepper9

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fair enough, I do not disagree. It's a non issue til it is, in uoa's it hasnt shown up I concur. I am more in the Ford co. camp who refused to recommend ck-4 until the writing was on the wall it would have been usa corp versus ford co, one guess who wins that 1.
I don’t hold Ford in a very high opinion when it comes to oil, they’ve had far too many problems. They’ve been recommending 5w20 in the cheapest blend they could for years and even their engine development engineers posted in forums saying how stupid it was to run less than 5w30 in an engine you cared about. Their refusal to go to CK4 likely has more to do with cost than anything
Gov position= naw taking sulfur out of diesel is a non issue, taking protection out of engine oil is a non issue. Like I said, good luck proving different if you engine dies.
It definitely is a cleaner fuel without the sulfur but I will say the lubricity sucks. Look at CP3 vs CP4 fuel pump longevity if you want any kind of case study on it lol. Really is annoying that the government doesn’t have much an idea what they’re doing. The ZDDP limits for example do nothing for converter life. You could take ZDDP completely out of the oil and if you’re burning oil you’ll still kill the cats. With ZDDP you’re looking at maybe 1% shorter lifespan
 

David James

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I have a 94 2500/4wd/5.9L Diesel/130,000 miles. I aquired this truck at 126,000 miles and the oil had been changed by a dealer. The book calls for 6,000 miles between oil changes and I usually run Delo 400. Used this oil in my last truck (87 F250/6.9L Diesel) and it had approx. 275,000 miles and was running great before a non-engine related fire. My question to this list is should I continue with Delo-400 or should I switch to synthetic oil and if I do switch, how often should this oil be changed. The truck is mainly used to drive and carry small stuff between two homes 75 miles apart, 50% freeway. Thanks in advance.
I’m not aware of any conventional oil rated beyond 5k miles. That said, if you’re having good luck with that product it’s your call. I’d rather get a synthetic in as much as there’s little or no price difference nowadays. Peace of mind.
 

Blue Truck

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Interesting discussion, as I'm coming up on an oil change. Have been looking in horror at the Rotella T6 price having gone up over 80% since my last oil purchase. I prefer to run that, but if it's a $100 difference in price for an oil change vs. Delo 400... Really like the Costco availability for the Delo! I'm off to BITOG and other interwebs for some research now.

Edit: Doing a little more shopping for better prices, and it's not as bad of a price difference as I thought. Still going to do some reading for my own edjamuhcation.
 

dapepper9

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Interesting discussion, as I'm coming up on an oil change. Have been looking in horror at the Rotella T6 price having gone up over 80% since my last oil purchase. I prefer to run that, but if it's a $100 difference in price for an oil change vs. Delo 400... Really like the Costco availability for the Delo! I'm off to BITOG and other interwebs for some research now.

Edit: Doing a little more shopping for better prices, and it's not as bad of a price difference as I thought. Still going to do some reading for my own edjamuhcation.
Might look into Valvoline Premium Blue as well. As good or better. Can be difficult to find sometimes but farm/fleet stores tend to carry it more than parts stores or Walmart
 

Blue Truck

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Might look into Valvoline Premium Blue as well. As good or better. Can be difficult to find sometimes but farm/fleet stores tend to carry it more than parts stores or Walmart
Thanks for the tip! I see that it's Cummins recommended. How bad (or irrelevant) is switching oils in your opinion? Some people warn about different additive packages not being totally compatible and leaving deposits when interacting. In this case it would just be the remaining old oil left when changing to the new oil. Important, or nothing burger?
 

dapepper9

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Thanks for the tip! I see that it's Cummins recommended. How bad (or irrelevant) is switching oils in your opinion? Some people warn about different additive packages not being totally compatible and leaving deposits when interacting. In this case it would just be the remaining old oil left when changing to the new oil. Important, or nothing burger?
Nothing to worry about. Those theories don’t have any basis.
 
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