I was looking around a couple diesel sores on their maintenance sections and I ran across schaeffers 9000 oil and am curious if anybodies used it before and if they like it, I've got an oil change coming up in a little under 2000 miles and I'm shopping around a little bit

 

I have been happy with the extended service & great lab results with this oil in truck in signature,as well as every other 4 stroke engine that I run it in.but asking what oil somebody likes is like asking favorite football team.

 

i used to be an independent rep with Schaeffer. Their 5w40 series 9000 is used and liked by a number of us here in FTE. I am also successfully running other Schaeffer oils in my gas engines, and I still use their greases, penetrating fluids, and diesel fuel additives even though I no longer represent them.

 

I used it a couple of times. It works well, my truck liked it and I have been friends with several current or former reps here on FTE (including Pete) and I trust their knowledge very much. That being said, back when I used Schaeffers oil, I had been doing used oil analysis every oil change. Prior to using the Schaeffers, I was using Shell Rotella T 15w-40 and had gotten my change intervals up to 9000 miles. When I did that with the Schaeffers synthetic, it did not stand up to the forces our HPOP produce as well as the standard Rotella T. Meaning, my oil was in worse shape in a shorter amount of time than I was expecting, especially considering the considerable additional cost of the Schaeffers. Now, I am not saying that their oil is bad. It isn't. By most knowledgable accounts, it is superior to most everything out there, but if you are thinking of buying it for the benefit of extended oil change intervals, I would think twice about that.

In fact, I have changed my thinking on extending oil change intervals all together in the last year after having what I would consider very premature injector failure (started at about 159,000 miles). Schaeffers is a great product, don't misunderstand me, but you are going to pay a great deal more for something that you should throw away at about the same rate as some cheaper alternative. I still use their transmission fluid, btw.

 

That's the details I was looking for, I mostly want to go to a 5w-40 for better cold starting . Are all 5w-40 oils not going to stand up to the HPOP like a 15w-40? Or would it go by brand?

 

To answer your question, stroker, "no". What you have to start with is the technical data sheet info for the oil you want to consider (viscosity index, shear strength, volatility, corrosion resistance, etc.), and then you should run the one you want to try, have it tested at various mileages and see how the viscosity holds up. Ideally, it takes three complete oil changes to completely purge the old oil from the system and allow the new oil's chemistry to "settle in".

I also have to differ a little bit with Jason. Keep in mind, though, that every truck has its own personality and there can be noticeable differences in how individual trucks behave with the same oil. I'm running about 18K between oil changes, but there is more to it than just running the extra mileage. I have a huge bypass oil filtration setup which keeps soot from contributing to any oil shear in the HPOP. I also do not run my truck hard at all... no racing, no pulling, no towing, no hauling, etc. I also may have slightly higher clearances inside my HPOP which would also help reduce shear forces on my 9000 series 5w40.

As for cost, if you get a good relationship with a local rep, they will often give you wholesale pricing on the 9000 5w40 which CAN be competitive with the Rotella, depending on your local oil prices. Additionally, if you CAN or DO extend your oil drains, then you get even more offset on any price differences between the oils.

 

Thanks for the info guys, ill have to rep both of you when I get home as I can't do it from my phone.
I've never had my oil tested, I've always changed it every 5-6k miles along with a new oil filter every change. Now say I did go to the schaeffers would I have to suck he oil out of the HPOP cause the oil I'm runnin I believe is regular Rotella not synthetic, and the schaeffers is, and I thought I heard its not great to mix synthetic and regular?

 

You'll find some who say you SHOULD siphon the HPOP reservoir, and lot who say "it's not necessary". If you back up and take a 30,000 foot view of things, the volume of the HPOP reservoir is small enough to where siphoning it (in MY opinion) won't make any appreciable difference in the scheme of putting 14-16 quarts of oil back into the engine.

I've never siphoned the reservoir, and at the moment, have no intention of starting to, although I do understand the technical arguments used by those who say that I should do it. Perhaps if I were really pushing my truck or working it hard, I might consider it more seriously, but not as a daily driver with no load on it.

Now, having said that, I expect we'll hear from a few who think otherwise, which is perfectly fine and good for all of us... hearing both sides of the issue, that is.

 

It might be different from you guys, but i have had 2 friends with 6.0s that they both tried that oil and literally within minutes of starting their truck after the oil change their injectors were toast

 

I don't mean to be harsh, rude, or brash by any means, but it's simply nonsensical to even repeat that kind if ignorance. Either their injectors were already toast to begin with or something else was done/broken before putting the oil in the engine and starting it up. A brand new batch of diesel rated CJ-4 oil will not - CANnot - do that to any healthy injectors, regardless of whose brand it is.

Besides, as an ex-rep for that company, I know for a fact that they have way too many customers who are successfully running Schaeffer products in their 6.0L trucks (for years, even) for your friends' scenario to actually be an oil-related failure with their injectors... there is a whole lot missing from this story, no doubt (i.e. using a solvent based engine purge fluid to "clean it out" before installing the new oil, and not getting all - or any - of the purge fluid removed first... etc.)!

Granted, the 6.0L HEUI injection system is harsher than that of the 7.3L engine, but neither system will shear down a brand new batch of oil "literally within minutes".

Let me add one more note, and again, I don't want to sound harsh ... I don't care whose brand of oil they said they used which "toasted" their injectors, they could say that it was Burger King brand CJ-4 diesel oil... I would still call out the scenario you described as pure nonsense.

For final clarification, I get absolutely nothing from Schaeffer for anything I say or do, except for getting their products when I pay for them. I have nothing to gain by supporting them, and have equally told many folks that Schaeffer is not the only good oil available, and if I did not have access to it, I would run the Rotella T6 myself. Therefore, my opposition to your friends' story is based purely on science and physics in addition to not wanting to see any brand of product falsely accused of something it could not do.

 

Well i dont know the exact details, but im just saying thats enough for me to never consider using it. I dont hear of nearly as many people running it in 6.0s as i do 7.3s, you guys seem to love it so carry on!

(and for the record, i posted here because i thought this was in the 6.0 forum...wrong forum!)

 

Well, like I said, part of the marketing and success of the Schaeffer engine oil is base don extended oil drains which offsets the oil's higher price point. Since the 6.0L engine is tougher on ALL oil than the 7.3, it would make sense that it any premium branded (priced) oil would not be run as frequently because the potential payback for extended oil drains is significantly diminished with the 6.0's high shear system.

Also, the 5w40 product is not what I would recommend for a 6.0L engine to begin with. The 15w40 actually has a little more shear stability than the 5w40 because of the influence of some of the dino oil properties which is part of the dino/synthetic blend it is made from. Granted, the 15w40 won't give the same cold start benefits in cold climates (as 5w40), but you would get a slight improvement in shear stability.

Side Note... synthetics are wonderful, and are in many ways better than dino oils, but not in every case, and not in every comparative physical property.


I think we've all hit the wrong forum at times, and with the best of intentions to boot.

 

My son's been running the Shaeffer 7000 in his 6.0L for years and the truck loves it. It runs cooler when towing heavy up and down hills.

 

F250 and Hkusp, id Rep you but it says i gotta spread the love before I can. im not necessarily looking for longer intervals between oil changes, but more for better cold starts (no romps) and a little better mpg with the lighter weight oil. i also dont drive it hard very often especially with a finicky trans so I might give this oil a shot and see how the truck acts. If i could get 7-7.5k out of it thatd be great but its not its main purpose.

Hkusp, I know you mentioned previously that it wore done faster than standard rotella in your case where you had rotella up to 9000 mile intervals, what did the schaeffers last to, If you can recall.

 

I ran it to at least 9000 the first time like I had with the Rotella standard and the oil analysis was poor at that distance. I was disappointed in that, because I had always heard that one of the benefits of synthetics in general was that you could extend your change intervals. I believe it was recommended that I cut back to 7000 miles if I recall correctly.