Getting ready to change the oil for the first time in my 7.3. I have no idea what the previous owner used in it. It's got 165k on it. Should I use the conventional shell rotella 15w-40 or go synthetic?

 

Real mixed bag of answers your gunna get. I live in Maine and I run Shell Rotella conventional 15-40 year round with the big Donaldson filter DBL7405 wich I believe superseds the ELF7405.

 

Search my firend...there a re a million oil threads on here.

My vote! Organic

 

^^^^ Made from organic babies?

 

I believe they all are, at least for a short time, test tube or not!

 

Seems like a lot of guys run Shell Rotella 5W-40 synthetic. I've been using Mobil 1 5W-40 Diesel synthetic but I don't have any evidence that my engine can tell the difference between it and say Shell Rotella 15W-40 conventional oil.

Really just personal preference. I like to think that the extra money for the more highly refined base stock and additive package in a synthetic oil is worth it, but again, no real evidence that it is.

As for what the previous owner used, nothing bad happens if he was using conventional and you switch to synthetic, or vice-versa.

 

that right there is what I was wondering.

 

Schaeffer's for the win!

 

Glenn, what are you running? The full syn or blend?

 

The 7000 is a blend. It has moly in it and doesn't break down like conventional oil. The velocity of the oil will sheer down faster with conventional oil and Schaeffer's, because it has moly in it, will not sheer down as fast. I've been sending in samples for years and the Schaeffer's doesn't sheer down by our hpop as much.

 

Understood; who provides your spectro anaylsis?

 

Schaeffer's has free testing. Oh, maybe they are, well, I better not say it, LOL


I just got the results back from the first testing after the thrashing at Nate's and its all good. These guys work clean, after I did the mare's studs, etc. the test came back showing dirt in the oil! (silicon)

 

Just wondering how many miles you normally get on the oil before their testing lab recommends an oil and filter change?

 

I never sample between oil changes. During the winter I only put a few thousand on the oil and when I take off in the spring I'll put another 3K on it or so. I'm a snow bird so I only get so many chances to change it while we are gone. So, at about 5K I change it and put about another 5K on it before getting back to AZ in the fall when I change it again. There is a box to check on the sample kit that's says 'extended oil change' which means I'm just taking a sample and not changing it. I should try it sometime just to see if they say to change it.

 

i run the t6 synthetic rotella in everything, seems to help starting at -20f over conventional oil. if i didnt live in alaska and lived in the south i would run conventional.