If I switch to synthetic will I be able to stretch out my changes? Currently do it @ 5k miles with rotella triple, was thinking about trying T6 and extending changes to 8k miles

 

I run mine out to 7500 without analysis

 

what filter are you using? I've used motorcraft since I've had it with no issues. I have recently sured up all my oil leaks so hopefully I won't be adding 4-6 quarts between changes like I was. Been 2 weeks with no drips, * knock on wood.

 

I still run 5,000 with T6. I could push it, but I do my own changes and you can buy T6 on good deals now and then. But I think I might start pushing it to 7500 as I just started using the big blue Baldwin filter. The filter is supposed to filter better than the Ford or any other short style filter. That's the rumor on the street, but I think there is some data to back it up (nominal to absolute filtration size).

 

In our HEUI engines, the engine oil not only lubricates the rotating assemblies... it also serves as hydraulic actuation fluid that acts upon the intensifier piston inside the injectors.

We don't want tiny pockets of air in our hydraulic fluid, as those little bubbles of air will compress instead of push like fluid, which is incompressible. Bubbly, air entrained oil in the rail will diminish the intensifying hydraulic power inside the injectors, which in a 7:1 ratio will reduce the ultimate fuel pressure delivery through the injector trip. Less fuel pressure, less atomization, less power, and perhaps more unburned fuel, and more soot (that contaminates the oil).

So, all of that is to say that oil meeting the Navistar spec for the 7.3L engine (and the CAT spec for old CAT engines using the HEUI system) will have anti aeration additives as part of the formula. Unfortunately, these additives deplete themselves sooner than the 7,500 mile change interval that a synthetic oil is otherwise perfectly capable of enduring as far as lubrication is concerned.

But our oil isn't just about lubrication and wear metal reduction. It isn't just the maintenance of viscosity and thermal stability. It is about the hydraulic actuation function, which anti aeration additives intrinsically support. If that additive package depletes in the middle of your interval, the oil analysis will not see more silicon or aluminum or iron in the sample, but the injectors on the other hand may end up dealing with less effective hydraulic actuation fluid, as the oil starts foaming from being constantly churned by the rotating assembly.

One way to extend the oil change interval, while maintaining the integrity of its hydraulic actuation function, is to add an anti foaming agent midway through the extended drain interval. Fleetguard and Lubrizol make anti foaming agents that are compatible with diesel engine oil and our injectors.

Another issue with diesel oil is the entrainment of abrasive soot particles. A couple of ways to reduce soot in the oil that is intended to last two or three times the recommended drain interval is to add a bypass filtration system, and/or to add an effective crankcase vapor filtration system. By effective, I mean one that really filters the vapors (which also carry soot). The Donaldson Spiracle, and the Racor CCV3550FRD2 and CCV4500 are the only three CCV systems that I am aware of that have the capability of filtering soot out of the CCV.

Most people think about the bypass filtration system, but very few consider the fine filtration of CCV, and fewer still consider the depletion of the anti foaming agents in the oil. All things to consider when extending the drain interval on HEUI engines. Modern common rail fuel injected engines do not rely on the engine oil for fuel injection, so oil aeration is not as much of an issue, which is reflected in the 15,000 mile drain interval of a Cummins 6.7, for example.

 

I pushed my oil too far ( don't remember the miles), and I noticed a difference in how the engine ran/idled after I changed it. I'm sure I'm not the only one here.

 

I have noticed that difference after every oil change. I change mine at 5000. I have used T6 and Mobil 1. I also have had my oil analyzed several times with both oils and have been told to extend the oil change interval. But I still only go 5000.

 

I'm a 5k changer on T6 with the Motorcraft FL-1995 filter. I have stretched it to nearly 6500 when funds have gotten obscenely tight, but also lack of attention. I put mine through hell and back, race it fairly frequently, and just beat the snot out of it.

Definitely a performance/mileage difference on fresh oil after a prolonged service interval. The only real difference I've noticed over conventional oil is cold weather starts are easier.

 

FL-1995 since day one, but.. Also have had a bypass filter installed too. So, it's why the extended miles

 

I started usin. Mystic 10w40 from Farm and Fleet. After around 5000k, I sent a sample into Blackstone and they said that I could maybe go 7500.. I was noticing more black smoke than usual and I seemed to be a quart low every 2000 miles or so, which is more than usual.

I went back to T6 5w40 this past weekend. I noticed that a lot less black smoke comes out of my exhaust when I mash the go pedal.

I have been using the LF3374 filter (huge filter by the way), with stratapore technology (whatever that means). This filter crosses to the Baldwin B99SS, but the B99SS filter won't fit the 7.3.

I am thinking about trying the LF9027. Do any of you have experience with the LF9027? Why are they only available in 12 packs? Can the 9027 be better than the 3374?

Thank you,

BBD

 

I had Blackstone test my Rotella T6 oil at 6K miles and they said I should easily be able to go further. I had 175K on my 7.3 at the time.

 

I have been changing every 10,000 to 12,000 no problems still runs great 320,000 miles so far I only use about 2qts max in that time frame.

 

t6 - 10,000 miles is my interval

 

that sounds good..
ps the road side help website you list is not working or at least not for me.

 

Other store might be doing it right now also but tractor supply has T5&T6 $5 off p/gallon max 4 gallons with mail in rebate.