I hate to bring up an old subject, and I have gone through all of the old posts, but I am very stubborn. I have been considering going to a synthetic oil in my truck and do an extended drain. I had a conversation with an International tech the other day and he said that they did not recomend going to synthetic. He said to stick with regular oil and change it every 3k miles. I asked him about a bypass filter and he told me that he wouldn't recomend it and restated that international designs them a certain way and went back to his previous statement about changing oil at 3k (don't agree with that one). Now I have read all of the posts that everyone has contributed and some say do and some say don't, I guess it is personal preference. I have purchaced a bypass filter from oilguard, in my opinion you can never have too much filtration, I guess thats the engineer side talking, the oil is as clear as it goes in at 5k. But now i am in a dilema I want to go to a synthetic to extend my change intervals to 10k and preserve the engine from wear as much as possible. I live in arizona and with the summer heat I am worried about the viscosity of the synthetics 5w40 compared to the conventional 15w40 being to low for heavy towing applications. I guess what I am looking for is what everyone else is doing so I can make a some what educated decision based on what works and not on one tech opinion. I know this is an old topic and I got prety lengthly but I would appreciate any and all of your inputs.

THANK YOU

 

CLK here is the deal synthetics are much better in the cold and the heat.... Synthetics flow better when the are cold and are less apt to breakdown when the are hot.

For instance dyno oils start breaking down at 260 degrees. Synthetics are usually good to 325 before they start breaking down.

The tech gets paid to change your oil so of course he is not going to recommend something that is goin to affect his pocket. Also many of those guys don't research this stuff adnauseum since they don't own one.

Most certainly the way to go is synthetic with a bypass. You can even sample your oil to decide when you want to change instead of selecting a slate interval. Just make sure you get a good synthetic.

 

So if you want to go syn., use a 15w-40 syn.

 

Yes, Blackstone Labs, (which has not seen any particular advantage in syn. and therefore, does not recommend syn.), knows nothing about oil.

 

Blackstone labs does not recommend synthetic if you are doing normal drain intervals. If you want extended intervals then synthetic is a must. Got 12,000 miles on this batch of 15W40 with towing. The blackstone labs report shows the oils is holding up extremely well.

A regular oil can possibly go extended with the bypass filter. If you want to just discuss oil then go to Bob is the oil guy. Synthetic will not keep your engine that much cleaner or extend the engine life over a regular good oil if you are changing the oil every 3-5k. Basically its a personal choice.

 

The tech that I was talking to is for navistar headquarters, not a service tech. Amsoil is the only 15w40 synthetic and I not sold on them. Do you guys feel that there is no advantage changing conventional oil every 3k or synthetic every 8 - 10k

 

RED line, Royal Purple all have 15W40 full synthetics! Additionally, Schaeffer has a blended 15W40 which performs very well. Amsoil is not the only choice.

 

However, only Redline, Mobil 1 and Amsoil start with a true synthetic base stock.

I just swtiched my truck over to 5w-30 Amsoil Racing Oil. The typical diesel rattle was about 30-40% quieter. You can now carry on a conversation even when it is cold and warming up.

Amsoil is the only one that will warranty your car against abnormal wear and tear for parts and labor.

 

The dino in your PSD does not need 3k oil changes unless you fit into the "severe service" category. Otherwise it is 5k.

A syn. oil change costs at least twice as much as a dino oil change, so if you are not at least doubling your oil change interval, you are not even breaking even.

There is a member over at the ford-trucks.com that doesn't change the oil in his PSD at all. He runs Amsoil and a double bypass filter system. He changes out his filters at 5000-10,000 mile intervals, takes oil samples and adds make-up oil. But he has not drained and put in new oil for over 100,000 miles. He has calculated his oil maintenance cost per 5000 miles at $25-$30.

I can change the oil in my PSD with dino for $18.

So, it will be tough to be money ahead with syn. If you want to run syn., you need to recognize that it will probably cost you more. You will need to decide for yourself if it is worth it.

Despite my caustic comments about syn., I am not against it. But for most people, the cost/benefit analysis just doesn't work out, not if you use tangible benefits, and not intangible "makes me feel good" benefits.

For me, cost/benefit >1.

For you, cost/benefit might be <1.

 

I am looking for is what is best to get the most engine life, 350-400k, out of this motor. A little extra cost in oil changes is worth it to me,for peace of mind, instead of having to replace an engine because it wore out.
I am a true beliver in preventive maintenance, I have a chevy pickup that I have owned sine I was 16, I used Mobil 1 synthetic in it since. The motor had 6000 miles on it when I started with synthetic. I change the oil every 5k. I had 190k on the engine when I decided to go through it, just because. My uncle and his buddy (who are both non belivers in synthetic) who have been doing this for 35-40 years couldn't belive how little wear it had for the mileage.
In my opinion it was worth the extra cost for the piece of mind.

I asked this question because I am new to owning a PSD and wanted input from everyone to formulate what might be best from what every one else is doing. I have been around diesels for years but never thought about the maintenance, because I've never owned one myself. I have worked with My dad in the mining industry we had many manufacturers of diesel engines. I never thought about maintenance on the because they wernt mine and they had a service department. But now I have to because I own one.

I called blackstone labs the other day after what jschira posted the other day and had quite the lengthly conversation.

I appreciate any and all input that you all give. .

 

And . . . . .?

 

Some of your mods are inconsistent with this outlook.

 

forgot the rest of my comment Blackstone wouldn't comment either way. why are some of my mods inconsistant with this outlook

 

I am not sure that chipping your engine is consistent with getting 350k-400k miles out of it without an overhaul.

 

Here is a response from Blackstone that someone posted at ford-trucks.com