Just to touch on a few points here, I am certain that you, mrxlh, will have the potential to increase fuel economy switching to 10W30 over 15W40. It would be difficult to put a number on but the oil pump is a load on the motor and putting thinner oil in would reduce that load. That being said, I see you seem to be sticking to the info in the owners manual. The manual recommends 15W40 all the way down to 30 F. I don't know if switching could be a warranty issue or not. I suppose you could always do an oil change before taking it in for warranty work in many instances. (Perhaps not if you put connecting rods through the oil pan.) Someone else was interested in the benefits of syntehtic oil and I can say in my experience it is of greatest benefit in extreme conditions. Better lubrication in cold starting situations, (colder than it ever gets in Florida) and high temp situations. I was on a team that raced a Top Alcohol dragster and one difference we noticed when we switched to Mobil 1 was in the rod bearings. They lasted over twice as long and, with conventional oils, when rod bearings failed they would sieze and weld themselves to the crankshaft journal. With the Mobil 1 we did have a couple of instances where the bearing failed and actually turned the crank journal black from heat but never siezed. The reduced friction reduces engine wear and improves fuel economy, but at a higher cost. Is it worth it? That is a difficult call to make. I have no doubt that you get longer engine life, again, especially in extreme conditions, and better fuel economy, but if it adds 1000 miles of engine life and saves a few bucks in fuel costs over the life of the engine then I would say it's not worth it. Personally I use synthetic oil and have never had a problem with it. Many people never have problems with conventionals either. You just have to pick you own priorities for yourself. One other point that may be worth mentioning. Where I work now has many motors and gear drives and, we have two lubrication reps that come in from time to time. Neither one works for Exxon/Mobil and both use Mobil 1 in their personal cars.

Regards,

Morris

 

Thats funny that Shell, who is the owner of the Quakerstate/Pennzoil brand, (Shell Oil Products U.S. bought quakerstate/pennzoil when a Federal Judge ruled that Chevron would be awarded the Havoline brand name, as well as the rest of Texaco's line of lubricants after the split of both joint ventures of Texaco and Shell= Equilon, and Texaco, Shell and Saudi Aramco= Motiva) would not make Rotella T to meet the same specs that the pennzoil and quakerstate diesel oil is made. They may just not list it on their bottles. I would recomend that you go to the American Petroleum Institute web page and look up what the CI-4 rating requires to attain.

API Service CI-4—For 2004 Severe Duty Diesel Engine Service

API Service Category CI-4 describes oils for use in high-speed, four-stroke cycle diesel engines designed to meet 2004 exhaust emission standards implemented in 2002. These oils are intended for use in all applications with diesel fuels ranging in sulfur content up to 0.5% weight.

These oils are specifically formulated to sustain engine durability where Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) is used and the impact of these oils on other supplemental exhaust emission devices has not been determined. Optimum protection is provided against corrosive and soot-related wear tendencies, piston deposits, degradation of low- and high-temperature viscometric properties due to soot accumulation, oxidative thickening, loss of oil consumption control, foaming, degradation of seal materials, and viscosity loss due to shear.

API CI-4 oils are superior in performance to those meeting API CH-4, CG-4 and CF-4 and may be used in engines calling for those API Service Categories.

The first license date for API CI-4 will be September 5, 2002.


Ryan

 

1. Proven (by many tests over the years) fuel economy increase. This is generally accepted. I can't tell you exactly how much but approximately .5 MPG on my truck.
2. Much quieter engine, especially at cold start.(I think superioir injector lubrication)
3. Reduced oil pressure at cold operating temps stopped my rear main leak. I installed an Auto meter gage so I know this to be true.
4. Extended engine life. Better lubrication means less wear. There have been many tests over the years so this is generally accepted.

There are others. We have some real oil experts on this forum. If we can refrain from getting into a "which brand is best" argument, most will agree that any synthetic is better than the same brand regular oil.

 

Thanks, I am just trying to justify the cost/benefit. I am really struggling with that one. What about synthetic blends? I just wish we could find a source for Mobil 1 Truck & SUV. Walmart had it mixed in with the gasoline engine oil. I pointed out that it should be in the area where they stock the diesel and should carry it in gallons. The manager in the auto section looked at me like I ate raw chicken heads. I would have cleaned them out with one 15 qt purchase.

 

Thanks Ryan! We really appreciate you taking the time to share this with us. I had no Idea... We need guys like you to keep us on the right track.

 

It's a big step to stock it. When they can't keep it on the shelves, they will stock more. Quarts are much easier to handle. Trying to figure out how much to leave in the last gallon is a pain.

 

Bob you are very much welcome. Basicly what I was trying to figure out, and then set out to prove, is that the API rating of CI-4 is the final word period. If the oil that you are using meets this criteria, Ford cannot deny warranty, for rear main leaks, or engine failure.

I know the benefits first hand with synthetics. I have seen many industrial applications ruined by using alike in kind oils that were not specifically on the manufacturers list of accepted lubricants. If I told all of you here that Shell was insistant on using their brand of oil in everything that they own, and were self inflicting failurers of $75,000 high speed gear boxes, you would all probably call me a liar, or laugh at me. After Shell had changed out about 5 of these, they wanted to know what was causing these failurers, the manufacturer told them that when they stamped the data tag Use Mobil SHC 628 Only, that was what they meant, period. Their service manuals also stated this as well, they gave no alternative or API rating of equivilant oil that would work. Since they ate the loss of the 5 gearboxes, and a little crow, they changed to Mobil SHC 628 and have had no failurers since. (BTW mobil is probably the worlds leader in gear oils and is recomended by more manufacturers than any other in the world, for industrial applications anyway) I personally have never been a Mobil engine oil fan. My opinion or any other does not make this a bad oil. But this is an area that is divided by personal choice, and an API equivalant rating to allow us this choice.


Their are also a lot of advertising schemes and gimics used in the sale of lubricants. Many allow this to sway their opinion, such as the case where someone stated that Rotella T does not contain anti foam additives. Just because it does not offer that info on the label, that person assumed that it did not contain these required additives for a 6.0L PSD engine. Which in fact it does, as does every other oil that carries the API CI-4 rating.

Some other confusion here was what the s and the c actually stood for in the API ratings system well again here is info directly form their site.

The top of the Donut shows the oil's performance level for gasoline and/or diesel engines. The letter "S" followed by another letter (for example, SL) refers to oil suitable for gasoline engines. The letter "C" followed by another letter and/or number (for example, CH-4) refers to oil suitable for diesel engines. These letters officially stand for "Service" and "Commercial." The current API performance categories that can appear in the top part of the Donut are listed in the API Service Category Chart.

I have been involved in many oil disputes on many boards on the web. Their are alot of hip shooters that make claims one way or the other. Having worked for most of the major oil companies in this country, and worked in a few of thier refineries, I have a pretty good knoweldge of what is BS, and what is fact. Especially since I am a natural gas engine/compressor mechanic, which except for the magneto, spark plugs,and compression ratio, are identical to their diesel counterparts, weather it be Cat, Cummins, Onan, or Waukesha.

Ryan

 

I like Mobil 1 because it was the first synthetic produce I ran across. At the time, 1976, I was a Mobil dealer in a small town. I have seen various mobil synthetic products perform very well over the years. In my race cars, I never had a bearing failure. In fact, I've never seen a bearing failure of any kind where Mobil Synthetic was used. When I find something that works, I tend to stay with it until it fails or someone can prove with actual independent lab tests that another product is better. That said, I probably wouldn't object to using any major synthetic as long as it met minimum manufacturer's specs. and was easier to obtain than Mobil.

 

Now where can us consumers buy it other than a quart at a time at Walmart?

 

Find your nearest Exxon oil jobber, he can get it in gallon, pail, drum, or bulk, whatever you want.

Ryan

 

Your friendly Mobil Distributor on East 7th, next to the International Dealer for 89.00/case of 4 1 gal bottles, tax included.

 

I can't say what anyone else is after but I suspect it is the quantity price. That is what I want. At Walmart the 5 quart bottles (of Mobil 1) are just under $20.00. Assuming Mobil 1 Truck & SUV is priced the same, (it is in the quart bottles) that is about $3.99 per quart. Add 7% sales tax gives you a price of about $4.27 per quart. A quart at a time is $4.77 at Walmart. Again, with 7% sales tax added that is about $5.10 per quart. $89.00 / 16 quarts (four gallons) comes in at $5.56 per quart including tax. Assuming that has 7% sales tax added to it the original price is $5.20 per quart. Walmart blows the distributors volume price out of the water even buying by the quart from Walmart. If Walmart ever does start carrying Mobil 1 Truck & SUV in the 5 quart containers they may even stock enough to change the oil on a single PSD. Wouldn't that ge great! You wouldn't have to go to multiple Walmarts to buy enough oil for your oil change.

Regards,

Morris

 

Morris, You hit it on the head. I have yet to see the Mobil1 Truck & SUV in the 5 quart jugs. Yes, I would have to go to multiple Walmarts just to get enough to do one oil change. Why do the oil distributors make it so darn hard? The dist in my area just doesn't get it.

 

The jugs of Mobil Delvac 1 are 4 quarts, same as 1 gallon, 4 gallons per case.

 

That's what I thought also because I just bought 2 one gallon jugs of Delvac 1 for my Bobcat. Although it would be in my favor if they were selling me 5 quarts for the price of 4 If the Truck & SUV formula is the same as Delvac 1, don't you think they'd sell it in the same sized container? Could be that they are packaging it differently for its intended market, most trucks and SUV's only require 5 quarts.