ok well the time is coming to change the oil in my just aquired used 2001 7.3. The previous owner was using Penzoil and changint it every 3-4k miles.

The truck has 78,000 on it now.

What is the best way to go at this point. I figure I will be keeping the truck for at least another 50 -60k miles. And it will be getting a work out towing 2-jeeps and equipment.

Thanks for your comments.

 

I use 15w-40 Rotella and it seems to work fine!

 

A good diesel rated syn is going to go far for u. Shell Rotella T 5w-40, Chevron Delo 400, Mobil 1 truck%suv, Schaeffers 9000 5W-40, Rotella T 15w-40(dino).
Used oil analysis(UOA) is always helpful and informative.
Nut

 

So you would definitely go with a syn. then lube oil?

 

Check out this info from Chuck Arnold:
"Because the injection system uses unfiltered oil directly from the pan , it makes total sense to use the very best synthetic motor oil after break-in. High quality synthetic lubricants can tolerate much higher temperatures without coking or breaking down. The best synthetic oils also keep the engine clean by being able to dissolve deposits and keep them safely in suspension to be filtered out or removed at drain time. It is a good idea to install a bypass oil filter on these engines. A fine bypass filter slowly filters the oil to remove particles as small as 2 microns. The full flow filter lets particles below 20 to 30 microns stay in the oil. It is the particles between 5 and 30 microns that are responsible for most of the wear on HEUI injectors and engines. Adding bypass oil filtration, in addition to the normal full flow oil filter, will get rid of these small particles, which would otherwise accumulate in the motor oil to become the cause of wear and failures."
http://thepowershop.com/index.php?pr=HEUI
Nut

 

I have used Rotella T 15w40 for most of the time I've owned my 02. I have also used Delvac. I recently switched to Delo 400 and have noticed the truck run smoother and get roughly 1mpg better mileage. The nice thing about Delo is it is a good hydroprocessed base oil that also has Moly in the additive package which reduces wear. As for using synthetic oil, unless you are using a true synthetic (Rotella T "synthetic" is not) you are not likely to get better thermal protection from those oils. A true synthetic like Amsoil or Mobil 1 would be great oils to protect turbo bearings but at $20+ a gallon vs $6 I think I'll pay for bearings or a better turbo when it comes time. Plus there is no guarantee the Syn oil will prevent that damage as abuse will toast them anyway and if you don't abuse them, factory specified oil will get them to well over 100k without the added expense. Just look at the high mileage OTR trucks that use regular old Delo or Rotella. Personally, I use Mobil 1 in the wife's car and extend the oil drain intervals to 15k to make it worth my time/money (plus her car warrantee was up long time ago) As soon as my warrantee is up on the truck I'll extend the intervals to 10k as I have my oil tested and the testing shows I can go that far.

 

[QUOTE=ColtM4] (Rotella T "synthetic" is not) QUOTE]That would be false advertising...ehh? The bottle says "synthetic"...it is...just not the same base stock but has the crucial wear fighting heat handling components as the real expensive stuff.

 

i recently switched to Rotella synthetic. i used the run the regular the 15-40 and with the synthetic my oil is noticably clearer and the truck starts easier and makes less noise but it is cold here. i will run the synthetic year round from now on and it is only $7 a gallon more at wal-mart than regular

 

the rotella is a GP III that is the minimum for a sythetic mobil uses PAO. either way they still both come from crude oil.

 

Define"GP III"...thanks.

 

Scroll down to the oil & lube forum sometime......more that you ever wanted to know about oil.

 

The engine only uses unfiltered oil for a matter of seconds during initial start or cold start. After that the check ball closes and the high pressure oil pump recieves filtered oil from the high pressure oil reservoir.

Chuck Arnold gives the impression that the injectors always run on unfilterd oil, and that simply is not the case.

 

That is exactly what I thought when I read it. And couldn't believe (but I did) this motor was designed that way. As a matter of fact I told a friend of mine last night on the phone just that.

 

chuck arnold is a joke as far as i am concerned.

 

I was NEVER under that impression...just doesn't make sense,common sense dictates that the HUEI in jectors receive clean good oil. If in his statement he
creates more awareness with people in keeping good,clean oil in their PSD then
that's a worthwhile statement.
Nut