Sorry, the lack of search function is hampering me (this 'work' thing is really cutting into my surf time and I don't have time to look around).

Anyway, I saw something in the Oil forum about Rotella "T" causing an injector problem? Is that right, or is it another Urban Legend? If it is right, I feel like a real dork, since I told my brother "sure, go ahead and use the "T" Synthetic 5w-40, it's a great oil" in the '99 F350, 7.3L P.S. (160K miles) he just picked up.

Thanks.

 

Never heard of that one... I've used Rotella T 15w-40 in every diesel truck I've ever owned, including a 99 F350 SD PSD that had 288,000 on it and Rotella in it since it's first oil change. Never had an oil related failure of any kind in any diesel truck I've owned... lack of oil yes, oil quality no.

 

"RMPC"...he said 5w-40...would that make a difference?.......

Or...."R-West", was that a typo and you accidentally left out the "1"...

 

Never heard of it being a problem with the 7.3's--only causing "lazy" injectors in some of the 6.0's. 5w40 is synthetic--15w40 is dino oil

 

Nope, it's their 5w-40 Synthetic.

I KNOW I saw that thread somewhere, and now I can't find it.

 

Urban legend. Rotella Synthetic works fine in our trucks.

 

I have 170k on my '99. I have been on the synthetic Rotella since 90k. By the way, I'm told it is ALL dino oil. The synthetic is more highly refined. Anyway, I have had absolutely no problems with mine.

 

I wouldnt put 5 wt oil of any brand in a diesel... when it gets hot it's like water and viscosity has a direct bearing on your HPOP's ability to function. I dont care what the book says... a diesel has about 10 times the stress of a gas engine to it's internal parts and getting bearing clearances close enough to keep a 5wt oil on the bearings for more than a second before it falls in the pan, cant be good for longevity. The 5 wt oil is nothing more than a ploy by the mfg to get their engines to pass C.A.R.B and emissions standards for the weight class. I've been working on diesels for a living since 1985 and I've seen a few guys bring in diesel pickups with a rod or main out, to have their old 6.9 or 7.3 or cummins overhauled...there have been a very vew that admit they used 10w-30 or something, cause it's cheap and their car uses it so it must be ok for my truck too... it's just an engine, it shows up in the rod bearings every time!... first off a gas engine compression ratio of 8-9 to one (@150psi) doesnt load the upper half of the rod bearings and the lower halves of the mains, like a diesel does at 17 to 1 or more (@400-450psi) add in the compressed air from a turbo, the sudden ignition of a healthy dose of diesel fuel and the stresses get magnified much more... that's why a diesel weighs more than a gasser, more iron to help counter stress. Ford took a step backwards in the longevity dept when they came out with the 6.0, jacked up the power and lightened the block ( IMO) Course they're in business to sell new trucks, not make em last 25 years! But bearing materials are much the same as they were 25 years ago, bearing size is the same as the older engines so how can anyone possibly tell you that a 5 wt oil will lube your engine as good or better than a heavier one can? Viscosity and shear strength are the only things that keep parts from riding metal on metal. If they bring tolerances in bearings closer, that in itself can lend itself to future spun bearings... in my pulling engines, I add in a few thousanths extra tolerance and raise the oil pressure up to gain cushion ( oil film thickness) I dont take it away.... that would be insane and an instant recipie for engine failure at high rpm

 

Huh? Did I miss something?
Rotella 5w-40 is a 40 weight API CI-4+ rated oil, not a 5 weight oil.

 

clux.. you are right..5W40 is a 40 weight oil.. Actually my Ford owners manual shows for my diesel in a chart to use 5W30 for outside temperatures of 30 degress down to -20.. If the tempauture gets below that, the chart says to use 0W30.. and it is all 30 weight oil.. I use Shell 5w40 and my injectors love it.. no romp romp in morning and runs quieter than 15W40 dino.. My 2 cents worth..

 

I'll rest my case as I dont wanna start any fierce argument... just do this and I'll get off this thread. Find an owners manual for a say 98 or 99 PSD or an earlier pre PSD engine... look up the lube charts in the book and compare em to the ones for the new engines. Now, look up the bearing dimensions for the older engines and compare em to the new ones... not much if any difference...But note this... in 2003 the cubic inches got smaller, physically the engine got lightened and the horsepower went up by close to 100 horsepower. This cut overall weight of the vehicle and by using a 5w40 oil, got the engine where it would pass 2005 CARB, mpg and emission standards and still provide the customer with a more powerful engine to compete with the 5.9L 6BT and overcome the fact that the V-8 has to have EGR and the I-6 didnt. The 6 litre engine has a horrible track record with injector failures over the 7.3 engine, they have had numerous head gasket sealing issues and I'd be willing to bet that placing and older iron 7.3 up against the 6.0. With both engines having 0 start miles on it and the older 7.3 running 15w40 and the 6.0 running 5w40, both engines having similar loads and oil change intervals... the engine running the 15w40 will outlast without major componant failure, the 6.0 hands down!. I had a 83 Ford that I put a new 1993 IDI Turbo 7.3 in (1styr turbo, non powerstroke) It pulled campers from mfg to dealers till 2000 , putting 492,000 miles on it in 7 years and no engine failure of any kind other than injection pump twice. The previous 6.9 lasted a little over 300,000 miles but I wasnt the first owner. The truck I traded it for in 2000 was a leftover 99 F350PSD that lasted 288,000miles and 4 years before I had hpop and injector problems. I seriously doubt that a new F350 6.0 given the same commercial job that it's predicessor did, would last near that long running 5w40, given the way they've trimmed the engine. 15year plus longevity is not built into these trucks anymore...it's just not good for new vehicle sales anymore with folks trading em off every couple of years. Of course the epa hasnt helped things any either Exhaust gas recirculation in diesels anyone? Rudolph Diesel never designed the diesel engine to re ingest its own exhaust... and soot going back into the cylinders ( abrasive) eventually spells DEATH.

I had a small fleet transport operation moving campers to dealers all over the US and the truck's I mentioned, had the same driver, running the same routes nearly every week. Both ran Rotella 15w40. I ran the shop and dispatch and occasionally took a load. Now I build performance diesels and do mods... primarily on what you guys call Cumaparts but I do a fair amount of work on Pistrokers too Nothing like watching one of my engines in a buddies truck with 2 chargers, gutted P7100 pump ( no governor or fuel limiting plate) charging down a track dragging a sled behind it, making so much smoke it looks like a coal train on fire..... it's a rush!

 

Can we get an in-dent next time and a few paragraphs?

 

Here come the prose police :-p

 

As far as I can tell, the later production years of the 6.0 have become very reliable engines, and none of the problems with the early 6.0 engines was oil related either. In any case, 5w-40 oil has very similar viscosity at operating temperature as 15w-40 oil, or the API wouldn't certify it as a 40 weight, so I don't understand what your point is. I run Delo 400 15w-40 in the summer and Rotella 5w-40 in the winter and have similar UOA results with both at 10,000 mile interval. Many OA over at BITOG have documented that Rotella 5w-40 is one of the best choices for our 7.3 engines.

 

May be... I just havent seen one with a lot of miles on it yet (over 250,000). I do know a guy that has an '04 who bought out my interest in the hauling business... his has been in the shop 13 times for injector failures, twice for head gasket leaks and four or five times for egr failures... the egr thing ticks him off cause when it happens the engine wont do anything more than idle, it has spent almost as much time this year in the shop as on the road. He runs the Arizona, New Mexico S. Cal route from Elkhart, IN and when I sent him a copy of this thread on 5w-40 he just said ... to each his own....if it didnt make his truck do the romp romp thing in the mornings when cold he'd run straight 30 wt Rotella Diesel Oil in it, he uses 15w40... no way he'd do a 40 wt that trys to act like a 5 wt in the winter. We are both curious to see how long one will last commercially with 5w 40 in the west with desert heat and mountains pulling 10,000 to 18,000 lb fith wheel campers every day, with the go pedal often pinned to the floor for long periods of time. It might be ok for a grocery getter or in cooler climates..... we'll see