I know I'm new here and haven't got to read up on it yet but i have a question on the oil in the powerstrokes. I heave heard a lot about syn. but i cant see how that can work very effeciently in these motors. Syn. usually creates a foam, which then gets in the HPOP an injectors which causes air into system. I have already got air in it once an it ran like crap so i cant see it working well. any one can enlighten me a little please do.....thanks

 

First off... WELCOME to FTE!!!

Secondly, in the hundreds of posts and dozens of threads I've been part of on this issue alone, I've never heard anything about there being a relationship between "air/foam in the oil" and "synthetic oil"! Not saying it's not true, but I would have to conclude that it's no different than dino oil in that respect.

The negtaives I have heard about are cost, potential for new oil leaks, and reports of "no difference in performance". The cost can be a real factor. The "causes new oil leaks" has virtually become completely a thing of the past due to improved additives in the syn oils. The "doesn't work any better" reports can be based on everything ranging from someone who is comparing an excellent dino oil wiht a poor synthetic to someone who just reports what they've "heard", and everything in between.

There are a lot of folks running synthetics, and a good number of people using the synthetics and bypass filtration to get extended oil drain intervals (upwards 18,000 miles between oil cahnges). A lot of folks in here get their oil tested for wear metals and oil "life" as well, expecially those of us who are running longer intervals.

Personally, I am running a synthetic 5w40, have over 6K miles on this oil, and just got back excellent results from the lab saying that the oil can certainly continue to run longer. I am hoping for at least 12K miles between changes.

Here is a link to an excellent web site that addressess most (if not all) oil issues.
www.bobistheoilguy.com

Hope this helps.

 

Welcome to FTE.
I have to agree on the bubbly synthetic oil.
I ran Mobil 1 Delvac for a while and found it to be a little frothy on the dipstick if I checked the level immediatly after shutting off. The engine also would idle with a rolling sort of roughness that would clear out as soon as it fully warmed up. I don't view any of that as a problem, but more of a characteristic of using that oil.
I get no such behavior if I use dino 15-40 and no bubbly dipstick either.
So I am rather undecided on whether it's a good thing to run synthetic anymore, but rather just run dino and just change it out twice as much. It still ends up being less expensive that way.

 

I was running MObil 1 syn (not the delvac)in my 96' and I did have trouble with air I believe because after about a year or so all of a sudden I was only getting about 11 mph when I would usually get 16 and I had a severe power loss. I was towing my brother-in -law's Neon on a trailer and could barely do 50 mph!!! I took it in and the shop said it was injectors, but a second opinion said that it was the oil. The second shop has accounts for ambulance compinies and worked on alot of 7.3's at the time. HE said that even though the Mobil 1 says it is diesel safe it is not for the powerstrokes because of the hpop system. We used to run it in all of our trucks gas or ctd's and had excellent results (425,000 on a 351 that I sitll see around town). I have run Rotella syn ever since with no problems (almost 1,000,000 miles combining 3 psd's). We run the Rotella for 10,000 miles with a filter change at 5,000. I am going to be installing a bypass filter system very soon and then hope to run it for 2 or 3 times that (crossing my fingers). Dale

 

I've never noticed any frothy dipstick with the Rotella syn, and I almost think that it idle's a bit (not much if any quieter) than dino oil. I pay $16.58/gal at Wally-mart and a napa gold filter is like $17, so that's like $100.32 plus tax every 10,000 miles (like 3 and a half weeks for me).

 

I did try some Rotella with good results. I don't remember what the dipstick looked like.
What made me want to try something else after that was an experience that I had with it.
I put a few drops between my thumb and forfinger and rubbed them together as firmly as I could. I could get them to feel like they were squeaking. There was a catchy feeling when under pressure.
I tried the same thing with dino oil and could not duplicate that sensation no matter how hard I pressed my thumb and fingers together.
I'm not saying that the Rotella isn't doing it's job, it's a great oil.
But IMO the regular old dino oil is a lot more slippery slimy.
That's why I've gone back to the dino.
I've never had cold idle romping problems in the winter, so it doesn't really matter for me what I run.
I know a lot of you guys out there pretty much have to run syn to have a good running truck.

 

I'm not sure why but it seems like each powerstroke has its own affiinity for a certain type of oil. For example - My 00 doesn't run as well on Rotella but, the wife's 03 is fine with it. When I used Rotella 15W40 in my 00 I had trouble with it using oil, rough idle and the mpg went down some. Switched to Delvac 1300 and the problems went away. That's all I've used in this truck since then. Wife's 03 on the other hand does just fine on Rotella. Go figure.

I have a neighbor that says he's tried Rotella, Delvac and Castrol in his 01 PSD and he starts to have rough/loud idle problems with about 800-1000 miles on the oil. He switched to Valvoline Blue and has been trouble free ever since.

This does seem to be a common thing among powerstroke engines.

DG

 

i used to run the mobil 1, but they repackaged it for the diesel rating and the price went up up up.... so, i run rotella synthetic now and i think my truck runs just as well, maybe a tick less fuel ecomony, but that is a really hard thing to prove, so, for the money, i think i will run with the rotella for now... i have also had good luck with the amsoil diesel oil...

 

Johnny8 where you been these past months?!?!?!
Been a long time since we've seen you on the board.

 

With the Amsoil 5w40 I am running right now, I haven't seen any froth or bubbles on the dipstick yet. My mileage improved slightly on this oil, but I have since been making other changes too, so I can't really undo it and see what happens - mainly because I don't know what was in the engine when I got it before I put the Amsoil in.

 

sorry to be away soooooo long quick... it's good to be on again... i've had a VERY bad winter... nothing healthwise or anything like that, just a rough stretch of road as they say... anyway... things are really looking up, and i'm doing a bunch of ebay stuff and website stuff for the new company i work for... (yamaha/suzuki/ktm/arctic cat/ski-doo dealership..!!!) anyway, one of the things that i have been asked about at work is alternative ways of promoting the company on the net... i immediately thought of FTE and mentioned forums to the big cahoona at work... since i was thinking about FTE i had to log back on and rejoin my brothers on FTE..!!! sad thing is i had to email the boss man so i could get back on because i had forgotten my password..!!! sorry to hijack the thread..!!! i quess old habbits die hard.. lol..!!!

 

Welcome back johnny8.

 

Nice to see you back Johnny...I noticed that last night.

I've been running Shaeffers 9000 (5-40 Synthetic) for about a year now with no problems at all. It also comes highly reccomended on the BITOG forum that was mentioned earlier.

 

I just attended a class about the 7.3 psd the past two nights by Luey Nelson. His recommendation is NO SYNTHETIC. He said the same thing you did... bad idea because the oil foams. He claims through all the testing that cat (they have the same style injectors) and ford have done regular rotella 15/40 is the best for use in these motors

 

Ok, that is good enough for me. No more synthetic in my engine for any reason.